Tākuta Ferris defies leaders with post, amid Te Pāti Māori shake up

Thursday, 11 September 2025

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris has defied his co-leaders, doubling down on his criticism of non-Māori supporting Labour’s Peeni Henare’s by-election campaign.

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris is refusing to remove his late night anti-Labour rant, even after his co-leader told Labour leader Chris Hipkins the post was out of line.

His refusal to back down shows direct defiance of the co-leaders, who are currently shaking up how they run Te Pāti Māori. The shake up has seen another MP lose an official title, and perks, although the party says that isn’t a demotion.

By leaving the post online, Ferris has also pushed Hipkins to strengthen his condemnation of the comments. Hipkins, on Thursday, ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori if it accepted Ferris’ views. He said it was now a “disciplinary matter” for the co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

Meanwhile, Ferris’s post has continued to spark debate at Parliament. Coalition MPs are now questioning if he’s fit for office.

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris is refusing to remove his late night anti-Labour rant, as pressure builds for the Te Tai Tonga MP.

At around midnight on Tuesday night, Ferris posted an eight-minute monologue where he doubled down on his criticism of non-Māori people supporting Labour’s Peeni Henare’s by-election campaign.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Tākuta Ferris' comment is incompatible with Labour, but Te Pāti Māori leaders have assured him that view isn't shared by others in the party.

All political parties, including Ferris’s own, have condemned the comments.

Te Pāti Māori apologised on behalf of Ferris when he first hit out at “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” supporting Henare in Tāmaki Makaurau. But then on Tuesday night he repeated the comments, justified his original statement, and has since ignored questions from reporters.

Hipkins said he spoke to Ngarewa-Packer on Wednesday, who told him Ferris’s comments did not represent the party’s views.

“I have made it clear to the leadership of the Māori Party that Tākuta Ferris’s comments were totally unacceptable. They’ve agreed with me on that. Now this is really a disciplinary matter for them… It’s up to them to do something about that,” he said.

He said he would confirm, ahead of next year’s election, if he would be willing to work with Te Pāti Māori.

NZ First de factor deputy Shane Jones says he’s worried about Tākuta Ferris posting late at night.

“Comments like Tākuta Ferris’s are totally unacceptable. If that’s going to be the stance of the Māori Party going forward, that would make them very difficult to work with. But I have taken Debbie Ngarewa-Packer at her word,” he said.

NZ First’s Shane Jones said the video was a “bizarre” thing for an MP to post late at night.

“Can I just state a few facts? Tākuta made those statements, I’m advised, very late at night. It is a dangerous thing to go on social media late at night if you’re not possessed of all your faculties,” Jones said, on Thursday.

“There can be no credible or rational explanation as to why he is mouthing off, hiding in a hoodie. He kind of looked like some sort of lost soul on the side of the street.”

Acting Prime Minister David Seymour said he “felt sorry” for Ferris.

Acting Prime Minister David Seymour says he has concerns for Tākuta Ferris.

“When he came in he seemed like a decent but slightly naive guy. I think the pressure of Parliament has got to him and it might be a good idea, for his welfare actually, to step down,” Seymour said.

He said the comments showed “fringe racist views” and were “quite embarrassing” for an MP.

There has been no suggestion from Te Pāti Māori or Ferris that he is suffering any mental stress. Although he has been avoiding Parliament and ignoring reporters’ questions all week, he has been out and about.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has replaced Mariameno Kapa-Kingi as the party’s whip.

On Thursday, he spent the day in Blenheim and attended a resource management conference. Organisers refused to let Stuff speak to him, and Ferris, again, ignored written questions such as: “Have the co-leaders asked you to take your video down?”

Ngarewa-Packer also ignored that question when Stuff asked her on Thursday, but she did confirm a wider shake up going on within her caucus.

Earlier this week, Te Pāti Māori changed its “whip”. The position as whip is an official role, which comes with increased pay and recognition at Parliament. It’s seen as a senior position within a caucus.

Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi had been the whip since December 2023, but lost that position on Tuesday. That meant she would take a $20,000 pay cut.

The party named Ngarewa-Packer as the new whip.

She explained the change: “We’ve just won Tāmaki Makaurau and we need to release our MPs so they can be in their electorates. I was the whip for three years. We will be focusing on inducting a new MP and recruiting a new team,” she said.

Generally, the co-leader would not be the whip in a party with more than five MPs. This, in part, would be because the co-leaders already received $28,000 per year on top of the ordinary MP’s salary.

Kapa-Kingi, as the MP for Tai Tokerau, is is responsible for a large electorate covering all of Northland and some of Auckland.