Source: Radio New Zealand
“Cremate and bury it”.
That’s the word from Minister for Māori Crown Relations Tama Potaka, who sat down with MATA host Mihingarangi Forbes in Waitangi for a wide-ranging interview on issues affecting Māori.
Asked what it was like as a Māori to watch his own party support the controversial Treaty Principles Bill through its first reading the Minister for Māori Crown Relations, Māori Development, Whānau Ora, Conservation and Associate Minister for Housing admitted it was difficult.
“He uaua,” he said
“But my understanding of the National Party position was very firm that we would take it to a certain point in time but we would ultimately cremate and bury it and that’s what we did.”
A recent Mata-Horizon poll asked Māori voters if they thought Aotearoa New Zealand had become more racist, less racist, or stayed the same on the current coalition government. Seven percent of respondents said it was less racist, 28 percent said it was the same, while 58 percent said the country had become more racist.
Tama Potaka says the National Party’s position has always been that it would support the Treaty Principles Bill to a certain point but would then bury it which is what the party has done. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Asked what he thought about the results, Potaka said he did not support racism or prejudice in “any way, shape or form”.
“My intention and aspiration in the matters that I’m involved in is to remain very impartial and objective and I don’t get caught up in this air of racism or prejudice.
“I take responsibility for supporting iwi, Māori and other related organisations around their economic development, around their social and cultural development, around a range of matters and we work very hard in a constructive, positive and meaningful way to give effect to the aspirations of Māori.”
Pushed again on how he could not support racism but still be part of a party that supported the bill, Potaka said it was not a “binary matter”.
“I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive to be part of a government that actually is responsible for discussions of bills that many, many people don’t agree with. Previous governments have been like that too, no matter what the political hue of the previous governments,” he said.
Tama Potaka and Mihingarangi Forbes pose for a photo after their interview in the lead-up to Waitangi Day in 2026. RNZ
Tama Potaka was also asked about his work decreasing the number of people in emergency housing and a subsequent rise in homelessness.
Asked why the government did not know where the one in five people who previously lived in emergency housing ended up, Potaka said New Zealand was not a “police state”.
“I think that we don’t run a police state, Mihi. We’re not responsible to know where everybody that moves around in this country [is], we [don’t] know where they are at every single hour of the day.
“We’re actually comfortable with the work that we’ve done to ensure that the numbers of whānau living in emergency housing have considerably reduced,” he said.
Potaka also paid tribute to departing senior Labour MP Peeni Henare, who announced he was stepping down from the party after 12 years in politics.
“I am surprised, very surprised. Mihi ana kia Peeni,” he said.
“He’s a formidable force in the Labour Party [and] he’s done some outstanding mahi as a representative of his people… he’s been a massive contributor for the Labour Party and in New Zealand politics generally.”
The full interview is available on the RNZ website.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
