David Seymour is no stranger to Waitangi but accepts this year may be slightly different.
The Act leader, who has attended the annual celebrations since 2015 following his election to Parliament, also has ancestral ties to Northland hapū Ngāti Rēhia so the pilgrimage to the Treaty grounds is somewhat of a homecoming for Seymour.
This time, Seymour comes as a Cabinet minister and future Deputy Prime Minister but also the creator and leader of a bill intending to redefine the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - legislation which in part prompted the Māori King to call a national hui and led to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon receiving challenge after challenge to ditch the bill at Rātana.
Seymour attended neither the hui nor the Rātana celebrations, despite regularly citing his enthusiasm for debate on the Treaty.
Some Māori leaders following Rātana expressed their frustration at Seymour’s absence, saying they wanted to kōrero in person.
Waitangi will be Māoridom’s first public chance to do that but Seymour says he isn’t concerned about the reaction he might receive, noting he is familiar with strong opposition through his advocacy for the End of Life Choice legislation, campaigning against firearms laws and interrogating the Labour Government’s approach to Covid-19.
“Even questioning the Government’s [Covid-19] response was met with, ‘How many people would you like to die?’.”
He accepts it was likely the strongest opposition he’d faced regarding Māori issues.
“When we come along and say, ‘You know what, the role of Māori is the same as every other human being’, you can understand that people are going to be upset by that suggestion, but it just happens to be the basis of successful liberal societies.”
However, Seymour believes much of the discourse surrounding his bill is misinformed. He considers claims he is erasing or rewriting the Treaty as “insane”.
He acknowledges a “legitimate view” from some that signing chiefs believed they would be in a partnership on par with the Crown, which Seymour contests.
“We‘re saying, we think they signed up to the idea that everyone living in these lands would have those rights and protections.”
Some of those opposing him on the paepae may well be his own whanaunga (relatives). Seymour says he understands Ngāti Rēhia kaumātua Kipa Munro is set to speak on Monday.
Some members of Ngāti Rēhia have already publicised their unhappiness with Seymour’s actions. They even requested a meeting with him late last year.
“On the one hand, they’ve said that they’re proud that a member of our hapū is going to be the Deputy Prime Minister of the country.
“On the other hand, they’re anxious about some of the positions that we’re taking.”
While he’s aware of the challenges he might receive, Seymour is optimistic progress can be made.
“I suspect, as usual, Waitangi will be much more constructive than the image of it from a distance.”
It’s a sentiment often repeated by Luxon and his Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka who, in the face of strong criticism of their policies, are firm in the belief the Government can work to provide better outcomes for Māori.
Potaka told the Herald he had no expectations regarding how Seymour might be received but is eager to hear what he has to say.
“Last year’s kōrero, it was amazing, it was very, very, very helpful to hear David express his concerns and his observations and his welcoming tones in te reo Māori.”
Potaka is relatively inexperienced with the annual celebrations at the Treaty grounds, having only attended last year following his success in the Hamilton West byelection.
He recognises Act’s Treaty Principles Bill is among the primary concerns Māori have with his Government but indicates National’s position will not change from its promise to support it through to the select committee stage and then decide whether to support it further.
Potaka enters Waitangi with a focus on unity that’s anchored in realism.
“You’ve got to be realistic about where we’re at and reflect on some of the concerns that have been shared by many commentators, not just Māori.
“I think it’s incumbent on us as members of Parliament, but particularly as ministers of the crown and leaders within the coalition Government to just take stock and reflect on how people are expressing their concerns.”
Asked if his coalition partners share this view, Potaka uses his family as an example of how he attempts to resolve matters where differences of opinion arise.
“[My children] have got their own personalities and their own little dynamics and I’ve got to work with that; we live in a whānau dynamic.
“I think that we can work in that whānau dynamic within Government and within Parliament.”
Former Labour Northland MP Kelvin Davis used his valedictory to lament changes to this year’s Waitangi celebrations that will see the Opposition and the Government welcomed with separate pōwhiri instead of one for all as it was under the last Labour Government.
Davis said the single pōwhiri was designed to emphasise the importance of unity and de-politicise proceedings.
Despite having a focus on unity, Potaka isn’t concerned by the change.
“In my experience, the previous Government was very careful to present an approach that was more unified, but often the actual implementation of that was skewed in favour of the Government.”
New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones holds a different view and sees the value in a joint welcome.
“The parliamentary elected community coming as one group of New Zealand legislators to Waitangi was very positive.”
He accepts the change is likely to politicise proceedings but is vague when asked if he will try to counter it.
“Put it this way, there’s a body of wind blowing, it will blow itself out, but we just have to taihoa.”
Jones, of Northland’s Te Aupōuri and Ngāi Takoto iwi, sees the possibility of constructive kōrero occurring in Waitangi despite the backlash from Māori.
“I genuinely feel that Waitangi will signify the fact there has to be a mature discussion going forward as to what role in law, in government, will the principle of the Treaty now play.
“It will not be straightforward, but the reality is we derive our legitimacy from electoral outcomes.”
He describes the reception Seymour will get from Ngāpuhi as “robust”.
“You should expect that it will be robust and I have no doubt that David and his team, they’re no strangers to coming to Waitangi, but I certainly wouldn’t over-egg it.
“People feel strongly on both sides about the direction of travel in respect of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.”
Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono believes Luxon’s only option to save face is to wash his hands of the bill altogether.
“It’s an incredibly contentious bill.
“Leadership is actually [saying], ‘This bill dies right here, right now, it’s too divisive and it’s got to end’.”
Tuiono suspects National won’t support it further than select committee but is concerned damage will have already been done.
“Even if it just goes through first reading, next thing you know, you’ve got select committees and it emboldens every kind of conspiracy racist to come and discuss their revisionist versions of history.
“What we’ll see is that this Government will be dragged into a whirlpool of racism.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins this week said he did see merit in a debate about the Treaty but feels more work is needed to establish how that discussion should take place.
Tuiono echoes this view while highlighting the importance of education.
”[This debate] is not coming from a place of manaakitanga [respect], it’s not coming from aroha, a place of wanting to engage with hapū, iwi and, and whānau; so from that context, we need to find a healthier way to actually have that sort of conversation.”
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
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