I'm not sure it's so covert

Simon O'Neill with Waltraud Meier on stage at Milan's
La Scala, pretty much the pinnacle of the opera world

From Stuff on Thursday morning:

One of New Zealand’s most celebrated opera singers, Simon O’Neill​ has ... accus[ed] the Government of “a racist agenda” against European arts and institutions ... [saying there is a] “concerted effort, between Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori covertly pushing the agenda of the eradication of great art.”... He suggested the increased support for Te Matatini, the national kapa haka organisation, had come at the expense of the likes of the NZSO and NZ Opera ....

"This is what Mātauranga Māori looks like in real life [he said]: The deletion of Western science and culture and the replacement with some sort of post-stone age fake construct ...

"[They] have absolutely no interest in supporting our cultural cause – the works of Beethoven, Bach, Puccini... [these artists] are, literally, completely foreign to their dangerous racist agenda....

"It would be a shame if ‘to rob Peter to pay Paul’ turns out to be the New Zealand Government arts policy."

From Stuff on Thursday afternoon:

[Carmel] Sepuloni said it was “disappointing” to hear O’Neill’s comments, as she had been a fan of his music.... Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi called for O’Neill to apologise, labelling his views “race baiting and racist”....
On Thursday, he issued a written apology to Sepuloni and Waititi... New Zealand Opera ... Chairperson Annabel Holland issued a statement saying she did not share his views.

 Do you?

Should he have apologised ?