Will’s Word: Could Te Pāti Māori's impending collapse lead to transformation?

It just continues to go from bad to worse, which pains me to say, with Te Pāti Māori. Earlier this week, two MPs were ejected. The rest of the MPs met without their co-leaders, according to RNZ.

What the heck is going on here? It's more than a rough week. Te Pāti Māori's having a full-blown identity crisis. The party that's prided itself on unity and kaupapa looks like it's cracking right down the middle.

When your own existing MPs hold a hui without the bosses, jeepers, alarm bells should inevitably be ringing. In recent years, Te Pāti Māori's been the loudest Māori voice in Parliament. Bold, I've said it before, unapologetic, and shaking up the system.

But now it looks more like it's shaking itself apart. Here’s the real question: is this the end of Te Pāti Māori as we know it? Or the start of something bigger? Because if history is any guide, every time Māori politics fractures, something new rises from the rubble.

Te Pāti Māori came to exist because of the Foreshore and Seabed Act under Labour. Then the Mana movement, years later. So, are we seeing something new rise from the rubble? New banners, new energy, new political party?

It seems like the MPs within Te Pāti Māori are divided and the movement, which once felt unshakeable or unstoppable since the last election, suddenly feels pretty uncertain. And maybe this isn't as bad as the media's catastrophising this to be.

Maybe this isn't a collapse, maybe it's more of a reset. But one thing's clear: the party that built its brand on breaking rules is now learning what happens when the rules break you.

That's Will's Word.

Listen to Will’s Word on Facebook below.