New Zealand’s support for Ukraine has been expanded as prime minister Chris Hipkins meets with defence force troops on the ground in the UK.

The new support package includes a one-year extension, through until the end of June next year, to the deployment of 95 New Zealand Defence Force personnel training and supporting Ukrainian soldiers.

There will also be an additional two NZDF staff deployed to Poland to help with ongoing training. No NZDF staff will enter Ukraine.

Meanwhile, $2 million will be provided to the Ukraine humanitarian fund along with $1.5 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, $500,000 towards NGOs helping with the regional refugee response and $1.3 million to aid the International Criminal Court.

Hipkins said the latest package showed New Zealand’s resolve to support Ukraine had not diminished.

“Unfortunately the conflict appears set to continue for some time. We and likeminded partners will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine,” Hipkins said.

The prime minister had a phone call with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier in the week, during which he gave a heads up of today’s new support. It was the first call the two had had since Hipkins became prime minister earlier this year.

Also this evening, foreign affairs minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a further tranche of sanctions, targeting 18 entities and nine individuals who backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would be put in place.

“These sanctions cover senior leaders of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s internal security and intelligence service, the FSB itself, as well as other Russian individuals and entities who develop and procure weapons, technology and communication systems, and provide services such as transport and insurance – all vital to Russia’s ability to wage war.”

Big news: The MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and government minister, Meka Whaitiri, has jumped from the Labour Party to the Māori Party. Were Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas, and Annabelle Lee-Mather as blindsided as Chris Hipkins, as he lived it large in London ahead of the coronation? What exactly were her reasons for defecting? How damaging is it to the government? And, if she has really notified the Speaker that she has quit Labour, doesn’t the waka jumping law dictate that she should no longer be an MP at all? All this and more on a new episode of Gone By Lunchtime.

Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

New figures out today from Stats NZ confirm that the country’s unemployment rate remains at 3.4% in the March quarter.

The underutilisation rate – “a broad measure of spare labour capacity that includes those unemployed, underemployed, and in the potential labour force” – dropped down to 9% from a revised figure of 9.3% in the last quarter.

Stats NZ’s Becky Collett said that both the unemployment and underutilisation rates had been sitting “at or near record lows” for more than a year.

Kiwibank economists said this afternoon that a resurgence in migration had contributed to increased labour force participation. “Migrants are predominantly aged between 20 and 40, and very active participants. They come here at a working age, and they want to work,” the bank said. “We have seen a further lift in the participation rate to a newly printed high of 72%, up from (an upwardly revised) 71.8%. Migrants are a fountain of youth, and employment. And they dampen wage pressure.”

The Speaker of the House has announced that recently departed Labour cabinet minister Meka Whaitiri will become an independent MP.

Whaitiri announced she’d be leaving Labour’s caucus and moving to Te Pāti Māori “effective immediately”. The question, however, was whether she’d be able to return to parliament straight away or if she’d be forced to wait for an election.

As MPs returned to the house this afternoon, Adrian Rurawhe announced that Whaitiri would become an independent member of parliament.

That’s because he said he had not received Whaitiri’s resignation. “I believe I followed the law to the letter, when I tell this House I do not have a letter, I don’t,” Rurawhe said.

Instead, he said he had received an email signalling Whaitiri would not be voting with the Labour Party. “I have received the letter – the email that I spoke about asking for her vote to be withdrawn. That was received by email,” Rurawhe said.

The acting prime minister said she’s disappointed that one of Labour’s ministers has jumped ship to Te Pāti Māori.

It was confirmed this morning that Meka Whaitiri had resigned from Labour. She’s since been sacked of all of her ministerial responsibilities, effective immediately.

Speaking from parliament, Carmel Sepuloni said the party would not be invoking the waka jumping legislation. “We don’t feel the need to invoke that. We’re not going to invoke so the other way is through the speaker and that is up to Meka and the speaker.”

Whaitiri signalled she had sent an email to the Speaker of the House this morning resigning from Labour. It’s not clear yet whether that letter will automatically invoke the waka jumping rules, preventing Whaitiri from returning to parliament as a member of Te Pāti Māori until an election has been held.

“Anything to do with Meka that’s over to her,” Sepuloni added. “We have no desire to invoke the waka jumping legislation.”

Asked whether Whaitiri’s move was an indictment of Labour’s track record for Māori, Kelvin Davis, standing alongside Sepuloni, said no. “We’re very proud of our track record… Meka was a valued member of our Māori caucus and of the wider caucus, but she was made her decisions.”

Sepuloni said she wasn’t so much emotional as just disappointed, saying it was hard to lose a colleague.

No explanation has yet been given for Whaitiri’s decision to leave Labour. “We haven’t had a reason,” Sepuloni said. “There was no contact made with the leadership, no explanation given to date. It really is Meka’s decision.” She first heard the news – while it was still a rumour – yesterday afternoon from a member of the public.

Asked whether Labour had been betrayed, Sepuloni said. It was also revealed that minister Kiri Allan travelled to meet with Whaitiri once it became apparent the defection was about to happen. They pair did meet, though Sepuloni would not reveal what was said during that conversation.

Decisions on the permanent reallocation of Whaitiri’s portfolios will be made in the next week. For now, Kieran McAnulty will be the acting Hawkes Bay minister for Cyclone Recovery, Ayesha Verrall will be the acting minister for food safety, Peeni Henare will be the acting minister for veterans, and Damien O’Connor will be the acting minister of customs.

