The Numerous Bad Takes About Tom Phillips' Death

The death of Tom Phillips, shot by police in a violent confrontation on 8 September 2025 in rural Waikato, is a heartbreaking chapter in a saga that has gripped Aotearoa for nearly four years.

Phillips, a fugitive father who vanished with his three children in 2021, met a tragic end after a shootout that also left one police officer critically injured. The loss of life, the trauma inflicted on Phillips’ children, and the pain endured by their whānau is nothing short of devastating.


Yesterday, RNZ reported:

 

Questions about the Marokopa children as Tom Phillips killed after four-year search 

 

The police shooting of a man after a burglary in Waitomo on Monday morning brings to an end one of the most unsettling incidents in recent New Zealand history: the disappearance of Tom Phillips and his three children from remote Marokopa.

For nearly four years Phillips lived in hiding, slipping in and out of sight across remote farmland and bush, while his children - Jayda, Maverick, and Ember - grew up in isolation from their friends, their family and community.

Their mother, Cat, described it as a living nightmare.

"They are who I am, and since they've been gone, I've lost my way. I'm not me. I'm lost. I'm lost without them."

 

Unfortunately, in the wake of this tragedy, a chorus of “cookers” and self-styled commentators have flooded the discourse with wild theories and baseless claims, showing a callous disregard for the families and children at the heart of this ordeal.

Among the most egregious voices is Cameron Slater, a blogger notorious for his inflammatory and false rhetoric. Slater has peddled the absurd notion that police deliberately laid a trap for Phillips, intent on gunning him down, ignoring the fact that only one police officer was initially involved. 

Slater's claims aren't only baseless but reek of the conspiratorial paranoia that has long defined his scribbling. But what makes these false claims even more telling is Slater's past posts, where he's defended the police shooting of Māori men, even in cases where the victims were unarmed, framing such incidents as necessary for public safety.

Cameron Slaters' selective outrage, cheerleading lethal force against Māori while crying foul over Phillips' death, exposes a hypocritical streak that undermines any shred of credibility the right wing propagandist once had.

The suggestion that police orchestrated a fatal ambush ignores the reality shown in the released photos: Phillips, armed with a rifle, shot a lone police officer in the head at close range, forcing the police officer to respond.

At time of writing, it appears that Phillips attempted to murder a police officer in a bid to escape and continue to hide in the bush with his three children, all of whom will be significantly traumatised by their ordeal. If Phillips' actions don't justify the Family Courts' initial decision to provide custody of the children to their mother, Catherine, I don't know what will.

Equally reckless is Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury, whose commentary on Twitter and The Daily Blog has veered into the absurd. Bradbury argues that the police were unjustified in returning fire, even after Phillips critically wounded an officer. This is lazy blogging at best, if not downright delusional.



On Monday, The Daily Blog posted:

 

The predictability of shooting Tom Phillips and the whitewash that will follow

The sad predictability of the shooting of Tom Phillips like a dog in front of his own child should surprise no one.

This Blog has predicted this very outcome for several years now.

The only blessing is the Police managed to not shoot the remaining children.

The current scramble by the cops in getting their story straight is helped by Journalists who never ask the hard questions.

We don’t even know how many shots were actually fired.

Bomber's claims defy logic. A man who appears to have initiated a shootout, endangering lives, including the lives of his children, cannot reasonably be painted as a victim. Bradbury’s fixation on the number of shots fired, demanding precise details as if they unlock some grand conspiracy, details that won't be available until forensics are completed, is particularly nonsensical. Such speculation fuels mistrust without evidence, distracting from the gravity of the incident and the trauma of those involved.

The media, too, has not escaped the trap of sensationalising this tragedy. Reports claiming Phillips “riddled” a police vehicle with bullets have been published by Stuff, yet only four bullet holes were found in the vehicle (five according to The Herald). The description of a “high-powered rifle” has also been reported, despite no specific details on the weapon’s model or calibre being released by police.


Yesterday, Stuff reported:

What the images tell us about Tom Phillips’ last moments

A police car riddled with bullets sits in the middle of a rural road, surrounded by bush.

Its driver and right passenger doors are wide open, the boot lifted. At least four bullets have pierced the front window.

Tom Phillip’s body lies on the tarseal of Te Anga Rd just metres away.

His quad bike is pulled to the side of the road, nestled against the bush. It’s loaded with what looks like buckets and supplies.

This sloppy reporting inflates the narrative, painting a picture of a one-sided gunfight that obscures the chaotic reality of the encounter. It's likely that the police officer, who is still in hospital for ongoing treatment, was shot before trying to retrieve his gun from the boot of his vehicle. That's the story the photos tell. The initial lone confrontation and critical injuries categorically show that this wasn't a police trap to gun down a fugitive.

Embellishments about Phillips' weapons or the police intending to shoot Phillips dead are clearly not required, and do a disservice to the public and, more critically, to the families grappling with the aftermath. Phillips’ children, now aged 9, 10, and 12, have endured years of isolation and uncertainty, only to lose their father in a violent clash, a tragic ending that the eldest child likely witnessed.

Their mother has spoken of her relief at their safe recovery but also her profound sadness. The whānau, already burdened by years of public scrutiny, deserve space to heal, not a barrage of conspiracy theories and exaggerated headlines. The officer’s family, too, faces an agonising wait as he undergoes multiple surgeries.

This tragedy underscores a broader failure: a society quick to sensationalise rather than reflect. The cookers, bloggers, and media outlets peddling half-truths and wild claims are exploiting other people's tragic events for clicks. Aotearoa deserves better...a discourse grounded in facts, empathy, and respect for those whose lives have been irrevocably altered.

Chris Luxon: Part-Time Prime Minister

Christopher Luxon's tenure as Prime Minister has been marked by a troubling pattern of absence when leadership is most needed. From international crises to domestic unrest, from parliamentary debates to national commemorations, Luxon has consistently found reasons to be somewhere else when the hard conversations need to happen.

What we've witnessed isn't merely political miscalculation or scheduling mishaps...it's a systematic abdication of the responsibilities that come with holding New Zealand's highest office. Where previous Prime Ministers understood that leadership means showing up for the difficult moments, Luxon appears to have redefined the role as one of selective engagement, choosing comfort and optics over confrontation at every critical juncture.

The most recent and perhaps most damning example came when Luxon chose to skip a virtual meeting with numerous European leaders including Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron. The Prime Minister cited the meeting being at "1am New Zealand time" as his excuse for non-attendance, yet this reasoning falls apart under even an iota of scrutiny. For a leader who holds no portfolios and maintains a deliberately light schedule, adjusting sleep patterns for critical international diplomacy should be standard practice and certainly was under Luxon's predecessors.
 

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

PM skips Coalition of the Willing meeting

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not dial in to the latest Coalition of the Willing meeting because of time zone differences.

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer co-chaired the virtual meeting about 1am New Zealand time.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky also joined the talks, that focused on support for Ukraine and next steps in peace negotiations.

...

Speaking at his weekly post Cabinet media conference Monday afternoon, Luxon confirmed he did not attend Monday morning's meeting.

