‘I will challenge, I will challenge, I will challenge’
As Ma¯ori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi made his way through the House to swear his allegiance to the Queen he promised to challenge the authority which belittled the Treaty of Waitangi.
“Ka tohe au! Ka tohe au! Ka tohe au,” he said during the waerea which translates to “I will challenge, I will challenge, I will challenge”.
Waititi, wearing his trademark cowboy hat, took with him fellow coleader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s pounamu mere before swearing the oath in te reo on a copy of Te Tiriti and a Ringatu¯ bible.
Of the 120 MPs who were sworn in to be the 53rd Parliament, 77 gave the oath or affirmation in English and 44 opted for te reo.
A number of MPs also recited it a second time in another language, including new Act MP James McDowall who spoke Chinese, Green MP Golriz Ghahraman who spoke Farsi and new Labour MPs Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki and Ingrid Leary who spoke Tongan and Rotuman respectively.
Many opted to swear the oath on the bible while others swore on other pieces of writing which were important to them.
New Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere used a copy of a treaty her ancestors signed in Tairawhiti and Greens coleader Marama Davidson used a book of Ma¯ori proverbs.
Due to Covid-19, the MPs swore their oaths either individually or in pairs, which led to some comical moments during the ceremony.
National MP Todd McClay and Labour MP Kieran McAnulty raced each other during their oaths, with McAnulty finishing his well after McClay.
Later, Waititi explained the waerea he gave before being sworn in was a “push back” against the oati (the oath) which “keeps Ma¯ori on bended knee” to a sovereign who they never gave sovereignty to.
Ngarewa-Packer also swore on Te
Tiriti wearing a korowai made from Parihaka feather and a top hat to represent the ones her kuia wore before the signing of the Treaty.
Waititi said this term he would put forward a Member’s Bill seeking to change the oath to include the Treaty and nga¯ Hapu¯ o Aotearoa.
“It’s very unfair at this particular time to be swearing an oath to one partner of that treaty.”
Speaker Trevor Mallard, who was re-elected unopposed, said there was lots of room to modernise the oath but as long as the Queen was New Zealand’s head of state it would continue to pledge allegiance to her.