Rawiri Waititi says Chris Hipkins shouldn't "tell indigenous peoples what our bottom lines are" because it's "oppression".
On Friday, Hipkins told Stuff: “Smaller parties, I think, need to be careful with whatever they issue in terms of ‘bottom lines’ or they could find themselves simply not able to be part of any governing arrangement at all."
Asked about the comments today, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Labour was "not in any position to continue to tell us what to do".
"You don’t tell indigenous peoples what our bottom lines are. That’s a continued approach to oppression.
"For indigenous peoples to be told something like that, and for the only tangata whenua party - because he made reference to te Pāti Māori - to be told to be careful about what our bottom lines are, is oppression to us.
"You don’t tell us what to do. You don’t have the license to do that anymore.
"We send that message to anybody. Te Pāti Māori has been clear about our kaupapa, we always have been. If you’re not willing to work towards a te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa - which means respecting the indigenous people, which means respecting tangata whenua and our plight to bring ourselves up from out of the ashes and to a place that’s more equitable and equal - we will continue to make those statements."
He said polls showed that was working.
"The problem is… you’ve got the left and the right, red and the blue, and you’ve got two Chrises.
"I call them the 'To Do Chrises', because one doesn’t want anything to do with Māori, and the other one’s telling Māori what to do. So there’s a bit of a Chris-cross happening here, but I tell you what, come October 15, there’ll be a bit of a Chris-tastrophe on one of those sides."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said an "indigenous party" could not be told it was "not allowed to put te Tiriti first as a bottom line".
"It’s a top line, it’s a middle line. That’s the difference for us. We are the only party that are true opposition because we’re not fighting to become ministers or to get into government, we’re more focused on that longer term picture of a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa.
"We’ve continued to show that we’re relatable and… we’ll stay humble."
Yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Labour had some "shared views" with Te Pāti Māori and once parties had set out their platforms, Labour would "be more clear on where we see common ground - and where we see that it would be more difficult to work with other parties".
Last Wednesday, following the defection of Meka Whaitiri from Labour to Te Pāti Māori, National leader Christopher Luxon ruled out coming to any arrangement with Te Pāti Māori after the election, even if it was National's only path to power.
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