"I have tried to make them, wherever possible. This one was at 1am in the morning. It goes for two or three hours and then I'm on a media round this morning and obviously down here for Cabinet this morning as well."

He rejected suggestions he did not join the Coalition of the Willing meeting because he didn't think it was important enough.

Luxon prioritising his regular appearance on Mike Hosking's breakfast show, where he delivered his pre-prepared zinger about opposition leader Chris Hipkins needing to "get out from under his rock" regarding the Covid-19 inquiry is a complete failure of leadership. For this part-time Prime Minister, scoring political points on talkback radio apparently trumps engaging with world leaders on matters of war and peace.

The right wing propagandists have been quick to make up a number of excuses that don't hold any water, but the sad fact of the matter is that Luxon chose his own floundering political career over the lives of civilians caught up in the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Luxon has been vocal in claiming that Hipkins is trying to "politically gaslight" New Zealanders by not appearing at the Covid-19 Inquiry, demanding accountability from the opposition leader, even though Labour leaders both past and present have provided all the evidence the second inquiry requested. Yet when it comes to his own responsibilities, Luxon routinely finds excuses to avoid the hard yards required of a functioning Prime Minister.

This pattern of absence is even worse when looking at domestic issues. When the controversial Treaty Principles Bill was being debated, Luxon conveniently found himself needing to discuss Trump's tariff wars with world leaders and could apparently only phone them up from Auckland, a transparent dodge that fooled no one. The Prime Minister who demands others show accountability has become a master of avoiding his own.

In April, Stuff reported:

Why Christopher Luxon won't be at the Treaty Principles Bill debate

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will fly to Auckland while Parliament holds what should be its final debate about the Treaty Principles Bill.

Opposition leaders have criticised Luxon for avoiding the Treaty Principles Bill debates, saying his absence shows a lack of leadership. But Luxon says his position on the bill has been clear and he has no regrets about how this ill-fated proposal has played out.

...

Who said what

Luxon said he would be spending Thursday afternoon in a series of calls with world leaders to discuss the global trade war as US-President Donald Trump made moves on tariffs.

But he said he wanted to make those calls from Auckland.

 

It would have been just as easy for Mr Luxon to make those phone calls from Wellington while he also attended the Treaty Principles Bill debate.

Claire Trevet at the NZ Herald tried to put a positive spin on Luxon's absence:

Forget about David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, PM Christopher Luxon’s Trump tariffs crisis could be the making of him

At the same time, Luxon was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was on the blower – a can of Pepsi Max on his desk – calling other leaders around Asia and in Europe to try to cobble together a united front and shore up the existing free trade agreements.

 

Luxon was absent from Parliament yesterday as MPs debated the bill, which had hung over the coalition parties since it was agreed as part of their legislative agenda after coalition negotiations following the 2023 election.

 

He spent his time speaking to world leaders about the global trading environment in the light of United States President Donald Trump’s tariff scheme that caused chaos in financial markets this week. Luxon made calls to leaders including Philippines President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Unfortunately for New Zealand, Luxon has often failed to engage meaningfully with voters on the issues that matter most to them. Instead of working to fix the countries numerous problems, Luxon appears to be too busy attacking previous administrations to actually give a damn!

When he's not blaming Labour for his own administrations failings, Luxon is shirking his responsibilities and dodging the difficult questions. Take the country's largest hikoi in New Zealand for instance, protesting the Treaty Principles Bill, the Prime Minister was notably absent from any meaningful dialogue.

Last year, 1 News reported:

Prime Minister on why he did not meet hīkoi at Parliament

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has explained why he didn't meet yesterday's Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti at Parliament.

There were extraordinary scenes yesterday when a crowd estimated by police to be as many as 42,000 marched through Wellington to Parliament, many of them voicing opposition to the Government's Treaty Principles Bill.

The Bill's architect David Seymour, alongside ACT MPs, made a brief appearance on Parliament's forecourt during the hīkoi, however the Prime Minister did not front it.

On Breakfast this morning, the Prime Minister was asked why he chose not to face the hīkoi when so many people were outside his office.

Luxon explained: "The real reason was that a lot of the organisers were Te Pati Māori. They have an opportunity to interrogate me in the House each and every week.

Similarly, when hospital protesters in Dunedin sought to voice their concerns about healthcare cuts, reports emerged of Luxon sneaking in a side door to avoid accountability.

Last year, The Otago Daily Times reported:

'Cowardly': Luxon sidesteps protest by using back entrance

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been called "cowardly" after hurrying in a back door to avoid a hospital protest in central Dunedin.

A group of about 30 protesters chanting, carrying placards and wearing 'They save We pay" t-shirts were waiting to greet Mr Luxon at the entrance to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

But Mr Luxon's motorcade stopped instead in Moray Place, at the back of the art gallery.

This isn't leadership; it's political cowardice. A Prime Minister who lacks the backbone to face legitimate protest about his unpopular policy decisions is one who fundamentally misunderstands the democratic compact between the government and the governed.

Luxon's pattern of avoidance perhaps peaked with his decision to skip Waitangi Day 2025 altogether. Despite being personally invited by Māori leaders who expected him to show some leadership during a time of division over the Treaty Principles Bill. Luxon claiming that he wanted to "celebrate Waitangi Day around New Zealand with different iwi" rings hollow when viewed against his government's divisive Treaty policies and unrepentant attack on Māoridom.

As Pita Tipene noted, "kāwanatanga and rangatiratanga need to have conversations, as heavy and as challenging as those conversations may get." But Luxon fled from precisely these necessary discussions. By abandoning Waitangi during one of the most politically charged periods in recent memory, he demonstrated that when true leadership is demanded, he simply doesn't show up.

Christopher Luxon loves to exaggerate his habits to sell voters on his superhuman stamina — barely sleeps, never stops, always on. Then he skips a 1am meeting for beauty sleep. That credibility gap fuels his unpopularity.https://t.co/D1LB5FTtsL

— Ms WonderOutLoud (@MsWonderOutLoud) August 18, 2025

However, the timing issue regarding the Ukraine meeting reveals something even more concerning about Luxon's priorities. He noted the call went for hours, suggesting he was fully aware of its duration and importance beforehand. Yet rather than adjust his schedule to accommodate this critical international engagement, he chose to maintain his comfortable routine of friendly media appearances.

Luxon's absence during critical moments extends to a pattern of conveniently being elsewhere when domestic controversies are likely to occur. At the first reading of the ACT Party's Treaty Principles Bill, a moment that captured international attention and symbolised the deep division his government's policies have created, Luxon was at the APEC summit. Given that the government largely controls parliamentary timetabling through the Leader of the House, this scheduling conflict was entirely foreseeable and avoidable.

Parliament suspended after floor-shaking haka by Te Pāti Māori pic.twitter.com/K6FJkNLL7T

— Nick (@StrayDogNZ) November 14, 2024

Instead of ensuring he was present for such a significant constitutional moment, Luxon allowed the most controversial bill in his government's legislative programme to proceed in his absence in order to protect his particular brand from further valid accusations of racism. From Peru, he dismissed the parliamentary disruption with a clear lack of understanding of its cultural and constitutional significance, resorted to procedural falsehoods and once again demonstrated a Prime Minister more comfortable engaging with safe audiences than confronting the difficult conversations his own policies have necessitated at home.

