Matua Kahurangi: Te Pāti Māori are racists

Chris Hipkins must cut them loose

Chris Hipkins has recently tried to distance himself from the disgraceful racist comments made by Takuta Ferris, also known as Romaine Ferris. Ferris has become the mouthpiece of Te Pāti Māori, spewing hate while the party scrambles to clean up the mess. They eventually apologised, but Ferris could not help himself. He went online in the middle of the night looking like he was on a meth bender and ranted again, repeating the same divisive, racist nonsense that got him in trouble in the first place.

Thomas Cranmer: Second term government, third term problems

They say a new broom sweeps clean, and that is certainly the case with the premiership of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. However, even he couldn’t have anticipated the rapid exodus of ministers under his premiership. The fallout has left reputations tarnished, with survivors like Kiri Allan grappling after a series of missteps. Meanwhile, Jan Tinetti’s fate hangs in the balance as the Privileges Committee investigates allegations of misleading the House regarding her office’s role in the release of school truancy data.

What has prompted this state of affairs and what does it mean for the next government?