Tākuta "Doc" Ferris (born 1978) is a New Zealand politician. A member of

Te Pāti Māori (), also known as the Māori Party, is a left-wing political party in New Zealand advocating Māori people, Māori rights. With the exception of a handful of New Zealand electorates#Electorates in the 53rd Parliament, general electorates, co ...

, he was elected to the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...

at the 2023 general election as the MP for

Te Tai Tonga Te Tai Tonga () is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorates, Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 New Zeal ...

. Ferris's electoral success was one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 general election. His win was unexpected, with the family of the incumbent

Rino Tirikatene Rino Tirikatene (born 1972) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a former member of the House of Representatives. He comes from a family with a strong political history. Tirikatene represented the Te Tai Tonga Māori electorate from th ...

having held the Te Tai Tonga electorate for 72 of the last 91 years.

Early life and career

Ferris was born in 1978. Piri Sciascia was his uncle. Ferris has a degree in Māori design and art, as well as a degree in

mātauranga Māori Mātauranga (literally ''Māori knowledge'') is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is Interdisciplinarity, multi-disciplinary and Logical holism, holistic, and there is c ...

, both from

Te Wānanga o Raukawa is a Māori wānanga (indigenous tertiary-education provider) in New Zealand, established in 1981. Based in Ōtaki, with smaller campuses in Auckland and Gisborne, the wānanga was born out of a collaborative tribal desire or experiment known ...

. He is of the

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

Ngāti Kuia Ngāti Kuia is a Māori iwi of the Northern South Island in New Zealand. They first settled in the Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, and later spread to the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and Tasman districts to Taitapu on the West Coast, and as far sout ...

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

and

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. Ferris was a lecturer and adviser at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

's Manawatū campus. He describes himself as "a fisherman, a diver, and an artist".

Political career

2020 election campaign

On 10 May 2020, Tākuta Ferris was selected as the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

candidate for

for the . Ferris was quoted as saying that "the status quo is no longer acceptable. It is our responsibility to challenge it and change the development narrative for our tamariki and mokopuna." Ferris was beaten by the incumbent,

, by a margin of over 6,800 votes. Following the announcement of the proposed closure of the

Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an Aluminium smelting, aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto (corporation), Rio Tinto Group, via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited. The facility, New Zealand's only aluminiu ...

, Ferris called for the government to put whānau first, arguing that central and regional government should intervene with an aim for a more diversified regional economy.

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. Ferris stood in for his party's co-leaders in ''

The Press ''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...

'' leaders' debate. He was praised for his contributions to the debate; despite sparring against two senior politicians—

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...

and

David Seymour David Breen Seymour (born 24 June 1983) is a New Zealand politician who has served as the 21st deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 2025 and as the 1st minister for regulation since 2023. A member of the ACT Party, he has served as its ...

—Ferris "stood out from the pack" and was "shining". 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

but rather to "contest it." He also criticised the National-led coalition government's policies which he claimed attacked

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

and culture. He was appointed Te Pāti Māori's education,

Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

, 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 The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician and the 32nd speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was first elected as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Ilam (New Zealand elec ...

referred Ferris to Parliament's Privileges Committee after he made remarks accused Members of Parliament of lying. He said: In response,

New Zealand First New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...

leader

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. The Committee reported back in February 2025, finding that Ferris did deliberately mislead the House and recommended that he apologise.

Footnotes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Tākuta 1978 births Living people Te Pāti Māori MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Ngāi Tahu people Ngāti Kuia people Ngāti Kahungunu people Ngāti Porou people Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election