This speaks to a deeper problem with Luxon's understanding of what being the Prime Minister entails. He appears to view the role as a part-time position...one that can be managed around his preferred schedule and media commitments. The reality is that being Prime Minister requires sacrifice, including the sacrifice of convenience and comfort when duty calls.

New Zealand deserves better than a part-time Prime Minister who picks and chooses when to show up. The country faces significant challenges, from cost of living pressures to international tensions, that require active, engaged leadership. Luxon's pattern of absence and excuse-making suggests a leader fundamentally unprepared for the demands of the office he holds.

When future historians examine this period, they will likely note that New Zealand had a Prime Minister who was present in title but absent in practice. The question facing New Zealanders is whether they will continue to tolerate such part-time leadership. The evidence suggests that Chris Luxon has already answered that question for them...through his actions, or more accurately, his inaction.

National's Education Failures and Assault on Māori Language

In a move that's akin to cultural erasure, Education Minister Erica Stanford’s Ministry of Education has banned a Māori book, At the Marae, from classroom use for the absurd reason that it contains “too many Māori words.” This book, designed specifically to support the teaching of te reo Māori, is a vital tool for fostering bilingualism in Aotearoa’s classrooms. To deem it unsuitable because it embraces the very language it seeks to teach isn't just ludicrous, it’s a deliberate attack on Māori identity in an attempt to undermine the revitalisation of an official language of New Zealand.
 

On Friday, 1 News reported:

 

Fury as ministry cans kids book for too many Māori words

The Education Ministry has canned a reader for junior children because it has too many Māori words, infuriating Te Akatea, the Māori Principals' Association.

The association's president Bruce Jepsen said the decision not to reprint At the Marae was racist and white supremacist.

The ministry told schools At the Marae, did not fit the sequence that young children were now taught to decode words using the structured literacy approach.

Te Akatea, the Māori Principals’ Association, rightly called this decision “an act of racism,” with president Bruce Jepsen decrying it as a step toward recolonising education. Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated incident but part of a broader, insidious pattern under an authoritative government to strip Māori language and culture from public view. The removal of “Aotearoa” from passports, the planned erasure of Māori names from road signs, and the renaming of government agencies to exclude te reo Māori are all symptomatic of a racist agenda, which is costing taxpayer's millions of dollars with no quantifiable benefit, to diminish Māori presence in our literature and shared spaces.

These are the seven words in the Māori book that was removed by Erica Stanford's Ministry of Education for having "too many Māori words"#nzpol pic.twitter.com/v3UdB0dnsj

— Mountain_Tui (@Mountain_Tui) August 8, 2025

Take the Electoral Commission's renaming of the Rongotai electorate to Wellington Bays, an act devoid of any rationale beyond a clear intent to erase Māori nomenclature. No consultation, no justification, just a blunt rejection of a name tied to Māori heritage obviously undertaken at the behest of the current racially motivated government. The coalition’s track record on Māori language extends to other shameful decisions. The redirection of $30 million from the Te Ahu o te Reo Māori programme, which trained teachers to deliver te reo Māori, to fund a maths curriculum refresh plagued with problems is a stark example.

Experts have debunked Stanford’s claim that the programme failed to improve student outcomes, labelling it misleading and a pretext for defunding Māori education. Sadly, government ministers aren't adverse to lying in order to further their racist agenda. This follows the coalition’s decision to review Treaty of Waitangi clauses in education and other legislation, a move critics argue is designed to undermine Māori rights and co-governance. However, Stanford’s leadership has been equally disastrous when looking at her broader education policy direction.
 

On Friday, RNZ reported:

'Wouldn't overblow it' - Education Minister on maths book errors

The Education Minister has thanked "keen bean" students for picking up errors in Ministry of Education-funded maths resources.

Eighteen errors were spotted and fixed in new maths resources, including incorrect sums, a wrong number labelled in te reo Māori, and incorrectly saying "triangles" instead of "rectangles" in an answer.

In one case, an answer to a problem in a Year 4 workbook was listed as 1024, and had to be changed to the correct answer of 19,875.

Standford's casual dismissal of 18 errors in Ministry of Education-funded maths resources, errors as egregious as incorrect sums and mistranslations of te reo Māori (e.g., “rua” written instead of “whā” for the number four) is emblematic of a government prioritising haste over quality resources that teachers can actually use. Stanford’s flippant “I wouldn’t overblow it” response, thanking “keen bean” students for spotting mistakes, downplays a systemic failure likely exacerbated by an overbearing racist agenda and over-reliance on artificial intelligence in resource development.

In July, RNZ reported:

School curriculum rewrite had serious problems, managers considered using AI to help

Internal Education Ministry documents sighted by RNZ reveal serious problems plagued the rewrite of the school curriculum earlier this year and managers were considering using AI to help with the work.

The latest leak from the organisation shows only a few months ago it lacked a clear definition of the core concept underpinning the entire rewrite - "knowledge rich" - even though it had already published primary school maths and English curriculums by that time and had nearly completed draft secondary school English and maths curriculums.

It was also struggling with repeated requests for changes.

...

The latest leak followed a series of disclosures of internal documents that prompted the ministry to hire a KC to investigate where they were coming from.

A "programme status report" sighted by RNZ said the introduction of a new process for developing the curriculum posed an "extreme" issue to the work.

"The new delivery process is adding complexity to both internal and external delivery and review procedures as we do not have a clear definition of a knowledge rich curriculum and what it looks like in a NZ context," it said.

"There is no international comparison we can pick up and use."

The hasty rewrite of the school curriculum, driven by a ministerial advisory group appointed in late 2023 by Erica Standford, has been marred by inadequate due diligence, resulting in a litany of errors that undermine student learning. In fact the coalition of chaos has failed the education litmus test spectacularly. Since taking office, student attendance has plummeted, with only 67% of schools engaging in the government’s Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) programme by April 2025.

NCEA literacy and numeracy pass rates also expose the National-led coalition’s abject failure, with Māori students achieving a dismal 22% pass rate in 2024, compared to 67% for non-Māori, leaving 78% of Māori learners without equitable outcomes. But instead of helping the 45,000 Māori students struggling under a system starved of resources, the government instead plans to get rid of  NCEA to try and hide their systemic education failures. Worse yet, they are undermining education for Māori students further by cutting $30 million from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori programmes, which previously supported 1,200 teachers annually, and a $15 million reduction in culturally responsive education initiatives, deepening the systemic neglect that perpetuates Māori underachievement.

The National-led coalition government’s systematic erasure of Māori words from public spaces, such as road signs, passports, and government agencies, coupled with new financial burdens like the doubled $100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) for some visa categories in 2024 and additional charges of up to $35 per person for access to popular walking tracks like the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, threatens to derail New Zealand’s tourism industry, which generated $37.7 billion and supported 318,000 jobs (14.4% of the workforce) in 2023.

