Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on the backlash over Tākuta Ferris' controversial social media post

Te Pati Māori's co-leaders are silent during widespread criticism of one of their MPs social media posts, labelled 'racist' by some.

Tākuta Ferris posted a video, saying it's unacceptable for other ethnicities to campaign to take a Maori seat from Maori.

The party apologised in the past for a previous social media post with a similar sentiment.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper has labelled these comments 'painful' and 'infuriating'.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry Sober, Senior political correspondence with US High Barring.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Watch the Tarkouter Ferris midnight eight minute video.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Oh I did watch it. It was rather painful and
rather infuriating, I might say, Heather, but you've got to
remember that during his maiden speech this guy after the
last election, he said that there was he wasn't there
to service the needs of the New Zealand House of Representatives.
He was there to contest the needs. So you know,

(00:29):
I mean, he's he's always been radical, was no doubt
about that. And you remember he was accused of lying
in the house, and indeed he did lie in the
house and he was asked to formally apologize for that.
So Ferret Ferris in his sorry that was a fraudient slip.
Ferris in his late night ran on Instagram from as

(00:50):
you said, Heather, a darkened room wearing a hoodie, had
to go at Willie Jackson for taking issue with him
over his horror different ethnicities painting for labor in a
mild seat. Here he is.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I heard Willie Jackson in the news talking about how
just unacceptable that was from Targey. Turn should know better,
you know, we care about everyone in the Labor Party. Well,
guess what, Willy, I don't give a crap who you
care about or what you care about in the Malory seats.
It's about the Milori people, Malory only. And here's what
that post is doing. It's homogenizing Maori as a minority,

(01:27):
all right. So they're trying to make us vanish. They're
trying to make us disappear into just a small minority
in our own country, whilst we fight for the damn
seats that are there for us, expressly for us, and
they're there for us because the Parker House at the
time and currently know that Mary's have unique rights as
opposed to everyone else. Make them uncomfortable, Funny, it's not

(01:49):
our problem to fix. It's this.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, he's sounded rather comfortable. I'll say that he sounded
very laid back and it August really well, doesn't it?
For a coalition between Labor and the Moldy Party. I
mean that, as I've often said, this Mildy Party very
unlike the one that was originally formed, very unlike it.

(02:12):
There are a bunch of protesters, and that Instagram rent there,
I think underscores that.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yep, Okay, Now, what did you make of the police
press conference about the second camp?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, you know the second camp. It's that's where the
other children were found. Of course, there's about two kilometers
away from where the shooting occurred. And you'll be weird
because you've listened to it all. The police Minister and
the Police Commissioner have always said how delicate the situation was,
and certainly that was the case that was born out

(02:47):
by what Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders, he is the
head of the operation who released the campsite pecks today.
What he said, in my mind, tells us a lot.
They didn't walk straight into the camp where the children were.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
Yeah, so there was there was a negotiation that connects
with children, and that proceeded and they came out. We
believe they've moved here a number of months ago. I
can't be specific around time.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
See, it just makes you wonder, doesn't it how those
kids were conditioned by Tom Phillips that if the police
were clearly worried about walking into that campsite knowing there
are only children there, but knowing that there were firearms there,
just makes you wonder.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Well, I mean, yeah, I think it was pretty clear that.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
How they were conditioned by their.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Pretty clear that they would have been taught how to
use guns and sold to What happened in Parliament today.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oh well, it was a bit of a laugh because
old our old mate Shane Jones was raving about the
new geothermal area that they've set aside in the Rota
Kawa Geothermal Reserve near Talpo. That would have to be
good news, but it seemed to be lost on Labour's
Energy spokeswoman Megan Woods. He didn't like the way Shane

(04:07):
Jones referred to it. The minister referred to us the
opposition spokesman, and I know definitions like this are important
to that party.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
He just like to point out on a spokesperson or
a spokeswoman.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
I'm almost almost tempted to require everyone of the House
to post their pronouns so everyone gets it right. Pronouns
I like them, But I'm not going to do that.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
I'm not going to do that because common sense should prevail.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
New Zealand in some cases will never ever recover from
the most destructive energy decision made since the Treaty of
White Tongy, otherwise known as the Oil and Gaspan that's
you signaling juvenile attempt.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yes, and just for your information, and you will remember
that Benjamin Doyle he gives his valedictory on September the eighteenth.
So what has that got to do with it? Yeah,
pronouns all right, say them and.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
You'll grasp on them as well. Barry, Thanks very much,
Barry Sober, Senior political correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
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