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National

Six60 artfully teases Aussie broadcaster after racist rhetoric

After controversial comments made by an Australian television show host about Six60’s posters showing te reo Māori, the band struck back by introducing new merchandise making light of the disparaging comments.

Australia Sky News host Rowan Dean made inflammatory comments on his show The World According to Rowan Dean on the November 1 show, making wild claims that the New Zealand government was enforcing 'language compliance'

Dean took offence to a poster produced by Six60 for their upcoming tour dates and locations where the language on the poster he claimed was completely Māori.

"It's all in Māori. There's not a word of English anywhere in there," Dean said even though there were English words on the poster.

And he misnamed the band as "Sixty60 or whatever".

In response to the negative portrayal of the band and te reo Māori, first Six60 posted a video of their Māori performances playing to a packed concert event.

"We got called out for putting te reo on our poster, saying it’s against free speech. SIX60 is all about bringing people together no matter the language," Six60 wrote in a post.

The band even went so far as to offer free tickets to Dean saying "Free tickets to this guy if he wants to experience some positivity."

And, overnight, Six60 memorialised the moment Dean misspoke the band's name calling them ‘Sixty 60 or whatever’ by turning it into a limited-time t-shirt for fans to buy.

"Introducing our brand new limited edition 'SIXTY60 OR WHATEVER' merch, available at our upcoming shows."

1news offered Dean a chance to apologise but helater responded: "Thanks for your offer but I have already responded to the band and invited them onto my show when they come to Sydney".