Hui at Omāhu explores Māori collective response to Government

About 300 Māori leaders are meeting today to discuss a collective response from Māori to government challenges. Photo / Pokere Paewai / RNZ

By Pokere Paewai of RNZ

Speakers at a hui to discuss a possible new pan-Māori entity say whatever the assembly or group ultimately looks like it cannot just replicate the structure of Parliament.

About 300 Māori leaders are meeting today at Omāhu, near Hastings.

The assembly would promote a collective response from Māori to government challenges.

The hui, dubbed the Wānanga-ā-Motu, follows 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 about 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 has 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.

Te Rūnanga o Toarangatira chairman and a member of the working group, Helmut Modlik, said the only mechanisms currently available for Māori to respond to the Government were protests and submissions, and options were limited.

When Māori have a collective issue they need a way to pool their power efficiently, he said.

The model was then opened up for debate by other iwi leaders with some suggesting more time was needed so Māori are not left behind by their leaders as the model charges ahead.

Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber said today’s hui was an opportunity to set the stage for Māori ahead of events later this month at Rātana and Waitangi.

‘Any solution needs buy-in from Māori’

Earlier, Barber said Te Whare o te Rangatiranga is an important proposal to wānanga (discuss).

Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber says any solution for responding to government challenges needs to have buy-in from Māori people. Photo / RNZ / Angus Dreaver

“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.

- RNZ