I did not know this until a few minutes ago but Tama Potaka was a member of The Maori Party possibly right up until the time Christopher Luxon lured him into the National Party.
Here is the post by regular commenter Souvlaki at Kiwiblog General Debate which drew it to my attention.
Souvlaki
I’m obviously ‘late to the party’….I had no idea Tama Potaka was a (?)former member of TPM😳. This explains the crass and tasteless ‘ crematorium’ remark over the Treaty Principles bill.
Don’t vote National 2026!
Fiona Mackenzie: Is National The Red Under The Bed?
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/04/fiona-mackenzie-is-national-red-under.html?m=1
The above link is well worth a read in full but take a look at this extract from it:
`During his time at Victoria University, Potaka also authored a radical, apartheid-style paper declaring:
“More important… is the… greater control and power over resources for Māori… That action means a Treaty-driven legislative agendum focused on requiring local government authorities to comply with the Treaty in all their activities… Central government and local government need to consider sharing power with Māori, instead of hoping that Māori entitlements and demands will be satisfied with policies that effectively mainstream Māori into Pākehā society. Anything less than an increase in power for Māori would signal yet another failure in respecting the Treaty.”
— ((1999) 29 VUWLR)’
A Constitutional Overthrow!!
1. Tama Potaka’s Background
Studied law, politics, and Māori studies at Victoria University. He was supported by the Victoria University Foundation, Fletcher Challenge, and others to complete his degrees and pursue an LLM at Columbia Law School. He passed the New York Bar and practiced at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
His diverse career includes work in law, public service, education, iwi organisations, investment, and corporate governance. He held executive positions at Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Tainui Group Holdings, and advisory roles at Te Puni Kōkiri, the NZ Super Fund, and Bell Gully. He has served on Anglican and Māori governance boards. Formerly of the Māori Party, he joined National to enter Parliament.
Given that background it is very likely that Tama Potaka is a Wolf In National Party Clothing.
A man who should be closely watched.
No Minister 
Given that background why is this even a question? Perhaps some enterprising reporter could specifically ask a Poataka a series of questions such as:
What differences do you have with Te Pati Maori (TPM) now? (easy one to knock out of the park).
What specific differences did you have with the The Maori Party that led you to leaving them and joining National?
How does your vision of “power sharing” between government and Māori differ from that of TPM and other Maori activists.
Does it include the type of future legal system envisioned by Justice Christian Whata, where Maori tribal customs which were extant in New Zealand in 1840 will merge Common Law?
Also “watching” must be undertaken with recent history remembered:
Once John Key did the deal with the Maori Party in 2008, the policy simply disappeared from discussion. Everyone understood that such a policy could not survive when doing a deal with the Maori Party. That deal was done in order to balance Act, so between 2008 and 2017 National was never dependent on a single coalition partner.
Go to this channel. There is a whole series of videos on Potaka the activist: https://www.youtube.com/@stopcogovernance