‘Ripping you to shreds’: MP outlines wave of abuse aimed at wāhine Māori in politics
Thursday, 14 May 2026
Green MP Tamatha Paul says she is now desensitised to the constant threats she has sustained after spending almost her entire adult life in the public eye.
Paul gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal as part of the long-standing Mana Wahine Kaupapa Inquiry on Thursday, describing years of abuse both online and in public.
“We can put as many wāhine Māori in the Beehive as we like, but if there are 100 men standing outside ready to shoot down that woman, it doesn’t make a difference.”
She said she was reminded it was not normal when Parliamentary Services informed her someone had appeared in court for intent to cause grievous bodily harm, or alerted her to an individual loitering near her electorate office or entering Parliament to send her messages.
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Elected as a Wellington City Councillor when she was 22 years old, she said abuse existed mostly in online spaces. “Things like being told I needed to be hung from a tree by a burning tyre around my neck.”
When she entered central government, the abuse she experienced grew outside the online realm and into real life.
She described instances of people turning up to public events to attempt to have conversations with her, and sending her messages that they were waiting by the bathrooms the entire event.
“The violence isn’t only outright objectification and abuse, there’s also an abuse that is fixation - where people, mainly men, develop a parasocial relationship where they believe that everything I am posting is toward them.”
When they did not receive a personal response from Paul, they turned to violence, she said.
“My partner picks me up and drops me off to everything because he doesn’t trust that someone won’t be waiting for me,” she said through tears.
Parliamentary Services referred these cases to the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.
She called for the centre to be better resourced, saying the individuals required specialist physiological intervention, not just punishment.
She said it had become more dangerous for her in central government as her increased profile made the stakes higher, even though she had more access to security services, and an unlimited budget for home safety improvements.
Paul, who knew she wanted to enter politics from a young age, described the care she had taken in the way she conducted herself to avoid any scandals, saying she faced increased scrutiny as a wāhine Māori.
“I knew from a young age that if I did anything wrong, I would be torn to pieces.
“You can do everything right, you can have no scandals, your personal life can be totally boring and mundane, and you will still be accused of being an alcoholic, a drug addict, promiscuous.”
She spoke of the “manosphere” - a term used to describe a group of online communities centred on male grievance and empowerment.
Paul and Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick had been posted about on 4chan and Reddit forums where “they pile on, they dehumanise and degrade us”.
“Someone will post a link and then all of a sudden you’ve got hundreds of comments just absolutely ripping you to shreds.”
She said in these online communities, men were encouraged to objectify, dehumanise, sexually violate and murder women.
Fringe groups were using technology and AI to post co-ordinated, fake comments on social media, she said.
She called for increased regulation of social media platforms to bring misinformation under control.
Stronger broadcasting standards that covered the online realm were also needed, security services and safeguards for local government and increasing funding for strong public broadcasting networks, she said.
Former Justice Minister Kiri Allen is giving evidence later today.