Latest news with #EllenTamati
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Pointless foreshore debate a distraction from economic crisis
At the same time, our second biggest export market has just imposed 15% tariffs on our products – higher than on our direct competitors – and its rival for global hegemony is extending its influence and projecting its military power into our region and even our realm. Yet despite all this – or perhaps because of it – some within the coalition Government and fringe groups aligned to them think it's a good idea to have another argument about race. Maybe that's not surprising. With the working and middle classes crying out for an explanation for why things are so bad and the country's prospects so bleak, some within the old political and business establishments dare not admit it is because of poor policy and commercial decisions they themselves contributed to over recent decades. As in other nations facing seemingly irretrievable decline, it's much better to point to a minority and blame them. 'It's not your fault, or mine, that you're doing it tough,' this old elite tells those who are struggling. 'We're all just victims of the 'grievance economy' where Māori keep taking what is rightfully yours.' The worst thing is that it works, at least with perhaps 20% of voters. That rump, which polls suggest consists mainly of white baby-boomer men, is particularly important electorally to NZ First and Act, who fight over them. You may think that the biggest issues in this year's local government elections are out-of-control rates and councils' cumbersome and incompetent application of the Resource Management Act. But, according to Hobson's Pledge, 'the most important fight of 2025' is around Māori wards. 'Across the country,' it says in an apocalyptic fund-raising email, 'local councils have become the frontline in a slow, stealthy assault on democracy. Behind closed doors, race-based policies are being pushed through. Co-governance is being installed without consent. And representation is being carved up based not on merit or votes, but on ancestry.' Hobson's Pledge says it will 'go big with this campaign', including 'billboards, signage, social media, and engaging with new voices'. The campaign's integrity is already under question, after it was revealed that Hobson's Pledge used, without her permission, a photograph of an elderly Māori woman in a billboard implying she opposes Māori wards. Rotorua kuia Ellen Tamati is devastated after discovering her image is being used by a political lobby group that's pushing to abolish Māori wards. Photo / Aukaha News In fact, she supports them. She never agreed for anyone to use her image commercially, and the agency which sold it anyway was clear it could not be used in advertising. Hobson's Pledge has since asked the billboard company to remove the advertisement and said it would contact the woman to ensure she was okay and let her know her image was publicly available as a stock image. Hobson's Pledge has form with this sort of thing, setting up a 'We Belong Aotearoa' campaign before the last election, falsely suggesting a grassroots movement by immigrants concerned about co-governance. Next time, Hobson's Pledge ought to use one of its own supporters – of which it claims to have many – in its advertisements. It might also give greater attention to telling the truth, after its advertising about the foreshore and seabed in the New Zealand Herald was found by the Advertising Standards Board to be materially misleading. Hobson's Pledge will continue to do its thing, and its antics are probably best seen as another small price to pay for the benefits of free speech. More worrying is internal coalition politics pushing Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith to proceed with new foreshore and seabed legislation. This is certain to arouse all the passions of the Clark Government's 2003 and 2004 fiasco that the Key Government resolved so successfully in its first term by passing then-Attorney General Christopher Finlayson's Marine and Coastal Area Act 2011. The Luxon Government – or at least a powerful faction within it – seems to want a repeat of Act's failed Treaty Principles Bill, with all the associated division and distraction from the real economic crises. There might have been a case for the bill Goldsmith is fronting had the Supreme Court upheld a recent novel interpretation of Finlayson's legislation by the Court of Appeal. But the Supreme Court overruled the Court of Appeal, making the proposed bill seem redundant. We must now choose whether Finlayson or Goldsmith is likely to be the better jurist. Finlayson says the Supreme Court left things as Parliament intended back in 2011 and that Goldsmith's bill would compromise existing Māori rights. Goldsmith says the Supreme Court made it too easy for Māori to have their rights recognised by the courts and that the bill is needed to return things to the status quo the Key Government established. Since the whole foreshore and seabed controversy emerged in 2003, it has been based on what Finlayson calls a 'lie': concerns about public access to beaches. Hobson's Pledge now goes so far as to claim there's a risk of 'kissing our entire coastline goodbye'. Yet beach access was never an issue, even when the Court of Appeal made its original 2003 ruling that kicked off the controversy. It certainly isn't an issue under the 2011 law or the Supreme Court's decisions. The rights that an iwi can have recognised over bits of the foreshore and seabed are highly limited, and nothing like ordinary property rights. Underlying all this is another lie: that there is something activist, radical or woke about the courts acknowledging Māori customary law. Yet in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, North America and New Zealand, the British Empire and its common law always acknowledged that customary law continued after colonisation, unless it was specifically repealed. The truly radical or activist judges have been those who historically tried to deny this. It can be annoying when other people's legal rights are upheld, like farmers being able to stop hikers from walking across their property. But that is no reason to deny such rights. To the contrary, it is an essential democratic principle that the specific legal rights of individuals and other minorities are upheld, whatever the majority may think. It's wrong to keep changing the law on the foreshore and seabed or anything else when it looks like the courts may uphold some specific legal rights that someone else might find annoying. If they can do it to an iwi, they can do it to you. And, with all New Zealand's economic and social crises, ask yourself whose interests are served by trying to turn your attention to race.
