PM skipping Waitangi appearance 'a good first step' - hīkoi organiser

Thursday, 19 December 2024, 9:51 pm
Article: RNZ

Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira, Māori news journalist

An organiser of te hīkoi mō te Tiriti says the prime minister's decision to not attend Waitangi commemorations at the Treaty Grounds is a good first step.

Christopher Luxon said senior representatives of the government will attend events across the country, including Waitangi, but he has chosen to take part in commemorating it elsewhere.

Speaking to RNZ, hīkoi organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi said he was not a fan of any coalition government representative making an appearance.

"The PM conceding to the voice of the people is a good first step. But realise behind him stands a wider anti-Māori regime, the others who have held up that regime should follow his example."

Kapa-Kingi said his own opposition to the government appearing at Waitangi could be traced to this year's commemoration where the Toitu Te Tiriti movement made one of its first public appearances.

Waitangi was practically controlled by the government, Kapa-Kingi said.

"[We were] fed up with the continual use of not only Waitangi, but also other national iwi Māori platforms [and] the use of those by governments, ministers, political figures to effectively hijack the essence of the kaupapa as a stage for empty political promises."

Chance to 'celebrate our mana as tangata whenua'

Those who took part in the recent hīkoi mo te Tiriti were asked if they felt comfortable with the government attending upcoming Māori events, including Waitangi.

"It was a resounding response, in unison, from all those people that [there is] absolutely no desire to have this government attend and hijack the mana and tapu of the Waitangi Week commemorations.

"What goes hand in hand with that is the clear desire for our people to instead turn the focus to ourselves, to celebrate our mana as tangata whenua," Kapa-Kingi said.

Speaking to RNZ this week, the chair Pita Tipene of the Waitangi Trust Board - who run the treaty grounds - said the Prime Minister's attendance was a vital part of maintaining Crown-Māori relations while Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Luxon would be a "drop-nuts" if he failed to attend.

Kapa-Kingi said his views mirrored those of the many thousands who marched to Parliament and if relations between Māori and the government were more positive, he'd be open to seeing them at the Treaty Grounds.

"Any discussion with the current government would be absolutely futile. There's no point in speaking to ears that will not listen to minds that will not change. There's no point in us investing time and energy into conversations that will lead us nowhere and will continue to lead us nowhere.

"There might be some differences, generationally, in terms of thinking and terms of strategy, but the intention is the same. I don't think negatively of sentiments made by Pita and others of his generation who are in the same waka - e pai ana tēra. I'm simply conveying the message that I heard from the many who participated in the hikoi. "

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