Tuwhenuaroa
Natanahira Political reporter
An iwi leader is
warning politicians not to meddle with Treaty settlements,
as they gather at Tūrangawaewae Marae for the annual
Koroneihana celebrations.
The gates of the marae
crooned to the sound of the Pacific on Friday morning.
Chiefs from around the region gathered en masse to pay their
respects to the Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai
hono i te po.
Arriving later that evening, political
parties from the coalition – National, ACT, New Zealand
First – and the opposition – Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti
Māori and independents Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta
Ferris – were welcomed onto the marae to
speak.
Speaking from the pae, Ngai Tahu leader Justin
Tipa said Treaty issues were becoming a “hot election topic”
and he had some “misgivings” about how they were being
debated.
“We will always have debates, but let us not
allow the righteousness of our kaupapa to be an excuse for
bad behaviour, for cheap politics, and for lazy thinking of
matters of constitutional significance.”
Tipa had a
message for the “centre-right”.
“Do not allow Treaty
and Māori issues to be simply dismissed as radical wokeism.
It’s an old line, it’s a tired line,” he said.
He laid
the same challenge to the “centre-left”.
“We must get
rid of the zero-year thinking, where every three years we
expect whoever we vote for to come in and reshape the
country in line with our political fancies – ka
hōha.”
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Earlier
this week, Te Pāti Māori unveiled their plan for major
constitutional reform, entrenching the Treaty further into
the law and binding the Crown to adhere to
it.
Speaking to media, co-leader Rāwiri Waititi said
the party had received good feedback on it.
“It’s
about high time. We’re sick and tired of the Crown marking
its own homework, it’s about time somebody else marked its
homework.”
“They’ve been changing their Fs to As for a
long time,” he said.
Entrenching a provision into law
requires a supermajority of 75 percent support in
Parliament, or, support from a majority of voters at a
referendum.
Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono said his
party supported entrenching the Treaty, but there was still
some work to do to make sure it could pass through the
House.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins, however, said his
party did not support the policy because “Parliament should
still have the final decision”.
“I want to try and
find things that are enduring and embedding that spirit of
partnership at all levels of government, [that is] is my
priority,” he said.
None of the left-bloc parties
supported taking the policy to a
referendum.
“Referendums are the tyranny of the
majority,” Rāwiri Waititi told RNZ.
“The Treaty of
Waitangi isn’t a document you can discuss at a democratic
level, it is a Treaty between two sovereigns, and I
acknowledge the sovereign of England, as they acknowledge
the sovereign of Aotearoa.
“It sits above Parliament,
it sits above any law here in Aotearoa, and it sits above
any body making those laws.”
None of the coalition
party leaders attended celebrations; however, they were
represented by senior MPs – Tama Potaka and Paul Goldsmith
from National, Shane Jones from New Zealand First and Karen
Chhour from ACT.
Christopher Luxon is returning from
Palau after attending the Pacific Islands Forum, and Winston
Peters, who was also at the forum, was due to attend but has
fallen sick.
Earlier this week, David Seymour told
reporters he “sadly” would not be attending but Karen Chhour
would speak on the party’s behalf.
“Oh, I’d love to
go, but I can’t this week. I can’t this year,” he
said.
Speaking to media before the politicians
arrived, Kiingitanga kaikōrero Rahui Papa said those who
had decided not to come were missing a “golden opportunity”
to hear the “actual manifesto of Māori”.
He warned
that they should come with an “open mind” and a “bulletproof
vest”.
“What we are seeking is for them to come and
listen, rather than come and dangle lollies in front of te
iwi Māori.”
“We want them to come and listen and
influence their manifestos as they go forward into an
election.”
He said issues around honouring Te Tiriti o
Waitangi were “always top of mind”, especially when they
impacted on existing Treaty settlements.
“We have had
settlements for a long time, and pieces of legislation that
make policy decisions that unpick those [settlements] will
not be tolerated.”
Papa said the upcoming election was
“hugely important” and would “shape” the country heading
into the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of
Waitangi, 2040.
He said the government had done some
good for Waikato since taking power in 2023, like housing
development and the “opportunity to have a talk about fast
track”.
“We’re not going to get all the way there with
our aspirations and our wants… but the door is
open.
“The support for places like Ruakura, the
support for the highway, for example, has meant that a whole
lot of things are being able to be done, and so there is
silver linings to dark clouds,” he said.
The
government is planning to pause Plan Change 1 provisions
until 2032, which Waikato-Tainui says undermines its Treaty
settlement and the health of Waikato and Waipā
rivers.
Papa said his people would raise the issue
directly.
“We’re opportunists, and we’re not backward
about coming forward.”
“They’re going to talk it up
and they’re going to sidestep a whole lot of these issues,
but, at the nub of it, it was a negotiated settlement, and
then it should not be tampered
with.”
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