The truth of the matter is that nobody wants to visit a racist country. Māori culture, including te reo Māori, is a cornerstone of the tourism appeal, with 68% of international visitors citing cultural experiences as a primary draw. The government's openly racist policies and suppression of Māori language risks alienating this market, especially as competitors like Australia and Canada bolster Indigenous tourism programs.

The IVL hike and new track fees, impacting 1.9 million annual visitors and 200,000 track users respectively, have already contributed to a 7% decline in arrivals from key markets like the UK and USA in 2024 compared to pre-COVID levels. Together, these policies could stall tourism’s recovery, with long-term economic losses projected at $20-$30 billion over the next decade, as New Zealand’s unique Māori cultural identity, a global brand asset, is undermined by ignorant government policies.

Education Minister Erica Stanford’s tenure has been a cascade of blunders, exposing her incompetence and disregard for accountability. In May 2025, Official Information Act releases revealed she used her personal Gmail account to handle sensitive government business, including pre-Budget documents and visa policy changes, breaching the Cabinet Manual’s explicit rules against such practices. This “untidy” conduct, as Stanford admitted, risked cybersecurity breaches, with Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime slamming it as a “welcome sign to threats to national security” affecting millions in taxpayer-funded decisions.

“I’m very relaxed about it”

⚠️ Another day, another demonstration of weak, ineffective leadership from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as he gets grilled by 1News Maiki Sherman over Education & Immigration Minister Erica Standford using her personal email to carry out official… pic.twitter.com/Sp8i9E2JTW

— Kelvin Morgan 🇳🇿 (@kelvin_morganNZ) May 5, 2025

Standford's failure to properly oversee Associate Minister David Seymour’s free school lunches programme has been equally disastrous, with 124,000 daily meals from subcontractor Libelle Group (liquidated in March 2025) marred by delays, nutritional shortfalls, contaminated and inedible food. Stanford only learned of Libelle’s collapse through media reports, further highlighting her detachment from critical oversight. Her apparent inability to grasp NCEA’s complexities has also drawn scorn, particularly in regards to her rushed six-week consultation for sweeping NCEA changes, which critics called inadequate for reforms affecting generations of learners. Stanford’s downplaying of 18 errors in Ministry-funded maths resources and her defense of a hasty curriculum rewrite riddled with inaccuracies, further erode confidence in her ability to get things right. These numerous missteps, alongside her dismissal of Māori education concerns, cement Stanford’s record as one of reckless negligence and cultural insensitivity, failing New Zealand’s students and taxpayers at every turn.

Despite all the evidence, the coalition of chaos' actions betray a deep-seated aversion to Māori culture and a reckless approach to education. Banning a book like At the Marae for embracing te reo Māori isn't just an administrative blunder, it’s a calculated nod to the government's never ending war on indiginous rights and another step toward cultural erasure. The National-led coalition’s legacy is one of division, incompetence, and a shameful disregard for the Treaty of Waitangi. Aotearoa deserves better than a government that fails its children and disrespects its indigenous heritage. New Zealand therefore deserves a change of government.

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.

So Ani O'Brien led the anti-Maori ward campaign for Jordan William's Campaign Company - using a photo prohibited from ad use.

Ani also appears to try to steer the conversation from her stuff up yesterday

BTW Not the first time J Williams has helped Hobsons Pledge#nzpol pic.twitter.com/uYUbIRukuc

— Mountain_Tui (@Mountain_Tui) August 7, 2025

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.

It turns out Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers’ Union purchased the Shutterstock image used for Don Brash and Hobson’s Pledge Billboard— exactly the kind of evidence that confirms Hobson’s Pledge is tied to the Atlas Network.

This connection links the New Zealand Initiative,… pic.twitter.com/y3qbH6buaR

— Joe Trinder (@Joe_Trinder) August 7, 2025

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.

David Seymour Can't Handle the United Nations Jandal

David Seymour, who is unfortunately the current Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, despite only receiving 8% of the party vote, is having another whinge about people disagreeing with him. This time it's the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, who recently issued a scathing letter condemning the coalition government’s policies, particularly those championed by Seymour’s ACT Party, for eroding Māori rights.

This international rebuke, which was highly deserved, exposes not only the flaws in Seymour’s political reasoning but also the insidious racism embedded in his divisive policy agenda, which prioritises individualist dogma over collective indigenous rights and obligations under our founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi.

Seymour’s response to the UN was predictably dismissive, branding their intervention an “affront to New Zealand’s sovereignty” and a product of “profound misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation.” This retort, which in no way resolves the issues raised, reveals a fundamental flaw in his reasoning: an unwillingness to engage with substantive criticism. The UN’s concerns, rooted in reports of Māori land rights violations and the potential impact of Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill, are entirely valid and reiterate those already made by many New Zealand commentators.


Last month, Newsroom reported:

Anne Salmond: What’s wrong with the Regulatory Standards Bill

The Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) is a dangerous piece of legislation, inspired by libertarian ideas that seek to free the flow of capital from democratic constraints.

In a number of respects, it expresses a contempt for collective rights and responsibilities, public goals and values, and liberal democracy.

First, it lacks a strong democratic mandate.

At the last election, Act was the only party to put forward such a proposal, and it won only 8.6 percent of the vote; 91.4 percent of voters did not support that party. This bill cannot remotely be taken to express ‘the will of the people.’

Second, the majority party, National, agreed behind doors – despite its prior opposition for almost two decades – to support this proposal from a fringe party during coalition negotiations.

Like the Treaty Principles Bill, this undermines the principles of proportionality and accountability to the electorate on which the MMP electoral system is based. That, in turn, corrodes trust in democratic arrangements in New Zealand.

 

It's sad to see old David Seymour resorting to personal attacks instead of honestly debating the valid issues these esteemed people raise. And whether he likes it or not, New Zealand has a moral and political commitment to uphold the principles outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). He cannot simply worm his way out of that contract with insults and claims of absolute state sovereignty.

Seymour may have openly disavowed UNDRIP, but it's still a valid agreement that cannot be so easily dismissed by liberal talking points. By framing the UN’s recommendations as external meddling, he sidesteps the reality that New Zealand’s sovereignty includes accountability to international human rights standards, particularly for historically marginalised Māori communities.

The Regulatory Standards Bill, a cornerstone of Seymour’s agenda, exemplifies the latent racism in his approach. By prioritising individual property rights and economic efficiency, the bill threatens to undermine collective rights enshrined in the Treaty of Waitangi. Seymour’s claim that critics, including Māori leaders and legal experts, are peddling “misinformation” is not only deluded but so obviously a tactic, in the absence of any valid argument, to silence critics.

His assertion that 99.5% of submissions against the bill were bot-generated lacks evidence and insults the thousands of New Zealanders, including prominent figures like Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who voiced genuine concerns. This dismissal of opposition as inauthentic reeks of arrogance and also highlights Seymour's totalitarian tendencies.

