Tauranga car salesmen no longer with company after racist comments

Narelle Newdick was the subject of a racist rant on an accidential voicemail message from two former staff at Farmer Auto Village. Photo/File

Two Tauranga car salesmen stood down after they accidentally left a racist message on a Maketu woman's phone are no longer with the firm.

Nurse Narelle Newdick had visited the Farmer Auto Village in Tauranga with the hopes of buying a new car and took a vehicle for a test drive on May 16.

She then discovered a racist message left on her phone as two former salesmen at the company talked to each other.

"Your little Māori girl ... it keeps going to voicemail," the two dealers can be heard saying.

The message continues, "Tell her don't be a f..... clever Māori. You little Māori girl ... Go back to Maketu and dig pipis out of the sand."

Mike Farmer, the managing director of Farmer Auto Village in a written statement sent to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekendconfirmed the result of the disciplinary process,

"The two salespeople involved in the recording are no longer employed by the company, and we, as a 120-strong team, do not tolerate any type of this behaviour.

"We have taken the appropriate firm action," he said.

Farmer also said he and the Newdick family had met on many occasions since the voicemail came to light.

"We have been working closely together on the steps of restoration," he said.

A reconciliation hui was held in Te Puke last month with Newdick and her family.

At the hui, Farmer told Newdick that Tauranga Farmers Autovillage "sincerely and unreservedly apologises for the hurt and distress caused to her and her whanau".

He and the Farmer family asked for and received forgiveness from Newdick.

Newdick earlier told the Bay of Plenty Times that community support over her decision to go public had been overwhelming.

While reluctant to be in the spotlight, it was something she knew had to be highlighted.

"I wanted to stand up and say this isn't okay," she said at the time.

Farmer earlier also stated his intention to take "some very firm action to make sure this never ever, happened again".

Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust executive director Tommy Wilson attended the
reconciliation hui after he was asked to help facilitate the meeting by the Farmer family.

Wilson said Tauranga Farmers Auto Village had been a long-time supporter of the Trust and this sort of hurtful, harmful incident did not reflect the wider culture of the company.

"It's pleasing to see that Mike Farmer and the Farmer family have taken a proactive stance," he said.

WIlson added it was encouraging to see the process of reconciliation happening between Māori and non-Māori, particularly in the corporate world "where it was needed the most".

"A lot of businesses can use this as a template to learn from what has happened and create their own cultural footprint," he said.

Former Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy earlier commended Newdick for taking action and calling the men out on racism.