Tākuta Ferris and Te Pāti Māori undergo ‘tikanga based restorative process’ after ‘racist’ posts

Friday, 12 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.

After he tripled down, repeating criticism about non-Māori involvement in Labour’s Māori electorate campaign, Tākuta Ferris has been called in for a hui.

On Thursday night, Ferris told Stuff he didn’t see any need to apologise for the comments - even though his own party has publicly apologised for what he said.

“We have Labour using the face of multicultural New Zealand to just keep, you know, just to keep the presence of that idea there. And to me, it wasn’t acceptable then, and it’s still not acceptable now,” he said.

This drama started during the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election campaign.

Ferris posted on Instagram, criticising Labour’s Peeni Henare for using “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” supporters “to take a Māori seat from Māori”.

He took down that post after Te Pāti Māori asked him to, but he told Stuff he didn’t regret it. Then late on Tuesday night, he posted an eight-minute rant doubling down on the comments.

Hitting back at Labour’s Willie Jackson - who said the first post was “racist” - Ferris said: “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.”

Tākuta Ferris returned to Wellington on Thursday night.

Following that, his party went into damage control mode. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer spoke to the Labour and Green party leaders, telling them that his comments did not represent the views of Te Pāti Māori.

But Ferris said that on Thursday night he still hadn’t spoken to either co-leader.

“We’re all busy. I mean, everyone’s on the road this week. It’s not like we’re all sitting together,” he said.

Asked if he was purposefully disrespecting their leadership, Ferris replied: “No, not at all. I mean, that’s not how we work in te ao Māori.”

He indicated he views the party as a group of equals, rather than a top-down leadership.

Both Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were unavailable for an interview on Friday.

“There are six seats in Te Pāti Māori. They all represent individual rohe. All of those rohe have the same mana,” he said.

But on Friday, Te Pāti Māori indicated they had finally got in touch with Ferris.

A party spokesperson said neither Ngarewa-Packer or Rawiri Waititi would be available to comment for this story.

“The co-leaders will not be available for an interview. We are undergoing an internal tikanga based restorative process,” the spokesperson said.

They reiterated that Te Pāti Māori did not support Ferris’s recent comments.

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi lost her position as Te Pāti Māori whip on Tuesday.

“Tākuta’s comments are not reflective of our values, and we have been clear about that. We want to reaffirm that our fight is with the colonial system that divides us and pits us against each other.

“We are a movement that leaves nobody behind. We acknowledge the contribution of Tangata Tiriti and Tangata Moana toward building a Tiriti Centric Aotearoa that cares for everybody,” the statement said.

This challenge has come as Te Pāti Māori undergoes a wider shake up, with Oriini Kaipara set to join the party at Parliament after winning the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.

The party also stripped Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi of her position as the party’s whip. That meant she would take a $20,000 pay cut.

But Stuff understands these changes are causing trouble, with both Kapa-Kingi and Ferris unhappy with the co-leaders’ decisions.

In a party of just six MPs, unity is vital - which makes this Friday’s “internal tikanga based restorative process” incredibly important for the future of Te Pāti Māori.