Labour's Willie Jackson is defending his party's volunteers during the Tamaki Makaurau by-election as they come under fire from a Te Pati Māori MP.

Last night, Tākuta Ferris posted a video saying it's unacceptable for people of other ethnicities to campaign to take a Māori seat from Māori.

It follows a similar post from last week.

Te Pati Māori apologised for the first post - but have refused to answer questions today.

Jackson says he's personally apologised to the volunteers hurt by the comments.

"Basically, he's saying you've got no right to participate, this is just the Māori seat. Yes, it's a Māori seat, but these people want to help. They didn't come on to take over the Māori seat."

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