Treaty of Waitangi: New Green Party MP Tamatha Paul says Te Tiriti should not be up for debate

The new Green Party MP for Wellington Central, Tamatha Paul. Photo / Whakaata Māori

By Tema Hemi of Whakaata Maori

The new Green Party MP for Wellington Central, Tamatha Paul, says the Treaty of Waitangi should not be up for debate.

Paul had her first induction into Parliament today and she says she is fully focused on what she must do for the people of her electorate and Māori.

“Having a referendum to reinterpret the principles of Te Tiriti, that’s not how treaties work. Indigenous people’s rights are not up for debate and they’re not up for interpretation through a referendum.”

Paul says she has a number of concerns entering Parliament.

“I’m really concerned about the move to abolish Te Arawhiti, which deals with Treaty negotiations, but also to abolish the Climate Change Commission and to repeal the Zero Carbon Act,” she says.

New Green Party MPs [from left] Scott Willis, Darleen Tana, Tamatha Paul, Lan Pham, Steve Abel, Efeso Collins and Hūhana Lyndon at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“These are things that are going to cost billions of dollars when we break international conventions that we’ve signed up to and international climate protocols but also, we have passed so many tipping points that as a rangatahi [young person], I’m really concerned about our future on this planet and how climate change is going to affect our ability to survive and for generations to come.”

Paul is seeing out her last term as a Wellington City councillor and officially finishes her role on November 10. Until then, she has decided to donate her earnings to charity.

“I’m going to be donating it to the Wellington City Mission. I work really closely with the mission and have a really great relationship with our City Missioner Murray Edridge. It’s on the cusp of opening a lot of new whare for tangata kore kāinga [homeless people] here in Pōneke, whether that’s Te Pāmaru, the new night shelter, or Whakamaru, the new home of Wellington City Mission and the new home for people here in Wellington.”

“There’s a lot going on and so it needs every bit of support it can get from the community. So, I’ll be donating to Wellington City Mission and also to the Women’s Refuge.”

Paul is anticipating a turbulent first term as an Opposition MP but is relishing the opportunity.

“They’ve got a whole suite of silly ideas but I knew that, being an Opposition MP, this means I need to make sure I’m out in the community, making sure my community knows what’s going on, what’s coming up, what the mechanisms for change are and how can we stop this from happening.

The 26-year-old says as a young MP, it is important for her to be authentically rangatahi.

“I’m used to being in a hostile environment, and this is a hostile environment,” Paul says.

She’s also got words of encouragement for the country’s youngest MP, Te Pāti Māori’s Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.

“I think it’s incredible that we have a 21-year-old in Parliament. And one thing that I really wanted to say to her, because Parliament sits in my electorate in Wellington Central,” Paul says.

“I wanted to say to her, ‘it’s no matter if you’re coming from your electorate, from Waikato, or you’re here in Wellington, just know that you have communities around you that fully support you and that you’re safe to say exactly what it is that you need to say and you’re safe to do exactly what it is that you need to do, because you have a city around you that supports you’.”