TAME ITI, JOHN KEY, NZ IS MAORI ENOUGH

 

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Tame Iti holding his 20-month-old grandson Te Rangimoaho, greets John Key, Waitangi 2008

The Maorification of New Zealand proceeds apace, with an ad featuring self-proclaimed terrorist Tame Iti alone in a cavernous space reading a 'Māori roll call' of people who've recently joined the Māori electoral roll. For 30 minutes. Riveting. Would even Iti's grandson (above) sit through it? 

New Zealand is Maori enough as it is. Parliament is Maori enough as it is - in fact, more than enough, statistically speaking. So why should cash-strapped Kiwis of all colours fork out to persuade brown ones to make more of theirs, except to turn it to the advantage of the racist grifters of Te Pati Maori and their not-so-esteemed leader, John Tamihere? 

Perhaps there's a clue in the image (above) of National Party leader John Key in 2008, smooching with Iti at Waitangi, where he was booed by Maori for proposing the abolition of Maori seats. Key campaigned on that policy and won - but in 2025 New Zealand is still lumbered with these liabilities. And with the 'Aotearoa' he put on our passports. He claimed Maori are 'indigenous' and 'Treaty partners' to be treated 'carefully'.

And Christopher Luxon who reveres John Key, is like him a neoliberal globalist, setting New Zealand up for failure.

Pandering to a terrorist

 

Taxpayer-Funded Electioneering? The Whānau Ora Ad Scandal and Te Pāti Māori’s Self-Interest

As New Zealand grapples with this controversy, the message is clear: taxpayer money should never be a tool for partisan agendas. Potaka’s push for answers is a step toward accountability, but it’s only the beginning.

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka has sounded the alarm on what could be one of the most blatant misuses of taxpayer funds in recent memory. A 30-minute advertisement, produced by the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency (WOCA) and featuring activist Tāme Iti, has raised serious concerns about electioneering under the guise of a public service campaign.

The ad, dubbed New Zealand’s longest-ever political advertisement, encourages Māori to enrol on the Māori electoral roll – a move that critics argue serves the partisan interests of Te Pāti Māori, led by WOCA’s key figure, John Tamihere. This scandal exposes a troubling nexus of taxpayer money, political agendas and self-serving ambitions that demands scrutiny.

 

The advertisement, rolled out last week, features Tāme Iti reading a “Māori roll call” of over 500 voters who have recently joined the Māori electoral roll. Billed as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Māori Electoral Option, the campaign directs viewers to maorirollcall.co.nz, a site designed to facilitate enrolment or switching to the Māori roll.

 

On the surface, it appears as a call for civic engagement. Dig deeper and it reeks of a calculated move to bolster Te Pāti Māori’s electoral prospects, funded by the very taxpayers it seeks to sway.

Potaka, in his dual role as Minister for Māori Development and Whānau Ora, has called for an urgent review by Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, to investigate how the ad was funded and whether it constitutes ‘electioneering’. As he told reporters, “If public funding which has been set up to help whānau in need has been used for electioneering, that is unacceptable.”

 

His concerns are echoed by NZ First’s Shane Jones, who criticised the campaign for aligning “too closely” with Te Pāti Māori’s interests. Even Labour MP Peeni Henare, a former Whānau Ora minister, supported Potaka’s call for a review, noting lingering questions from the last election about expenditure aimed at garnering votes.

 

The heart of the issue lies in WOCA’s leadership and its ties to Te Pāti Māori. John Tamihere, the president of Te Pāti Māori, is a central figure in what some call ‘Tamihere’s Empire’ – a network of organisations, including WOCA, that receive substantial public funding.

 

 

WOCA, tasked with delivering Whānau Ora services to support Māori families, is meant to focus on health, education and social outcomes. Instead, it appears to be moonlighting as a political machine, using taxpayer dollars to produce a campaign that could directly benefit Te Pāti Māori by increasing the number of Māori roll voters. More voters on the Māori roll mean more Māori seats in parliament, which Te Pāti Māori is well-positioned to contest. It’s a naked display of self-interest cloaked in the rhetoric of empowerment.

 

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, chairwoman of WOCA and a former Te Pāti Māori candidate in the 2023 election, defended the ad, framing it as a push for “More Māori in Parliament” (MMP). She argued that Māori issues are often sidelined on the general roll and that the Māori roll is a “powerful manifestation of tino rangatiratanga” (self-determination).

 

While the call for greater Māori representation might have some merit, right now Māori are over represented in parliament. Using public funds to produce a half-hour ad that smells of partisan promotion crosses a line. Raukawa-Tait’s claim that the Electoral Commission hasn’t done enough to promote Māori enrolment doesn’t hold water when the Electoral Commission’s mandate is to remain neutral – not to push for specific electoral outcomes.

 

The timing of the ad is also suspect. With the Māori Electoral Option open only periodically, the campaign’s urgency aligns conveniently with Te Pāti Māori’s strategic goals. The party has been vocal about increasing its parliamentary presence and a larger Māori roll directly supports that ambition.

 

NZ First’s Shane Jones put it bluntly: government departments shouldn’t be “trying to control the process that’s supposed to control them”. The Electoral Commission, by contrast, promotes enrolment without encouraging voters to choose one roll over another – a neutrality WOCA’s campaign blatantly disregards.

 

Potaka’s response has been swift but measured. He’s demanded answers ‘ASAP’ on whether contractual obligations were breached and whether Whānau Ora funds were misused. Te Puni Kōkiri has launched an independent review – a necessary step to restore public trust.

 

 

Hone Tuwhare, Tame Iti, and Māori activists, off to China for the cultural revolution.

 

But the deeper issue is the systemic vulnerability that allows organisations like WOCA to operate with such apparent impunity. Whānau Ora’s funding model, recently touted as “transparent” and “data-driven”, clearly needs tighter oversight to prevent public money from being funnelled into political campaigns.

 

This isn’t just about one ad. It’s about the integrity of public funding and the potential for abuse when political and organisational interests intertwine. John Tamihere’s dual role as Te Pāti Māori president and a key player in WOCA raises red flags about conflicts of interest.

 

Taxpayers deserve assurance that their money is being used to uplift whānau and not to pad the electoral prospects of a single party. The fact that WOCA partnered with creative agency Motion Sickness to produce this ad, complete with celebrity endorsements from figures like Taika Waititi, only underscores the scale and audacity of the campaign.

 

The fallout from this scandal could have far-reaching implications. If the review confirms misuse of funds, it will fuel calls for stricter accountability measures across government-funded agencies. It may also embolden critics of Whānau Ora, who have long questioned its effectiveness and transparency.

 

 

For Te Pāti Māori, the optics are disastrous – a party claiming to champion Māori rights risks being seen as exploiting public resources for its own gain.

 

As New Zealand grapples with this controversy, the message is clear: taxpayer money should never be a tool for partisan agendas. Potaka’s push for answers is a step toward accountability, but it’s only the beginning. The public deserves transparency and those responsible must be held to account. Anything less would be a betrayal of trust – and a disservice to the very whānau WOCA claims to serve.https://goodoil.news/taxpayer-funded-electioneering-the-whanau-ora-ad-scandal-and-te-pati-maoris-self-interest/

 

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for New Zealand