In bizarre midnight video, Tākuta Ferris doubles down on his criticism of non-Māori supporting Labour in by-election

Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris has repeated his controversial comments from last week in an 8 minute Instagram video posted at midnight.

In direct defiance of his co-leaders, Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris is doubling down on his criticism of non-Māori people supporting Labour’s Peeni Henare’s by-election campaign.

Ferris defended and repeated his comments during an unusual eight minute video he uploaded to social media at around midnight.

Ahead of the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, which was held last Saturday, Ferris said it was mind blowing to see “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” supporting Labour’s Peeni Henare. He said those non-Māori supporters were “campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori”.

Te Pāti Māori leadership originally told Ferris to take down the original by-election post.

“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 party said, last week.

But then on Tuesday night, Ferris said he had nothing to apologise for. And he repeated the same comments his party apologised for, and which Labour and others called “racist”.

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris is standing by his comments about non-Māori supporters.

“This just blows my mind that they've got all these ethnic people in this post campaigning in a by-election for a Māori seat. So you got all these other ethnicities campaigning for Labour to take a Māori seat from the Māori people.

“Straight up e te iwi, this should be unacceptable to us,” Ferris said in the nearly eight minute long video.

In the end, Te Pāti Māori candidate Oriini Kaipara won the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. She beat Henare, a sitting MP who served as the MP for Tāmaki from 2014 to 2023.

Had Henare won, Georgie Dansey - who is also Māori - would have entered Parliament as a new Labour list MP.

Speaking to Stuff from Koroneihana last week, Labour Māori campaign chairperson Willie Jackson said the post was “totally unacceptable”. He said it was racist.

“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.

But Ferris hit back at Jackson directly during the video.

Takuta Ferris (right) and his controversial Instagram post (left)

“Guess what, Willie. I don't give a crap who you care about or what you care about. In the Māori seats, it's about the Māori people, Māori only,” he said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins and NZ First leader Winston Peters quickly condemned the post, with Hipkins saying he had taken it up directly with Te Pāti Māori leadership.

“I’ve spoken to the leadership of Te Pāti Māori who have apologised again, and have been assured this does not reflect the views of Te Pāti Māori either,” Hipkins said.

Henare was supported by Labour colleagues at Māhurehure Marae in Point Chevalier, where he conceded.

Peters said, “Ferris has lost the plot doubling down on his racist comments.

“He also said that Labour’s campaign was ‘taking a Maori seat away from Maori’. So now he is saying that Peeni Henare is the ‘wrong type of Maori’.

“Ferris’ arrogance and destructive attitude has now not only placed a firm wedge between Labour and Maori Party, he is also now a clear liability within his own party,”

Te Pāti Māori has been approached for comment.