1News
7 days ago
- Politics
- 1News
Kuia devastated over use of her image on anti-Māori ward billboards
A kuia has been left devastated after Hobson's Pledge used her image in a billboard campaign against Māori wards. 'I feel trampled. I did not do any of those. I did not give anyone permission to use my mug, my moko kauae.' Ellen Tamati spoke to Aukaha News about her experience. She said she was woken up in the middle of the night by her mokopuna who had spotted one of the billboards. '[My mokopuna] kept ringing and ringing to wake me up and she told me what was happening. I didn't know what she was talking about, I had no idea. I didn't realise my face was on a billboard, she just kept saying to me, 'Nan what's going on?'' Tamati's image was available for editorial use on stock image sites iStock and Shutterstock. She said she was not asked for permission for her image to be used in the campaign. ADVERTISEMENT Ellen Tamati's image on iStock (Source: Te Karere) On the billboards her image was accompanied with the headline, 'My mana doesn't need a mandate. Vote no to Māori wards' - a message that goes against her beliefs. Responding to a question on how she feels, she gestured to the moko on her chin: 'My moko kauae represents... my right side is my Te Arawa waka and my left side is my Mataatua waka, so this means more to me than what they're trying to say.' Granddaughter Anahera Parata said her nan has only every been a staunch Te Pāti Māori supporter and 'pro-Māori'. 'Even at her age she's still giving back to our iwi,' she said. Tamati said she was sad and angry, and invited the group to 'come and see me'. 'But the damage has been done. And to all those wards out there, please go and vote for our Māori wards. That's all I can say to you. Go and vote for them because we need them. We need them. I did not authorise the Hobson's Pledge to put my face up.' ADVERTISEMENT Hobson's Pledge leader Don Brash told Te Karere that they have taken down the billboards out of respect for the hurt caused to Tamati. 'We bought the photograph from a regular photography supplier and we assumed therefore that we had the rights to use it. We understand that the woman concerned is upset about that fact and we're doing our best to contact her, and of course we'll apologise for her hurt.' Glossary moko kauae - traditional Māori tattoo on a women's chin mokopuna - grandchild/ren Te Arawa waka - ancestral canoe Mataatua waka - ancestral canoe
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Rotorua kuia caught up in Hobson's Pledge's anti-Māori ward campaign
Don Brash said Hobson's Pledge is not pushing anti-Māori campaigns Photo: supplied / Facebook Hobson's Pledge says it will remove the image of a Rotorua kuia it used in a campaign against Māori wards. Ellen Tamati had no idea that her face was used on an anti-Māori wards campaign until it was plastered on Hobson's Pledge's billboards around the country. After she was contacted by her mokopuna at 1:40am on Wednesday, Tamati spoke to Aukaha news, revealing her devastation. "I'm lost for words, that's not me, that is not me." The billboard shows a picture of Tamati - a wāhine Māori with a moko kauae - with the words 'My mana doesn't need a mandate - vote no to Māori wards', which indicates those are her own words. "The mana is everything in those Māori wards and we need it," Tamati said. The billboards have been seen at numerous locations around the country, including Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangarei and Christchurch. The kuia from Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rongomai and Ngāti Tawhaki revealed the sacredness of her moko kauae, saying it meant more to her than what had been advertised. "This carries everything," she pointed to her kauae. Ellen Tamati in front of a Hobson's Pledge campaign using her face without authorisation. Photo: Supplied / Aukaha News Anahera Parata is mamae that her Nan is the main feature. "All my life, I have only ever known Nan to be pro Māori, a very staunch supporter of Te Paati Māori, everything Māori. Even at her age she's still giving back to her iwi. "To me that's damaging, not just to Nan but to our whole iwi - I can't imagine being Nan having to face our iwi when her face is being plastered over billboards supporting a message that none of us believe in. "I'm very hurt and angry. I don't know how they think it's right... it's illegal. You picked the wrong whānau," Parata said. As of 10.45am on Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority had received more than 30 complaints regarding this campaign. The image was taken at Waitangi Day this year by an Australian-based photographer Rafael Ben Ari who goes by 'ChameleonsEye'. It is on iStock and Shutterstock. Hobson's Pledge purchased the iStock image labelled 'Mature adult Maori woman with Ta moko tattoo stock photo'. Hobson's Pledge leader Don Brash. