Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Small steps for Māori at councils and in media add up to progress

The Speaker Adrian Rurawhe during his election ceremony in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

OPINION:

This month I was part of numerous kaupapa, each unique but common in one major aspect - they were all actualising Māori transformational change.

And that accumulation of commonality has me excitedly asking, are we turning a corner? Are we already becoming that Aotearoa hou?

Yes, it's a slow awkward double-decker bus turning in to a single-lane type of corner, but if transformational changes are actually happening then that means the Hobson Pledges, the anti-Te Tiriti o Waitangi lobbyists have nosedived, because as we can all see, the sky hasn't fallen in.

Now before my private messages start to buzz with all the nay-sayers and anti-Māori comments, I bid they pause their feather-tip fountain pens in the ink pot for one minute and let me substantiate my view with examples.

This month 140 Māori candidates put themselves forward for Māori wards and constituency seats across 34 councils at this year's local body elections.

This is the first year that many of these councils have even had Māori participation, with 60 new Māori ward councillors. In contrast, over the last two decades competition for many of these positions at local government elections has equated to two candidates per seat.

I have been out and about in our Te Tai Hauāuru electorate and I am thrilled. Council tables may now start looking like the actual communities they serve.

Decisions made and engagements sought may connect more to all of our communities creating better involvement, which can only be positive.

Imagine what this means for future long-term planning, investment and development in local communities, specifically when contending with climate issues, and inequities including the housing crisis.

This month we also saw the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu) Representation Bill passed in the House, where a combination of tangata tiriti and tangata whenua, Regional Council members and Ngāi Tahu worked side by side to advocate a position that reinstates Ngāi Tahu direct representation on the Canterbury Regional Council.

Like with the Māori Wards, there was an active smear campaign by the nay-sayers proposing it was creating a "separatist" Aotearoa. But most decent people saw through that small delegation of anti-change, anti-Māori pessimists, knowing that this partnership is necessary to build an Aotearoa that works for everyone.

The Koroneihana celebrations at Tūrangawaewae saw the launch of a new eight-book resource to inform tamariki about the Kīngitanga, as part of learning about Aotearoa history in schools.

Te Ara o Te Kīngitanga was developed by the office of King Tūheitia, Tupu Ora Education & Development, and written by Greg Koia, to introduce a human element to the story. It's a curriculum resource which promotes iwi identity and the strength of kotahitanga and is available in both Māori and English.

We also heard the weather on 1 News read in te reo Māori, with TVNZ loudly stating they are proud of their presenters and how they embrace their cultural identity, supporting their use of a combination of English and te reo Māori.

Whittaker's Miraka Kirimi milk chocolate. Photo / Supplied

We saw popular chocolate makers Whittaker's proudly release their new packaging emblazoned with the words Miraka Kirimi (Creamy Milk) as part of their official Māori language week campaign.

We have just seen the election of a new Speaker of the House, Adrian Rurawhe. He's only the second Māori to have held that position.

We are thrilled, and looking forward to the balance of ture and tikanga, and the kaupapa of fairness, that he proposes to bring.

No matter the scale of the change, it is abundantly clear it is happening. It's happening one step at a time. One education resource, one product packaging, one policy and one bill at a time. It's being driven by the private sector, businesses, by communities, by youth, by tangata tiriti and tangata whenua alike.

Transformational change involves many small steps that grow in momentum; one step after another, repeated routinely. Normalising our spaces and silencing those with the most to lose from a rebalance of power.

I'm optimistic with the changes and the maturing of our nation that honours the rights of tangata whenua, embraces partnership with tangata tiriti, which reflects aroha and manaaki and proudly calls itself Aotearoa.

• Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is co-leader of Te Pāti Māori.