King Charles III coronation: Māori Party joins indigenous international call for monarch to own up to ‘horrific impacts’ of colonisation

Te Pāti Māori has joined an international call for King Charles III to acknowledge at his coronation the “horrific impacts” of colonisation, including genocide and enslavement of indigenous peoples.

The political party is a signatory to a joint statement from First Nations, indigenous peoples and republican advocacy groups from 12 countries within the Commonwealth, where the British monarch is head of state.

“We, the undersigned, call on the British Monarch, King Charles III, on the date of his coronation being May 6, 2023, to acknowledge the horrific impacts on and legacy of genocide and colonisation of the indigenous and enslaved peoples,” the statement reads.

It refers to Antigua and Barbuda, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The letter is signed by co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, and party president John Tamihere.

The party already has a policy to “divorce” New Zealand from the British royal family and create a “Te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa” through constitutional transformation, based on the country’s founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The statement says indigenous people in the countries involved are recovering from “centuries of racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery, now rightly recognised by the United Nations as ‘Crimes Against Humanity’.”

They also call for a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence.

The signatories refer to comments from then-Prince Charles at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda in June last year, where he said that the wrongs of the past were a “conversation whose time has come” and expressed personal sorrow over “slavery’s enduring impact”.

They call for a commitment to discussions about reparations for “the oppression of our peoples, plundering of our resources, denigration of our culture and to redistribute the wealth that underpins the Crown, back to the peoples from whom it was stolen”.

They also ask the King to “immediately commit” to the repatriation of all remains of peoples that reside in UK museums and institutions, along with artefacts stolen through “hundreds of years of genocide, enslavement, discrimination, massacre, and racial discrimination by the authorities empowered by the protection of the British Crown”.

The statement is also signed by the chair of the advocacy group New Zealand Republic - Kia Mana Motuhake a Aotearoa, Lewis Holden, and a similar advocacy group in Australia.

Australian Independent Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe has also signed the statement, representing the black sovereignty movement there.

Te Pāti Māori has not responded to requests for comment.

The party has been largely keeping out of the media since former Labour MP and minister Meka Whaitiri yesterday announced she was defecting to Te Pāti Māori.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins met with King Charles today in London.

Hipkins, a republican, said ahead of his departure he did not think it was a priority for New Zealand to break away from the monarchy anytime soon.

A recent poll found the majority of Kiwis think New Zealand will be ready to become a republic in 10 years.