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly The group's leader Don Brash told RNZ they thought it "fair to use" and all rights to use it in public-facing materials were secured, although Tamati was clear that there was no consent given. Hobson Pledge said the intent was to promote an important conversation about democratic fairness and equal voting rights for all New Zealanders, and was saddened to see this billboard had caused personal upset. Brash, who had not seen Aukaha News' video, said the group were instructed to take the billboards down. "I think it is taking place, may have already taken place, but in case the instructions are taken down immediately." He said the message came from knowing some Māori who did not want Māori wards and they would be doing social media work with a group of Māori next week. "We haven't asked them to be on billboards to be honest, but that may be the next step. "We're not pushing anti-Māori campaigns of course, I mean that's totally misleading. "We simply believe all New Zealanders should have the same political rights and I think a great many Māori of course agree with that." Brash said the photo was only used for this campaign only, and would "endeavour to contact the woman concerned and offer our apologies". "Come and see me," Tamati directed towards Hobson's Pledge, "but the damage has been done," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Rotorua kuia's image used in Hobson's Pledge billboard without consent, family outraged
Rotorua kuia Ellen Tamati is devastated after discovering her image is being used by a political lobby group that's pushing to abolish Māori wards. Photo / Aukaha News 'They have takahi (trampled) on my nan's mana and put words in her mouth she did not say.' Parata said her nan's image was taken on Waitangi Day this year at a public event and uploaded to stock image website Shutterstock. The photograph was labelled for editorial purposes only, with a license required for commercial use. Shutterstock's website said there were 'additional restrictions' for using images of recognisable people for some purposes, including political ads. 'We, the whānau of our mum and nan, are speaking publicly to address the deeply offensive and unauthorised use of her image by Hobson's Pledge,' Parata said. This image of Ellen Tamati was posted on the Shutterstock website for purchase. Photo / Shutterstock 'Let us be absolutely clear – our kuia did not give consent for her image to be used. She was never contacted, consulted or approached in any way." She called on Hobson's Pledge to issue a public apology to their kuia and whānau and to 'reflect seriously on the harm they continue to cause through their deliberate misuse of Māori imagery'. Parata said her nan had five children, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and was widely known and highly regarded locally. 'She doesn't want to talk to anyone about it any more today. She is with her best friend at the moment. That is all she wanted to do.' In a video interview with Aukaha News, the visibly upset kuia said she was woken by phone calls at 1.40am today from a whānau member who had seen the billboard. 'I didn't know what she was talking about … I didn't realise my face was on a billboard. She kept saying to me 'nan what is going on?'' Tamati told Aukaha News. 'I did not give anyone permission to use my mug, my moko kauae ... I'm just lost for words. It is not me, it is not me,' she said while trembling in the interview. She encouraged people to support Māori wards, 'because we need them'. Another of the Hobson's Pledge Māori Ward billboards at Koutu corner in Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser Hobson's Pledge released a public statement this morning saying they were aware the woman in the stock image had expressed distress at seeing her photo used. 'The image was legally purchased through a reputable stock photography provider, and all rights to use it in public-facing materials were secured.' They said they had asked the billboard company to remove the advertisement immediately once they realised the impact on the woman. 'While the campaign intended to promote an important conversation about democratic fairness and equal voting rights for all New Zealanders, we are saddened to see that this billboard has caused personal upset. That was never our intention.' The statement said Hobson's Pledge believed in having respectful and constructive conversations about Māori wards. 'We hold the view that race-based electoral divisions are unnecessary and undermine equal suffrage, particularly when many Māori candidates are already successfully elected through general seats at both the local and national level.' The statement said the group would reach out privately to the individual featured to ensure she was okay and to let her know her image was publicly available on stock image platforms. 'Regardless of the positive message we were promoting, we do not want anyone to feel distressed by our materials.' Beacon Car Sales in Whangārei had been fielding calls and emails all day after the advertisements appeared on the billboard located on its Reyburn St property. Owner Neil Madsen said people had been stopping to take photos, and the people contacting him were 'very emotional' about the advertisements. Madsen contacted Lumo Digital Outdoor and was told the advertisement featuring the kuia would be removed. He was not sure if they would all be taken down. 'I'll be glad when they're gone,' he said. Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
The Spinoff
7 days ago
- Business
- The Spinoff
How did Ellen Tamati's face end up on Hobson's Pledge billboards?
