ACT MP Karen Chhour Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
ACT MP Karen Chhour says she has accepted the apology from Minister for Children Kelvin Davis over comments he made yesterday, and she hopes they can move forward constructively.
Davis this morning phoned Chhour directly to apologise over the comments, which included telling her to cross "into the Māori world" and that it was no good looking through a "vanilla lens".
Heading into the debating chamber this afternoon, Chhour said she had found it hurtful but had accepted Davis' apology.
"I found that quite hurtful, the personal attack on my identity and how I see the world, and I don't think anybody should have to justify themselves like that and justify their culture and their heritage.
"Growing up I always felt lacking in my identity and I finally found that confidence to stand as a proud Māori woman and it was taken away from me yesterday.
"I think it was a genuine apology, and I hope it can mean we can move forward ... and have constructive debates in future and no personal attacks anymore."
Chhour, who is Ngāpuhi but grew up in the care system, yesterday said the comments left her distressed and took away her mana.
This afternoon she said it had raised hurt for more than just herself.
"It wasn't just the hurt that it made me feel, it's the hurt that it made my children feel and it's the hurt that it made my foster mother feel. I got a very supportive message from my foster mother last night that made me realise that I don't have to justify my Māori, I can own it.
"She said there's more to being a Māori than just the blood, it's about having aroha and love. And I have a lot of aroha and love to all the children of New Zealand and that's what counts."
Davis this afternoon acknowledged his comments had not been appropriate.
"No, they weren't, and I rang Karen Chhour up and I apologised for the offence I caused. She was very gracious, thanked me for the call and said it was appreciated.
"I made a mistake, I rang her up, I apologised, what I said was inappropriate, it caused offence, and as I say to Oranga Tamariki when they stuff up - fess up and fix it, which I've done.
"It wasn't an attack on her whakapapa, the point I was trying to make is that I disagree with ACT's policies."
He said people questioned his own whakapapa all the time.
"I grew up with that experience myself, being a very pale-skinned, green eyed, blond haired person, so I've had that experience myself."
"It's wrong for people to think that Māori all think the same, but then again I should have been more judicious with the words I've used."
In a statement this morning, he said he had intended his comments to allude to ACT's policies in general, rather than cause personal offence.
"I absolutely acknowledge Karen's whakapapa and hope my comments did not cause her personal offence, I probably could have made my point better and I have apologised for that," he said.
He said the policies he was criticising included Chhour's member's bill calling for a "colourblind" approach to child protection, which was drawn from the biscuit tin last week.
"This approach has failed Māori for generations - today 67 percent of children in state care are Māori - and I will never stop defending a by Māori for Māori approach," he said.
Minister Children and Māori-Crown Relations, and Labour's deputy leader, Kelvin Davis. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"The ACT Party often preaches about being the party for all, but if they truly want that then I do encourage them to cross over the bridge that is Te Tiriti so that they can view the issues they care about from a Māori lens."
Davis had retaliated over Chhour's questioning yesterday of his ministry's relationships with Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust, after the NZ Herald revealed the trust was under investigation over charitable funds allegedly used to bankroll its chief executive John Tamihere's political campaigns.
The minister said Chhour needed to "cross the bridge that is Te Tiriti o Waitangi from her Pākehā world into the Māori world and understand exactly how the Māori world operates. It's no good looking at the world from a vanilla lens".
Her member's bill would repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, which requires Oranga Tamariki's chief executive to recognise and provide a practical commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
This includes reducing disparities by setting measurable outcomes for Māori children and young persons, having regard to the whakapapa of young people, developing partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations, and publicly reporting steps taken to improve outcomes for Māori children.
Davis repeated his criticisms of the policy this afternoon.
"That was the status quo which basically made Māori kids and their needs invisible," he said.
ACT had urged Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to step in after Davis' comments yesterday, ask him to apologise and suspend him.
Davis said he had not been asked.
"No, I had a word with her and told her that I was going to apologise - she said that was the right thing to do and it's been done.
"You sleep on these things, and you realise ... in fact, it was a kaumatua of mine that said if you make a mistake then go fix it, so you dwell on these things overnight and come back and make the decision."
He rejected the accusation it was a widespread view in the Labour Party that people were not Māori enough if they disagreed.
"No, not at all, and we don't deny anyone's whakapapa, and like I say everyone is on a continuum in terms of where they are in the Māori world, but like I say I disagree with ACT's policies, I think they reverse a lot of the good gains that have been made for Māori over the years."
Chhour said Ardern needed to take a hard look at whether she accepted that kind of behaviour.
Ardern was not in Wellington this afternoon, but in her stead Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said he agreed Davis' comments had been "too personal".
"I think he was trying to make a policy point but he didn't do that and he has apologised," he said.
"The house is a place where things happen in the heat of the moment, they're not always right, and often members reflect on that and make a decision to apologise and that's what Minister Davis has done."
However, he said there was no chance of Davis being stood down or suspended.
