Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris scores own-goal over ‘lies’ slur in Parliament – Audrey Young

Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.

OPINION

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Welcome to the Politics Briefing. Winston Peters may be the oldest MP in the House, but he is not hard of hearing and his political antennae are always finely tuned when one of the MPs from Te Pāti Māori is speaking. When one of them, Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris, strayed from the rules yesterday and suggested MPs tell lies, Peters pounced.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee had been distracted and hadn’t heard what Ferris was saying, so sought the MP’s word on the matter. Ferris denied it, unfortunately. That is not a time to be tricky with words and to claim deniability because you had only said they tell lies, not that they are liars.

This is how it unfolded, so judge for yourself:

Tākuta Ferris: “A knowledge gap is a dangerous thing. It allows lies to be presented as truths. Politicians call this obfuscation – the art of making something unclear, intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to confuse others. Lies, in other words. Many in this House are masters of it, and it is a disservice to those who voted you into your positions ...”

Winston Peters: “He made the allegation that members of this Parliament are liars, and he should have been stopped in his tracks right then.”

Speaker: “If he has made that statement – we’ll obviously check Hansard later – then he should withdraw and apologise as quickly as possible.”

Tākuta Ferris: “I haven’t made that statement.”

His claim that MPs are the masters of telling lies is a minor offence compared to the grave offence of denying it. A member’s word is meant to be synonymous with his or her honour. Ferris made the mistake of thinking that just because it is commonly believed that MPs tell lies, you can say it in the House – or that just because he didn’t name an MP, he could get away with it. That is no defence because it then becomes an offence against the whole House.

The MP will have to withdraw and apologise to avoid a referral to the Privileges Committee. He has certainly proved his point with his own blatant porky. But the process may take some time. It is understood Peters has filed a formal complaint to the Speaker and Ferris has 10 days to respond.

Colleague Jamie Ensor reported on this incident and on Peters’ own speech following Ferris in which he deplored the falling dress standards in the House – including the wearing of T-shirts and hats – mainly by Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party.

It has been a huge week for the Government on the law and order front as it moves to pass some of its most controversial legislation clamping down on gangs. We have comprehensive coverage of it, including last-minute amendments to cover gangs showing their patches through car windows, and concerns by Ministry of Justice officials that a NZ First policy could double the prison population.

If Labour wants any proof that a capital gains tax will be political dynamite for them, they need look no further than the poll earlier this week showing a slump in support for leader Chris Hipkins after a concerted few weeks of him promoting a change. See Claire Trevett’s comment piece.

Meanwhile, I’ve written a comment piece on the “tsunami” of policies aimed at Māori and an in-depth piece on the resurrection of Sir Āpirana Ngata in the political debate over whether Māori ceded sovereignty.

Quote unquote

“It is North Korean. Get rid of it” – Labour’s Ayesha Verrall tells Health NZ Commissioner Lester Levy what she thinks of non-disclosure agreements required of senior Heath NZ staff – and, surprisingly, Levy appears to agree.

Micro quiz

Why is Labour leader Chris Hipkins going to the UK and why is Foreign Minister Winston Peters going to New York next week? (Answer below.)

Brickbat

Tākuta Ferris in the House during his swearing-in ceremony. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Goes to Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris for denying calling other MPs liars in a speech yesterday when he said many in the House were masters of telling lies – presumably himself included.

Bouquet

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has learnt a whakataukī (saying) each day for Te Wiki o te Teo Māori, Māori Language Week. Photo / Ben Dickens

Goes to Cabinet minister Paul Goldsmith for learning a whakataukī (saying) each day for Te Wiki o te Teo Māori, Māori Language Week. Monday’s was “okea ururoatia” – meaning never give up, fight like a shark. “[It’s] what we have to do every day in this place,” he told reporters at Parliament. “This is a dangerous place.”

Latest political news and views

Opinion: A bad poll, an overseas trip and tax talk have made Labour leader Chris Hipkins an easy target, writes Claire Trevett.

Transport warning: Officials warned the coalition Government – and its predecessor – that 25,000 more workers would be needed by 2026 to deliver its infrastructure promises.

Parliamentary standards: NZ First leader Winston Peters has taken issue with Parliamentary standards after Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris allegedly suggested some in the House were “masters” of lying.

Analysis/Opinion: Audrey Young outlines 10 Māori policies that are in the sights of the coalition Government.

Public sector NDAs: Health NZ Commissioner Lester Levy says he personally wouldn’t want senior staff to sign NDAs, something his agency asked of some employees earlier this year.

Prison warning: Honouring a National-NZ First coalition commitment could double the prison population, officials say.

Gangs bill: The Government is set to rush through another amendment to its anti-gang legislation to ensure gang members don’t display patches in their car windows.

Youth crime: The number of charges against children and teenagers has spiked in the last year, with theft, robbery and burglary seeing the biggest increases.

Gangs bill: Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith initially rejected a police request to ban gang patches in the private homes of repeat offenders, but then changed his mind despite objections from officials and the Privacy Commissioner.

Auckland CBD crime: Police Minister Mark Mitchell is lauding the Government’s efforts to reduce crime in Auckland’s CBD as new data shows assaults are becoming less frequent.

Opinion: Climate Minister Simon Watts told a big business conference last week we have to go “harder and faster” to reduce emissions, writes Simon Wilson. But what does he mean?

Treaty debate: Legendary Māori MP Sir Āpirana Ngata has been resurrected in the Treaty of Waitangi sovereignty debate.

Quiz answer: Chris Hipkins is heading to the UK to attend the British Labour Party conference and Winston Peters is representing New Zealand at the United Nations’ leaders’ week.

For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.