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Three Hundred Leaders Gather - Plan Pan-Māori Assembly To Challenge Government
Pokere Paewai, Māori issues reporter
Around three hundred Māori leaders are meeting today at Omāhu near Hastings to discuss a proposal which could include the creation of a new pan-Māori assembly.
The assembly would promote a collective response to government challenges from Māori.
The hui dubbed the Wānanga-ā-Motu follows on from a series of hui that began in January of last year with the call by the late Kiingi Tuheitia for Māori to unite.
One of those hui hosted by Ngāti Kahungunu and held at Omāhu in May, attracted around 3500 people.
The working group that emerged from the May hui proposed a model to advance Māori aspirations and respond to government challenges called Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga.
The model is made up of three parts or 'spheres' - first an assembly of iwi, hapū and other Māori groups, second the Crown and Parliament, and third a joint deliberative body.
Ngāti Kahungunu iwi and Kahukuranui Whare are again hosting iwi leaders from around the country.
Chair Bayden Barber said Te Whare o te Rangatiranga is an important proposal to wānanga (discuss).
"We hosted the motu back in May, this is an opportunity to return to Omāhu and further refine the thinking. A full presentation will be put forward on 'Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga' that can be dissected by the motu."
Barber said any solution going forward needs to have buy-in from Māori people.
Omāhu leader Reverend Zhane Tiopira Tāhau said while this wānanga isn't envisaged to be as big as last year's hui they are encouraging iwi to send their representatives.
"We want to hold the wānanga inside our tīpuna Whare, Kahukuranui which can probably hold around 250 people, there will be an overflow outside, but we want to limit numbers to around 300-400 people."
Kahukuranui, who was Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine's eldest son said, "He whare tū ki paenga, he kai mā te ahi, he whare tū ki te pā tūwatawata o Kahukuranui he tohu nō te rangatira."
"This proverb talks about not being the house out on the fringes, but rather part of a collective within the safety of Kahukuranui's Pā. We need to move forward together," said Tāhau
The Kiingitanga have confirmed their representation at the Wānanga-ā-motu.
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