Waitangi 2021: Marama Davidson says Judith Collins 'undermines' wahine Māori over marae speaking debate

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says Judith Collins lacks "cultural expertise" and should leave the debate over who can speak on marae to wahine Māori.

The stern comments come after Collins spoke out about not being afforded the opportunity to speak during the politicians' pōwhiri at Waitangi.

The politicians were welcomed on to Te Whare Runanga on Thursday, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was the only woman allowed a speaking slot.

That issue was gently raised by National's speaker, deputy Shane Reti, during his speech in te reo Māori. He asked them to please reconsider it, saying it saddened them that the women could not speak.

In response, Ngāpuhi elder Waihoroi Shortland promised it would be allowed to happen next year.

Collins said the decision not to let her speak had disappointed her.

She said it was important women growing into leadership roles knew they had the same rights as men in such situations.

"It isn't only about me or politicians, it's about all women – wahine toa – who wish to be able to have their say."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was allowed to speak, while National leader Judith Collins and Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson were not. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Davidson - of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou and Te Rarawa - sat alongside Collins during the pōwhiri, and was also denied the opportunity to speak.

However during a media stand-up in Waitangi on Friday she said that decision was up to the hau kāinga, local people of the marae, and not for visiting politicians.

Collins' comments also ignored the work of wahine Māori to further the discussion around tikanga, Davidson said.

"[Collins] does not have the cultural expertise to be able to acknowledge wahine Māori need to lead the discussion about what our roles are and where we put our voices.

"She does not have the cultural expertise to understand the first voice and only voice that can allow a pōwhiri to happen is the kāranga [led by women], and she undermines the meaning of the kāranga by coming from a Pākehā woman's perspective.

"In saying that Māori women have long been leading and asking for us to review our tikanga in a way that upholds the genesis of the mana of wahine."

Ngati Hine leader Waihoroi Shortland said next year all female political leaders would be able to speak on the marae during the pōwhiri. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Ardern – who has spoken there since she became Prime Minister – said she would support a move to allow other women leaders to speak.

"I was heartened to hear that call being made that next year it would be different. It would be fantastic to allow all leaders to speak, just as I have that privilege."

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. Photo / File

It is far from the first time there have been debates over women speaking at Waitangi.

In 1998, then Labour opposition leader Helen Clark was reduced to tears after matriarch Titewhai Harawira blocked her from speaking on Te Tii Marae.

"You let Helen Clark speak but not Māori women," Harawira said at the time.

Green Party MPs Teanau Tuiono, co-leader Marama Davidson and Elizabeth Kerekere on the tātahi (beach) at Paihia, with the Waitangi Treaty grounds in the background. Photo / Michael Neilson

Māori studies academic and political commentator Dr Rawiri Taonui has written extensively on the topic, and told the Herald the Pākehā assumption that women sitting behind men at pōwhiri was discriminatory and sexist was wrong - as were decisions about who spoke.

"For Māori, the roles are equal: women in front for the karanga, men in front for whaikōrero, side-by-side for waiata."

After those formal ceremonies, during which political discussion was not allowed, Taonui said the floor should be open for both women and men to speak.

Collins arguing her being denied the chance to speak during the formal part of the ceremony was unequal was based on a "monocultural lens of equality", Taonui said.

"I grew up watching my aunties on marae doing the kāranga, and uncles the whaikōrero, then they would meet and discuss, and that was all driven by my auntie.

"So the problem with Judith is she is very monocultural in how she thinks about it and is applying that to a customary ceremonial situation, and that is changing tikanga.

"My preferred option would be to stick to tikanga."

That would also mean the Prime Minister needed to wait until after the ceremony to speak.

Taonui also said it was important those who were allowed to speak did so proficiently in te reo Māori.

"It is a misconception all Māori males get to speak - it is only the top speakers. To do otherwise is to change tikanga. It is not to say people cannot speak, just not during that formal part of the ceremony."

An exception was Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little last year, who widely impressed speaking solely in te reo Māori without notes.

"That was probably the best delivery from any Pākehā politician I have ever seen, and he earned the place to do that."

However, decisions about who could speak, particularly when politics was involved, has long been challenged by wahine Māori, he said.

The late Whaea McClutchie was a noted female speaker from the East Coast tribe of Ngāti Porou, famous for upsetting men from tribes which didn't let women speak.

If they entered her domain or marae, she would stand up and speak, as her female ancestors had.

She said no one had the right to dispute her mana as a speaker, because she had been given that right by her people and no other authority counted.

But Taonui agreed with Davidson, that debate was to be had within Māoridom.