Justice Minister Andrew Little says a controversial pamphlet called 'One Treaty, One Nation' recently distributed in Auckland "peddles myths".
The Advertising Standards Authority has reportedly received a complaint about the document, printed by deregistered party 1Law4All.
Last week a Pt Chevalier woman chased a man delivering the pamphlets, shouting "stay out of our neighbourhood, asshole".
It would seem Little holds a comparable opinion of the group, telling NZME the pamphlet is racist.
"It peddles myths about pre-European Māori society that historical scholarship does not bear out. If it demonstrates anything, it is that the author of it is an ignorant fool."
Little, who is currently overseeing possible changes to hate speech legislation in the wake of the Christchurch white supremacist terror attack, said the law needed to be clearer on who the public could report offensive hate speech to.
ACT leader David Seymour says there is no reason this pamphlet should be of concern to Little.
"If people weren't allowed to make stupid and historically inaccurate statements we'd have to close down Parliament," he said on Sunday afternoon.
"Little is not claiming that the pamphlet incites or threatens violence, is defamatory, or is even a nuisance. Those would be legitimate reasons to curtail speech, but Little is claiming the Government needs the power to shut down speech that is foolish."
The pamphlet claims Māori are better off thanks to colonisation, calls for the Waitangi Tribunal to be abolished and for voters to avoid parties who have race-based policies.
It was first distributed a couple of years ago to promote a book of the same title which contains a chapter by Hobson's Pledge founder Don Brash. He told NZME he had nothing to do with the pamphlet's recent distribution, and was "surprised" to hear about it.
Labour's Willie Jackson slammed the pamphlet in 2017, calling it a "load of nonsense - racist rhetoric again and so similar to the Pauline Hansen One Nation rubbish that's coming out of Australia".
Dr Brash defended it at the time.
"It's bizarre in New Zealand. If you argue for the same standard of citizenship for everybody, you get called a racist."
Newshub.
