Why Te Pāti Māori mass protests are hitting the streets across New Zealand

Opinion

Today’s protest across New Zealand is in response to the Act Party’s bid to redefine Treaty principles, the planned scrapping of the Māori Health Authority, Oranga Tamariki policies, and the repealing of smokefree laws.

Follow our live blog on the protests here.

Many in Māoridom have been wary and critical of the new Government, with calls from Whanganui iwi leaders Dame Tariana Turia and Ken Mair this month for a national gathering of Māori leadership to raise concerns.

Mair said: “We are at the centre of this anti-Māori rhetoric and now of course people are encouraged by [Act leader] David Seymour and co to say and do what they want.

“We’ve already seen it among these Crown agencies. ‘Well, let’s get rid of te reo Māori, let’s do away with these aspirations of Māori, let’s do away with the Treaty’. So, they’ve been encouraged, they’re emboldened with all of this and so we’ve got to get serious.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said outside Parliament this morning the hikoi around the country were predominantly to hold the line on the Treaty of Waitangi and the numbers who turned out should have sent a message to the Government.

“Everything we have fought for comes under Te Tiriti. The point is protecting our rights and interests as tangata whenua. Everything else, whether it be hauora, the Māori Health Authority, the reo, the justice system, they are all part and parcel of Te Tiriti.

“What we have is a government that has allowed the review and rewriting of a critical part of how tangata Tiriti got here.

“I think the point made was, first of all, this was a karanga to ourselves about ourselves, and being able to mobilise and come together in our various pockets of community.

“What this says to ourselves is that we do stand in solidarity. What it says to the Government is ‘heed and watch how you are treating kaupapa Māori and our people’.”

The MPs will be sworn in this morning, taking an oath that requires them to swear allegiance to King Charles II. Ngarewa-Packer said the Te Pāti Māori MPs would say the oath, because they owed it to their people to be sworn in and represent them.

“Our people put us here to be MPs and as revolting as I find it to mihi to a Crown that was so treacherous and murderous to our people, colonisation isn’t something that should be celebrated – but we will do what we have to do for our people.”

Te Ōtane Huata leads the protest at the Hastings clocktower on Tuesday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Party secretary Lance Norman said the protest aimed to “send a clear message to [the] Government ... that we are not happy, [a] response to the National, Act and NZ First coalition’s policies around Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, among other grievances.

Former Māori development minister Tau Henare told TVNZ’s Breakfast he was there because of a “myriad” of the new Government’s policies, including the disbandment of the Māori Health Authority and the “attack on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi which have been here for many, many years”.

“It’s no wonder people around the motu are disappointed, are dismayed.”

To those who were responding negatively to the protest, his message was one of “hope for the future”.

“If you want to be part of a truly cross-cultural nation, then have a check about what you’re seeing in front of you this morning. It’s only the first day of a three-year action campaign.”

Treaty principles referendum

National has agreed to support Act’s policy for a binding public referendum on defining the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi through its first stage.

It was one of the more controversial policies in the election campaign; even coalition partners in National Party leader and incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called it “divisive” and NZ First did not support it.

The policy was a high priority for Act, and the party was able to secure an agreement with National that the new Government would support a Treaty principles bill through the first reading and to select committee “as soon as practicable”.

The commitment does not ensure there will be a referendum, as National and NZ First have not pledged any support beyond the committee stage, but does ensure there will be a national conversation about the issue.

All three parties have expressed concern about the way the Treaty has been interpreted in recent years and opposed using the Treaty as a justification for setting up the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora, or for an expansion of co-governance beyond Treaty settlements.

As previously reported by the Herald, the principles of the Treaty were developed as a way to reconcile the differing English and Māori versions of the Treaty. They have been set out by the Waitangi Tribunal, the courts and the Government at various times.

National Māori Action Day protesters at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In 1989 they were first spelt out by the Government as five principles (the first three being based on the articles of the Treaty itself) upon which the ensuing Treaty settlements were based, as follows:

* The Kawanatanga Principle recognising the right of the Government to govern;

* The Rangatiratanga Principle recognising the right of iwi to self-management;

* The Principle of Equality recognising all New Zealanders are equal before the law;

* The Principle of Reasonable Co-operation between iwi and government on matters of major concern;

* The Principle of Redress, acknowledging the resolution of grievance through the courts, the Waitangi Tribunal or direct negotiation.

Act’s current proposal would be to redefine the principles of the Treaty as:

* All citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties;

* All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot;

* New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity is illegal.

Māori Health Authority, Oranga Tamariki policies

The Māori Health Authority (MHA) was set up last year to own and operate services and aim to improve service delivery and outcomes for Māori. It also commissioned services for Māori.

As part of the coalition deal, the Māori Health Authority will be scrapped and will need legislation to go through Parliament to disestablish it.

Incoming Health Minister Shane Reti said their plan was to replace the MHA with a Māori health directorate within the health ministry. National would also reduce the powers of influential iwi-Māori partnership boards, which have a say on local healthcare plans.

“We’d been out in the sector beforehand. And we come to this with a view of vision and a dream. And now we’re looking to see how it all fits together.”

The coalition agreement between National and Act will also see 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 repealed. That section of the law recognised the Crown’s Treaty duties to protect children and outlined obligations Oranga Tamariki had towards Māori children and whānau, including reducing inequities between Māori and non-Māori children within the state system.

Repealing of smokefree laws

National’s plan to repeal the smokefree laws introduced by Labour have made headlines all over the world, with many shocked that the country would go back on the “world-first” move.

New Zealand was set to become the first country in the world to ban smoking for the next generation. The policy, due to come into effect next year, would see anyone born after January 1, 2009 never being able to buy tobacco.

Now, the coalition Government has announced it will repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations before March 2024, officially scrapping the world-first policy which had previously been lauded overseas and is even thought to have inspired a similar move brought on by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has acknowledged money saved by the scrapping of the smokefree laws will be used to help fund tax cuts.