A group of Māori and community leaders are calling on Christopher Luxon to condemn "racist" comments and "race-baiting" policies made by his potential coalition partners.
In a press release labelled "a call to condemn racism", 17 Māori leaders have collectively urged the National leader to "draw a line in the sand".
"Leaders, whether it is within your iwi, your whānau or of a political party, have a responsibility to call out racism and race-baiting and publicly condemn it," the group said.
The group said "race-baiting" for votes is not new in Aotearoa but the upcoming election has seen "the dog whistling and the outright public displays of racism from political candidates" increased to "unacceptable levels".
"We need to draw a line in the sand, put an end to this divisive style of politics because Aotearoa, we are better than that," they said.
The group said they supported Labour leader Chris Hipkins' position, who called for an end to "race-baiting and racist comments" on the election campaigns.
"We acknowledge both the Green Party and Te Paati Māori for their anti-racism positions and respect the words of Kiingi Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero IIV, who, at his Koroneihana called for political parties to stop using Māori people as a political football."
The group said, "it is racist to call for Māori, elite or not, to be cut out and buried", referring to New Zealand First candidate Rob Ballantyne's comments made while speaking at a Rotary Club candidate event in Timaru last week.
When asked by Newshub on Thursday if NZ First leader Winston Peters believed Ballantyne's comments were racist, he didn't think so.
"No of course it is not. The people who are saying it is racist, they are the ones who are racist."
The comment surfaced during Newshub's leader's debate on Wednesday, when Hipkins quoted Ballantyne and asked why Luxon was willing to work with NZ First.
Luxon agreed with Hipkins that the comment was racist.
"I do, I don't think that's acceptable at all," he said.
The group of Māori leaders said it is "racist to abuse wahine Māori at candidate debates for speaking Te Reo".
"It is ignorant to call the signing of te Tiriti a 'wee experiment'," they said.
Adding it's "ignorant to think you have a right to erase te Tiriti from legislation and rewrite it in your own words".
"Māori deserve better from the people who want to leader our country," the group said.
"We are calling on Christopher Luxon, the leader of the National Party, to condemn the racist comments made by NZ First candidates, to condemn the race-baiting policies of the ACT party and commit himself to representing all of us – including Māori."
Newshub has approached National, ACT and NZ First for a response to the group's call.
The list of Māori and community leaders:
- Dame Naida Glavish
- Ta Herewini Tanetoa Parata
- Ta Mark Solomon
- Archdeacon Ngira Simmonds, Chief of Staff, Office of the Kiingitanga
- Tukoroirangi Morgan, Chair of Te Arataura
- Baden Barber, Chair of Ngati Kahungunu
- Katie Murray, Te Runanga o Te Rarawa
- Professor Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua)
- Te Huia Bill Hamilton (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngā Rauru)
- Terrence (Mook) Hohneck, Ngāti Manuhiri
- Peter Lucas Jones, Te Aupouri
- Pania Newton, Te Ahiwaru Trust
- Hurimoana Dennis, Chair of Te Puea Marae
- Tony Kake, CEO, Papakura Marae
- David Leteli, CEO, BBM Motivation
- Tania Rangiheuea, CEO of MUMA
- Bernie O'Donnell, Nga Whare Waatea, Chair of MUMA
