KEY POINTS:
Rain and cold marred the arrival of the Labour and National leaders in the Bay of Islands yesterday for Waitangi commemorations, where the political temperature on the ground was similarly lacking in heat.
For the third year in a row Labour leader Helen Clark avoided the sometimes feisty Te Tii Marae and instead attended an event marking the beginning of the construction of a bypass to protect Kerikeri's historic Stone Store and mission station.
Her National Party rival, John Key, arrived with 12-year-old Aroha Ireland from McGehan Close - the street he identified last week as an example of many where an "underclass" lived without hope.
Helen Clark declined to comment on Mr Key's activities, but Labour list MP Dover Samuels slammed his invitation to Aroha as a stunt - "a sham, a farcical photo opportunity".
Her mother, Joan Nathan, last night said she did not believe it was a cynical ploy, but a genuine gesture.
The National leader headed off on a tour of stalls put up on the camping ground adjoining Te Tii, before heading on to the marae.
The first stall visited by Mr Key, who has opposed flying the tino rangatiratanga flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, was one selling T-shirts of various Maori flags.
Another was one run by Te Wananga o Aotearoa, where Mr Key was asked if he wanted to enrol and joked in response that he certainly needed some lessons in te reo.
His arrival on the marae was low-key, with no sign of protest.
Inside the wharenui, however, he was challenged by Ngapuhi's Hone Sadler to give tangata whenua there a guarantee that National would not abolish the Maori seats. (Mr Key announced last week that a National government would begin the process of abolishing them in 2014.)
Mr Sadler said if Maori lost the seats in Parliament, it was inevitable they would pursue aspirations for a Maori parliament.
The Maori Party MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Hone Harawira, criticised Mr Key's underclass speech, saying National was responsible for creating one. "To think National is going to settle the problems of the underclass is quite frankly a joke to Maori."
He believed the Maori seats were only a stepping stone to a more independent Maori political voice and was critical of the major parties for their approaches to Treaty settlements.
Mr Harawira warned that the Maori Party and the Greens would form a 20-strong block in the next Parliament.
Mr Key defended National, saying he was determined to have a relationship based on trust and integrity with Maori and most importantly one based on respect.
He said he would always front up, even if the sides disagreed with each other.
He stuck to his McGehan Close lines, and said of the Maori-seats policy that he wanted to extend - not limit - the representation of Maori by ensuring all 121 politicians in Parliament represented their views.
Green MP Nandor Tanczos was granted a warm welcome after a long speech, mainly in te reo, followed by a revolutionary song from Hungary, where he has been visiting relatives.
He slipped into English to talk about climate change, saying the fate of the Earth was an issue binding all cultures.
Mr Tanczos said the Treaty was increasingly important because it provided a blueprint for living and working together for solutions.
Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia went on to Te Tii in the evening with Mr Samuels and another Maori list MP, Shane Jones. They too were issued with several challenges.
Mr Sadler called on Labour to restate its support for the Maori seats and to entrench them in a way that they could be dismantled only if Maori voted for this in a referendum.
The foreshore and seabed was also a hot topic, with calls for Labour to show how its legislation had helped Maori realise their interests in the coast.
Broadcaster and Ngapuhi kaumatua Kingi Taurua said he was disappointed Helen Clark had once again snubbed Te Tii, but Mr Samuels said she was attending an event dear to all the people of the Bay of Islands.
Seeking to downplay the politics, the Prime Minister forecast a Waitangi Day where "families will come out and people will mix across all boundaries of ethnicity, culture, faith and community and that's a positive thing for New Zealand".
She will host a breakfast for dignitaries this morning before a walkabout at the Treaty Grounds.
She will then head to celebrations in Manukau City.
Mr Key was planning to attend the dawn ceremony at the Treaty Grounds before returning to Auckland for a range of events.
- Additional reporting Jon Stokes
