Broadcaster Duncan Garner recently told listeners that Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is “not fit to hold office” after she shared a social media post referencing the violent death of Captain James Cook.
Summarised by Centrist
Garner described the post as “sickening and evil,” arguing that a political leader should never “publicly celebrate online the anniversary of another person’s violent death or murder.” He said the post went beyond historical critique and amounted to “cheering a killing” and “applauding a murder.”
The post in question marked the anniversary of Cook’s death in Hawaii, describing it as “an indigenous love story that is taking down a coloniser who brought nothing but disease and death across the Pacific.” Garner said that while colonisation can and should be debated, “you can condemn colonisation without celebrating death.”
“If you cannot separate historical grievance from basic human decency, you’re not fit to hold office in a modern democracy,” he said.
Garner also turned his fire on mainstream media outlets, accusing them of ignoring the story. “The silence is deafening and deeply disappointing,” he said, naming RNZ, the Herald, Stuff, and 1News.
“That’s not caution. That’s massive cowardice,” he added, arguing that if the roles were reversed and an MP had celebrated the death of a Māori leader, “careers would be gone by lunchtime.”
Garner questioned whether the post amounted to “inciting violence” or promoting hate speech, and said “our silence just enables her.”
He warned that rhetoric of this kind risks deepening social division, asking, “Where will an attitude like this take us ultimately? Will we go to war against each other?”
Ngarewa-Packer has not responded publicly to Garner’s comments in the podcast episode.