Source: Radio New Zealand
A pōwhiri for Te Arikinui Kuiini nga wai hono i te po and the Kiingitanga at Waitangi. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Coalition and opposition MPs will face the Waitangi crowds on Thursday morning, making their election year pitch after being officially welcomed to the Treaty Grounds.
The past few years at Waitangi have delivered political fireworks and MPs bracing for, if not necessarily expecting, a reprise when politicians are welcomed with a pōwhiri from about 11am.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who was absent from the Treaty Grounds last year, promised to bring a message of unity.
After meeting with Māori leaders at the Iwi Chairs Forum on Wednesday, he said they were “aligned” on issues like localism, devolution and lifting Māori outcomes in health, education and law and order.
“Got a lot of work to do, but we’re making some good progress on a number of areas we want to continue to accelerate.”
PM Christopher Luxon (C), with Finance Minister Nicola Willis (L) and Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka (R) at Waitangi. Screengrab
While there may be tensions in Crown-Māori relations, he said he was focused on finding and building on common ground.
He rejected Labour leader Chris Hipkins’ claims the government was anti-Treaty and therefore anti-Māori.
Hipkins, who committed to rolling back the Regulatory Standards Bill and ending the review of Treaty clauses, argued the government did not understand the consequences of its actions.
“They’re actually opening up a whole lot of areas that previously had been settled, and they’re opening up the Crown to a whole lot of additional potential legal challenges in doing so, and they’re just not being upfront with people about that.”
He said his speech at Waitangi would be future-focused.
“Creating a New Zealand where everybody can thrive, where we focus on bringing people together to address the challenges that face our country. I’ll be talking a bit about the fact I want to create a New Zealand where young people want to stay and create their futures.”
Green co-leader Marama Davidson – who stood alongside Hipkins in a show of unity on Tuesday – said the party was in Waitangi to make clear that Te Tiriti o Waitangi was an important part of creating an Aotearoa that people deserved.
“Te Tiriti is unity. I’ve been up here for the week now and even already we can see the hou kainga, the hosts here, they’re just about looking after people, keeping people safe, hoping that people have a good time, enjoy themselves – and that this is what Te Tiriti is all about.
“We’ve seen that come through … more and more people are showing us the leadership on the ground. It’s time for politicians to act.”
Hipkins expected the coalition parties to be in for a rough ride, saying New Zealand First deputy Shane Jones’ questioning of the reasons behind senior MP Peeni Henare’s resignation was an attempt to distract from 24 hours that were “probably not going to turn out very well for them”.
Jones said he would give as good as he got.
“If anyone thinks they’re going to serve invective up to the Matua and not get return fire, turn your cameras on tomorrow,” he said.
“There’s quite a lot of volatility happening in Māori politics at the moment, but as I said in my speech, we’re here to affirm. The governor said he iwi tahi tātou, together we are one people … sadly the day is blighted by performative antics year after year, but this year we’re going to make sure that Kiwis bear in mind this is our national day.”
It’s a safe bet ACT leader David Seymour will again provoke a reaction. He told RNZ he was expecting the usual spectrum of views.
“There’ll be those who don’t want to engage and are quite rude, there’ll be those who are very grateful that the ACT party’s message and voice is included in the day,” he said.
His message would be that ACT believed in an entitlement to equal rights and dignity “regardless of when our ancestors settled here”, but deflected when asked if the Treaty Principles Bill’s demise would dampen the rhetoric.
“I suspect that the temperature will drop a notch because Te Pāti Māori have turned on each other rather than the rest of New Zealand.
“There’ll be the usual angry people. What I always say to people about Waitangi is, if you’ve spent time there, don’t just go by the few seconds that make the six o’clock news.”
How Te Pati Māori is received given its months of internal turmoil will be keenly observed by all sides of politics.
A court case to resolve a dispute between the leadership and ousted MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi is ongoing.
Kapa-Kingi will be present for the pōwhiri.
Te Pāti Māori will be present too. Its co-leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
