Prime Minister Christopher Luxon alongside David Seymour and Winston Peters and cabinet ministers arrive for the Pōwhiri for the Government today at Te Whare Rūnanga. Photo / Adam Pearse
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon alongside David Seymour and Winston Peters and cabinet ministers arrive for the Pōwhiri for the Government today at Te Whare Rūnanga. Photo / Adam Pearse
Interpretations of Te Tiriti - or The Treaty of Waitangi - are some of the most important discussions in Aotearoa’s history.
And today, as politicians, academics and Māori leaders converge on the site where the documents were signed in 1840, friction surrounding it is expected to be front and centre.
One of the country’s leading Treaty experts, historian Dame Claudia Orange, told The Front Page podcast the mood on the ground at Waitangi was good, but people were “disturbed and unsure” about the direction of the new Government.
“People are dismayed. I mean, in a way, there’s been a backlash against Māori, but I’m predicting that actually there’s going to be a backlash from Pākehā about the coalition government too, and the extremes with which they register.”
Orange, who found recognition with her 1987 bestseller, The Treaty of Waitangi, said the Treaty was a partnership, but it was a partnership where Māori also had asked for British protection and assistance, and not giving away their own authority.
“The whole country was still very much a Māori country until the New Zealand Wars in the 1860s when authority started to get into the furthest corner of corners of the land, but it still took a huge long time.”
Historian Dame Claudia Orange.
She told the podcast there was a “strong bias” in many New Zealanders who believed there was just one law, one Government and one way of doing things.
“Many people, of course, especially those over 60, have not really been educated in history or done a lot of reading in history, but we’re actually looking at a period where the rangatahi, the young people, are very knowledgeable and they want change.”
Orange’s message to lawmakers was that they should not rush things, as the legislation put forward before Christmas had been “disastrous.
“I would caution our new Prime Minister to be extremely careful and strategic in moving forward. We want to move forward this country, not go backwards.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Dame Claudia Orange on the significance of the events at Waitangi today and what Te Tiriti means in a modern Aotearoa.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. This episode was presented by Katie Harris, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in social issues reporting who joined the Herald in 2020.
