Source: Radio New Zealand
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sits with coalition party leaders Winston Peters and David Seymour. RNZ/Mark Papalii
Analysis: For once, it was the opposition feeling some heat at Waitangi, as Te Pati Māori’s internal turmoil spilled out on the ātea.
The public airing of dirty laundry was one of the few moments of note at this year’s political pōwhiri, with Thursday’s events otherwise proceeding much as everyone expected.
Protesters’ plans to block ministers from the Treaty Grounds came to naught, squashed quickly by security. And the activists left well before the coalition leaders had even begun to speak.
The government speeches were met by some stray heckles, sure, and some sustained grumbling, but nothing like the theatre of the past two years.
Perennial agitators Winston Peters and David Seymour seemed almost disappointed at the muted response, with the former clearly trying to provoke a reaction from the crowd.
For his part, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon delivered a well-foreshadowed address, preaching the importance of working through differences with words and debate.
It’s advice that perhaps Te Pati Māori should have taken on board.
Anticipation was high ahead of the party’s Waitangi appearance, its first time fronting to the north since the co-leaders’ no-show at Ngāpuhi’s emergency hui late last year.
On Monday, the party was sitting in court, with its out-and-then-in-again MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi fighting to reverse her expulsion and be permanently reinstated.
In the most blistering of speeches on Thursday, her son Eru Kapa-Kingi upbraided Te Pati Māori – “sort yourselves out” – lamenting the “silencing” of his mother and the wider region.
At first, Waititi appeared to offer an olive branch in response: “I can hear the anger and feel the pain”.
He even extended an apology of sorts: “If I have done you wrong, I offer you my head.”
But any such contrition was short-lived. The speech was immediately followed by a haka tautoko which saw Waititi’s wife Kiri Tamihere-Waititi advance on the host side.
As she squared off with Eru Kapa-Kingi, eyeballing him, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi shouted from the marae’s veranda: “hoki atu” or “go back”.
Any brief hopes of reconciliation were dashed.
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi underlined the point later as she stood to speak, defiant: “I’m not going anywhere.”
Speaking to media afterwards, Waititi said the party’s next steps would depend on the court’s judgement.
But he bristled at Te Pati Māori being singled out, claiming many parties had shown division before.
He turned his sights on others in the opposition, decrying Labour’s efforts to try win back the Māori seats.
“Labour don’t do MMP very well,” Waititi declared. “A vote for Labour is now a vote for New Zealand First.”
The comments could apply just as well to the Greens, who used Thursday’s events to unveil their own candidates in the Māori electorates.
Notably, they include a former lawyer for Te Pati Māori, Tania Waikato, and a former Te Pati Māori candidate, Heather Te Au-Skipworth.
Green co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson sit alongside ACT’s deputy leader Brooke van Velden. MARK PAPALII / RNZ
Greens’ co-leader Marama Davidson made short shrift of Waititi’s suggestion that they leave the Māori seats alone: “Nobody owns any seats. Nobody owns any votes.”
Labour and the Greens came to Waitangi, hoping to present a united front and to draw a contrast with the warring factions within the coalition. They leave further away from that goal than closer.
Asked what he made of the opposition’s showing at Waitangi on Thursday, Luxon dodged the question, saying that was not his focus.
But Finance Minister Nicola Willis could not help herself: “They looked messy,” she said, a smile on her face.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
