Rua Kēnana pardon agreement welcomed by Māori Party

Māori Party co-leaders Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox say the signing of an agreement to pave the way for a pardon for Tūhoe prophet and leader Rua Kēnana is further evidence of its commitment to work tirelessly for Māori rights.

The Crown and the descendants of Rua Kēnana and Ngā Toenga o ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me ngā uri o Maungapōhatu are to sign an agreement at Maungapōhatu on Saturday which, once legislation is enacted, will make a statutory pardon official.
The agreement also includes a Crown apology and a declaration to restore the character, mana and reputation of Rua Kēnana, his descendants and followers of the Iharaira Faith.

At last year’s centenary commemorations of the invasion of Maungapōhatu descendants of Rua Kēnana sought Mr Flavell’s assistance to remove the stigma associated with the events of 1916.

“I committed then to do my best to help them, and tomorrow’s agreement signing is a momentous day for them.

“The Māori Party has always been driven about getting results for Māori and I’m immensely proud of being able to do just that for Rua Kēnana, his uri and the Iharaira Faith,” says Mr Flavell.

“We’re a party born of protest but we are all about progress. We want to progress the interests of Māori and we take pride in being able to do that,” says Ms Fox.

“Tomorrow is a day that has taken more than 100 years to arrive at and it is well overdue for a new page of history to be written.”

ENDS

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