Outgoing Education Minister Chris Hipkins gets a C+ for Te Tiriti articles

New Labour leader Chris Hipkins and his deputy Carmel Sepuloni. Photo / NZME

Prime Minister elect and outgoing Education Minister Chris Hipkins has been stumped on the articles of te Tiriti, at his first press conference as the country’s leader.

Having been formerly elected by the Labour caucus yesterday, Hipkins was asked to recall the three treaty articles.

“We have Kawanatanga, Tino Rangatiratanga, and, actually no, I can’t remember the other, sorry,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins was right on the first two, but failed on the third, where the crown guarantees Māori the benefits of royal protection and full citizenship.

The new Labour leader is not the first to fumble on the tiriti question; outgoing PM Jacinda Ardern was asked to recite the founding document in 2019 at Waitangi.

She landed Kawanatanga, after being helped by Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson, and remembered Tino Rangatiratanga, but couldn’t say what article 3 meant.

“I know the principles of Waitangi, I know our obligations,” she said.

“It is part of our history and we should be learning about it.”

Ardern’s government introduced compulsory Aotearoa / NZ history in schools, later that year.

Following Hipkins’ fumble, National leader Christopher Luxon was asked to recite the treaty later in the day.

“The first Treaty principle is sovereignty, the second one is Rangatiratanga, and the third one is around equality,” Luxon said.