Te Pāti Māori apologises for MP’s ‘totally unacceptable’ social post

Thursday, 4 September 2025

The Labour MP said Tākuta Ferris needed to apologise after criticising Peeni Henare for having non-Māori help his campaign.

Te Pāti Māori has apologised after one of its MPs, Tākuta Ferris, questioned why visible non-Māori were helping Labour candidate Peeni Henare campaign in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.

On Tuesday night, Ferris said on Instagram that it “blows my mind” that “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” were “campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori”.

Alongside the statement was a photo of people campaigning for Henare.

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris’s post on Instagram.

Speaking to Stuff from Koroneihana on Thursday, Labour MP Willie Jackson said the post was “totally unacceptable”.

“It’s showing huge disrespect to those people who all support Māori. We don’t apologise in Labour for working with our different electorates, some of them Pākehā, Ethnics, Pasifika, we think its great,” he said.

“We’ve got strong Māori membership, but one of the things in Labour is everyone’s contributing, and it’s not just about Māori. It’s about Aotearoa, it’s about New Zealand.”

Jackson said it was “really disappointing for him”, and that Ferris “should know better”.

“He’s just given a speech on the marae, for goodness’ sake,” he said.

“And on the marae, you’ve got all the different groups from around the Pacific and around the world, and what they’re trying to do in terms of te Kiingitanga is bring everyone together, and then he comes out with that rubbish.”

Jackson said “of course” the post was racist.

“This is the type of rubbish that we’re getting from him and too much from Te Pāti Māori, who’ve done some good things, no doubt about it, but this looks too exclusive and it’s about ‘stay out of our territory’. That’s not what it’s about for us in Labour.”

Peeni Henare (centre) and Willie Jackson.

Jackson said that while he gets on well with Ferris, the MP should apologise.

In a statement, Te Pāti Māori apologised.

“Te Pāti Māori does not condone the language used in that post. We have spoken with Tākuta and instructed him to remove it. We wholeheartedly apologise for any hurt it has caused,” the statement said.

Speaking on The Hui, former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara explains her unapologetic stance on te reo Māori and her motivations for entering politics.

“Our movement is, and always has been, for the people. We leave nobody behind. We value and appreciate the contribution that Tangata Tiriti and Tangata Moana make every day in building a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa.”

The party said the post has come off the back of “a very raw and difficult few weeks, following the loss of our māreikura Takutai Tarsh Kemp”.

“Our team has been in the trenches, feeling the weight of constant attack and pressure, and sometimes that hurt spills over in ways that do not reflect who we are as a kaupapa or leaders.”

With election day on Saturday, Tāmaki Makaurau has quickly become a two-horse race between Oriini Kaipara of Te Pāti Māori and Peeni Henare of Labour.