Seymour’s broader policy record, including the failed Treaty Principles Bill, further exposes the racial undercurrents of his ideology. By seeking to redefine Treaty principles to emphasise individual rights over collective Māori rights, the ACT Party attempts to undermine the foundational agreement that shapes New Zealand’s constitutional framework.

This move aligns with ACT’s libertarian ethos but ignores the historical context of colonisation, where Māori were systematically dispossessed of land and autonomy. Seymour’s rhetoric, cloaked in calls for “equality,” perpetuates a narrative that erases the unique status of Māori as tangata whenua, effectively normalising the structural racism embedded in New Zealand’s past and present.

His social media antics, mocking opponents with terms like “Derangement Syndrome,” reveal another fault: a selective commitment to free speech. While Seymour demands apologies from other people for their perceived inflammatory remarks, he defends his own as “playful,” even as they fuel online harassment. This hypocrisy not only undermines his credibility but also disproportionately targets Māori voices, reinforcing a chilling effect on indigenous advocacy.


Last month, RNZ reported:

David Seymour defends social media posts accusing Regulatory Standards opponents of 'derangement syndrome'

The Deputy Prime Minister is rubbishing claims that social media posts he has made about opponents of the Regulatory Standards Bill are a breach of the Cabinet Manual.

In recent days, David Seymour made a series of social media posts singling out prominent opponents of the Bill, and accusing them of suffering from "Regulatory Standards Derangement Syndrome."

Wellington's mayor, Tory Whanau, accused Seymour of setting a "dangerous precedent" for how dissenting voices were treated, and laid a formal complaint with the Prime Minister over the posts.

The UN’s criticism of the coalitions divisive policies is a wake-up call for New Zealanders. Seymour’s advocacy, draped in the guise of fairness, threatens to roll back decades of progress on Māori rights. His refusal to engage with international scrutiny, dismissal of legitimate criticism, and pursuit of policies that prioritise individual gain over collective justice reflect a worldview that isn't only flawed but fundamentally discriminatory. 

New Zealand deserves better than a Deputy Prime Minister whose agenda dismisses the Treaty and attempts to further marginalise Māori people under the pretext of progress.

PM 'comfortable' with Chris Bishop's Overt Racism

The National Party’s ongoing disregard for New Zealand’s multiculturalism has been laid bare once again, this time by another profoundly unbecoming display of prejudice. At the Aotearoa Music Awards, Chris Bishop, the leader of the house, was recorded on camera deriding Stan Walker’s performance of Māori Ki Te Ao as “a load of crap,” a blatant act of cultural contempt he cannot deny. Despite that obviously inappropriate outburst, the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has dismissed Bishop's overt racism, which underscores the National Party’s persistent disregard for New Zealand’s multicultural values.

When questioned by RNZ, Luxon callously dismissed the incident with a laugh, declaring himself “comfortable” with Bishop’s feeble apology. In my opinion, such levity in the face of undeniable bigotry reveals a leader bereft of moral fortitude, unfit to uphold the values of an inclusive Aotearoa, and therefore unfit to hold office.


Today, RNZ reported:

 

Luxon 'comfortable' with Chris Bishop's response after Aotearoa Music Awards 'rant'

Luxon told Morning Report he spoke to Bishop over the weekend about this and other issues but there was no need to step in.

"I didn't have to say anything really. He'd already come out publicly and said he could have kept his thoughts to himself and I'm quite comfortable with that.

"I just got his side of the story about what he said and it was exactly as reported. He corrected it well before I got to him ... he just acknowledged he should have kept his thoughts to himself.

"The bottom line is your listeners aren't losing a lot of sleep over what a politician sharing his opinion on some music was about."

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour defended Bishop's behaviour and said people would make up their own minds about the remarks.

"Just because you become a senior minister, it doesn't mean you should stop having opinions and it might well be that, based on [what] Chris saw in that moment, he was correct. It may be that people will agree with him."

 

Bishop’s recorded remarks cannot be dismissed as a mere lapse in judgement. His attempt to deflect blame, claiming his scorn targeted “political” Toitū te Tiriti flags, is a transparent ploy to obscure the cultural disdain embedded in his words. Veteran musician Don McGlashan, who witnessed Bishop’s tirade firsthand, described it as an attack on the very essence of the event, a celebration of New Zealand’s diverse musical heritage which has lead to domestic and international success.

Luxon’s decision to laugh off this racist incident, rather than condemn it, is not only unbecoming of a Prime Minister but a damning indictment of his leadership. By failing to hold Bishop to account, Luxon signals tacit approval of behaviour that undermines the dignity of Māori and, by extension, the multicultural fabric of our nation. This sorry episode isn’t just an aberration either, but a part of a troubling pattern within the National Party and its coalition partners, which consistently undermines New Zealand’s multicultural ethos.

Chris Luxon’s rhetoric condemning so-called Māorification, a term invoked to disparage Māori cultural resurgence, has fuelled hostility toward Māori rights, framing their cultural expressions as a threat to national identity. This sentiment was starkly evident in the unprecedented suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs, for performing a protest haka against the Treaty Principles Bill in November 2024. The haka, a profound expression of Māori identity, was deemed “intimidating” by a National-led Privileges Committee, resulting in unprecedented suspensions, the harshest penalties in New Zealand’s parliamentary history.

🔥 Here’s Stan Walker’s “load of crap” at the Aotearoa Music Awards - and the now very public reaction from embattled Leader of the House & Senior Cabinet Minister Chris Bishop, including his deeply embarrassing schooling from New Zealand music royalty, Don McGlashan… pic.twitter.com/oiXdWYt2ig

— Kelvin Morgan 🇳🇿 (@kelvin_morganNZ) May 31, 2025

The Prime Minister’s flippant response to Bishop’s recorded racism, laughing as though it were a trivial matter, betrays a profound lack of moral courage. A leader of integrity would have publicly censured Bishop, recognising that such behaviour from a senior minister is an affront to all New Zealanders who value unity and respect. Instead, Luxon’s mirth emboldens other politicians within his government to be ever more overtly racist.

New Zealand deserves a Prime Minister who confronts racism with resolve, not one who laughs at its exposure. Luxon’s failure to lead with principle in this moment will be remembered as another stain on his tenure, a testament to a government more concerned with political expediency than the values that bind our diverse nation together.

Chris Bishop’s Drunken and Racist Tirade at AMA

The National Party’s Chris Bishop has shown his true colours again, this time stumbling into the spotlight at the Aotearoa Music Awards (AMA) with a bottle in hand and a mouth full of vitriol. Caught on video ranting during Stan Walker’s performance, which included a Haka and Tino Rangatiratanga flag-waving, Bishop couldn’t contain his disdain for a cultural moment led by a musician who had picked up Best Māori Artist and the Mana Reo Award at the 2025 AMAs.

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

 

'What a load of crap': Chris Bishop caught 'ranting' during Stan Walker's Aotearoa Music Awards performance

Cabinet minister Chris Bishop says he should have kept his comments to himself after saying "what a load of crap" during a performance at Thursday night's Aotearoa Music Awards in Auckland.

