Sir Bob Jones has filed defamation papers against a filmmaker behind a petition to have his knighthood revoked after a controversial newspaper column.

More than 68,000 people signed the petition, which was delivered to Parliament in March, in response to Jones' February 2 column in the National Business Review calling for a Māori "Gratitude Day" instead of Waitangi Day.

Filmmaker Renae Maihi started the petition and presented it to Labour MP Kiritapu Allan with the support of Waikato University Professor Pou Temara, an expert in te reo and tikanga.

The petition read: "In signing this petition we urge you, our Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern, to take his knighthood away from him. It is in your power. Set a precedent for the country and a message that this will not be tolerated and hate speech of this type is not welcome here."

Jones' knighthood is for services to the business community.

Today, the High Court confirmed defamation papers were filed in Wellington against Maihi. A date for a case management conference has yet to be set.

In a column on Cameron Slater's blog site Whale Oil, Jones also wrote today: "I'm delighted to report that my libel writ has been served on Maihi. Now it's my turn."

Jones' NBR column started with the opening line "time for a troll" before he said: "I have in mind a public holiday where Māori bring us breakfast in bed or weed our gardens, wash and polish our cars and so on, out of gratitude for existing.

"And if any Māori tries arguing that he/she didn't have a slight infection of Irish blood or whatever, they might be the better for it, the answer is no, sunshine."

NBR removed the column, which Jones said was satire, from its website "due to inappropriate content". Jones has since stopped writing his column for NBR.

A Press Council complaint by Mel Whaanga, who said Jones' comments were "racist", was also dismissed in April.

However, the Press Council, which voted 7 to 4 against the Whaanga, criticised the column and considered it "malicious and infantile".

Maihi told the Herald when she submitted her petition that there was "quite a sizeable voice that supports the removal of this knighthood".

"It's very important that Aotearoa New Zealand takes these words seriously, takes the impact of racism seriously, because it does impact people in their daily lives," she said.

"For these words to not be taken seriously, to be swept under the carpet, would be deeply irresponsible. We've had enough."