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Billy Te Kahika
William Desmond Te Kahika Jr (born 18 July 1972), also known as Billy TK Jr, is a New Zealand conspiracy theorist, blues musician and former political candidate. During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Te Kahika attracted media coverage both as the leader of the fringe New Zealand Public Party and for his promulgation of conspiracy theories. Te Kahika and the Public Party opposed the New Zealand Government's lockdown restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Te Kahika, who lives in Whangārei, is the son of musician Billy TK.
Billy Te Kahika Jr is the son of Māori musician Wiremu Te Kahika, also known as Billy TK, who played with the New Zealand rock band The Human Instinct. Te Kahika Jr's mother is Pākehā. He grew up in Māngere, Auckland. Te Kahika followed in his father's footsteps and became a guitarist; like his father he was also called the "Māori Hendrix" by some. Since 1993, he has toured internationally, performing with artists such as George Thorogood, Jimmy Barnes, The Neville Brothers, Ian Moss, Junior Wells, and Joe Satriani. He has performed at festivals, including the Sydney Blues & Roots Festival and the Fiji International Jazz and Blues Festival. He also led a band called "The Groove Shakers."
Te Kahika joined the New Zealand Army as he wanted to be an SAS soldier but served as a private in the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment between September 2001 and January 2003. During that time he attended military intelligence courses. According to the Stuff Circuit documentary "False Profit," Te Kahika left the army after he was involved in a drunken brawl sparked by when he allegedly verbally insulted a colleague with a speech impediment.
Following his stint in the army, he trained as a police recruit in Porirua between May and July 2003. Te Kahika claimed that he left the New Zealand Police after they overlooked his admission that he had been caught smoking glue at the age of 16 years. Te Kahika alleged that the police did not want him to report that two police officers who had covered up his glue smoking incident. Based on this experience, Te Kahika claimed that the New Zealand Government was corrupt. According to the Stuff Circuit documentary "False Profit", he was eliminated from the police training programme since he had supplied false identification that did not match his fingerprints. The documentary also questioned Te Kahika's claim that he had served full-time in the police in 2003.
According to "False Profit," Te Kahika was also involved in a financial dispute with the organisers of the 2013 Queenstown Jazz Festival. The festival proved to be unprofitable with Te Kahika left with significant debts. Te Kahika alleged that the organisers had attempted to take advantage of his brand. According to the musicians Petra Rjinbeek and Maggie Cocco, Te Kahika bullied fellow musicians and neglected to pay them for their gigs and expenses. Both Coco and Rjinbeek also alleged that Te Kahika, who identifies as a Christian, was sexually promiscuous and harassed women.
In July 2016, Te Kahika announced plans to host a festival in the Northland Region, establishing a company called the World Indigenous Festival New Zealand with himself as its CEO. The venture received the support of Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime Minister and the head of the United Nations Development Programme. Several taxpayer-funded bodies invested in the festival, including Te Puni Kōkiri and Sport New Zealand each invested $20,000. The festival, scheduled to take place in 2019, did not go ahead. Sport NZ and Auckland Council's economic growth agency ATEED later stated that they did not give Te Kahika permission to use their corporate logos in material pitching their support.
In the summer of 2018/19, Te Kahika and Irish vocalist Ronan Kavanagh toured Northland as part of the AA Solar Summer Music Series. In November 2018, Te Kahika and his father played at the Old Parakao Store Cafe/Bar in Pakotai. In October 2019, Te Kahika held a "Road to Chicago" tour across New Zealand as a warm-up to his tour of the United States in early 2020. Between January and mid-February 2020, he toured the United States, performing with blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy in Chicago on 13 January.
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Billy Te Kahika
William Desmond Te Kahika Jr (born 18 July 1972), also known as Billy TK Jr, is a New Zealand conspiracy theorist, blues musician and former political candidate. During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Te Kahika attracted media coverage both as the leader of the fringe New Zealand Public Party and for his promulgation of conspiracy theories. Te Kahika and the Public Party opposed the New Zealand Government's lockdown restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Te Kahika, who lives in Whangārei, is the son of musician Billy TK.
Billy Te Kahika Jr is the son of Māori musician Wiremu Te Kahika, also known as Billy TK, who played with the New Zealand rock band The Human Instinct. Te Kahika Jr's mother is Pākehā. He grew up in Māngere, Auckland. Te Kahika followed in his father's footsteps and became a guitarist; like his father he was also called the "Māori Hendrix" by some. Since 1993, he has toured internationally, performing with artists such as George Thorogood, Jimmy Barnes, The Neville Brothers, Ian Moss, Junior Wells, and Joe Satriani. He has performed at festivals, including the Sydney Blues & Roots Festival and the Fiji International Jazz and Blues Festival. He also led a band called "The Groove Shakers."
Te Kahika joined the New Zealand Army as he wanted to be an SAS soldier but served as a private in the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment between September 2001 and January 2003. During that time he attended military intelligence courses. According to the Stuff Circuit documentary "False Profit," Te Kahika left the army after he was involved in a drunken brawl sparked by when he allegedly verbally insulted a colleague with a speech impediment.
Following his stint in the army, he trained as a police recruit in Porirua between May and July 2003. Te Kahika claimed that he left the New Zealand Police after they overlooked his admission that he had been caught smoking glue at the age of 16 years. Te Kahika alleged that the police did not want him to report that two police officers who had covered up his glue smoking incident. Based on this experience, Te Kahika claimed that the New Zealand Government was corrupt. According to the Stuff Circuit documentary "False Profit", he was eliminated from the police training programme since he had supplied false identification that did not match his fingerprints. The documentary also questioned Te Kahika's claim that he had served full-time in the police in 2003.
According to "False Profit," Te Kahika was also involved in a financial dispute with the organisers of the 2013 Queenstown Jazz Festival. The festival proved to be unprofitable with Te Kahika left with significant debts. Te Kahika alleged that the organisers had attempted to take advantage of his brand. According to the musicians Petra Rjinbeek and Maggie Cocco, Te Kahika bullied fellow musicians and neglected to pay them for their gigs and expenses. Both Coco and Rjinbeek also alleged that Te Kahika, who identifies as a Christian, was sexually promiscuous and harassed women.
In July 2016, Te Kahika announced plans to host a festival in the Northland Region, establishing a company called the World Indigenous Festival New Zealand with himself as its CEO. The venture received the support of Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime Minister and the head of the United Nations Development Programme. Several taxpayer-funded bodies invested in the festival, including Te Puni Kōkiri and Sport New Zealand each invested $20,000. The festival, scheduled to take place in 2019, did not go ahead. Sport NZ and Auckland Council's economic growth agency ATEED later stated that they did not give Te Kahika permission to use their corporate logos in material pitching their support.
In the summer of 2018/19, Te Kahika and Irish vocalist Ronan Kavanagh toured Northland as part of the AA Solar Summer Music Series. In November 2018, Te Kahika and his father played at the Old Parakao Store Cafe/Bar in Pakotai. In October 2019, Te Kahika held a "Road to Chicago" tour across New Zealand as a warm-up to his tour of the United States in early 2020. Between January and mid-February 2020, he toured the United States, performing with blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy in Chicago on 13 January.