Meka Whaitiri says she's now in a party that does not "censor the voice of wāhine Māori".
Whaitiri - a former minister - defected from the Labour Party to Te Pāti Māori last week, in a shock move that surprised her colleagues, including those in Labour's Māori caucus.
"My whānau is my trusted source... it's my return back to who I am as a Māori wahine, to my whakapapa, to my calling, and I have no regret about including and counselling my whānau."
Regarding the timing of her announcement, she said: "Tikanga Māori means that I've got to talk to my trusted sources, which I did, and when that was decided, that was my decision, I informed the president of the New Zealand Labour Party which was Wednesday morning."
Asked how it felt to front with Te Pāti Māori, Whaitiri said it was "freedom".
"Liberation is to talk on those issues that matter to our people. And unashamedly without any censoring and I'm going to do that for the people I represent going forward.
"I'm joining a party that doesn't censor the voice of wāhine Māori and I am joining a party that enables the voice of wāhine Māori to be heard, for our people to celebrate being Māori, being unashamedly Māori."
Asked for specifics on what she felt she could not speak about as a Labour MP, Whaitiri said there was "compromise" in Parliament which was a challenge for Māori MPs.
"I've made a decision that I want to close that chapter and enter a waka that's based on liberation and to speak our truth.
"There's a lot of issues and challenges still in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, socially, economically, housing. We've got some really neat innovative solutions, so I'm going to bring both issues, as well as the solutions, by Māori, for Māori."
Asked if she withdrew a letter to the Speaker of the House that would mean she would invoke so-called "waka-jumping" law that would see her removed from Parliament, Whaitiri said it was "a matter for the Speaker".
"[The Speaker] declared what I had said to the House last week," Whaitiri said today.
SHARE ME