Do we like them?

Do we like Matiu Walters?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful in his words or company, and real good on te reo and charity, but the public record is thin on bigger issues.

Walters is the frontman of Six60, the band that grew out of mates at the University of Otago in Dunedin and went on to sell out stadiums at home. He has talked openly about coming to his Māori heritage later in life, saying he “didn't really have that as my upbringing”. His grandfather Muru Walters is a central figure in the band's documentary, and the band's story is as much about reconnecting as about chart hits.

The one proper stoush on record is from 2022, and he was on the receiving end. Sky News Australia host Rowan Dean complained about a Six60 tour poster in te reo Māori, saying it had no English on it, when in fact it did. The band hit back with a cheeky video, free tickets for Dean and "SIXTY60 OR WHATEVER" merch, writing that “SIX60 is all about bringing people together no matter the language.” Dean declined the offer. Te Ao News didn't quote Walters himself on it, so that's the band's response rather than his alone.

On the harm check, the search came up empty, and we're saying so plainly. We found no words or acts from Walters against LGBTQ+ or trans people, women, migrants or the planet, and no record of him campaigning for or platforming anyone who does. Nor did we find him working with anyone of that sort. That's a clean result, but it's also a quiet one: he mostly talks music, culture and language, not culture-war politics.

The recent news is a happy one. Right Here Right Now landed on 13 February 2026 as the band's fifth album, with a release show and a big touring run in Europe, North America and Australia. Nothing nasty has been attached to it.

The real good stuff sits mostly in culture and community. In 2020 the band auctioned memorabilia, including a jacket Walters wore at a sold-out Western Springs show, for the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre. In 2024 they opened a grassroots tour with gigs at marae in the Far North, where Walters has family links. We found no record of personal donations by him alone, so that's the band's doing as much as his.

So where does that leave us? Walters passes both our tests on what we could find: no harmful pattern, no allegations, no court cases, and a band that has leaned into te reo and given back. The reason it's a 7 and not higher is that the record is thin on the big issues, not that anything is wrong. If something turns up, we'll revisit.