Former Māori Party co-leader ‘disappointed’ by Ferris remarks

Monday, 22 September 2025

A former leader of Te Pāti Māori has joined the chorus of commentators condemning remarks made by sitting MP Tākuta Ferris, but doesn’t believe the spat will necessarily stop the party working with Labour.

Ferris criticised 'Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā' for helping Labour on the picket lines of the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, on social media.

At first Ferris deleted his post, and the co-leaders of the party privately apologised to Labour. But following the by-election, , Ferris doubled down in a late night video on the subject, then tripled down when door stopped at the airport by Stuff.

Since then, he’s been absent from Parliament and has shunned the media. Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, too, have avoided questions until a media conference at Parliament conducted entirely in te reo.

They said they didn’t support “the way in which Tākuta made his comments”, but stopped short of taking any action.

Meanwhile, party president John Tamihere told Waatea News he backed the “substance” of the remarks, if not the delivery, and a caucus reshuffle saw the party’s whip demoted.

Former Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, who was in Government under National leader John Key, told The Post he was “disappointed” by Ferris’ comments.

“Around the places that I go to, there are many people who are not Māori that absolutely support the Māori Party for their own reasons,” he said.

“So to alienate that sort of vote, and indeed, that group of people is, I think, at the detriment of the Māori Party.”

Though the comments were made by a sitting Te Pāti Māori MP, they’ve arguably become more of a thorn in Labour’s side. The party and its MPs have been repeatedly forced to answer whether it would prevent the two parties working together in government.

The latest Reid Research poll gave the left bloc the lead by a slim one-seat lead, reliant on Te Pāti Māori for governing.

No poll this term has given Labour and the Greens enough to govern alone.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has said if Ferris’s views were held more widely it would make it 'very difficult' to work with Te Pāti Māori - though has refused to rule in or out working with them should he be in a position to lead the next government.

Flavell believed that was the correct stance for Labour.

“People will grand-stand [and make] real strong, hard statements that they would not work with so and so. But when it does come to the crunch, generally, everybody's folded because you find compromise for better or for worse,” Flavell said.

“I don't see too much in the moving of positions right now, and it might even be considered as politicking, even by Labour, taking a stand at this point in time.”

Flavell said there would be a “lot of moving and shuffling” between now and polling day.

“People are making, what some might say, mistakes as we go - all of the parties, in some senses, every so often, come up with something that shakes at the core of New Zealand society; [the] Māori Party have done it, Labour have done it, as have the National Party,” Flavell said.

“It's all going to be known after the election, because ultimately the real push is whether you want to be in government or not, or sit on the opposition benches.”

Attempts by The Post to speak to several senior members of the Labour caucus were either ignored, rebuffed or redirected through Hipkins’ office.

But Willie Jackson reiterated that the comments by Ferris were unacceptable.

“I think that anybody can see that, you know, [Ferris’s] carry on, makes it particularly difficult in terms of the wider vote,” he told The Post.

Tamihere made things “even worse”, he added, by choosing to endorse the substance if not the wording. “What a load of nonsense that he was coming out with. I just almost found it hard to believe that, you know, he believes that sort of carry on,” he said.

“We helped Hone Harawira to set up the Mana Party. And there was a real multicultural move at the time. So I think JT has got some sort of memory loss, as have some of these activists.”

But could a relationship between Labour and Te Pati Māori still work?

“Well, of course - you know, we agree on, probably about, you know, we agree on 80, 90% of things.

“I'm not saying that we're going to but I'm just saying it remains a real possibility … I've been around politics long enough to know that you don't discount anything.”

Labour is yet to roll out policy ahead of next year’s election, though Te Pāti Māori’s website already lists several positions. Some, such as establishing an independent Māori Justice Authority and removing GST from all food, are unlikely to align with Labour’s stance (Hipkins has already ruled out a parliamentary commissioner for Te Tiriti as proposed by Te Pāti Māori at Waitangi this year).

Attempts to speak with Te Pāti Māori’s leadership, or Tamihere, were unsuccessful.

However, former attorney-general Chris Finlayson, who was part of the John Key-led National Government, said three of his favourite people during his time in politics were Māori Party leaders.

“Tariana [Turia], tough as old boots, very principled. She and I worked very closely on the Marine and Coastal Reforms. And also on the Whanganui River redress, and she was tough, and she held her ground, but we both had to compromise, and what emerged was legislation which has stood the test of time,” said Finlayson.

“Dr [Pita] Sharples was a different sort of minister. I was his associate, and I said, ‘Oh, can I reform Māori land law, please?’ And he said, ‘Yep, go for it’.

“And in my final term Te Ururoa Flavell, again, an absolute gentleman, enthusiastic, fantastically supportive of Treaty settlements which I was negotiating and we worked on the next stage of the Māori land reform.”

The Māori Party of 2005 weren’t “nice little middle class saints”, Finlayson said when asked to reflect on the perceived differences between the party now and then.

“They were at the front lines in a lot of the stuff. So you know, at the end of the day, there has to be a difference between rhetoric and reality,” he said.

“I think they overdo the performative stuff and need to knuckle down and do some hard policy work. So we'll just have to see how it plays out.”

Labour, if in a position to form a government, would have to grapple with whether it would want some sort of confidence and supply arrangement or a formal coalition - but “I think it's too early to make those kinds of statements”.

Political alliances were almost always possible, even if they felt implausible.

“This is hardly an apt analogy, but at the end of the day, Ian Paisley had to work with Martin McGuinness … in Northern Ireland,” said Finlayson, referencing the two former political enemies who forged an unlikely friendship in office.

“A stranger set of bedfellows than that it would be hard to find.”