Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters lead the government delegation onto the marae at Ratana Pa. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters lead the government delegation onto the marae at Ratana Pa. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION
The political pilgrimage to Ratana provided a golden opportunity for Christopher Luxon to provide some leadership at a time when there is plenty of anxiety over Government policy on Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi.
It certainly wasn’t apparent in the delivery of his speech. Luxon has begun thepolitical year in a very low-key and subdued fashion in his public appearances.
It appears to be a deliberate strategy and perhaps understandable. Amid turbulence created by his coalition partners, he is adopting a calm, understated approach – nothing that could be mistaken for encouraging more upset, nothing fortissimo, and nothing inspiring.
And certainly nothing that could be mistaken as supporting Act’s bid to rewrite the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi – which is doomed to failure after it is considered by a select committee.
Such is the misrepresentation around Act’s policy that it was misinterpreted as “abolishing the Treaty” in one television news report this week.
Luxon can’t be expected to get outraged about the misrepresentation of a bill he doesn’t actually believe is necessary. But there is enough angst around to require some reassurance from the Prime Minister.
There was little of it in the content of the speech, other than to say there was no plan to amend or revise the Treaty and that the Government supports the use of te reo Māori.
It was as though Luxon had sent his speech writer a memo: “Keep it low-key. Nothing original, nothing controversial, use campaign talking points like the importance of doing, not talking, and getting Maori kids back in school, supporting devolution, and creating a strong economy to lift everyone. And let’s call them principles, Government principles.”
NZ First cabinet minister Shane Jones speaking at Ratana. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Luxon did venture into Treaty of Waitangi space by saying that Government would “honour the Treaty” but without hint that of an 184-year argument about what that should mean.
He did allude to differences between National policy and Labour policy but not to differences between Maori and the Crown, particularly the meaning of rangatiratanga.
It is possible that Luxon has thought so little about such issues that he hasn’t got the capacity to talk about it. Or maybe he is saving himself until Waitangi.
His one consolation to a fairly bland outing to Ratana is that no one outshone him.
Chris Hipkins did not cover himself in glory either at Ratana. He reiterated a point he made when he first became Prime Minister that Labour had made mistakes in not taking non-Māori with them in Government. But he began his speech by getting TW Ratana’s name wrong, calling him Tahupotu instead of Tahupotiki.
The fireworks of the day firmly rested with New Zealand First‘s Shane Jones and his leader Winston Peters who were insulted by a Tuhoe speaker, Nika Rua, when he described them as taurekareka - slaves.
Jones responded by telling him in Māori that his words would choke him. Jones and Peters were booed, a fairly rare event at Ratana but that brought the fight in both of them. Jones encouraged his detractors to meet him at Waitangi.
