Marlon Gerbes talks Six60's classy response to Aussie news host's anti-te reo comments

Six60 hit back in the classiest way at a Sky News presenter who highlighted the band’s use of te reo Māori in tour posters.

Band member Marlon Gerbes caught up with Jono and Ben about their decision to respond to  Australian broadcaster Rowan Dean who said on Sky News that in New Zealand "there's been a big push to be more inclusive of the Māori, the Māori language, the so-called 'iwi' at the moment".

Dean said a lot of "new language" was coming in, before showing a poster he claimed was sent to him by pop group "Sixty Sixty...or whatever".

"It's all in Māori, there's not a word of English anywhere in there," he said.

"When we first came across it we thought, 'this can’t be real?'" Marlon told Jono and Ben.

In response to the reporter’s anti-te reo sentiment, the band posted footage on Instagram of Dean's show saying "Some guy had this to say about our tour poster and his free speech".

"We got called out for putting te reo on our poster, saying it's against free speech," the band said.

"Six60 is all about bringing people together, no matter the language."

In the post, Six60 showed clips of the band showcasing Māori performers and haka in front of thousands of people from their past concerts.

The band then went on to say: "Free tickets to this guy if he wants to experience some positivity".

They signed off with "Much love, Sixty 60 or whatever".

The post garnered hundreds of positive responses from fans and other Kiwi celebrities supporting Six60's message.

To thank fans for their support, Marlon says the group has decided to offer a special ticket price of $60.60 - making fun of the Australian’s mispronunciation of the group’s name - for fans in Auckland and Christchurch.

Listen to Marlon’s full interview with Jono and Ben above.

- The Hits, additional reporting by NZ Herald