MPs of the new Parliament were officially sworn in yesterday and Te Pāti Māori used the occasion to not only pledge allegiance to King Charles III as required, but also to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and future generations.
It also comes as today the official state opening of Parliament takes place, with two maiden speeches followed by the first speeches from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and party leaders.
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told media after yesterday’s ceremony they believed the existing oath-swearing protocols could evolve.
“We made it clear that we’ve had to stay with the current oath and so we swore our own oath, how we think an oath should be sworn in Aotearoa,” Waititi said.
“It should reflect the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but there also should be a commitment to our mokopuna.”
“I think what we’ve introduced is how easy it could be done and no one was offended except for perhaps a couple [in the Government],” Ngarewa-Packer said.
“Part of it is that there’s a huge movement and we’ve got a huge mandate from Māori, from our voters, and we needed to show that that is going to go somewhere.”
Te Pati Maori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke during yesterday's swearing-in ceremony at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pāti Māori Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke mentioned Māori King Kiingi Tūheitia while Mariameno Kapa-Kingi referred to the 1835 He Whakaputanga/United Tribes Declaration of Independence.
Despite breaking protocol the process was generally supported by all MPs, with just some controversy after Rawiri Waititi and Tākuta Ferris referred to King Charles as “Kīngi Harehare”, which can mean both Charles but also “scab”, instead of the more commonly-used “Tīare”.
Waititi later defended the use of the word, saying he’d had an uncle named Harehare who was known as Charlie.
Asked if he was being cute, Waititi immediately said, “No”. Beside him, Ngarewa-Packer said, “Always”.
MPs from all parties went one-by-one, with most from National, Act and NZ First stating theirs in English but the vast majority of Labour MPs and almost all Green MPs using te reo Māori.
There were also oaths sworn in Sāmoan, Tongan, Cantonese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Arabic and Danish.
The swearing-in ceremony also allowed MPs to proceed with items of importance to themselves.
Act leader David Seymour did so with a copy of the Bill of Rights, while many Green MPs did so on top of an 1887 copy of the Treaty of Waitangi and the 1835 He Whakaputanga/United Tribes Declaration of Independence.
Green MP Te Anau Tuiono swore his oath in te reo with a copy of the late Dr Ranginui Walker’s book He Whawhai Tonu Matou/Struggle Without End.
One of the more quirky moments came as new Green MP Scott Willis took a large, ancient-looking book with him that turned out to be his family tree.
Gerry Brownlee is selected as Speaker of the House during yesterday's swearing-in ceremony at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Yesterday’s ceremony concluded with the confirmation of National’s Gerry Brownlee as the new Speaker of the House.
All party leaders commended Brownlee for his service to politics before moving on to their pleas for how he would run Parliament debate.
Among them was Act leader David Seymour, who made a poorly veiled shot at Te Pāti Māori in his warning to Brownlee about the party’s actions in the House.
“There will be those who come not to participate in the institution but attempt to make a theatrical point by undermining it.
“That might be the greatest challenge that you face.”
“If it was about us, I love living rent-free in his mind.
“We’ll continue to agitate the very foundations in which he operates in that House.”
Ngarewa-Packer said she believed they had made their point in a manner that had not upset people, “well, maybe Winston [Peters]”, she added referencing the Deputy Prime Minister calling out “hoha” during the ceremony.
“A new generation has arrived. Hana [Maipi-Clarke] was outstanding, look at Doc [Tākuta Ferris]. They have arrived and there is such a difference to their politicking and their style.”
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones believed the “kapa haka theatrics” were excessive and issued a challenge to those employing te reo in the House.
He also challenged Waititi and Ferris over the term “Harehare” for Charles.
“They’re trying to make fun of the transliteration of Charlie, but it also means something objectionable.
“Know this from me, I put my Māori language ability up against anyone in this House and when I detect that the language was being used for cultural bullying, they’re going to meet a bigger bully in the form of Matua [Shane].”