Labour minister Meka Whaitiri plans to return parliament as a member of Te Pāti Māori – a move that may not be possible straight away given the current waka jumping legislation.

The announcement, first reported last night, was formally confirmed by an emotional Whaitiri at a Hawke’s Bay marae this morning.

Addressing party faithful, including co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, Whaitiri asked for support from the party and pledged to stand in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti seat in this year’s election.

“Māori political activism is part of being Māori,” Whaitiri said. “The decision to cross the floor was not an easy one, but it was the right one.”

She confirmed she had this morning resigned from the Labour Party and joined Te Pāti Māori “effective immediately”. This means under the waka jumping legislation she will be required to vacate her seat. Given it is within six months of the election, a byelection will not be required with the approval of more than 75% of the house.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, party president John Tamihere announced that it was “Meka’s day” (this was briefly followed by the livestream crashing).

He said it took “enormous courage” for Whaitiri to have walked away from a “ministerial job… a sure thing.” But she was “coming home to her whakapapa”.

Whether or not a byelection will be triggered is currently unknown. However, Tamihere said: “If it’s a byelection we’ll run over the top of them. If there’s an election we’ll do the same.”

Tamihere also paid tribute to Heather Te Au-Skipworth – the previous candidate for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti – for her mana in choosing to stand aside for Whaitiri.

Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said today was a “turning point” for the party and the “movement”.

“We must make it OK for everyone to be able to come back,” she said. “Our movement will hold and open the door and welcome you back to our movement.”

Prime minister Chris Hipkins was blindsided by the announcement this morning. He was first informed after landing in the UK ahead of the coronation of King Charles III later this week, revealing he had not been able to speak with Whaitiri.

The acting prime minister will front a press conference at about 11.30am.

Te Pāti Māori is poised to reveal at 10am that current Labour minister Meka Whaitiri is joining the party.

You can tune into a livestream below and we’ll have all the details once they’ve been confirmed.

In a fiery question time, the government and opposition traded barbs on capital gains tax and the clean car discount scheme. National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis “persisted with her efforts to uncover what she claims is Labour’s secret capital gains or wealth taxes”, the Herald reports, pushing finance minister Grant Robertson to deny that cabinet had discussed new tax policies three months ago.

Robertson said specific Cabinet discussions were confidential and warned Willis over future allegations. “The member should be very careful with the accusations she chooses to make,” he said. National transport spokesperson Simeon Brown went on the attack over changes to the EV “feebate’ scheme, calling it a “kick in the guts” for the tradespeople and farmers who use high emissions vehicles like utes.

In response, transport minister Michael Wood accused National of wishing to turn “every policy that is about addressing climate change into a tacky little culture war”.

Want to read The Bulletin in full? Click here to subscribe and join over 38,000 New Zealanders who start each weekday with the biggest stories in politics, business, media and culture.  

Newshub has reported that Te Pāti Māori has this morning confirmed speculation of an announcement coming on current Labour minister Meka Whaitiri.

The subject line of the advisory email, which Te Pāti Māori then said could be reported on, was: “Meka Whaitiri crosses the floor to Te Pāti Māori”. It’s not yet known whether Whaitiri will be immediately shifting across to Te Pāti Māori, or resigning from parliament before launching an election campaign.

The report suggests all will be revealed at about 10am this morning at Waipatu marae. We’ll have a livestream for you then.

The prime minister’s mind will probably be stuck back in Wellington with news he’s about to lose a minister to another party. But nevertheless, the show must go on.

Chris Hipkins landed in the UK overnight ahead of the king’s coronation on Saturday. Before that, he’ll meet with senior members of the Royal Family – including King Charles – along with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.

His first engagement was a meeting with Prince William. A tweet from the royal’s account said it was “pleasure” to welcome Hipkins to Windsor Castle.

The prince recently announced that former prime minister Jacinda Ardern would be joining as a trustee of his Earthshot Prize.

If there’s one way to wash away the feeling of jetlag, it’s news of an impending defection.

It’s anticipated that Labour minister Meka Whaitiri will today announce she’s jumping ship to Te Pāti Māori, a major bombshell less than six months out from polling day.

The news first dropped last night while prime minister Chris Hipkins still had his phone safely on airplane mode as he headed over to the UK ahead of the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday.

Speaking to media upon arrival, Hipkins revealed he had yet to hear from his minister. “I haven’t had a conversation with Meka Whaitiri yet and I obviously want to do her the courtesy of hearing what she has to say if anything before I make a comment on it,” Hipkins said. “I think that’s only fair, so I’ll reserve any further comment until I’ve had that conversation.”

Newshub’s Jenna Lynch said last night it was her understanding that Whaitiri wasn’t picking up the phone for anyone from the government.

Asked whether he had lost control of his government, Hipkins said no. “On a regular basis, elections roll around, people make decisions about their own future, typically they would speak to their party leaders before making those announcements,” he said.

Former National MP Tau Henare, himself a politician who previously switched parties, told RNZ today he wasn’t surprised by the lack of comms from Whaitiri, saying you don’t tell “your enemy” before making a move.

Meanwhile, National’s leader Christopher Luxon said it was further evidence of a “government falling apart” – and it was a distraction from issues that New Zealanders wanted to be talking about.

While he refused to outright rule out working with Te Pāti Māori should the party be in the kingmaker position come election day, Luxon said it was “highly unlikely”.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are one bloc. I’m focused on the National Party and driving the National Party vote,” he said.

The Spinoff hasn’t heard back from Whaitiri or Te Pāti Māori.