Today the government announced a $30m cut to Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori- a programme that develops te reo Māori among our kaiako.

“This announcement is just the latest in an onslaught of attacks on te iwi Māori,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi.

“This is what the new wave of colonisation looks like:

1. Demolishing Te Aka Whai Ora.
2. Throwing out Smokefree Targets- sentencing more Māori to premature death.
3. Sidestepping Te Tiriti with the fast-track bill.
4. Repealing section 7aa of the Oranga Tamariki Act – stealing our mokopuna.
5. Confiscating our coastlines with their Marine and Coastal Area Amendments.
6. Extracting oil and gas from our Moana.
7. Cutting $300 million of targeted Māori funding.
8. Cutting Matariki funding.
9. Rejecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
10. Defunding section 27 reports.
11. Restoring Three Strikes.
12. Building Mega-Prisons.
13. Resurrecting youth bootcamps.
14. Removing Te Mana o Te Wai obligations.
15. Ignoring the Waitangi Tribunal Recommendations and High Court Rulings.
16. Setting in motion a wave of anti-Māori sentiment by giving life to the Treaty Principles Bill.

"The government are playing with fire, and they must back down. Our people are too invested in our mokopuna and our whenua to let this ethnocide occur right in front of our eyes,” said Waititi.

“Te iwi Māori, tangata Tiriti, and tangata Moana are all preparing to activate because we all believe in a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa that values the protection of our mokopuna, our whenua, and our taiao,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

We will back the will of our people. We will support their intentions and their activations in all the ways we can.

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