Long-rumbling tensions in New Zealand's opposition Maori Party have dramatically escalated with the expulsion of a pair of MPs in a move likely to shake up next year's election.

An ugly saga which has captured the party for months has now led to a formal split, with first-term MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Takuta Ferris expelled by a vote of its national council.

The Maori Party are a vocal left-wing minority party reborn in recent years, and responsible for bolstering some of New Zealand's biggest mass protests against the right-wing coalition government.

Last year, its MPs made worldwide headlines for a haka inside parliament in opposition to a government bill.

However, the six-strong caucus have now splintered over allegations of financial mismanagement by Ms Kapa-Kingi and a racism

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