Peters tackles Hurricanes Poua over ‘redneck Government’ haka
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has berated the Hurricanes Poua for their controversial haka that labelled the Government “redneck”.
The Super Rugby Aupiki side performed their haka before Saturday’s season opener against the Chiefs Manawa in Hamilton, containing the words “karetao o te Kāwana kakiwhero”. In English, it reportedly translates to “puppets of this redneck government”.
Stuff understands that senior Hurricanes officials were blindsided by the haka’s critical message, and were investigating to find out what happened, with a statement expected.
Peters, who is acting Prime Minister while Christopher Luxon is out of the country, hit back against the Poua players on X.
“Perhaps if they focused more on tackling and catching the ball instead of expending all their energy performing a haka trying too hard to attack the Government, they may not have been thrashed so badly. I don’t see the world number one Black Ferns doing that,” Peters tweeted.
He was referring to the Poua’s 46-24 defeat to the Chiefs on Saturday. The Black Ferns are world champions but second in the current world rankings behind England.
Peters again pointed to his tweet when speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon.
“If you want to win a game, focus on the game. It's very fine for free speech when you leave the paddock,” he said.
“But if you want to do what the Black Ferns did, and become world champions from a hopeless position, then you focus on what the game's about.
“You're out there to play. People put a whole lot of money and time invested into you and all the infrastructures around you for you to be successful. And that's probably why they got thrashed.”
Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee told RNZ the players would be told not to perform the same haka again. He said the words they used criticising the coalition Government were “very strong”, and that a formal apology would be made.
Sports and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop strongly disagreed with the haka’s critical message, but he said it was “free speech”.
“Obviously, I disagree. New Zealanders will make their own judgments, as will Wellington fans of the Hurricanes,” Bishop said on Tuesday. “Clearly, I disagree with them. We’re not a government of white supremacy – that’s ridiculous.”
Teams in Super Rugby Aupiki, an elite domestic women’s competition, regularly perform their own haka before each match.
Hurricanes boss Lee said it would have a meeting with the players today.
“I’ve made it very clear to management, team management, that we are not supportive of the words used,“he said.
“These are obviously somewhat controversial words that have been used, there’s been no discussion or consultation outside of the team, so, you know, it’s not our place to make a political statement whether they are positive about the Government or negative about the Government.”
The Poua’s haka leader, 12-test Black Ferns prop Leilani Perese, on Tuesday said she didn’t care about the backlash.
“I believe in what we’re saying. I stand by it,” she told RNZ.
“I believe that in rugby, we have a platform where people watch and listen. And why not use our platform to show our people we will never fold? To tell the Government that we are stronger than ever, and we will never go down without a war.”
The Poua will play the first home match of their campaign at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on Saturday, against defending champions Matatū. It’s the first part of a double-header, before the men’s match between the Blues and the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific.