Waitangi Day: Te Pāti Māori calls for 'divorce' from British monarchy

Te Pāti Māori has called for a "divorce" from the British monarchy and to move Aotearoa to a nation based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer made the call today as the country's political leaders shared their views on the Treaty of Waitangi in a virtual broadcast for Waitangi Day.

"If you look at our founding covenant as a marriage between tangata whenua and the Crown, then Te Tiriti is the child of that marriage," Ngarewa-Packer said.

"It's time tangata whenua to take full custody of Te Tiriti o Waitangi from the Crown."

Ngarewa-Packer said they proposed removing the British royal family as head of state and a new "marriage" between Māori and tangata tiriti, or people in New Zealand as a right through the Treaty.

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It is a Waitangi Day as never before today, with the Treaty grounds closed because of the Omicron outbreak and traditional ceremonies going online.

In her pre-recorded address, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Covid-19 response was to ensure whakapapa, or ancestry, is not broken, referring to the influenza pandemic that once ravaged Māori communities.

"We do not want to stand by and let that happen again in this generation."

Ardern also reflected on policy to teach New Zealand history in schools and introducing Matariki, the Māori new year, as a public holiday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking at Te Whare Runanga, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, last year. Photo / Michael Cunningham

She also spoke to persisting inequities, which disproportionately impacted Māori, and how the Māori Health Authority would help address those.

"Whether it's poverty, education, housing or health, solutions are required. Not labels, and not responses that say different policies for different communities is segregation."

In his first Waitangi address as National Party leader, Christopher Luxon said the Treaty was a "imperfect, challenging and ultimately inspiring document", and part of the story of modern New Zealand was struggling to understand the intentions of those who signed it and how to act as a result.

"Today we reflect on what that signing means for our national identity."

Christopher Luxon gave his first Waitangi Day address as leader of the National Party virtually. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Luxon said as party leader he was committed to working across the motu with Māori to "understand before being understood".

He also recognised his caucus needed to be more diverse to "reflect the country" and acknowledged his party recently including the Treaty in its constitution.

He said a focus for National was ensuring the last remaining Treaty settlements were resolved "justly, durably and as soon as possible". That would enable a future where "awful social statistics" for Māori were gone, and iwi prospered, he said.

Act Party leader David Seymour said there were two "basic" interpretations of the Treaty, which was often at the centre of debate about the "identity and destiny of New Zealanders".

One interpretation was that the document gave equal property and political rights and duties, and the other that it promised partnership and co-governance between tangata tiriti and tangata whenua.

"Those two conceptions are incompatible," Seymour said.

In a liberal democracy citizens had equal rights, and that was incompatible with a system where some are born with different rights to others, he said.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said for her "Tiriti justice" meant tangata whenua and the Crown truly sharing power.

"Today, in the context of ongoing unacceptable injustice and inequities for Māori, I speak with hope as a descendant of all my different iwi."