Te Pati Maori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. "I think that is so true," Ms Ngarewa-Packer said. It is a phrase Ms Ngarewa-Packer dislikes intensely, feeling that each side should come to the table in the interest of the strength of unity, as envisaged by the Treaty. Te Pati Maori is a challenge to the status quo, Ms Ngarewa-Packer said: when half the population was earning less than $30,000 (the median weekly income), that was not good enough. If Labour needed Te Pati Maori to form a government, it would need to offer plenty Ms Ngarewa-Packer said.
