New Zealand First minister Shane Jones says future Government funding for the Waitangi National Trust should not be given unless they “buck their ideas up” after what he described as a “circus” pōwhiri for Parliament.
Speaking to the Herald after the pōwhiri, Jones said he would be taking it to his party’s caucus before discussing it with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Act’s David Seymour to avoid a repeat next year.
National minister Paul Goldsmith said he did not support the idea of restricting funding based on such a premise, while Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson described it as an “abuse of power” but did not call for Jones’ sacking.
Trust board chairman Pita Tipene said Jones’ comments were “very unfortunate” and he would seek discussions with the minister about his view.
Jones, the Minister for Regional Development and a known advocate for Northland, made the comments to journalists after he and other Parliamentarians were welcomed on to the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi — the group included Act leader David Seymour, who had his microphone taken from him twice by Ngātiwai leader Aperahama Edwards during his speech.
Twice the microphone was returned by Ngāti Hine elder Waihoroi Shortland as Seymour’s address incited significant protest from those in the crowd, many of whom had turned their back on Seymour as he spoke.
Speaking after the pōwhiri, Jones said the actions of the Ngāpuhi leaders had given him “severe reservations of the whole architecture of Waitangi Day” and said he would be taking the matter to his party caucus and his coalition partners to ensure future pōwhiri were not a “circus”.
Asked how he would do this, Jones referenced the recent $10 million the Government gave the Waitangi National Trust, which cared for the Treaty Grounds and organised the Waitangi festivities, for infrastructure upgrades.
“Obviously, this is an independent body, but I just gave them $10 million so if you want to take the money, you take the responsibility of looking after your manuhiri [visitors],” he said.
“There’s an expectation that when the manuhiri come to an area like this, they’re not going to come back if they’re mistreated.
“Obviously the money’s already been allocated, but if they don’t buck their ideas up, don’t look to central Government to fund an organisation that’s independent and can’t raise enough revenue to look after itself.
“I‘ve certainly lost my zest in pushing any future grants forward unless they buck their ideas up and look after their manuhiri.”
Jones denied his position amounted to blackmail.
“I blame the current trustees for allowing the issue to become a circus.
“If you want a circus, we need to move it back down to the bottom marae,” Jones said — a reference to how Waitangi celebrations had been conducted at Te Tii Marae before it was moved to the Te Whare Rūnanga in the Upper Treaty Grounds in 2018 after years of tense scenes at the lower marae.
The Herald has requested comment from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon about Jones’ comments.
Tipene told the Herald it was “very unfortunate” to hear Jones’ take on the pōwhiri. He disagreed with the assessment it was a circus, arguing it followed tikanga [protocol].”
Tipene did acknowledge the microphone being moved was a slight distraction and accepted Jones’ comments did not reflect well on the trust’s relationship with the Government.
“Nobody, whoever they are, likes to be bought off and told, ‘Unless you do things according to how we want things, you won’t get funding’.”
He said he would be seeking an audience with Jones to discuss the matter.
National’s Justice and Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said he did not share Jones’ position.
“As a Government, we don’t stop funding people because they disagree with us, that’s not how it works.
“Shane can explain his sentiments and I quite understand, it’s always an emotional experience up here and it’s a robust environment, but in terms of funding and things that I’m responsible for in justice, it’s not about the arguments, it’s about getting things done.”
Both the Greens and Labour criticised Jones for his comments, the former deeming it an abuse of power while the latter calling them “utterly inappropriate”.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins later posted to social media, urging Luxon to reprimand Jones for his “intimidation” in the same way former National MP Alfred Ngaro was after he reportedly said charities would lose funding if they criticised the Government.
Today’s pōwhiri, which had a much smaller crowd than last year, was significantly shorter, with several changes including no speeches being made from the mahau (marae verandah), meaning the likes of Davidson, who is Ngāpuhi, was not given a chance to speak.
Tipene said today’s proceedings could be described as a “no frills pōwhiri”. He added the environment was “testy enough” so organisers decided to keep it brief.
Seymour, of area hapū Ngāti Rēhia, was deemed by the crowd to be the main antagonist of the pōwhiri after giving what was a noticeably more combative speech on the paepae compared to last year.
Much of it was a response to ongoing critics of his policies, namely the Treaty Principles Bill, claiming they had “poured poison in the ears of young people”.
“They’ve said that I want to take away their mana, their reo, and their culture ... the things they say are not true,” he said.
“Perhaps blaming me is a convenient distraction from other failures,” he said, citing the lower levels of Māori home ownership, school attendance, income and life expectancy.
Midway through Seymour’s speech, Edwards strode across the atea and took away the microphone and stand Seymour was speaking in front of, much to the delight of many watching.
Seymour continued speaking but could barely be heard. It wasn’t long before Shortland returned the microphone, only for Edwards to take it again. Shortland’s second intervention was enough to cease Edwards’ efforts to mute Seymour.
Speaking to the Herald, Edwards recalled Ngāti Rēhia advising their relative not to attend this year’s Waitangi celebrations in his defence of his actions.
“He was told not to speak. His presence caused a lot of angst and discomfort.
“On marae, speakers can be made to sit down in different ways.”
Shortland said he felt his return of the microphone took the “sting” out of the day, but was critical of Seymour’s choice of topic.
“Everything we have wanted to say about the (Treaty Principles) Bill has been said. Everything he has had to say has been said. We’re not going to hear anything new, so let’s try silence.”
Shortland met Seymour face-to-face in the greeting line where the pair shared a hongi. Seymour said to him: “Thank you for being gracious.”
Further along the line, words were also briefly exchanged between Edwards and Seymour. There was no hongi and the Act leader moved on.
Tipene endorsed Shortland’s actions but said he felt relieved at the extent of today’s disruption.
“I really appreciate through all of the anger, the frustration, the disappointment with what’s going on now, with what is emanating out of the coalition Government the message is clear — we are keeping ourselves controlled, controlled anger.”
Speaking after the pōwhiri, Seymour described the withdrawal of his microphone as bringing “death to a democratic and free society” but he committed to returning to Waitangi.
“You can take away my microphone, but you can’t take away an idea and ultimately this country will have something very much like the Treaty Principles Bill because the idea of equal rights is what the Treaty promised and it’s also what allows all people to flourish.”
Goldsmith said Seymour having his microphone taken away was “disappointing”. Māori-Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka said the resounding message he’d received from the pōwhiri had been an absolute commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Hipkins described Seymour’s speech as “deliberately inflammatory”.
“He came here clearly to try to provoke a reaction, and he got a reaction. It’s not the sort of thing I think responsible political leaders do.”
