Tens of thousands of people took to the streets around the country this morningto protest against the Government’s policies affecting Māori, with vehicle convoys advancing along the country’s biggest cities’ motorways.
And as the Government announced its Budget, Parliament’s front lawn was awash with the red, white and black of Tino Rangatiratanga flags waved by protesters voicing their anger against a perceived attack on Māori.
About 150 police officers monitored gatherings in Auckland, where people met at three locations on the city’s outskirts about 6am and converged on the CBD about lunchtime.
The vehicle convoys were dubbed “carkois” by protest organisers, a portmanteau of car and hīkoi (march or walk).
Protest organisers maintained disciplined convoys, with those joining in urged not to stop on motorways. Some protest leaders claimed motorists disrupted by the convoys supported them by waving and beeping their horns.
Commute times were more than tripled in Auckland, with hour-long delays reported in the morning. Buses leaving the central city were also disrupted about midday.
Image 1 of 18: Te Pāti Māori supporters rally on the Rimu Rd overbridge in Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Photo / Jason Dorday
A police headquarters statement said protesters were “well behaved” with no incidents of note reported.
“Police are in attendance and are focused on maintaining public safety while recognising the right to peaceful protest.”
Elsewhere in New Zealand, marches and convoys descended on Waikato University in Hamilton, some 500 people gathered at the Hastings Clocktower, crowds met at four locations around Rotorua, people congregated at Heipipi Park in Gisborne and protesters in Wellington assembled at Parliament at 2pm.
There were many more protests, including in smaller towns and in the South Island.
In Wellington, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders spoke to the crowd.
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said: “This House set out to exterminate us 100 years ago. They failed. We are 20 per cent of the population. We are one million strong”.
In a statement, Te Pāti Māori said: “We have mobilised our people in a matter of days in a beautiful harmonious activation against this Government. What we have witnessed today is te iwi Māori across Aotearoa telling this Government that enough is enough.
“We will no longer let decisions made by this House determine our oranga [health, welfare or livelihood], the oranga of our people, our mokopuna [grandchildren], the land and te iwi Māori katoa [all the Māori people].
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (left) and Rawiri Waititi want to see a Māori Parliament established, issuing a declaration of independence today. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“We now begin the process of establishing our own Parliament. Our people will design what this looks like for us, nobody else.”
Te Pāti Māori dubbed its declaration of independence Te Ngākou o Te Iwi Māori (the heart of Māori).
The party said its declaration asserted Māori sovereignty as outlined in He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence signed by Māori chiefs in 1835, and as affirmed in the Treaty of Waitangi.
It said the hypothetical parliament would be “anchored in our tikanga (customs) and kawa (protocols); focussed entirely on mokopuna livelihood; [and] established as part of transforming Aotearoa into a nation which represents the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua, and creates a safe home for all peoples”.
“This is the type of transformation our people have been waiting for,” the party said.
‘This Budget tells us Māori don’t matter’ – Waititi
Waititi said the Government’s Budget should be focused on the future, but it did not.
“What this Budget tells us is that Māori don’t matter, that we signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi but we continuously allow this House to assume that it has sovereignty and absolute superiority over Māori.”
Waititi said Te Pāti Māori’s independence declaration challenged the assumption Parliament had superiority over Māori.
“We now make up a million people. One in five people here in Aotearoa are Māori,” he said.
“I am 20 per cent of this country. I expect nothing less than 20 per cent of the total Budget in this country. That’s what I expect in a kāwanatanga [governance] space.”
Waititi then said Māori should receive the Budget proportion that their population makes up in prisons and Oranga Tamariki.
“This is what a Budget should look like for Māori in a kāwanatanga space. We’re all taxpayers, we’re all ratepayers and remember that this Government continues to make its funds and its money and its ability to have a Budget on stolen Māori land, assets and resources.”
Waititi said there was no mention of Māori within the Government’s Vote Health or Vote Education policies.
He said the coalition Government was giving less to national kapa haka festival Te Matatini than the previous government.
“We want by Māori, for Māori, to Māori, kaupapa. Not by Pākehā to Māori, we’ve had enough of that.”
