Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will face several Rātana and iwi leaders tomorrow in light of a national discussion on the proposed Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / George Heard
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will face several Rātana and iwi leaders tomorrow in light of a national discussion on the proposed Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / George Heard
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is under no illusions about the challenges he’s set to face from Māori leaders at Rātana amid growing concern about how the Government’s policies could impact Māoridom.
Luxon will address leaders at Rātana Pā in Whanganui tomorrow as part of the annual Rātana Church celebrations which included the opportunity for church and iwi leaders to converse with politicians about Māori issues.
It comes just days after more than 10,000 people converged on Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia for a national hui, organised by the Kīngitanga, on some of the Government’s proposed policies regarding te reo Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including stripping Treaty references from legislation and downplaying the importance of te reo in the public service.
Māori King Kīngi Tūheitia issued a message of hope that Māori could unify and protest by living by Māori values, but did issue a strong condemnation of the proposed Treaty Principles Bill, which aimed to redefine the Treaty principles.
The bill, which had become a flashpoint for Māori at the hui, was created by Act and only guaranteed support by National through the House until the select committee process. Luxon hadn’t clarified whether National would support it further.
Some of the kōrero that emerged from Saturday’s hui included claims accusing the Government of being underpinned by white supremacy, something echoed by Te Pāti Māori leadership which Luxon rejected outright.
Luxon today said his experience at Rātana last year and several visits to Waitangi had prepared him for what could be tough conversations tomorrow.
“That’s my observation is that’s the place where we should have challenging provocation and stimulation and that’s okay.”
Despite the hui prompting strong concern about his Government’s policies, Luxon said it hadn’t changed the message he would be sending tomorrow.
“My message will be actually sort of laying out where we’re coming from as a Government and how we want to work and partner with Māori to deliver improved outcomes.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was confident Luxon and other Government representatives would face strong challenges in kōrero from Māori leaders but would also be respected.
“Manuhiri [visitors] on the marae at Rātana and Turangawaewae have always treated people with respect,” Waititi told the Herald.
“I know there will be courageous kōrero on the marae and that’s where courageous kōrero should be.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi speaking at last year's Rātana celebration. Photo / RNZ / Giles Dexter
Waititi, fellow co-leader and Rātana morehu (follower) Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and others from Te Pāti Māori were welcomed onto Rātana Pā today alongside Kīngi Tūheitia and representatives of the Kīngitanga - ahead of all other political parties, which would arrive in Rātana tomorrow.
Waititi explained it was intended to show the party’s “realignment to the mana motuhake [self-determination] space”.
“The Treaty was signed between tangata whenua and the Crown and so this is the realignment of our political waka to our mana motuhake space and allowing us to be the manifestation of the journeys of our people within a kāwanatanga [government] space and the representation of mana motuhake within a government or a kāwanatanga space.
“Today is the manifestation of the next iteration of where we are heading to as a people and that’s to ensure that we have an unapologetic, unceded voice within a kāwanatanga space representing our dreams, aspirations for our tamariki [children] and mokopuna [grandchildren] heading into the future.”
Party leaders, alongside their public speeches, would also have private meetings with Rātana and iwi leaders.
Te Taepa Kameta, spokesman for Rātana tumuaki (president) Manuao Te Kohamutunga Tamou, said speakers would acknowledge the new Government and further the kōrero heard at Tūrangawaewae.
“We will be addressing some of the issues that were raised at that hui and informing the Prime Minister, not just the Prime Minister but I guess all the leaders of all parties, this is how the Māori people are thinking.”
Kameta said the church was aligned with the Kīngitanga position as articulated by Kīngi Tūheitia, who expressed the need for unity and encouraged those feeling the urge to protest Government policies to do so by living Māori values.
He wasn’t surprised by the enormous crowd in Ngāruawāhia on Saturday and Rātana Pā to be busy this week.
“At the end of the day, when you probe the taniwha enough, the taniwha is obviously going to wake.
“I think by, by touching Te Tiriti o Waitangi [te reo version of the Treaty], something that we were all so passionate about, I think they have gone and awakened the taniwha.
“It’s a matter of sitting down with the three-headed beast and I’m talking about the Government here and the three leaders to sit down and to have these types of discussions with them so that we were able to move forward in the best way possible for everybody.”
The Rātana Church is a movement with long-held ties to the Labour Party. Photo / Whakaata Māori
While Luxon and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters were expected to attend, Act leader David Seymour would be absent. It was understood no one from Act would be in attendance.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got the Prime Minister and the deputy at this point in time, so it doesn’t really matter if [Seymour] shows up or not,” Kameta said.
Some speakers at Saturday’s hui issued strong condemnation of the coalition Government, including claims it was under-pinned by white supremacy.
Kameta said that was not a commonly held view among morehu.
“You do get some people, extremists I guess, trying to twist the kōrero.
“The kōrero of our tumuaki is in full support of the vision that all our leaders have, which is moving forward in kotahitanga [unity].”
University of Auckland Māori Studies expert Professor Margaret Mutu believed the core message from Saturday’s hui concerned the threat posed to Māori by some of the Government’s policies and how Māoridom was becoming stronger in articulating mana motuhake.
RNZ reported Seymour - also Regulations Minister - believed the idea Te Tiriti o Waitangi was a partnership was a misinterpretation. Finance Minister and National deputy leader Nicola Willis told RNZ today the courts had likened the Crown-iwi relationship to a partnership and the Government was committed to “honouring the Treaty of Waitangi”.
Mutu said two senior ministers having “diametrically opposed views” regarding the Treaty indicated a “fundamental problem” and suggested ministers and the country needed a far better understanding of New Zealand’s founding documents.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
