Takutai Tarsh Kemp died on Thursday morning, aged 50. Photo: Supplied/ Te Pāti Māori
Friends and colleagues of Takutai Tarsh Kemp say she was a "sister" and "buddy" who has left behind a "remarkable" legacy.
Kemp, Te Pāti Māori MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, died in the early hours of Thursday morning aged 50.
Friend and Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere urged Kemp to stand for Parliament. He said Kemp began to feel run down toward the end of her 2023 campaign, but wanted a chance to represent her people.
Tamihere, at the Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland, told Morning Report Kemp was a big part of a "tight knit" community.
"I was always in admiration of her work, and getting our international hip hop artists to even beat the best in the US," an emotional Tamihere said.
"She had a remarkable journey of service to our youth communities in the South of the Auckland area.
"And then over the pandemic we rested shoulder-to-shoulder for three long years - when others were in lockdown we had to get out there and do business."
Tamihere said Kemp was a sister to him, "like Te Pāti Māori is a whānau".
He said she was diagnosed last year with "serious kidney problems".
"She battled remarkably and none of us - even her whānau - knew of the possibility of her passing away under dialysis. Her legacy is absolute an commitment to our people regardless of what other people said, she just believed."
Another friend and colleague of Kemp's said the two "had a lot of laughs" and had "done a lot of crazy things" over the years, and her death has come as a shock.
Papakura Marae chief executive Tony Kake said he had known Kemp since she was a high schooler at Rosehill College, and the two worked side-by-side for much of their careers.
Kake said she was his "buddy" when they served on the district health board and offered him support when they both took the top jobs at Manurewa and Papakura maraes.
"She was also really good in terms of supporting Pae Tiaki, which is over 20 years old [and] is a group that serves our community and do community dinners and Christmas lunches every year, and a whole lot of activities."
Manurewa Marae is a crucial part of the wider Auckland marae network, which Kake said Kemp laid the foundation for.
"She was instrumental in getting the Tāmaki Herenga Waka collective of marae off the ground. She's a key advocate for that... marae not being competitive against each other, but just all working together."
Kake said she took hip hop in New Zealand "to the world" and led groups onto an international stage, culminating in her being appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021, for services to street dance and youth.
Wreaths on the House seat of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
As Kemp was an electorate MP, her death means a by-election will need to be held. There were 44,095 registered voters in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate.
The Speaker of the House will publish a notice of vacancy in the New Zealand Gazette notifying the House of the vacancy. The prime minister will announce the date of the by-election.
After the notice has been published in the Gazette, the governor-general will issue a writ within 21 days, instructing the chief electoral officer to conduct a by-election.
Labour MP Peeni Henare, who narrowly lost to Kemp in 2023, said it was too soon to give any thought to that, referencing a Māori saying that "the body is still warm".
Labour's Māori caucus co-chair Willie Jackson said the party would not be talking about a by-election at all, until the appropriate time.
"This is a time to grieve for Tarsh, for Te Pāti Māori, and for our people of South Auckland. We just want to remember her and pay the appropriate tributes."
There were currently 123 seats in Parliament, an overhang of three due to Te Pāti Māori picking up two more seats than it would otherwise have from its share of the party vote, and National picking up one extra due to the Port Waikato by-election.
If Henare were to re-contest the seat and win, Labour would bring in an extra MP from the party list, as the number of list MPs is calculated prior to the general election.
On Friday morning Kemp will be formally welcomed onto Hoani Waititi Marae, where she will lie for one night.
Then on Saturday she will return home, to Opaea Marae in Taihape, before being laid to rest on Tuesday.
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