[1] Kaipara was a newsreader at Mai FM, and then in 2004 joined TVNZ's fully te reo Māori Waka Huia as a reporter and director.
[8] In February 2022 Kaipara joined Simon Shepherd as co-host of Three's weekly political current affairs show Newshub Nation.
[14] In 2021 Kaipara received international recognition for being the first person to host a prime-time news programme on national television, with traditional facial markings.
[1] In 2020 Kaipara was upset by a portrait painted of her without permission by Auckland artist Samantha Payne, in which her unique moko kauae was prominently displayed.
[20][21] There was another unauthorised painting made of Kaipara in 2024, with a very similar portrait being sold by a South African-born artist that emphasised her moko kauae.