Te Pāti Māori president says ‘substance' of controversial Tākuta Ferris comment was 'right'

Tuesday, 16 September 2025

Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris says he has nothing to apologise for despite his own party issuing an apology on his behalf. Caught at Wellington Airport, Ferris dismissed his co-leaders’ response as the party faces deepening internal strains.

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says MP Tākuta Ferris was, in essence, correct when he hit out at non-Māori supporting Labour’s Māori electorate campaign.

Tamihere said Ferris could have worded his comments better, but added that he generally agreed with what the MP had said. That is despite Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer telling the Labour and Green leaders that his comments didn’t reflect her party’s views.

Tamihere’s support for the “substance” of what Ferris said has added further pressure to Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who said it would be “very hard” to work with Te Pāti Māori if it stood by Ferris’ position. Hipkins, on Tuesday, said he would look to speak to Tamihere about the issue.

Ferris deleted his first post, but told Stuff he didn’t regret it. That post said it was mind blowing to see “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” supporting Labour’s Peeni Henare in Tāmaki Makaurau. He said those non-Māori supporters were “campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori”.

Tamihere told Radio Waatea: “What Tākuta said, in substance, was right. It is wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats, because I don’t go over to their countries, like the British Raj and destroy India.”

He continued to use other historical examples to compare to Labour having non-Māori supporters helping its campaign for Tāmaki Makaurau.

“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, right? So I expect some co-mutuality of respect,” he said.

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere said he agreed with the substance of what Tākuta Ferris said.

He said he did think Ferris had been “far too aggressive” with his comments. But, “The substance of what he was trying to say - which he said not as well as he could have - was right, from my perspective.”

Hipkins said he planned to meet Te Pāti Māori before the end of the year.

“I haven’t had a chance to see John Tamihere’s comments or speak to him about that, but I’ve made it very clear that I don’t see any place in New Zealand politics for that kind of sentiment. We should be focused on bringing people together,” he said.

While he didn’t rule out working with Te Pāti Māori, he said its handling of this issue could impact any coalition.

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris said he didn’t need to apologise after two posts criticising Labour for its non-Māori supporters helping Peeni Henare.

“We'll set out which parties we have common ground with and we can work with. And of course, this is one of the things - how they handle this over the next little while - is one of the things that will ultimately [impact that],” he said.

Tamihere didn’t say how Te Pāti Māori planned to respond to the issue, but he said it would be handled internally.

“We don't need to beat up on one another when our eyes should be kept on the prize. And so we we have our own kōrero, but we don't beat one another up just for the satisfaction. You see, we're not a Pakeha party,” he said.