Whānau of a Rotorua kuia who was horrified to find her face on Hobson’s Pledge billboards opposing Māori wards say they are looking at her legal options.
Hobson’s Pledge leader Dr Don Brash says the lobby group believed it was acting legally when it used the photo from a stock image website.
Brash confirmed the political lobby group used an advertising agency to create billboards for its campaign opposing Māori wards and believed they had bought the correct licence for the photograph.
“Our understanding was we were acting legally within the terms of the contract we had.”
He would not name the advertising agency.
Hobson’s Pledge came under fire after billboards around New Zealand, including in Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangārei and Christchurch, showed a photograph of grandmother Ellen Tamati with her moko kauae with the words alongside her image, “My mana doesn’t need a mandate, vote no to Māori wards”.
The image was taken by travel photographer Rafael Ben Ari at the Waitangi Day celebrations in 2025 and, among others, was licensed to stock image websites iStock by Getty and Shutterstock. They were labelled for “editorial use only”.
Tamati said she completely disagreed with the billboard’s message and never gave permission for her photo to be used in a political way, a breach of the websites’ conditions. The photographer could not be contacted.
Tamati, aged in her 70s, is distraught after what her whānau say were actions that trampled on her mana.
Hobson’s Pledge said in a statement that it immediately removed the billboards when it discovered Tamati was upset.
The statement said it would reach out privately to Tamati to ensure she was okay.
Tamati’s granddaughter, Anahera Parata, said yesterday that her grandmother had not received an apology.
Brash told the Rotorua Daily Post earlier that afternoon that Hobson’s Pledge had not yet personally apologised to Tamati.
“I’m not sure we know how to contact her ... New Zealand’s a big country.”
When the Rotorua Daily Post said it found Tamati’s whānau members online within minutes of looking, Brash said: “We will work harder then”.
Brash contacted the Rotorua Daily Post later yesterday afternoon to say a team member had contacted someone they thought was a relativewho told them “in more dramatic words” to “get lost”.
Parata said her grandmother was isolating herself.
“She’s not doing too great ... She wants it all to go away.”
Parata said the whānau engaged a lawyer to look at their options.
“My nan, she just wants it to be gone. She is not one to want for money, never has been, it is about tīkanga and what they [have] done is wrong.”
She said the whānau had not heard from Hobson’s Pledge and were not sure yet how they were going to respond.
“We have told her to turn her phone off and rest.”
Lawyer Tania Waikato, who has published research on Māori intellectual property issues, said in her opinion the stock image websites were clear that the photo was for “editorial use only” and could not be used in the manner they were.
Waikato said “serious questions” should be raised around Hobson’s Pledge’s assertions it had done nothing wrong.
She said both websites stated “editorial use only” content referred to images and videos that did not have a “model or property release on file”.
She said this meant they could not be used for commercial, promotional, or advertising purposes without permission, particularly from a person in the photo.
She said those types of images often portrayed real-world people, places, events and things and were intended to be used only in connection with events that were newsworthy or of general interest.
“This photo of Whaea Ellen was taken at Waitangi in 2025, which is the context and event that it might have been used for – stories about Waitangi Day."
She said users of these websites have an option to purchase a further licence that could potentially allow them to use “editorial use only” photos for commercial uses (such as billboard advertising), but Hobson’s Pledge did not appear to have provided any documentary proof that this type of licence was obtained.
In any event, Waikato said, both websites were clear that such photos could not be used in a defamatory way, or specifically in the Shutterstock licence “in a political context, such as the promotion, advertisement or endorsement of any party, candidate, or elected official, or in connection with any political policy or viewpoint”.
“All of these points raise serious questions as to whether Hobson’s Pledge did in fact secure all rights to use the photo as they have claimed they did and warrant further investigation.”
A Hobson’s Pledge newsletter sent on Thursday afternoon and attributed to Brash said the group would be getting new billboard designs completed in the next couple of days and hoped to have them back up next week.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.