National moving to reduce tension

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

National’s leadership is trying to address some of the concerns within Māoridom over the direction the coalition Government is taking with regard to Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi, with Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka telling RNZ on Monday that they “will not support an unhelpful referendum on Treaty principles that will be divisive”.

Potaka described the hui at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Saturday as positive and constructive, saying it showed deep concern among Māori.

National encouraged discussions about the Treaty, he said, and his “absolute focus” was “to acknowledge the Treaty as the foundational document at the start of this country  . . . past, present and future, it is fundamental to our nation”.

Act leader and Cabinet minister David Seymour says he hopes to change National’s position on his Treaty Principles Bill.

He told RNZ on Monday that he believed Te Tiriti was a founding document for the country, but that the idea it was a partnership between Māori and the Crown was based on a misinterpretation. He looked forward to participating in further debate during Waitangi celebrations and would continue to advance reforms for the “benefit of all New Zealanders”.

National deputy leader and Finance Minister Nicola Willis was on RNZ early yesterday responding to that. She confirmed National’s position that it would only support Seymour’s bill to its first select committee reading, and said it was clear the Treaty established a foundational relationship between the Crown and iwi.

“How that relationship works in practice is something that the courts have likened to being like a partnership,” she said. “The question then becomes well, what does partnership mean? And there’s been a lot of debate about that through the courts, through Parliament, by different people with different views.

“From the Government’s perspective, our commitment is to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi, honouring the settlements that have been made under that Treaty and continuing to progress better outcomes for Māori and non-Māori alike.”

A claim on RNZ soon afterwards by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, that the Government was showing “all the traits of typical white supremacists” in the way it was rolling back Māori policies, was swiftly followed by a statement from Prime Minister Chrstopher Luxon that her characterisation was “ridiculous, baseless and we absolutely reject it”.

“The rhetoric is also divisive and unhelpful. The coalition is absolutely focused on improving outcomes for all New Zealanders, Māori and non-Māori, after six years in which the country has gone backwards,” he said.