Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has spoken at the powhiri for Kīngi Tūheitia at Tūrangawaewae Marae.
After giving a brief acknowledgement in te reo Māori Hipkins said he shared a number of conversations with the late King when they travelled overseas together for the coronation of King Charles last year.
One of those conversations was Hipkins admitting to King Tūheitia that he needed to work on his te reo.
Hipkins said Tūheitia’s response to that is something he continues to carry with him today.
“He said: ‘The important thing is that you try - and you’ll get more respect from trying than getting it perfect’.
“I’ve remembered your korero to try and I’ll continue to do that,” Hipkins said.
The tangata whenua (hosts) have responded to the guests; with the speaker paying tribute to their close connection to the Labour Party over the years, as well as acknowledging former PM Jacinda Ardern, who was born and raised in the Waikato.
Hipkins earlier said Ardern was unable to travel to the region for King Tūheitia’s final farewell, but had sent her regards.
King Pomare, of Tahiti, is among the mourners this morning.
His presence is a nod to the strong bonds between the royal families within the Pacific region and the close relationship forged between King Tūheitia and those Pacific royal households from Tahiti, Tonga and Samoa over the years.
Current and former political leaders are visiting Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia today to pay their respects to Kīngi Tūheitia and his whānau, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, as well as party leaders Chris Hipkins, David Seymour and Winston Peters.
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa Packer, and Labour’s Peeni Henare, are among the several MPs who are already at the tangi (funeral) having arrived with their respective iwi in the days after the king’s passing.
Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick and leaders and members of the Pacific community will also attend today.
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New Zealand continues to mourn the loss of Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died peacefully late last week, aged 69, after a period in hospital recovering from heart surgery.
Tributes for the King have flowed in from far and wide, including from the British monarch, King Charles, and his wife Camilla, while news of Kīngi Tūheitia’s passing has been spread across international media.
Thousands of mourners from across the country have since gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae – the heart of the Māori King movement – over the past five days to pay their respects.
Among them, some of the country’s most revered rangatira and iwi leaders have spoken on the marae ātea (courtyard) with their oratory followed by waiata and haka.
Politicians expected today
Manuhiri (guests) are welcomed onto the marae across two pōwhiri, one at 9am and a second at 2pm.
More than 40 New Zealand politicians are expected to visit on Wednesday, and, Kīngitanga spokesman Rahui Papa has already set out the theme of the proceedings, emphasising the tangi should be a moment of mourning and aroha for the fallen monarch, not political discussions.
“Politics was two weeks ago at the Koroneihana,” Papa said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has already visited and spoken at the tangi, recounting how recently he and the king had spoken and how the king’s commitment to Māori was felt “right across the country”.
In response, Papa said it was just over a week ago that Luxon had “suffered the cannon fodder” of Kīngi Tūheitia during Koroneihana (coronation of the Māori King).
“Today, the bullets are filled with aroha and we respect and honour you for fronting up again.”
Luxon was joined then by Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka, and Sir Doug Graham, a former Treaty Negotiations Minister who played a key role in the Waikato-Tainui settlement, as well as former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sir Don McKinnon, former Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, and Matt Bolger, son of former PM Jim Bolger.
Luxon will not visit again on Wednesday – he is on an overseas trip now – but the National Party will be represented by a cohort of ministers and MPs, including Nicola Willis, Shane Reti, Paul Goldsmith, Mark Mitchell and Andrew Bayly. Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee is also expected to attend.
From NZ First, leader Winston Peters is expected to be flanked by ministers Shane Jones and Casey Costello.
Act Party leader David Seymour is expected to attend, with Act ministers Nicole McKee and Karen Chhour.
The MPs expected from Labour, alongside leader Chris Hipkins, former leader Helen Clark and MP Peeni Henare, who is already there, include deputy party leader Carmel Sepuloni, Willie Jackson, Willow-Jean Prime, Barbara Edmonds, Jenny Salesa, Glen Bennett, Shanan Halbert, Ayesha Verrall and Arena Williams.
Labour Party president Jill Day and former Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little are also expected to attend.
Te Pāti Māori said party members would pay tribute to Kīngi Tūheitia alongside their respective iwi. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the party’s co-leader, described the King as a “grassroots, humble” man who was not “flashy in formalities” but naturally prepared to serve and lead.
Party president John Tamihere said the Kīngitanga had provided hope “in our people’s darkest moments”,
“It is a Māori movement that has never surrendered its mana,” Tamihere said.
From the Greens, Hūhana Lyndon arrived at the tangi on Sunday with one of her iwi.
Chlöe Swarbrick, the Greens co-leader, will join Lyndon today along with MPs Teanau Tuiono, Ricardo Menéndez March, Lan Pham, Steve Abel, Scott Willis, Lawrence Xu-Nan and Celia Wade Brown.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
