Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s latest statement to her constituents is an exercise in deflection, obfuscation, and sheer political theatre. She writes with “aroha” and “humility,” claiming transparency, yet carefully sidesteps the elephant in the room: her own glaring nepotism and the toxic behaviour of her racist and allegedly violent son, Eru Kapa-Kingi.
While she goes on at length about budget reallocations for a colleague, extra administrative responsibilities, and the approval of her arrangements by party leadership, she refuses to address the simple, damning truth that she paid her own son $120,000 a year to work for her as parliamentary security. Then, when his employment ended due to “serious misconduct,” she was silent. What misconduct, you ask? Well I covered that last week when he allegedly called a Parliamentary security guard a “f…en white bald head c…” and a “piece of s..t,” even threatening violence.
Not only did she put her son on the public payroll at an eye-watering sum, but she also tolerated behaviour that would make most human resources departments run screaming. Still, she has the gall to talk about transparency and trust with her electorate.
This is the problem with political theatre in Te Pāti Māori - words are sacred, but actions are conveniently ignored. Earlier this year, Kapa-Kingi herself made racist remarks by saying the white politicans were lucky to be able to live in New Zealand in the first place. Now, here she is, still in Parliament, still collecting a fat salary funded by the taxpayers who expect accountability - not excuses.
Her statement reads like a carefully rehearsed script designed to distract. She focuses on budget approvals, colleague support, and the bureaucracy of her role, but never once confronts the reality that nepotism at this scale is corruption dressed up in whānau loyalty.