Appeal for shared sovereignty
The Kingitanga have pitched for Maori to have shared sovereignty by 2025 and are calling on political parties to support the move.
The announcement was made during the Maori King Tuheitia’s closing speech at the Koroneihana in Ngaruawahia yesterday.
Tuheitia’s words highlighted issues for Maori, he said.
‘‘We will fail to get the best opportunities for our people and us if you as the leadership become afraid to achieve a shared success in our communities and in our country, a shared success that means Maori sharing sovereignty as well,’’ King Tuheitia said.
‘‘I see a country that we as Maori will have a shared role in its sovereignty and this I see happening by 2025.
‘‘I see a voting constituency of Maori across the country that will exceed 65 per cent of the general population who identify as Maori.’’
Two other important issues raised were the return of all battle sites from the Maori Land Wars by 2020, and the development of national memorials for all battle sites by 2025.
The precedent for the return has been set after the Crown returned the Rangiriri battle site to Waikato-tainui on Friday.
Much of the Rangiriri site remains intact, whereas some battle sites have main roads running through them. Gate Pa in Tauranga, for instance, has an arterial route running through it.
There are up to 20 sites that could be returned, from Ruapekapeka up north down to Wairau near Blenheim.
The Government set $4 million aside in the 2016 Budget for commemorations and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said on Friday it was time to formally recognise the country’s bloody past. The return of the Rangiriri battlesite to Maori was marked by news a national day commemorating the New Zealand Land Wars is months away.
Work has been under way between iwi representatives and ministers of the Crown to see the more than 150-year-old battles between British forces and Maori formally acknowledged. The Land Wars were a neglected part of our history, English said.
There was an obligation to tell the full story.
‘‘That is why, with Te Ururoa [Flavell], the Government has been able to get the resource together so that we can find a date, a time for a commemoration day,’’ he said.
Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said the interest in how the New Zealand wars were remembered ‘‘has never been greater’’.
‘‘A day of commemoration for these New Zealand Wars will come. It is long overdue,’’ Barry said. ‘‘We are engaged in this process and we will find a day that will suit everyone.
‘‘It is important to us as a nation, at least as important as our World War I commemorations, if not more so,’’ Barry said.
Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell said the Government wanted to pinpoint a date before the end of 2017.
‘‘Our failure to adjust as a culture in this modern world will inevitably result in us lagging behind in every way,’’ King Tuheitia said yesterday.
‘‘Education is important but it is not everything.
‘‘Guts, strength, belief, loyalty are just some characteristics and attributes that we must ensure we develop and grow in our tamariki and mokopuna as well.’’
King Tuheitia called on Maori leaders to help resolve issues faced by Maori, including homelessness, poverty, the preservation of te reo Maori and culture, poor health outcomes and a reduction in crime statistics.