Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris is under fire after he was heard saying “f***ing racist” following a submission at a parliamentary select committee on amendments to foreshore and seabed legislation.

Act says it has raised the remarks with the Speaker as a matter of privilege. The privileges committee is already considering whether Ferris misled the House with comments he made last month.

This latest incident happened on Wednesday afternoon as Parliament’s justice select committee listened to submissions on the Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill, which would make it harder for Māori to gain customary marine title or CMT in the foreshore and seabed.

Ferris had been questioning Dr Muriel Newman, a former Act MP and founder of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, and the think tank’s associate director, Frank Newman, when he was cut off by the justice select committee’s chairman, James Meager.

“No sorry, we will be winding this up now, we are significantly over time,” Meager said as Ferris attempted to continue questioning the pair.

As Meager attempted to move on to the next submitters, Ferris could be heard saying: “f***ing racist”. The meeting was taking place over Zoom and Ferris’ name came up as the comment was made, indicating he was talking.

Meager said: “Thank you for those comments Mr Ferris”.

“I will remind members that members did put it to me that we were running over time and members want me to adhere more closely to the order of Parliament and I did write to them outlining how we would be conducting hearings, including that questions would be succinct otherwise they won’t be put.”

Tākuta Ferris asked questions during the select committee. Photo / Parliament

Todd Stephenson, an Act MP who sits on the committee, told the Herald that it was “abuse” from Ferris.

“As a select committee, we invite members of the public to make their voices heard. We are hosts and submitters are our guests – we owe them basic manners and respect, not to witness abuse,” he said.

“Debates concerning access to coastal areas are sensitive enough as it is. Having elected politicians using select committee to publicly say ‘f***ing racist’ only makes it harder to have constructive conversations.”

The Herald has attempted to contact Ferris and Te Pāti Māori about the matter. The Speaker’s office has also been contacted for comment.

It comes as the Government attempts to make changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to address issues raised in a recent Court of Appeal decision that made it easier for iwi, hapū and whānau to have customary marine title recognised, and restore the former test in the 2011 law.

Under the law passed in 2011, two conditions had to be met before CMT was recognised – the applicant group must hold it in accordance with tikanga and applicants must have exclusively used and occupied it without substantial interruption since 1840.

But the Court of Appeal decision criticised the second condition – and based on that criteria, incursions into an area by third parties since 1840 would deprive a group of customary marine title and would be inconsistent with the Treaty of Waitangi.

Newman expressed support for the amendment legislation during the select committee, as she said it was clear “the law is not delivering on what Parliament intended” in 2011. She also suggested terms like tikanga be removed.

Ferris, however, has previously voiced opposition as he believed it shifted “the goalposts for Māori to prove customary marine title to something that is near impossible, thus slamming the door shut on hapū and iwi and confiscating the takutai moana.”

The Speaker last month confirmed Parliament’s privileges committee would consider whether Ferris misled the House after he denied referring to other MPs as liars.

The accusation related to a contribution from Ferris in a debate when he said: “It allows lies to be presented as truths. Politicians call this obfuscation. The art of making something unclear, intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to confuse others. Lies, in other words. Many in this House are masters of it and it is a disservice to those who voted you into your positions.”

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.