The lobby group has pulled its latest campaign against Māori wards after the woman whose photo it used without her knowledge expressed her distress. But a lawyer says the use of the photo has 'pretty clearly' breached the Fair Trading Act. Hobson's Pledge has apologised to Te Arawa woman Ellen Tamati and pulled a billboard campaign that featured her image alongside the words 'My mana doesn't need a mandate. Vote no to Māori wards.' Aukaha News reported this morning that Tamati's face was used without her knowledge for the campaign. An upset Tamati spoke to the outlet about waking up to missed calls from her mokopuna. 'I didn't know what she was talking about, I had no idea. I didn't realise my face was on a billboard. She kept saying to me 'Nan, what's going on?' and I didn't know what to say to her 'cause I don't understand.' Tamati was adamant she did not give permission for her photo to be used on the Hobson's Pledge billboards, and said she was staunchly opposed to the message they were sending. 'I did not give any permission to use my mug, my moko kauae,' she said, holding back tears. When asked what she would say to those who used her face for their campaign, she was lost for words, eventually saying, 'that's not me… they have taken… that's not me'. A spokesperson for Lumo Digital Outdoor, the company responsible for the digital billboards, told The Spinoff that Hobson's Pledge had asked the company to remove them – 'not because legally they didn't have a right to use it', but because of the pain the campaign had caused Tamati. The billboards had been spotted in Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangārei and Christchurch. But how did Ellen Tamati's face end up on them in the first place? 'Editorial use only' Stock image photography is a thriving business in New Zealand. News outlets around the country need images to illustrate their stories and, without in-house photographers, rely heavily on stock photography platforms to provide suitable photos. All manner of private businesses and government agencies also pay for stock imagery to use in various content. At Waitangi Day celebrations in 2025, travel photographer Rafael Ben Ari took dozens of photos of landscapes and attendees. He licensed his photos to two stock imagery websites – iStock by Getty and Shutterstock – where they are labelled 'editorial use only', meaning they can only be used by in a newsworthy or human interest context, for example to accompany news reporting (in this instance, most likely be reporting on Waitangi Day), rather than for commercial or promotional purposes. It is unclear whether or not Tamati was aware that a photo of her was available on these platforms. Being filmed or photographed while in a public space is not in itself a breach of privacy, and few people ever see the photos of themselves appear in these circumstances. In a statement acknowledging Tamati's distress, a Hobson's Pledge spokesperson said the image was 'legally purchased through a reputable stock photography provider, and all rights to use it in public-facing materials were secured'. Speaking to The Spinoff, Hobson's Pledge leader Don Brash said that he was under the impression the image, purchased from iStock, was 'fully available for use by whoever bought it'. When asked if he was aware that the image was marked for editorial use only, Brash said no, 'I was not aware of that at all.' Getty Images, which owns iStock, did not provide comment before publication but its terms and conditions state that images marked for editorial use only may not be used 'for any commercial, promotional, advertorial, endorsement, advertising, gambling/betting/gaming uses, or merchandising purpose'. Is it legal? According to intellectual property lawyer Earl Gray, Hobson's Pledge is 'pretty clearly' in breach of the Fair Trading Act. 'This is clearly advertising,' he told The Spinoff, in reference to the 'editorial only' clause. He pointed out that iStock's terms specify that editorial-use-only images are 'not model or property released', meaning Hobson's Pledge could not use the image in a way 'that suggests that the model has endorsed anything they're saying'. 'In this case, Ellen Tamati has clearly not said what they're saying. They're clearly in breach of the iStock terms and and because of that, they're also, I think, pretty clearly in breach of the Fair Trading Act,' said Gray. Liability could even extend to the billboard company, Lumo, for hosting the ad: 'They've put it up so they've potentially made the reproduction, or published the reproduction. If you're outside of any licence and you use a copyright work, then you're potentially infringing copyright.' What next? According to Gray, Tamati or her whānau – or anyone else aggrieved by the campaign's use of her face – could lay a complaint. 'Pretty much anyone can make a complaint about a breach of the Fair Trading Act, and indeed, the Commerce Commission could as well. Given that that person will at least feel damaged in the sense of her reputation amongst her friends, she would have a right to bring a claim for a breach of the Fair Trading Act,' he said. 'I imagine most billboard companies would have terms and conditions that at least require the advertiser to be responsible for ensuring that the advertisement doesn't breach any any laws, including infringing copyright or defamation or breaching the Fair Trading Act.' Why Ellen Tamati? The image of Tamati is striking – a close portrait. Brash said her photo was chosen 'because it was an image of a strong Maori woman who was ideal for our purposes'. At the end of its statement, Hobson's Pledge said, 'regardless of the positive message we were promoting, we do not want anyone to feel distressed by our materials'. Tamati, the short-lived face of a 'vote no to Māori wards' campaign, disagrees. 'Please go and vote for your Māori wards,' she said this morning, 'because we need them.'
