In Episode 30 of The Good Oil Podcast I sat down with a man who has become a lightning rod in Māori circles.
Known online as Shubz, he has built a large following by doing something that apparently enrages a certain class of activist, telling the truth about how millions of dollars meant for Māori communities never seem to reach the people who need it.
What struck me most was how measured he was. This isn’t some hothead raging into the camera. This is a man who grew up around politics, saw the hypocrisy from childhood, and eventually decided he couldn’t stay silent anymore.
We cover a lot of ground: from his grandmother’s influence, to the infamous “waste of Māori blood” comment directed at Winston Peters, to the story of Alfred Ngaro being told he was in the “wrong party” despite liking what he heard.
The pattern is always the same: question the iwi elites or the endless grievance industry and you’re immediately labelled a traitor to your own people. Shubz isn’t buying it. And neither, it seems, are a growing number of ordinary Māori who are tired of the grift.
