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A leading Ngāpuhi kaumātua has defended Destiny church founder Brian Tamaki’s controversial Waitangi Day service.
Reuben Taipari, who organised the forum at Te Tii Marae was disappointed Mr Tamaki did not interact with the other activities on the marae.
His description of Northland Māori as rīwai or potatoes also angered Taitokerau-based New Zealand First MP Shane Jones, who said Mr Tamaki and his Harley Davidson-riding supporters disturbed the wairua of Waitangi.
But Moka Puru says he was been impressed with the work Brian and Hannah Tamaki do with young people including former gang members.
"A lot of our people don’t like him but when I mihi to him down the bottom marae, i mihi to him this way, that a lot of people are really jealous of him because of the money he makes but the thing is the money he makes, he feeds it back to the young people he is looking after. All those people that came with him, they’re all ex-gang members," Mr Puru says.
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