Video footage shows Bishop seated, with a bottle in his hand during pop singer Stan Walker's segment.

Some people in front of him were on their feet dancing and waving tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination, flags.

In a statement to RNZ, Bishop admitted he said something about performative acclaim and said, what a lot of crap. He said it referred to what he called the overtly political branding on display.

 

Bishop’s boorish behaviour isn’t just an embarrassment, it’s a window into a troubling pattern of arrogance and cultural insensitivity that should have New Zealanders questioning his fitness for office.

While Stan Walker’s performance was being enjoyed by the vast majority of the audience, Bishop was there openly disparaging the celebration of Māori culture, dismissing the moment as “performative acclaim” and “a load of crap”. He reportedly told everyone to “sit down” because “the hīkoi was ages ago”. Talk about an idiot! There was a Hīkoi for Health earlier this month.

The disrespect wafting out of Bishop’s rotten mouth was disgusting, and people within his vicinity felt compelled to speak out. Veteran musician Don McGlashan told Bishop off, echoing the thoughts of many within the audience. They were there to celebrate New Zealand music, and an arrogant Chris Bishop was doing his best to ruin the night.

Chris Bishop goes mask off with his racism.

How long before Luxon announces he's "very relaxed" about his MP's comments? https://t.co/if9br0izbN pic.twitter.com/fBurC8mpHT

— Nick (@StrayDogNZ) May 30, 2025

Here’s a Cabinet minister, supposedly a leader, unable to hold his liquor or his tongue, openly sneering at a well-respected award winning musician and his crew because they’re Māori.

This latest episode isn’t just a personal failing, it’s a stain on the National-led government’s credibility. Bishop’s drunken outbust at the AMA demands accountability. If Luxon doesn’t act swiftly to address this misconduct, we know that he has no moral backbone at all.

Allowing a Cabinet minister to undermine New Zealand’s cultural values and embarrass the nation on a public stage is unacceptable. If Bishop cannot uphold the dignity of his office, Luxon should show some leadership and remove him. New Zealand deserves ministers who respect our award winning musicians, not those who slur their way to infamy with racist ranting.

David Seymour Wanted Civil War in New Zealand

David Seymour has built a career on stirring up resentments, but his latest antics are a step too far. The Mata Reports documentary, aired earlier this month, lays bare Seymour’s calculated brand of divisive politics, exposing a man who seems to relish the chaos his policies could unleash. Worse, it shows he’s fully aware that his divisive policies, particularly in regards to the Treaty Principles Bill, could push New Zealand toward civil war. Despite this, Seymour barrels forward anyway with his anti-Maori legislation. This isn’t just reckless; it’s a betrayal of the unity NZ was founded on that politicians should be promoting.

Seymour’s campaign against co-governance, a lightning rod in the 2023 election, was less about principle and more about political point-scoring. Mata’s investigation, through the eyes of a former ACT insider, reveals Seymour’s deep ties to the libertarian Atlas Network, a global outfit with a track record of sowing discord under the guise of “freedom.”

His Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to erase Māori partnership rights from legal frameworks, wasn’t just a policy, it was a racist dog whistle, designed to inflame tensions and rally an anti-Māori voter base. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley warned in 2023 that this bill was “inviting civil war,” a sentiment ignored by current National MP Chris Luxon, but echoed in Mihingarangi Forbes' chilling footage where Seymour appears to shrug off the prospect of violent unrest and his previous statements acknowledging that he wanted the Treaty Principles Bill to cause a civil war.


In November 2024, RNZ reported:

 

Treaty Principles Bill 'inviting civil war', Jenny Shipley says

Dame Jenny said past attempts to codify Treaty principles in law had failed.

"While there have been principles leaked into individual statutes, we have never attempted to - in a formal sense - put principles in or over top of the Treaty as a collective. And I caution New Zealand - the minute you put the Treaty into a political framework in its totality, you are inviting civil war.

"I would fight against it. Māori have every reason to fight against it.

"This is a relationship we committed to where we would try and find a way to govern forward. We would respect each other's land and interests rights, and we would try and be citizens together - and actually, we are making outstanding progress, and this sort of malicious,politically motivated, fundraising-motivated attempt to politicise the Treaty in a new way should raise people's voices, because it is not in New Zealand's immediate interest.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Seymour cloaks his agenda in calls for “equality,” preaching that all New Zealanders deserve the same rights. Yet, his actions, like scrapping the Māori Health Authority or joking about bombing the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, target marginalised communities with surgical precision.

Mata shows him lying on camera, dodging accountability when confronted with evidence of his inflammatory rhetoric. His dismissal of Canada’s residential school genocide as overblown further exposes a callous disregard for historical trauma, aligning him with Atlas Network’s playbook.

Here's a Canadian-accented David Seymour arguing against funding public transport on behalf of Atlas Network partner & climate change denialists, Frontier Centre for Public Policy. https://t.co/w7pzpwkzeD pic.twitter.com/o0bNDbVbO9

— Nick (@StrayDogNZ) February 26, 2024

This isn’t new for Seymour. Back in January 2023, his campaign launch was an excercise in negative campaigning, using Māori and beneficiaries as political punching bags. Some journalists called it “disruption and division,” and they weren’t wrong. Seymour denied he was race-baiting, but his rhetoric, painting co-governance as undemocratic, deepened mistrust.

The Mata documentary pulls no punches, exposing a “culture of fear” within ACT and allegations of sexism and whistleblower suppression. Seymour’s authoritarian streak, masked by his libertarian posturing, is a warning sign. He knows his policies could fracture New Zealand, potentially to the point of violence, yet he persists, gambling with our social fabric for his political gain. This isn’t leadership; it’s political opportunism that could destroy our country.

New Zealand deserves better. We need leaders who bridge divides, not widen them. Seymour’s gamble with civil unrest isn’t just a policy misstep, it’s an unacceptable moral failure. Voters should reject his divisive playbook and demand policies that unite us, not ones that risks tearing us apart.

Erica Stanford’s Racism Jeopardises FTA with India

New Zealand’s Immigration Minister, Erica Stanford, has stumbled into a diplomatic quagmire with her brainless remarks in Parliament, likening emails from Indian nationals seeking immigration advice to “spam.” This isn’t just a slip; it’s a diplomatic disaster that’s blown up in India, where media and the public are rightly slamming her remarks as racist. With New Zealand currently chasing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, Stanford’s blunder could derail negotiations, potentially costing the country billions of dollars in lost trade.

On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported:

 

New Zealand minister Erica Stanford under fire for calling emails from Indians ‘akin to spam’

New Zealand Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has come under intense criticism for remarks made during a recent parliamentary session, where she likened emails from Indian nationals seeking immigration advice to spam.

While defending her use of a personal Gmail account for official communication during a session on May 6, Stanford remarked, “I receive a lot of unsolicited emails like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to. I almost regard those as being akin to spam.”

On May 6, while defending her dodgy use of a personal Gmail for official work, Stanford casually said she gets “a lot of unsolicited emails, like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to,” calling them “akin to spam.” Really, Erica? Singling out an entire ethnic group as spammers in a parliamentary session? That’s not just careless; it’s racist stereotyping.

This isn’t the first brush with racial insensitivity by coalition MPs. Remember when National’s Gerry Brownlee in 2009, mocked Finland’s economy by calling it a place that “eats reindeer and lingers in darkness,” prompting a formal apology after Helsinki’s outrage. Think back to 2017, when NZ First’s Winston Peters, now Foreign Minister, ranted about “Chinese money” flooding New Zealand’s housing market, fuelling anti-Asian sentiment. Even further back there was former National Party leader Don Brash who ranted about “Māori privilege” in his 2004 Orewa speech, alienating Māori communities. Then there’s the time when MP Shane Reti downplayed systemic racism in healthcare, despite overwhelming evidence. The coalition of chaos has a track record of MPs spouting divisive nonsense, and Stanford’s just the latest to keep the tradition alive. Her comments have ignited a firestorm in India, with India Today and The Indian Express running scathing reports.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, ever the spin doctor, claims he’s “relaxed” about the comments, insisting Stanford “meant no offence” and was just talking about “unsolicited emails.” Nice try, Chris, but you can’t dismiss away Stanford's obvious inherent racist beliefs. With Foreign Minister Winston Peters in India for FTA talks, Stanford’s timing couldn’t be worse. The India FTA, which could push bilateral trade past $1 billion, is now at risk. Why would India trust a nation whose Immigration Minister publicly disrespects and racially abuses its people? Stanford’s half-baked clarification, that her words were “misinterpreted”, is laughable.

There’s really no excuse for such a boneheaded statement. National’s history of racial gaffes should’ve been a warning, yet here we are. If Stanford remains an MP, India might just look elsewhere for trade partners. Meaning that Stanford’s stupidity will cost New Zealand billions.

Government Fanning The Flames Of Racism

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should have noticed that racism in New Zealand isn't just a lingering shadow of colonialism, it’s a structural pillar of our current government, with their latest policies pouring even more fuel on the fire. New Zealand likes to pat itself on the back as a progressive paradise, but scratch bellow the surface, and the ugly truth of entrenched racism is as clear as day. From systemic inequities to tone-deaf legislation, the powers-that-be are doubling down on policies that widen the gap for Māori and Pasifika communities, all while cloaking it in dishonest “fairness” rhetoric that nobody in their right mind should believe.

Let’s start with the cold, hard reality. Māori make up 17% of the population but over 50% of the prison population. Pasifika are over-represented in poverty stats, with one in five kids in low-income households. Health outcomes? Māori life expectancy lags behind Pākehā by nearly a decade. These aren’t accidents; they’re the scars of a system built on colonial theft that has been sustained by political apathy. The Waitangi Tribunal’s been highlighting breaches of Te Tiriti for decades, yet successive governments have kicked the can down the road.

Enter the current coalition of chaos government, which seems hell-bent on making things even worse. Take the recent push to dismantle Māori-specific policies under the guise of “equality before the law”. Scrapping the Māori Health Authority? A gut-punch to people already battling systemic healthcare disparities. The rhetoric around “one law for all” sounds noble until you realise it erases targeted support for those who’ve been screwed over for generations. Then there’s the Fast-track Approvals Bill, which sidelines Māori consultation on resource projects. When iwi voices are silenced, it’s not just a policy tweak, it’s a middle finger to Te Tiriti and the principle of partnership.


Last week, 1 News reported:

Luxon: No compromise on Te Pāti Māori decision, rejects ‘racism’ claims

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the National Party will not make any concessions on the Privileges Committee's recommendation to suspend three Te Pāti Māori MPs from Parliament.

Last week, the Privileges Committee recommended the suspensions of co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke in the wake of a haka that was performed during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.

A 21-day suspension was recommended for Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer, while a seven-day suspension was recommended for Maipi-Clarke.

The fact that Judith Collins lied about Te Pāti Māori halting the vote and handing down the longest suspensions in New Zealand's political history certainly points to one conclusion.

However, this type of racism isn’t new. The government’s playbook, dressed up as pragmatism, leans heavily on dog-whistle politics that scapegoat Māori for daring to demand a fairer New Zealand. Remember the foreshore and seabed debacle? We’re seeing its ghost again, with Treaty settlements under threat and public discourse increasingly hostile. Social media’s a cesspool of anti-Māori sentiment, emboldened by politicians who’d rather stoke division than address root causes. Numerous posts by right-wing operatives blame Māori for “special treatment,” conveniently ignoring the centuries of land grabs, cultural erasure, and economic exclusion that has inhibited New Zealand from reaching its full potential.


Yesterday, E-Tangata reported:

Is our government racist?

…

It was about power and control, and how this is related to the kind of unacknowledged and denied racism (masquerading under a number of other guises) that plagues parliament and, indeed, our society as a whole.

Simply put, being Maōri and doing Māori things is okay as long as people in power control what is involved, and when and how it appears. It is a cultural contortion which creates an impression of inclusion while upholding unacknowledged racism.

For parliament to control how Māori appear in parliament is little better than excluding Māori altogether. I would argue it’s worse because such controlled inclusion has the effect of diffusing challenge and creating the appearance of “good race relations”, a myth mainstream New Zealand has been careful to cultivate over the years.

 

So, what’s the fix? First, stop pretending racism’s a few bad apples, it’s the whole damn orchard. The government needs to honour Te Tiriti, not as a box-ticking exercise but as a living commitment. That means reinvesting in Māori-led solutions, from healthcare to education, and amplifying iwi voices in resource decisions. It means calling out the coded language of “equality” for what it is: a Trojan horse for maintaining Pākehā privilege. And it means Pakeha need to own their role in dismantling the system, not just shrugging and saying, “It’s complicated.”

The clock’s ticking. If this government keeps torching Māori rights, the social fabric of Aotearoa will fray even further. We’re better than this, or at least, we should be. Let’s demand policies that heal the social divide, not harm it, and create a future where “equality” isn’t just a dirty word the ACT Party roles out every time someone dares to question the government's racist policies.

Imprisoning Māori For Doing The Haka?

ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar

The ACT Party floating the idea of imprisoning Te Pāti Māori MPs for performing a haka in Parliament isn’t just a shameful overreach; it’s a chilling glimpse into a fascist mindset that seeks to silence indigenous voices through state power. According to RNZ, ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar asked the Privileges Committee to consider a range of punishments, including jail time, for Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka to protest the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. This isn’t just about parliamentary decorum; it’s a calculated move to treat Māori cultural expression and resistance as a crime. It’s the kind of authoritarian tactic you’d expect from repressive regimes, not a supposedly democratic country like New Zealand.

Today, RNZ reported:

ACT asked for advice on range of punishments for Te Pāti Māori MPs - including imprisonment

The ACT party asked for advice on the full range of possible punishments for Te Pāti Māori MPs following last year's Treaty Principles haka - including imprisonment.

The government members on the Privileges Committee recommended suspending Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21 days as punishment for their part in a haka at the conclusion of the First Reading of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill.

MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the haka but had since expressed contrition, faces a one-week suspension.

