Jacinda Ardern resigns: Rātana Pā to be Prime Minister’s last outing, Chris Hipkins debuts alongside National leader Christopher Luxon

An emotional poroporoaki, farewell, is expected for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Rātana Pā today as the battle of the Chrises begins, with new Labour leader Chris Hipkins and National’s Christopher Luxon debuting at what is regarded unofficially as the start of the political year.

That traditional moniker granted to the Māori religious festival was arguably blown out of the water by Ardern last Thursday with the bombshell news she was resigning, along with setting the election date of October 14.

It will remain hugely significant, however, with Ardern attending Rātana Pā - just south of Whanganui - alongside Hipkins, in what will be her last official political outing as Prime Minister, and accompanied by a raft of Labour MPs and ministers.

In an election year, it will also be a litmus test for how the traditionally-Labour Māori stronghold receives Hipkins in his first visit as leader, and Luxon, who is visiting for his first time ever amid a push to reconnect his party with tangata whenua.

Labour politicians will be welcomed onto the marae and given the opportunity to speak from 2pm, alongside support partner the Green Party.

National will arrive at about 11am, along with Te Pāti Māori as opposition parties. Act is not attending.

The three-day Rātana religious festival began on Monday and culminates on the birthday of the church’s late founder, Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana, on January 25.

The middle or politicians day is often referred to as the start of the political year - especially in an election year - where promises are made, tones set, and Māori from across the country make clear their views.

While it is traditionally a peaceful day with politicians urged to keep politics out of speeches, it is often the scene of fiery, and at times humorous, rhetoric.

In 2017 then-TOP leader Gareth Morgan called NZ First leader Winston Peters an “Uncle Tom” and anti-Treaty, to which Peters responded Morgan was “a toothless sheep” and “thinned-down version of Kim Dotcom”.

The Rātana movement is a church and pan-iwi political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in 1925. It has historic links to the Labour Party after its founding prophet formed an alliance with former PM Michael Joseph Savage in 1936.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attending Rātana in 2018 while pregnant. Photo / NZME

That alliance has been challenged by parties such as Te Pāti Māori, but has stood the test of time.

The church currently has around 50,000 followers.

Ardern herself has a special connection to Rātana, attending in 2018 in her first public outing since announcing she was pregnant.

Rātana were also the first to gift a name to her daughter Neve - Waru (eight), a significant number for the Rātana Church.

Ardern at the time also signalled her intention for the Māori value of manaakitanga (hospitality, warmth) to be the driving force of her government, and that she wanted Māori to hold her to account on a raft of issues - a pledge she also took to Waitangi.

Ardern also returned to Rātana in 2020 with her young daughter, in what was the last time Rātana was attended by politicians.

It is expected Ardern will be acknowledged for her time as Prime Minister, while Hipkins will be welcomed and challenged on Labour’s record for Māori.

On Sunday in his first press conference as leader, he stumbled when asked to name the articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

He will likely also be pushed for his views on co-governance and the Government’s agenda, which he has signalled will be pulled back.

It is unlikely any policies will be unveiled, with his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but it will be a significant moment to ensure Māori support for Labour ahead of his next test at Waitangi in two weeks.

Labour Speaker of the House and Rātana Church member Adrian Rurawhe said there was much excitement this year, with events last year cancelled due to Covid-19, and the political announcements over the past few days.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's daughter Neve Te Aroha Gayford at Rātana in 2020. Photo / RNZ, Patrice Allen

It was also the first since the death of Harerangi Rehimana Meihana, spiritual leader of the Rātana Church for over 20 years, last year.

“People are looking forward to having the opportunity to acknowledge [Ardern’s] time as Prime Minister,” Rurawhe said.

“Discussions will also be taking place tonight about the key messaging they want to lay out on the marae tomorrow. Everyone is aware it is an election year so I am pretty sure they will want to have some clear messages.”

There was also significance in having Rurawhe being the country’s first Speaker of the Rātana Church.

“The significance is not lost on our people, a sense of pride in that.”

Rurawhe said he would tomorrow also announce his intentions for the 2023 election, and if, as expected, he would stand aside from the Te Tai Hauāuru seat he’s held since 2014 and go on the list.

Fellow Rātana Church member and Labour MP Soraya Peke-Mason is the hot favourite as his replacement.

Tuesday will also be Luxon’s first outing at Rātana.

He is expected to be accompanied by a small contingent of MPs, including deputy leader Nicola Willis, the party’s most-senior Māori MP in Dr Shane Reti and recently-elected MP Tama Pōtaka, who was last week given the party’s Māori development portfolio.

It is understood Reti will be leading the party’s response to Māori, although it could also be an opportunity for Pōtaka to give an indication of the party’s direction ahead of the election.

Speaker Adrian Rurawhe. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Both Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi will be attending.

Ngarewa-Packer, who grew up in the region and attended Rātana since she was a child, said it was an important event for Māori of all whakapapa to come together and hold the Government to account, particularly over inequity for Māori.

“It is about celebrating Māori leadership and reminding us of the strength of unity.”

Ngarewa-Packer said she expected there would be a lot of sadness expressed at the outgoing Prime Minister, while also challenging Labour’s record.

“There are a lot of different views in te ao Māori, but we are great at poroporoaki, farewells.

“That said, the Government should never take Māori support for granted. Labour has the largest Māori caucus ever and if it really valued Māori we would be at the front of their decisions.”

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Ngarewa-Packer, who ran and lost in Te Tai Hauāuru in 2020 to Rurawhe by a slim margin, said the party would also be making announcements tomorrow about a few candidates to contest this year’s election.

One person who won’t be at Rātana tomorrow is New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who is mounting a political comeback.

The veteran politician told the Herald he had visited on Monday and spoken with Rātana leadership.

“We have always been in our approach, pan-Māori. [Rātana] remember us for and it was a chance to remind them that when, in the 1980s, they were being utterly forgotten, we came to speak to them about the problem ... and they have not forgotten.”

Peters was joined by party colleagues Shane Jones, Darroch Ball and a few others who Peters did not name.

Asked why he wasn’t attending tomorrow alongside other political parties, Peters would not divulge his reasons, saying “You leave the planning and strategy to us.”

“I gave them a speech about the need to be on red alert and aware of how politicians make promises, but where was the performance?

“That’s critical this year and the years after, that people are not taken in by statements of commitment which never see outcomes.”