September 30, 2022
Vanilla tag hurts ACT Māori MPs
ACT MP Nicole McKee says all parliamentarians should reflect on their behaviour in light of Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis’s attack on fellow ACT MP Karen Chhour.
Mr Davis apologised to Ms Chhour, who has Ngapuhi whakapapa but was raised in foster care, for his response to her question about Oranga Tamariki reform that she “viewed the world through vanilla eyes and did not understand te ao Maori”.
Nicole McKee says ACT is there to debate policy, but some of the push back has been personal.
“Quite a few of us have been called racist for wanting to have opportunities for everyone and not distinguish against one race from another but we get called names for that. I’ve been called a nutter. David (Seymour) has been called a useless Maori. And now Karen’s been told she’s looking through a vanilla lens. It’s very hurtful,” she says.
“