The Committee found the MPs had behaved in an intimidating manner when they moved from their seats to face Act Party MPs.

The Privileges Committee sought advice on possible penalties while preparing its recommendations. ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar, who is on the committee, asked if this could include a range of examples, including imprisonment, to "help put any proposed penalty in context".

Let’s call this what it is: racism dressed up as procedure. The haka, a powerful expression of Māori identity, was deemed “intimidating” by the Privileges Committee, a claim that reeks of thin skins and colonial overreach. The main problem here is that ACT’s suggestion to imprison Māori for doing a haka isn’t an isolated incident. This is the same party that’s pushed a relentless anti-Māori agenda since their very foundation, from ACT’s Rodney Hide openly stating that they hate Māori, to Jamie Whyte's claim that Māori are somehow legally privileged in New Zealand, and now David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which seeks to gut the Treaty of Waitangi’s protections, to their dog-whistle rhetoric branding Māori cultural practices as “thuggery”, ACT have displayed their blatant racism for all to see. They even published material calling Te Pāti Māori MPs “barnyard animals” for doing a haka, in what can only be described as a vulgar display of ignorant racism that should ensure they never attain power again. This isn’t just policy disagreement; it’s a deliberate campaign by the coalition of chaos to marginalise and dehumanise Māori.

Look globally, and ACT’s tactics echo the playbook of repressive regimes that target indigenous populations to maintain control. In Australia, Aboriginal people face disproportionate incarceration rates, over 30% of the prison population despite being 3% of the total population, often for minor or culturally misunderstood acts. In Canada, Indigenous peoples make up nearly 30% of federal inmates, despite being 5% of the population, a legacy of colonial policies designed to suppress First Nations’ resistance. These parallels aren’t accidental. Imprisoning indigenous leaders or cultural figures is a hallmark of repressive regimes that fear the power of native identity. From apartheid South Africa to Pinochet’s Chile, fascist regimes always attempt to crush indigenous dissent under the guise of “order.”

NZ Maori use Haka for all major events in life: birth, death, marriage. It's their tradition. Here is NZ's Rugby team doing Haka before their game.pic.twitter.com/VWvKqWTyNg

— Epoch Inspired (@EpochInspired) January 7, 2024

ACT advocating for Māori MPs to be imprisoned for a haka isn’t just an attack on Te Pāti Māori; it’s an assault on the very idea of Māori identity and cultural survival. The Privileges Committee’s recommended 21 day suspensions without pay are already unprecedentedly harsh. Suggesting imprisonment takes it to a new dystopian level, signalling to Māori that their voice, their tikanga, their resistance will be met with the full weight of state punishment. This is fascism in a suit: targeting those who dare to stand up against an unjust government that is trying to control its population through punishment and fear.

The ACT Party’s calls for authoritarianism should have no place within our halls of power. So where is the Prime Minister’s condemnation of his coalition partner’s racist overreach? Chris Luxon’s silence about ACT's proposed jail time for Māori MPs is another tacit nod in favour of the all too regular anti-Māori sentiment we see poisoning our democracy. But instead of acknowledging this problem, government MPs and their mainstream media propagandists are trying to make us believe that their actions and lies weren’t racially motivated. Not only have they insulted Māoridom, they are now insulting the entire countries intelligence as well.

New Zealand deserves better than a government that flirts with authoritarianism while cloaking it in “rule of law” rhetoric. They deserve a government that stands up for the haka and all that it signifies. The haka isn’t a threat to New Zealand; it’s a highly significant taonga, a treasure of Māori culture that every New Zealander should feel proud of. ACT’s push to criminalise it exposes their rancid racist underbelly...and that’s not something any right thinking Kiwi should vote for.

Luxon’s Anti-Māori Mask Slips Again

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has once again stocked the fire a racial disharmony, this time with a damning comment that reeks of anti-Māori sentiment. In a recent Newstalk ZB interview with Mike Hosking, Luxon responded to a question about the “Māorification of this country” by saying, “Well where we see it we call it out.” This racist remark, endorsing a loaded term that vilifies Māori culture and language, has ignited outrage and once again raised a critical question: Is the Prime Minister of New Zealand a racist?

Luxon’s “call it out” comment is not an isolated slip. It echoes a broader agenda from his National-led coalition, which has systematically targeted Māori rights since taking office in November 2023. Take the scrapping of the Māori Health Authority, a body designed to address stark health disparities for Māori people, who on average die seven to eight years younger than non-Māori. Luxon’s government also reversed Labour’s tobacco ban, a policy Māori leaders championed to curb smoking rates, which hit 20% among Māori adults compared to 8% nationally. These moves, cloaked in “equality” rhetoric, disproportionately harm Māori, who face systemic inequities in health and justice.

Then there’s the rollback of te reo Māori in public life. Luxon’s coalition mandated English as the primary language for government agencies, demoting Māori titles like Waka Kotahi to secondary status. In August 2024, he defended removing basic Māori phrases like “tēnā koe” and “Aotearoa” from an invitation to an Australian minister, claiming Australians need “incredibly simple” English. This patronising jab not only insulted Māori culture but also dismissed the trans-Tasman cultural exchange, and set our long-existing mutually beneficial relationship back.

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

'We have to have rules': Christopher Luxon won't say if Te Pāti Māori's punishment appropriate

"I've seen it reported in media that it's [the issue] is about haka and waiata in the Parliament, well that actually happens often. It's actually about not following the rules of Parliament - disrupting the vote, leaving you're seat... not engaging with the Privileges Committee," Luxon said.

"I think it's really important that the rules are upheld because we've got to be able to discuss difficult and emotional subjects in Parliament and debate them. But we've also need to make sure it doesn't degenerate into absolute chaos in the Parliament."

Luxon also axed bonuses for public servants learning te reo, calling them wasteful. His government’s cuts to Māori language programs, like the $30 million slashed from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori in 2024, further undermine revitalisation efforts. These actions contradict Luxon’s claim that he values te reo, exposing a double standard that smacks of privilege.

In response to a question about the "Maorification of this country" Luxon said "where we see it we call it out". Is he not aware Maori is an official language as well as being special and precious and unique to Aotearoa?https://t.co/ta8xlfuTrQ

— Greg Presland (@GregPresland) May 19, 2025

Is Luxon a racist? His policies and rhetoric suggest a calculated appeal to a conservative base wary of Māori “special treatment,” a dog-whistle that fuels division. Critics like Te Pāti Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have called his government’s approach akin to “white supremacy,” a charge Luxon dismissed as “ridiculous.” Yet, the pattern...dismantling Māori health initiatives, sidelining te reo, and endorsing terms like “Māorification”...points to a leader actively hostile to Māori aspirations.

Luxon insists he’s focused on “outcomes for all New Zealanders,” but his actions tell a different story. Racism isn’t just about overt slurs; it’s about policies that entrench inequity and dismiss cultural identity. The evidence suggests Luxon’s leadership tilts toward the latter, betraying the bicultural promise of Aotearoa developing into a multicultural society where everyone can succeed irrespective of the colour of their skin.