Spirit fades without the Crown

It was a dispiriting day at Waitangi. A vital ingredient was not there. It cannot have been the Prime Minister; she declined to attend last year and on the day that had not made much difference.

It was certainly not for want of Maori participation that the magic was missing. Thousands of Ngapuhi came as always, joined as usual by sizeable parties from iwi throughout the North Island.

For two days, Te Tii Marae, near the bridge to Waitangi, had been packed with campers and festooned with Maori independence flags for its usual gala-cum-political convention.

And the buzz this time was about the opportunity Helen Clark had inadvertently handed Maori to fill a political gap.

Wairoa Mayor and broadcaster Derek Fox addressed sceptical gatherings about the prospect of an independent Maori party capturing the balance of power in Parliament.

But, come the day, the gap remained. The dawn service is normally an hour or two of enchanting oratory, almost entirely in Maori, from kaumatua from all tribes, their supporters joining them in karakia. Normally the Governor-General and Prime Minister reply.

Yesterday, the prayers were brief, the speeches long but lacking the usual intensity and the karakia descended to vaudeville. The flag of a pre-1840 Maori declaration of independence was laid in pride of place.

Dover Samuels was seated in a place of honour, too, and given a good deal of sympathy. Tariana Turia, the only other Labour MP present, was ushered forward to join him halfway through the service. She did not speak.

Eventually, National leader Jenny Shipley, sitting with her Waitangi mentor, Titewhai Harawira, and five National MPs, was asked to reply.

"At the dawn of 2001," she began, "as some of our chiefs search for the answer of where Maori want to be by 2040, they will be surrounded by your love and understanding. It is my prayer also that all other New Zealanders be gracious enough and patient enough to allow these important conversations to occur."

She also prayed for "other political leaders," particularly the Governor-General, who "in my view" was at Waitangi in heart if not in person.

But that was not enough. The Governor-General seldom says or does very much on Waitangi Day. He is just there, gracing the occasion, uttering worthy sentiments, a valued link, for Maori at least, to the treaty. His absence yesterday hurt.