Te Tiriti should be something that bonds us
The Government is using it as a platform to drive us apart
Across the generations, Te Iwi Māori have been plagued with injustice, trauma and abuse. We now have a Government gaslighting us into thinking we do not deserve the small strides of progress we have managed to make.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the foundation for an enduring partnership. It provides a pathway for us to reconcile with the wrongdoings of our past and begin to build a future of harmony and mahitahi we know Aotearoa deserves.
That future could be one where every child learns te reo Māori, where every marae has the resources to manaaki their community, where Māori are given the voice they were promised as part of Te Tiriti. A future where all our communities thrive, in partnership.
Te Tiriti should be something that bonds us all. However, the current Government is using it as a platform to drive us apart.
The spread of fear and division alongside a blatant disrespect to this nation’s founding document has been relentless. This three-headed taniwha of a Government is slashing and burning all the institutions we have built in the name of Te Tiriti justice.
We have seen Te Aka Whai Ora, the health authority created to end the sickening health disparities we see across Māori, thrown away in favour of an approach that has failed and will continue to fail us.
We are seeing Treaty protections aimed at ensuring vulnerable tamariki in state care can grow up safe and connected to their culture ripped to shreds. The Government is also looking to expel references to the Treaty across a broad range of legislation.
This, alongside the drive to remove Māori voices from local government by eroding Māori wards across councils, is essentially an erasure of Te Tiriti and a silencing of tangata whenua. Undermining tangata whenua rights rupture the social fabric of Aotearoa.
We have seen a mass movement mobilise in opposition to this antiMāori agenda. The Kingitanga Hui in January galvanised thousands, both tangata whenua and tangata Te Tiriti.
This energy carried through into Rātana Pā, and further to Te Whare Rūnanga at Waitangi National Trust – with one of the biggest hı¯koi to Waitangi in recent memory. The echo of Toitū He Whakaputanga, Toitū Te Tiriti rang out across the nation.
And just recently, we saw a nationwide activation in response to the Government’s Budget and overarching agenda.
From the far north to the deep south, we saw Aotearoa standing, marching and rallying against the attacks of the coalition Government on Te Iwi Māori.
I stood alongside my Green Party colleagues to meet the hı¯koi on to Parliament proudly wearing the Kara – symbolising He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni (our Declaration of Independence). We heard the cries of whānau, hapū, iwi and communities who are frustrated with the lack of transparency, locking out community voice and undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Budget 2024 brings little hope for me as tangata whenua from Tai Tokerau – that is a story on its own.
As an uri of Tai Tokerau and Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi our kaupapa is intergenerational – e kore e tuku te mana rangatiratanga ki te Karauna, our hapū did not cede sovereignty to the Crown.
As tangata whenua and tangata Te Tiriti, we can work together to honour Te Tiriti and build a strong and vibrant nation – only if we are willing.
I remain hopeful as I have our mokopuna, our future generations in my heart. There is work to be done, and it can only be done together.
We are seeing Treaty protections aimed at ensuring vulnerable tamariki in state care can grow up safe and connected to their culture ripped to shreds.