Barry Soper: National Party has never been a natural fit for Maori

The hallowed halls of Parliament will today echo to the sounds of tourists' flip flops but not much else.

The politicians are on their annual pilgrimage to Waitangi to be spat and hissed at, to be jostled and to be told what a bunch of tossers they are.

Well that's what's happened in the past which is why MPs who aren't masochists have, in ever increasing numbers, been giving it a wide berth.

This year it couldn't be wider for Bill English who's gone as far away as he can get from the Treaty grounds. He'll be down in Bluff, celebrating the day with the wealthy iwi of Ngai Tahu, who were the first to settle with the Crown 20 years ago for a cool $170 million.

Over the years they've invested wisely, putting the tribe on a sound economic footing in a number of enterprises. It's a pity Waitangi Day couldn't be celebrated for all in the south, but with the document being signed on the Treaty grounds in the north, that's not possible.

The antagonism in the north, although that's expected to be less this year with the troublesome Te Tii Marae no longer part of the ceremony, stems from the local iwi Ngapuhi being the biggest and poorest in the country.

That's because they still haven't settled with the Crown, essentially because they can't decide who in their tribe's entitled to negotiate it. That's a great pity because if there was ever a tribe that needed financial stability, it's Ngapuhi.

It was English himself who stepped back from the negotiations last June so his reception there this year may not have been to his liking.

His musing that the Maori language was also "theirs not ours," reasoning it's not the Government's job to keep it alive, would have no doubt earned him the same tongue lashing that he got at Ratana a couple of weeks ago.

Even though over the years National has done far more in settling Treaty claims than Labour has, it has never been a natural fit for Maori and the last vestiges of that was confirmed at the last election with the Maori Party suffering the small-party coalition scourge.

With all the seats now back home with Labour, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's been making the most of it over the weekend, charming those at the pitface, meeting the hoi polloi who rarely get time with those at the top.

Ardern's ensured that tomorrow she won't be ducking missiles, instead she'll be treated as strict Maori custom would have it, like a wahine in a state of tapu being with peepi, or child.