Tākuta Ferris

Tākuta "Doc" Ferris (born 1978) is a New Zealand politician, currently representing Te Tai Tonga in the New Zealand House of Representatives as an independent. He was elected at the 2023 general election as a Te Pāti Māori candidate. Ferris was expelled from the party in November 2025.

Early life and career Ferris was born in 1978 Tākuta simply means 'doctor' in Māori.

Piri Sciascia was his uncle. Ferris has a degree in Māori design and art, as well as a degree in mātauranga Māori, both from Te Wānanga o Raukawa. He is of the Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou iwi. Ferris was a lecturer and adviser at Massey University's Manawatū campus. He describes himself as "a fisherman, a diver, and an artist".

2023 election campaign Ferris was re-selected to stand in Te Tai Tonga for Te Pāti Māori in the 2023 election. His campaign strategy targeted younger voters because older people are "entrapped in the status quo". He stated he intended to increase support for himself from younger people over three to fifteen years as they grow up. However, journalists considered Ferris "still has little chance of making it to Parliament" since the incumbent Tirikatene's family had represented Te Tai Tonga and its predecessor electorate for 72 of the last 91 years and an opinion poll in late September 2023 had Tirikatene ahead with an 11-point margin. Despite these predictions, Ferris defeated Tirikatene with a 2,800-vote margin.

First term, 2023–present During his maiden speech on 12 December, Ferris stated that he was there not to service the needs of the New Zealand House of Representatives but rather to "contest it." He also criticised the National-led coalition government's policies which he claimed attacked Māori language and culture. He was appointed Te Pāti Māori's education, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, justice, police, corrections, drug law reform, water, fisheries, forestry, broadcasting and public service spokesperson and sits on Parliament's justice committee.

On 25 September 2024, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee referred Ferris to Parliament's Privileges Committee after he made remarks accusing members of Parliament of lying. He said:

In response, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called for a point of order. When Brownlee asked Ferris to withdraw the comment and apologise, he denied making the comment. Brownlee referred Ferris to the Privileges Committee on the grounds that Ferris had "deliberately misled" the House. thumb

In early September 2025, Ferris published a controversial social media post criticising the ethnicity of several Labour Party campaign volunteers during the 2025 Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. In response, Te Pāti Māori disavowed Ferris' post, issued an apology and ordered him to remove it. Labour MP Willie Jackson condemned Ferris' social media remarks as offensive and reiterated his party's commitment to representing all ethnic communities. Following the by-election, the Electoral Commission confirmed it was investigating a social media post by Ferris published on the day of the by-election urging people to vote for Te Pāti Māori.

Around midnight 10 September 2025, Ferris released an Instagram video defending his earlier social media post criticising non-Māori Labour campaign volunteers during the Tāmaki Makaurau election. In the video, Ferris said that the presence of these volunteers "reflected attempts to homogenise Māori as just another minority group rather than tangata whenua ("People of the Land") with distinct rights under the Treaty of Waitangi." Te Pāti Māori released a statement distancing themselves from Ferris' remarks and said they would respond to Ferris' remarks. On 11 September, Ferris defended his social media posts during an interview with ThreeNews. On 12 September, TPM President John Tamihere confirmed that Ferris was undergoing a tikanga Māori (Māori customary) process to resolve the dispute regarding his racially charged social media posts. On 16 September, Tamihere defended the substance of Ferris' comments, stating that "it's wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats." In response, Labour leader Hipkins expressed disagreement with Tamihere and Ferris's views and warned this could affect Labour's relationship with Te Pāti Māori.

Following the passage of the National Government's Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Act 2025 (MACA) into law on 21 October 2025, Ferris and TPM co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer posted a social media video of themselves burning a copy of the legislation on the grounds of Parliament. The MACA legislation raises the legal threshold for Māori making claims to ancestral titles on foreshore and seabed. In response, Speaker Gerry Brownlee condemned the two MPs' actions and said he was "currently taking advice".

On 3 November 2025, Tamihere called on Ferris and fellow TPM MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi to resign, accusing the duo of "greed, avarice, and entitlement" and attempting to overthrow the party's co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer. Despite attempts at mediation by the National Iwi Chairs Forum, the national council of Te Pāti Māori subsequently voted to expel Ferris and Kapa-Kingi on 9 November. In response, he denounced the decision, stating "I do not acknowledge the decisions and illegal resolutions made through unilateral measures." On 25 November, Ferris alleged that the party's leadership had attempted to unseat the late TPM MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp from her Tāmaki Makaurau electorate seat several months prior to her death in June 2025. Tamihere declined to comment on Ferris' allegation.

2026 election campaign On 21 March 2026, Ferris announced his intention to run for the Te Tai Tonga electorate as an independent in the .

Footnotes