Eagle Brewing published a Twitter post on Thursday evening in relation to Three Waters legislation, in which it referred to Maori as an “incompetent race”. Photo / Supplied
Eagle Brewing published a Twitter post on Thursday evening in relation to Three Waters legislation, in which it referred to Maori as an “incompetent race”. Photo / Supplied
A Canterbury brewery company, which received massive backlash last year after a hateful social media comment, has once again stirred controversy with a racist tweet about Māori.
However, the brewery’s current owner says the company is not responsible for the post, claiming its social media account has been hacked.
Eagle Brewing published a Twitter post on Thursday evening referencing the Three Waters legislation, referring to Māori as an “incompetent race”.
“Today is a sad day, it’s a day for the demise of small breweries in New Zealand,” the post reads.
“With water ownership now in the hands of an incompetent race, the lifeblood of brewing will be pushed out of reach financially for the industry.”
The tweet goes on to say the company is glad it will happen to many but will mourn for a few.
It comes more than a year since the same company’s former owner, David Gaughan, posted a hate-filled comment about Māori in a Facebook post, calling them “the scourge of New Zealand”.
Gaughan went on to say the majority of the male population should be put in prison because they beat their partners and didn’t care about society.
The comments were widely condemned as “disgusting” and “racist”, and a number of individuals and businesses boycotted the Eagle Brewing brand.
Gaughan later resigned from his position, following an apology to New Zealand for the social media comment.
The latest social media incident comes more than a year after the company's former owner, David Gaughan, posted a hate-filled comment about Māori on Facebook. Photo / Supplied
Eagle Brewing went on to be rebranded as Five Peaks Brewing, which was taken on by new owner Marilyn Yosores.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald, Yosores confirmed Gaughan still had access to the Eagle Brewing Twitter account.
Five Peaks was unable to remove his access to the account when he left the business, Yosores said.
“He hasn’t been part of this business since last year and has not set foot in the building,” she said.
She said the company had been locked in a battle to try to remove Gaughan’s access from the account but it had been unsuccessful so far.
Yosores condemned the comments and said she wished Gaughan “would just not do anything stupid like this”.
“What am I going to do?”
The Five Peaks owner has consulted with her lawyer on the matter to explore legal options.
Regulatory agencies around the world, including Netsafe in NZ, have reported issues contacting Twitter since new owner Elon Musk gutted content moderation and safety teams as part of a cull of around half of the firm’s workforce.
David Gaughan has been approached for comment on the matter.
