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Summarised by Centrist
Winston Peters is drawing attention to a series of blunt comments John Tamihere made in Parliament in 2005, arguing they expose a deep contradiction between Tamihere’s past criticism of Māori separatism and his role today as President of Te Pāti Māori.
In the resurfaced remarks, Tamihere described the then-new Māori Party as driven by “tribal fundamentalists” and “people who have done extraordinarily well out of protest activism.” He argued the movement relied on teaching people “why they should vote against things, why they should march against things, and why they should dislike others.”
Tamihere also warned Parliament about what he called a new elite built around Treaty politics. “The Māori Party is built around new-age educationalists, reconstructionists in terms of history, and the academics and the new elite around the Treaty of Waitangi chequebooks,” he said.
His comments from 2005 rejected the idea of special rights or race-based separation. “There is no case and no space in this country for separatists,” he said. “The days when people could stand up and scream ‘treaty’ and believe that they would get special rights have gone.”
Peters’ post argues the contrast between these statements and Tamihere’s current leadership of Te Pāti Māori is “ironic” and “hypocritical,” particularly as the party today leans heavily on Treaty-based arguments, co-governance advocacy and protest-driven politics.
