David Farrar: Tamihere backs Ferris

Stuff reports:

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says MP Tākuta Ferris was, in essence, correct when he hit out at non-Māori supporting Labour’s Māori electorate campaign.

Tamihere said Ferris could have worded his comments better, but added that he generally agreed with what the MP had said. That is despite Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer telling the Labour and Green leaders that his comments didn’t reflect her party’s views.

This is very confusing. We don’t know if TPM is officially racist, or just unofficially racist.

Tamihere told Radio Waatea: “What Tākuta said, in substance, was right. It is wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats, because I don’t go over to their countries, like the British Raj and destroy India.”

This suggests that Tamihere think NZ citizens who are non-Maori are not real New Zealanders. That a New Zealander with Indian ancestry (who was born in NZ) is basically a foreigner.

Tamihere and Ferris both are advocating for some citizens to be inferior to other citizens. They overlook that a Member of Parliament is not just a representative for their electorate, but they get a vote on laws that impact all New Zealanders. It is verging towards fascism to state that non-Maori are not allowed to campaign for the party of their choice.

Labour and Te Pati Maori have different policies. Whichever candidate won the by-election changes the balance of power in Parliament. It can even change the makeup of a Government. The MP for Tamaki Makaurau doesn’t just vote on laws for her constituents. She votes in laws that are binding on every single New Zealander. So to advocate for non-Maori to have no voice in a parliamentary election is wrong on every level.

David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders