Te Pāti Māori apologises to refugees and migrants

Te Pāti Māori has apologised to migrant and refugee communities for allowing what it described as “harmful narratives” on its website.

A series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, said the party did not stand for xenophobia and racism in any form, and thanked migrant and refugee communities for holding it to account.

Te Pāti Māori said “it should not have taken this long” to change the policy.

”We wholeheartedly apologise to our migrant and refugee whānau for allowing harmful narratives on our website, and thank you for holding us to account.

“Te Pāti Māori leaves no one behind. We do not stand for xenophobia & racism in any form.”

Further posts said the party was working to rewrite its policy: “We no longer buy into the colonial agenda that divides and rules.

“That means everyone will be welcomed, everyone will be fed, everyone will be housed, everyone will kept safe, and everyone will be loved."

The party said it had removed the words from its website, and was in the process of rewriting its policy.

RNZ has found an example of one such removal.

The party’s Whānau Build policy, published in August 2021, laid out the party’s plans to address the housing crisis, and contained a section on an “indigenous first” framework. RNZ viewed the policy through Wayback Machine.

The policy said Te Pāti Māori would ensure immigration was curbed until the supply of housing met demand.

“It is important to still manaaki our refugee and displaced whanaunga and bring in skills where required. But for us to exercise manaaki we have to commit to indigenous first so that we can then support others later,” it said.

This section of the policy has now been removed.

Te Pāti Māori now said it would treat everybody how they would be treated on a marae.

“That means everyone will be welcomed, everyone will be fed, everyone will be housed, everyone will be kept safe, and everyone will be loved. Manaakitanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are the foundation of all of our policies moving forward.”

A spokesperson told RNZ Te Pāti Māori was updating and refreshing all its policies on its website ahead of the election campaign, but the Whānau Build policy was the only one where a specific reference to migrant and refugee communities had been removed.

Last year, Te Pāti Māori removed a reference from its sports policy that said Māori genetic makeup was stronger than others.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was suspended from Parliament on Tuesday after a vote by political parties, following comments he made in the House.

Speaking in Parliament under the legal protection of parliamentary privilege last week,  he appeared to refer to a case before the courts to which suppression orders apply.

After an objection about it, Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe told MPs he would review the comments and yesterday afternoon told the House he found Waititi’s conduct was “grossly disorderly”.

“Therefore, I name and call on the House to judge his conduct.”

Waititi was not in the House at the time and was participating in New Zealand Fashion Week. 

- Additional reporting NZ Herald