“I’m very much disappointed to see /u/AnswerMeNow1 and the Māori Party leave ACT and National in opposition for the crossbenches, and I will make it clear that there were no underlying problems in the opposing coalition which would’ve indicated such a departure, outside of where ACT and the Māori Party fell on the political spectrum. ACT stood behind every proposal made by the Māori Party in the opposition, and voted in favour of those bills too. In fact, every piece of legislation submitted by /u/AnswerMeNow1 had my direct involvement, in a number of capacities.

“The Māori Party left the opposition at a time where they had benefited most from our support. For the first time, the ACT-led opposition had climbed to a level of support in the polls higher than the government, and legislative gains were made by all parties. A by-election in the Te Pōti Māori electorate was to be held, and the opposition would have wholeheartedly supported /u/AnswerMeNow1 as its candidate. It’s quite clear then that the Māori Party reaped the rewards of being in the opposition, and would have continued to - and let’s not forget that /u/AnswerMeNow1 would likely have not entered parliament without our support.

“To anyone with even the tiniest amount of political acumen, or of loyalty and respect to their colleagues who went out of their way to help them, leaving the opposition in these circumstances would be unthinkable. To anyone with a shred of decency, leaving the opposition without first consulting your colleagues, or attempting to rectify any issues, would be unthinkable. Unfortunately for everyone but the government, /u/AnswerMeNow1 possesses none of these qualities. This decision to leave the opposition, by any metric, was done on a whim. Instead of standing up for Māori rights in an official capacity, he has abandoned his post as the Shadow Minister for Māori Affairs. Instead of sticking with a opposition that had the mandate of the New Zealand people, with an election approaching, in a display of vanity and disregard for the basic principle of cooperation he has decided to pose himself as a lone crusader. Instead of being a mature representative of constituents, /u/AnswerMeNow1 has condemned his party and the ideals he represented to a government which cannot be trusted to truly represent the rights of the Māori people.”