Feuds and tension were on display at Waitangi today as politicians faced both the crowds and each other.
Under gentle but persistent rain, politicians faced peaceful protesters chanting and an electrifying welcome from more than 100 kapa haka performers as they walked onto the marae ātea at the upper treaty grounds for the annual pōwhiri – or face to face – with Ngāpuhi, whose territory the grounds reside within, and other Māori leaders.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who was absent from Waitangi last year, used much of his speech to recite the Treaty principles.
“Countries around the world have battled with their own sense of identity and New Zealand is no different,” he said.
As people in the crowd shouted heckles (“You are talking s***!”), he continued to speak without pause.
“The atmosphere surrounding Waitangi Day and our conversations have sometimes been very heated, and we have heard that here again today.”
But the loudest chorus of booing arose when Luxon mentioned Education Minister Erica Stanford and listed his Government’s efforts to improve outcomes through its structured literacy schemes.
When the heckles rained on NZ First leader Winston Peters, he stood his ground and fired back with his own jabs. “There is some [person] out there shouting because he doesn’t know what day it is.”
Peters also hit back at accusations from one of the speakers from the hosting faction, high-profile activist Eru Kapa-Kingi, who said the Government had no love for Māori people and asked: “Why do we continue to welcome the spider to our house?”
Peters said: “We didn’t come here to be insulted”. Speaking to reporters prior to the pōwhiri, Peters dismissed any suggestion the Government was anti-Māori.
A softer talking point was the departure of Labour’s Peeni Henare from politics.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins called him a friend who the party was returning to his home and whānau of the north, and NZ First Minister Shane Jones urged him to “never let your spirit or your mana be trampled on”.
Government Minister Tama Potaka gave him a suggestion for his next move after politics, saying he could perhaps play a role in getting the country’s last major iwi settlement across the line with Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine.
The audience’s reception of Act leader David Seymour was far more subdued than the year prior when the controversial Treaty Principles Bill debate was red hot (and an iwi leader removed his microphone as he was speaking), but his speech was centred on the same themes, pushing the values of a liberal democracy.
There were announcements: Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono confirmed the party’s Māori electorate candidates and which seats they would contest.
Tuiono also launched a Member’s Bill today which if enacted would recognise the personhood of whales – or tohorā – which are of significant importance to Māoridom and considered a sacred ancestor for many.
But the perhaps sharpest encounter came when Kapa-Kingi and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi addressed each other in turn.
The exchange itself was relatively respectful with Kapa-Kingi defiantly backing his mother, Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi who was ousted by the party late last year, and telling Te Pāti Māori it needed to sort itself out.
Waititi thanked Kapa-Kingi for using the “appropriate” forum of the marae ātea to raise his issues.
When Waititi wrapped up his speech, his whānau performed a haka where his wife, Kiri Tamihere-Waititi, walked across the ātea to Eru Kapa-Kingi to perform directly in front of him.
As she walked back to her side of the ātea, Mariameno stood from her seat and shouted “hoki atu” – meaning “go back”, a sign of the tension remaining after the party’s rupture.
In his speech, Waititi addressed a party decision to decline an invitation to meet with Te Rūnanga Nui Ā Ngāpuhi last year amid their ongoing party troubles, asking for the iwi to accept his apology and calling for a new meeting.
An apology is perhaps a big concession for the party co-leader and holder of the Waiariki Māori seat, but the question is: will it be taken up?
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.