New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones says Te Pāti Māori organising a Budget Day call to action protest was "mobilising a militia of scallywags" and pushing people towards the "lunatic fringe".
The Coalition Government is gearing up to release its first Budget on Thursday, but there are calls for Māori to take action to coincide with the day.
"Aotearoa, maranga mai! Enough is enough. The rangatira revolution is here," an Instagram post shared by Toitū Te Tiriti said, adding that more information was to come.
"Our intent is to demonstrate the beginning of a unified Aotearoa response to the Government's assault on tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi," its website added.
The message of a nationwide activation was jointly shared by Te Pāti Māori and its co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
Aotearoa musician Stan Walker has also gotten behind the movement, sharing the post on his social media. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer shared flame emojis in the comments on this post.
But Jones has shared his disappointment at the planned Budget Day protest action.
Firstly, he told Newshub the imagery used in the campaign was dangerous.
"The symbol of the musket and colonial pistol - I think it reflects fossilised thinking. At one level it is quite dangerous to normalise guns but at another level it's reflective in my view of outdated and moribund political analysis," he said.
Jones said the imagery was "designed to provoke".
"But given the easy access that the gangs have to guns, I just think that it offends New Zealand culture. It's unnecessary," he said.
Jones also said everyone was entitled to demonstrate their democratic right to protest but because of "ineptitude within Parliament", naming Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer specifically, this action was leading people "further towards the lunatic fringe".
He criticised the role of Te Pāti Māori in organising the call to action, saying it was Ngarewa-Packer "flying the white flag".
"On the basis of ideas and political debate they've surrendered so now they're seeking answers and drama and theatre and we can't reply on the latter to pay the bills of day-to-day Māori households," he said.
"The role of the Māori Party is in politics to challenge the Budget through the democratic process rather than mobilise a militia of scallywags.
"It's not only sending negative signals through to the rangatahi, the young people, but it elevates lunatic fringe thinking which has got no place in modern New Zealand politics given the economic challenges that we face.
"Most Māori I know, they're not interested in this spark-plug type politics, they're concerned about the cost of power, the cost of housing, the challenges of employment and overcoming the obstacles that confront all Kiwis.
"This notion that by reprising colonial soap operas that we can rehabilitate modern day Māori households, sadly, is a moribund type of analysis and that's what's very disappointing in terms of their call to action."
Jones said the call to action was not standing for anything, instead it was "continually moaning about everything".
"There'll always be a tiny element who are unwilling to accept the democratic outcome of the current Coalition, but look, I'd rather be in a Coalition of power than a militia of scallywags."
Jones couldn't preempt any of what will come in Budget 2024 on Thursday, but said it was "the first step on deepening the foundations of future prosperity".
"There's a host of challenges that our nation faces but in my view the protest has little to do with the Budget, it's more loose cannon politics normalized by Debbie [Ngarewa] Packer.
"Debbie [Ngarewa] Packer is paid to come to Parliament and earn her pay, not encourage lunatic fringe behaviour and sadly we're seeing too much fossilised thinking and I fear that it paints a false picture that by joining the scallywag militia that you're going to improve either the direction of our nation or the quality of life for garden-variety whānau Māori."
Te Pāti Māori has been contacted for comment.
