Protests: Te Pāti Māori co-leaders back calls for strike action around NZ on Budget Day

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders have pushed back on suggestions calls for people to strike as part of a nationwide protest on Thursday is inappropriate, saying the Government was “oppressive” and the action was a necessary response to policy.

Thousands of people are expected to attend protests across the country this Thursday, which is also Budget Day. Organisers have encouraged people to walk off the job to unify against “the Government’s assault on tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters today calls for people to strike were wrong and illegal as there were rules in place around when and how strike action could take place.

Asked whether it was irresponsible to call for people to strike on Thursday, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said: “I don’t think it’s irresponsible to call our people and meet their request for us to call into action.

“They’ve had enough, and I don’t know where you want to start, whether ending the genocide, the way that the Government has been marginalising rainbow communities, our taiao, our tangata, our reo, where do you want to start?

”The last straw,” Ngarewa-Packer said, “was that we’ve got referendums for Māori wards given a five day-turn around, the [repeal of section] 7AA [from the Oranga Tamariki Act], the way they’ve [acted with the] Fast Track Approvals Bill where they had no public consultation.

“Our whānau have a right to be heard and be seen and if us calling them to strike into rise, kei te pai.”

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said there had been strikes in New Zealand for years including before employment agreement processes were implemented.

“Who said only one person gets to determine what a strike is?”

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said Te Pāti Māori had “been on strike since they day they started.”

“That’s all they think about,” he told reporters at Parliament today.

“They are disgrace to the former great Māori leadership of this country. Nothing is new about them calling for a strike.”

Eru Kapa-King, from Toitū Te Tiriti, told the Herald earlier the delays people would face on the roads due to the protest were nothing compared to the impact of some of the coalition’s policies had on Māori.

“So, a few people arrive late for work? So what? What this Government is doing to Māori on a daily basis is much worse,” Kapa-Kingi said.

“We are expecting thousands to take part - even more than the last time. This will be a repeat of our last activation but on a larger scale and we do want to be hōhā and disrupt as much as possible.”

In December, thousands of people joined a Te Pāti Māori protest against government policies it described as “anti-Māori”. Police said an estimated 300 cars joined the Auckland protest, which was “peaceful and the vast majority of groups dispersed relatively quickly”.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there were “clear rules” around striking. Asked whether the calls for strike action by the organisers was appropriate, Luxon said: “No, that’s illegal.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon does not support planned protests this week. Photo / Mark Mitchell

There are requirements under the Employment Relations Act 2000 that need to be met for a strike to be deemed “legal”.

“I think that is wrong - I think that is entirely wrong. Feel free to protest, that’s what we have weekends for. Te Pāti Māori, they’re completely free to protest as long as it’s legal.”

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins said he encouraged people to express their right to free speech but to do so “within the law”.

Labour MP Peeni Henare said the protest action was unsurprising given actions the Coalition Government had taken, such as disestablishing the Māori Health Authority. Other policies that impact Māori or have provoked a strong response from Māori include the repealing of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act.

Labour MP Peeni Henare. Photo / RNZ, Samuel Rillstone

“I don’t know why anybody would be surprised.”

Participating in the protest was “up to each and every individual”, he said.

“But let’s be honest that what’s being lost here... backwards views on Māori policies are what causes this kind of hurt for people so they’ll make their own choice whether or not they get out to support.”

Toitū Te Tiriti, the activist collective behind the protests, put the call out on social media to Māori and non-Māori earlier this week, saying: “We are asking for all Māori and tangata Tiriti to go on strike for the day to prove the might of our economy by disconnecting entirely from it.”

It said the protocol for Thursday’s protest included being peaceful, respectful and mokopuna-focused.

Major disruptions are expected in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as thousands of Māori flag-waving vehicles participate in the “carkoi” and hīkoi across Aotearoa.