Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says the substance of Tākuta Ferris’ controversial race comments is right and it’s “wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats”, comments that threaten to further inflame the party’s relationship with Labour.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he disagrees with the sentiment and has warned how Te Pāti Māori deals with the matter “will have a bearing on Labour’s ongoing working relationship with them”.
Te Pāti Māori has ignored multiple requests from the Herald for comment.
Tamihere was at Parliament on Tuesday morning and began walking towards media before ducking away and using another route to get to his party’s offices.
Tamihere’s comments appear to be at odds with what Hipkins has said Te Pāti Māori co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, told him. Hipkins says Ngarewa-Packer apologised privately for Ferris’ comments and said they didn’t reflect Te Pāti Māori’s view.
As the Herald revealed this month, Ferris took aim at “Indians, Asians Black and Pākehā campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori” and said it was “unacceptable” for people of other ethnicities to campaign to “take a Māori seat from the Māori people”.
But the party president told Waatea News on Monday night that “what Takuta said in substance was right”.
“It is wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats because I don’t go over to their country, like the British Raj and destroy India. I don’t rage the Opium War as the British did with the Chinese. I don’t place all people from Africa into slavery like white Europe did.”
He said his party didn’t leave any behind “but there is some reciprocity required here”.
“The way Tākuta framed it in terms of a narrative was far too aggressive. The substance of what he was trying to say, which he said not as well as he could have, was right from my perspective.”
As for the party’s response, Tamihere said Māori tikanga wasn’t to “brutalise someone in the public’s eye solely for public excitement”, but instead to “kōrero” and “hui”.
“We don’t need to beat up on one another when our eyes should be kept on the prize. So we have our own kōrero but we don’t beat one another up just for the satisfaction. We’re not a Pakeha party.”
Hipkins said he didn’t see “any place in New Zealand politics for that kind of sentiment”.
“That means recognising the huge contribution that all of our communities make to Aotearoa... If Tākuta Ferris’ comments reflect the broader views of the Māori Party, that would make it very difficult for Labour to work with them.”
Asked by the Herald whether he was concerned how Ferris’ comments may damage the relationship between Labour and Te Pāti Māori, Hipkins said Ngarewa-Packer’s private comments to him indicated Ferris’ views didn’t reflect that of the whole party.
“That’s really now a question for them. How they deal with this going forward will of course have a bearing on Labour’s ongoing working relationship with them.”
He reiterated that before the next election, Labour would outline what parties it has common ground with and it can work with.
“How they handle this over the next little while is one of the things we will consider.”
On current poll numbers, Labour would need the support of Te Pāti Māori to govern. Hipkins said his goal was to increase Labour’s party vote.
He said he hoped to meet with Tamihere before the end of the year.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was “very supportive” of people of various ethnicities campaigning in Māori seats.
The saga began earlier this month when Ferris shared an image of Labour MPs and volunteers campaigning in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection, with a caption reading: “This blows my mind!! Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori”. After Te Pāti Māori disavowed those comments, Ferris removed the post.
He went on to post another video doubling down on the comments, saying it was “unacceptable” for people of other ethnicities to campaign to “take a Māori seat from the Māori people” and accused Labour of “erasing Māori”.
That video remains on Ferris’ Instagram account, despite widespread condemnation from across Parliament. Labour and the Greens say they have received private apologies from Ngarewa-Packer.
Te Pāti Māori leadership also last week removed MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi from her role as party whip despite her telling the Herald that she enjoyed the role.
“It’s a decision made by our leadership, and yeah ... I quite liked the work, but yeah. Things are changing,” she said.
On Ferris’ remarks about ethnic communities campaigning in the byelection, Kapa-Kingi said it “probably wasn’t as delicate as it could have been”.
She didn’t want to comment on the matter extensively but said there was a wider context and emphasised his point about it being a “Māori seat”.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist this year for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.