The next two weeks will be what some see as the silly season of Maori politics. It starts this weekend with every political potae in the country hanging their hats at Ratana Pa in Whanganui, to be followed by Waitangi weekend.
Yes, the baby talk will be the piece de resistance, however, the big talking point will be the huge $370 million Treaty top-ups paid out to Ngai Tahu and Tainui just before Christmas.
Known as the "ratchet clauses" I first heard about them when I was involved in our own settlements here in Tauranga Moana and in a pipi shell, they are no different to any others we see in legal settlements between greeting partners, in this case the Crown and two of the largest iwi of Aotearoa New Zealand, Ngai Tahu in the South Island and Tainui over the Kaimai in Waikato.
The fallout from these "relatively clauses" negotiated during the fiscal envelope process of the mid 1990s will be cannon fodder for the already aggrieved Ngati Whingers who are rallying under Hobson's Pledge and crying out "enough is enough", as it will be for opposing parties within Maoridom, the Iwi Leaders Forum representing the 72 iwi and the newly formed Labour-NZ First-Greens coalition, who have made it loud and clear they will be calling the shots from here on in.
This will be what my dad always called the tea bag test of a new prime minister, where their real colour comes out when they are stuck in hot water, and the fireworks between Sheriff Shane Jones and Willy Jackson in one corner and Willy Te Aho, Sonny Tau, Mark Solomon and other iwi leaders in the other will be hotter than the hangi stones used to cook the Waitangi weekend kai.
Recently returned from his Raro wedding, Sheriff Shane has publicly stated Halley's Comet would return before he deals with the powerfully mandated iwi forum and, when the egos have landed in Waitangi, Prime Minster Ardern will be tested on the colour of her cup of tea trying to tame her gung-ho sheriff.
Then there are the two Willies, Jackson and Te Aho, who will go toe to toe over water ownership and every other ownership rights.
Willie Te Aho was our settlement negotiator for Ngati Ranginui here in Tauranga and not only has a photographic memory for times and dates of transgressions by the Crown, but also a memory for transgressions from within his own.
Willie Jackson will have to bring his A-game and his handbrake on his waho (mouth) if he is to win over the paepae (distinguished speakers' platform) of Maoridom and not make it look like he is settling old scores.
One thing is for sure the suits will be in for a record year as both sides are cashed up and ready for court, none more so than the iwi who, it must be said, have proven they are serious players in the management of fiscal responsibility when it comes to growing their asset bases.
I understand Ngai Tahu and Tainui own assets collectively well in excess of $2 billion and have set a benchmark for the other 70 iwi who have or are about to settle.
The secret to their success is working together, something we need to take on board here in Tauranga Moana.
So we go from the silly season of summer holidays into a fortnight of "brolotics", where our newly elected and new mother-to-be Prime Minister will need to turn on her taringa (ears) and listen carefully to the pulse of her party, while the nation bathes in the joys of listening to the pulse of her new pregnancy for the next five months.
In the meantime, we listen and learn from what happens in Ratana, and while some sleep out under the stars as they do down there every Anniversary Weekend, others of us will be under the stars singing and dancing to the sounds of One Love at the Tauranga Domain.
Perhaps that is what we all need to do a lot more of when it comes to bringing this country together before and after Waitangi weekend.
One Love – Ko Tahi Aroha.
