Hobson’s Pledge Steals Kuia’s Image to Promote Racism | The Jackal

9 Aug 2025

Hobson’s Pledge Steals Kuia’s Image to Promote Racism

In a move that exhibits their complete disregard for basic human dignity, Hobson’s Pledge, the divisive lobby group led by Don Brash, has once again stirred outrage. Their latest billboard campaign, which opposes Māori wards, used the image of Rotorua kuia Ellen Tamati without her consent. The billboard featured Tamati’s striking portrait alongside the slogan, “My mana doesn’t need a mandate. Vote no to Māori wards.” For Tamati, a respected elder, the shock of seeing her image co-opted to push a message she fundamentally opposes has been deeply distressing. Her whānau are furious and exploring legal options.

 

On Wednesday, the NZ Herald reported:

Rotorua kuia’s image used in Hobson’s Pledge billboard without consent, family outraged

The family of a Rotorua kuia whose image was used on a Hobson’s Pledge billboard without her permission say the political lobby group has trampled on her mana.

Ellen Tamati’s photograph showing her moko kauae appeared on the Hobson Pledge’s billboards with the words: “My mana doesn’t need a mandate, vote no to Māori wards”.

The widow’s family said their nan “fundamentally disagrees” with the billboard’s message and Hobson’s Pledge never asked her permission.


This shameful act wasn’t a solo effort. Ani O’Brien, former advisor to Judith Collins, and Jordan Williams, co-founder of the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union, orchestrated this stunt through their Campaign Company for Hobson’s Pledge. Their involvement ties this incident to a broader network of right-wing activism that thrives on stoking race-based division while cloaking it in calls for “equality.” The Campaign Company, also tied to other Hobson’s Pledge ventures like the “We Belong Aotearoa” website, seems all too comfortable peddling narratives that undermine Māori rights while hiding behind a veneer of inclusivity.



Don Brash, the figurehead of this debacle, is no stranger to controversy. His track record includes the infamous “Iwi versus Kiwi” campaign from his National Party days in 2005, a divisive tactic that pitted Māori against non-Māori in a crude appeal to Pākehā anxieties. That campaign, much like Hobson’s Pledge’s current efforts, framed Māori rights as a threat to national unity, conveniently ignoring the Treaty of Waitangi’s guarantees of tino rangatiratanga and equal partnership. Brash’s obsession with dismantling Māori electorates, the Waitangi Tribunal, and any semblance of Treaty-based governance has been a consistent thread, widely condemned as racist by figures like Andrew Little, Willie Jackson, and the New Zealand Māori Council.

The use of Ellen Tamati’s image, taken by photographer Rafael Ben Ari at Waitangi Day 2025 and licensed for editorial use only, isn't just a legal misstep, it’s a profound violation of her mana. Tamati, who wears her moko kauae with pride, was horrified to learn her face was plastered across billboards in Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangārei, and Christchurch, falsely suggesting her endorsement of a racist campaign she categorically rejects. Her granddaughter, Anahera Parata, spoke of the emotional toll, with Tamati isolating herself, “devastated” and “emotionally drained” by the betrayal.
 

On Wednesday, RNZ reported:

Rotorua kuia caught up in Hobson's Pledge's anti-Māori ward campaign

Anahera Parata is mamae that her Nan is the main feature.

"All my life, I have only ever known Nan to be pro Māori, a very staunch supporter of Te Paati Māori, everything Māori. Even at her age she's still giving back to her iwi.

"To me that's damaging, not just to Nan but to our whole iwi - I can't imagine being Nan having to face our iwi when her face is being plastered over billboards supporting a message that none of us believe in.

"I'm very hurt and angry. I don't know how they think it's right... it's illegal. You picked the wrong whānau," Parata said.


The Advertising Standards Authority received over 30 complaints about Hobson Pledge's billboards, and legal experts suggest the misuse may even breach the Fair Trading Act, given the image’s restricted licensing. Yet Brash and O'Brien's response, while the cowardly William's remains silent, is a half-hearted apology and hollow claim of ignorance about the image’s copyright limitations.

This incident lays bare the callousness of Hobson’s Pledge’s tactics. By exploiting a kuia’s image, they’ve not only trampled on her dignity but reinforced their pattern of fearmongering and division. Their campaigns, from opposing Māori wards to pushing for the “restoration” of public ownership of the foreshore and seabed, consistently misrepresent Māori rights as a zero-sum threat to others. The backlash, including from Te Pāti Māori and the Māori Journalists Association, underscores the harm caused.

It’s time to call out Brash, O’Brien, Williams, and their ilk for what they are: architects of a divisive agenda that seeks to erode Māori rights. It's time to call out Hobson's Pledge for the racists they actually are.