Whaitiri backs Maori gut in NZ Labour defection

Wantaway Labour MP Meka Whaitiri has broken her silence on her defection, saying she left for New Zealand's Maori Party because of a feeling in her gut.

Ms Whaitiri, an MP for a decade and veterans minister, astonished many by leaving the government on Wednesday.

The low-profile Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP's defection was the first by a sitting minister in decades.

Pointedly, she timed her announcement while Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was mid-flight to London for the King's coronation and then went to ground, leaving Kiwis, including her Labour colleagues, none the wiser as to her reasons.

In an exclusive interview with TVNZ on Tuesday, Ms Whaitiri used the Maori word for stomach to explain.

"It was a calling deep in my puku that I had to do this," she said.

She denied leaving due to any policy gripes, instead saying she had been "shackled" inside the Labour government.

"I didn't think I was heard. I've now joined a party that I know my voice," she said.

Mr Hipkins was interviewed shortly after Ms Whaitiri on the same TVNZ program, disagreeing that Labour had blunted her.

"I went back through my messages thinking 'Gosh did I miss something from her' ... at no point did she reach out to me indicating she had anything to say," he said.

In this term of government, Labour has instilled more Maori ministers (eight), including six in cabinet, than at any other period in parliamentary history.

Ms Whaitiri denied leaving because she was passed over for a cabinet role.

"It was a calling that was very strong to me ... many of your viewers may not understand that. But as a Maori they will understand that calling, that beckoning," she said.

While Labour still has a majority in the house, the defection matters greatly ahead of the October 14 election.

NZ's electoral system is designed to almost always produce minority governments, with parties needing to work together to form coalitions to govern.

Ms Whaitiri's move to the Maori Party, a left-wing party founded by another Labour defection two decades ago, reshapes the ties between the two parties.

On current polling, Labour's path to a third term relies upon the minor party's support.

Ms Whaitiri's move also gives the Maori Party a stronger shot at winning the electorate of Ikaroa-Rawhiti, which has been held by Labour since it was created in 1999.

The more seats the Maori Party win, the more likely it is to play the role of kingmaker after the poll.

The move also allows the centre-right opposition National party to run a campaign suggesting the far-left Maori Party is in cahoots with Labour.

"You've got a Labour, Greens, te Pati Maori bloc that's together and that's what you're going to get if you vote for any of those three parties," opposition leader Chris Luxon said.

The exception to NZ's recent record of minority government is the current parliament, in which Labour has a majority thanks to Jacinda Ardern's record-breaking COVID-infused triumph in 2020.