May 3, 2023 8:35pm by David Farrar

The Whaitiri decision is looking dodgy

@MutchJessica on @1NewsNZ says that @mekawhaitiri sent a letter to speaker @adrianrurawhe to resign from @nzlabour and that it was then withdrawn. Can any experts confirm… my understanding is that the withdrawal method only works before delivery, not after. #nzpol
— Camryn Brown (@camrynpetebrown) May 3, 2023

If this is correct, that is appalling. If she resigned from the parliamentary Labour Party in writing, then the Electoral Act is clear – she is no longer an MP. You can’t retract such a letter after the fact, just because you didn’t realise what the impact would be.

We now have a farcical situation where she is a Labour Party MP, a Māori Party MP and an Independent MP all at the same time.

The Speaker should release all correspondence he has had with Whaitiri and the Labour and Maori Parties on this issue. Whether or not she is till an MP should not be something decided behind closed doors with no sunlight. Let us see for ourselves what she wrote.

I’ve also heard that Finance Minister Grant Robertson spent several hours with the Speaker yesterday. Why? Was he advising him on what to do?

The Hansard from Wednesday shows the Speaker struggling to explain how he can declare she is an Independent MP, but also still a Labour Party MP.