Māori theatre: Hats off to PM Christopher Luxon for taking the wero front-on at Tūrangawaewae Marae - editorial

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Green Party leader Chloe Swarbrick, Labour leader Chris Hipkins with Kingi Tuheitia and MPs. Photo / Koroneihana

Editorial

EDITORIAL

Hats off to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for fronting the wero at one of the most famous of Māori cauldrons, Tūrangawaewae Marae.

Luxon knew that Māori were coming for him from the time his team arrived to the home of the Kīngitanga just outside Ngāruawāhia a little before 2pm.

It was cold, it was raining but Luxon knew the speakers on the pae would be fuming hot, from the hosts Waikato-Tainui, to the opposition of Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori.

This troika Government – National-Act-NZ First – had pushed through a number of laws, Māori did not like.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Monday. Photo / Nick Monro, RNZ

For Māoridom, this hui – to celebrate the 18th coronation of Kingi Tūheitia – was also an opportunity to let Luxon, NZ First leader Winston Peters, Shane Jones and Act leader David Seymour know their views, with a double-barrel-style reception. The buckshot would be spread wide.

But hours before this setting, word leaked that Act leader David Seymour was not attending.

Kei te pai, the word around was his date with Māori would come later.

The pōwhiri started with a challenge to Luxon. He had been to Tūrangawaewae, but not as Prime Minister and he picked up the wero to acknowledge the challenge.

But the well-planned pōwhiri went off script. As Luxon’s delegation prepared to take their seats opposite the hosts Tainui, in came Te Pāti Māori with their own pōwhiri. Tainui duly obliged and now instead of Luxon’s team eyeing directly across at their hosts, a triangle had been created with Te Pāti Māori forming an apex .

Brilliant and Māori theatre – not theatrics – at its best.

Monday was also one of the coldest days and while it was a white hot cauldron everyone was shivering.

Tuku Morgan sets up the kōrero with the Tainui one-two. Photo / Koroneihana

And then like a cannon, Tuku Morgan, chair of executive entity for Waikato-Tainui, fired off his kōrero.

He started in te reo, with his speech translated for Luxon. Then he switched to English and everyone knew exactly where he was going, and the elephant in the room - the Act Party’s Treaty Principles Bill – was out of the cage and about to be tamed or timed out.

In whai kōrero, non-Māori might consider raised voices as argumentative. In Māori raised voices are used to accentuate a point, nothing more.

For almost 10 minutes – in English – Morgan called on Luxon to stop his coalition partners from driving a wedge between Māori and non-Māori.

The Government responded with speeches from Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. Labour’s Peeni Henare, Green Party’s Teanau Tuiono and Te Pāti Māori’s Takuta Ferris each got to speak. They wanted the same as Morgan.

To wind up this part of the pōwhiri, and before Luxon replied, Tainui speaker Rahui Papa, delivered the Tainui one-two blow.

Morgan started with fire and brimstone and Papa was there at the end to eloquently deliver the killer blow.

After Papa had superbly laid out the hurt Māori felt, all that was left for Luxon to do was acknowledge the hurt Māori were feeling and again reiterate neither National nor New Zealand First would support their coalition partner Act’s Treaty Principles Bill past a first reading.

For Māori they want Act’s coalition deal breaker to be Dead Bill Walking.