prior to the tour, the member of parliament for northern māori, tapihana paraire (t. p.) paikea, used the budget debate in parliament to comment on the exclusion of the māori players. he drew attention to the plight of bevan, who was not eligible for the māori team which visited fiji in 1949 because he had too little māori blood, but was now prevented from going to south africa because he had too much māori blood.