Peaceful start to Waitangi Day

The sun rises beyond the flag pole during the dawn service in Waitangi this morning. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

WAITANGI - There was no room for sideshows, a congregation waiting in the dark outside the sacred whare runanga (meeting house) on the Treaty House grounds in Waitangi was told today.

Ngapuhi runanga chairman, Sonny Tau told those waiting for the first formal event of the 166th commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, if speakers deviated from the service they would be told to sit down.

"Line up for the circus up the road," they were told.

In a remarkably peaceful start to the day, the dawn service on the Treaty House grounds, only a few metres from where the treaty was signed in 1840, began without the protest, the banners and the raised voices which have marred Waitangi Day commemorations for many years.

During the hour long service, in both Maori and English, the congregation was told they were there to honour the sanctity of a document signed in 1840.

Prime Minister Helen Clark was not at the service but after it ended Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said one reason for the lack of protest which had been a feature of Waitangi Day for many years, was that for the first time in many years it may not have been seen as a political issue.

"It is about growing up. One of the reasons we struggle to go to Te Tii (the lower Waitangi marae) is the real barrage of physical shoving and all of it that has happened," he said.

It could also be that many protesters may now believe that the Maori Party gave them a voice in Parliament.

During the service representatives of political parties were mixed up in the whare runanga.

The service was told by John Komene that National Prime Minister Jenny Shipley gave a prayer which touched the heart of a kaumatua (elder) a few years ago.

"He was very, very touched indeed for what she said in her prayers for the Maori people and for Aotearoa," Mr Komene said as he introduced Opposition leader, Don Brash.

Dr Brash offered a prayer for Maori and Pakeha and said the signing of the treaty founded New Zealand.

That covenant has stood for 166 years "but we also ask your forgiveness for our sins.

"None of us is without sin. We have all fallen short of the treaty promise," he said.

He said people needed guidance to go forward and go forward as one people, honouring each other, honouring each other's cultures, each other's visions and each other's language.

Outside the service he said the treaty was a very important part of New Zealand's history and the National Party remained committed to having one law for all New Zealanders regardless of race.

Act leader Rodney Hide also led a prayer which he said was on a sacred day in a special place to honour the treaty.

"It was very warm and it made you proud to be a New Zealander.

"It is what unites New Zealand . . . the fact that we are all one that we are all equal before the law."

He also said the Maori Party had given protesters a voice in Parliament and because of that the need for protest at Waitangi had lessened.

He said it was a reminder of what united and not divided the country.

The rest of the day was to be devoted to a large festival on the reserve north of the bridge.

Helen Clark was due to have a walkabout among the stalls at the festival and visit a waka before returning to Auckland for two Waitangi Day events.

- NZPA