Tiriti and trade – it’s ‘Māori business’

Moana Maniapoto is co-convenor of new Māori organisation Ngā Toki Whakarururanga. Photo / Steve Dykes

“Trade is everybody’s business, but it is especially Māori business because we have te Tiriti.”

That’s the message landing with Māori climate activists, creatives, digital experts, hauora advocates, rongoa practitioners and others putting their hands up to be part of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga.

“It’s been two full-on years as an interim entity since the Waitangi Tribunal mediation on the TPPA that agreed to establish the entity,” says Moana Maniapoto, co-convenor of the new entity, Ngā Toki Whakarururanga.

“It was delayed, in part, because MFAT has required responses to multiple ongoing negotiations. We remain resolute in our commitment to set the bar for compliance with Te Tiriti in the trade space.”

The group has now secured a formal mandate from claimants and other Māori communities affected by trade agreements. The new leadership arm, Ngā Kaihautū, is drawn from those sectors and complemented by an impressive list of pukenga or technical experts.

Two years ago, the claimants to the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) signed a mediation agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to establish Ngā Toki Whakarururanga as an independent entity to ensure Māori have meaningful influence at every stage of the policy and negotiation process.

The group’s outreach reflected on how “trade” agreements impact on everyone because trade rules can undermine control over Mātauranga Māori and whakapapa in the digital space; Māori rights to set out standards for rōngoa, organics and culture; kaitiaki responsibilities towards te Taiao and reversing the climate crisis, among others.

“A Tiriti approach to trade itself needs to be rethought through a Māori lens by taking a long-term relational approach”, according to co-convenor Pita Tipene. He is very active in Māori economic development, trade and protection of Māori intellectual property.

“The Mediation Agreement, and now the formal establishment of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, cements an enduring relationship that sourced in te Tiriti o Waitangi, itself based on He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni.

Kāwanatanga has recognised in words the rangatiratanga of Māori in the broad-ranging “trade” space and ensures Māori have a genuine and effective influence on trade policy and negotiations conducted by Aotearoa. We intend to ensure it does so in practice.”