Waitangi Day is a time to reflect on where we have come from and look forward to what we can achieve together.
It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around New Zealand. This year I am at Ōnuku Marae near Akaroa.
Akaroa is very dear to me – it was a place I used to tear around with my brothers during the long, hot Canterbury summers. My children learned to swim under the Nor’West arch and I remember thinking then how very lucky we were to have the privilege of growing up in New Zealand.
Ōnuku Marae is where Ngāi Tahu chiefs signed the Treaty in 1840.
Ōnuku Marae holds a special place in our nation’s history, as it is where Ngāi Tahu chiefs signed the Treaty in 1840.
We should take immense pride in how our country has maturely worked through Treaty settlements. We are stronger for how we have worked to resolve historical grievances together.
Resolving the remaining settlements is a key part of our Crown-Māori relations work – the sooner we get them done, the sooner iwi can use them to build greater economic prosperity for their communities and their people.
There is a reason the vast majority of Treaty settlements have been completed under National – we believe in solutions that empower Māori with the means to succeed.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at last year's Dawn Service at Waitangi. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Empowering all Kiwi communities is a key value of mine. When people are able to take the initiative, take a risk, and take control of their own futures, they will do so. And often that means making sure Government gets out of the way.
I know that many of you have been unsettled by the Treaty Principles Bill, and there have been strong views on all sides. It is not realistic to suggest that 185 years of debate would be settled once and for all with the stroke of a pen. My commitment to you is that the bill will not become law.
Hīkoi participants in Hamilton on day four of a journey to Wellington to protest the Act Party’s Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / Mike Scott
Progressing Crown-Māori relations also means removing areas of overreach by the previous Government – like co-governance of public services. Creating complex new bureaucracies and centralisation in Wellington will not fix anything.
Waitangi Day is the time to think about the New Zealand we want in 2040 – when the kids of today become adults, and we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Treaty.
I want a New Zealand where those kids – Māori and non-Māori – see opportunity right here at home. And that means driving economic growth, and creating a culture of yes rather than no.
I know that things are still tough for many families, but there are some encouraging early signs of progress.
We are getting kids back to school, and teaching an hour each of reading, writing and maths every day. Inflation is back under control and interest rates are falling. We have reduced the number of families living in emergency housing by more than two-thirds. And we are investing more in new affordable housing.
Of course, we have much further to go. But this Waitangi Day, we can all look forward to far better days – and we will get there faster if we do it together.
