Waitangi sets stage for election
As politicians head back home for their last weekend before Parliament returns next week, they will be reflecting on an eventful week of Waitangi commemorations.
Waitangi in an election year is suffused with symbolism and politics, and this was no exception. The big political story of the week was undoubtedly National Party leader Simon Bridges’ decision to rule NZ First out of any post-election coalition negotiations.
This kicked off a stoush between NZ First leader Winston Peters and Bridges.
Peters initially claimed to be aware of the decision, saying he had his own statement ready three hours before.
Tensions boiled over when the pair came face to face at a powhiri at the Treaty Grounds on Tuesday, with Peters accusing Bridges of politicising the event, and, quoting Elvis, saying: ‘‘If you are looking for trouble, you have come to the right place’’.
Bridges’ decision could put pressure on NZ First’s party vote, as some NZ First supporters may want the party to back National, rather than Labour. If the vote dips below the 5 per cent threshold at the election,
NZ First will need to win an electorate to remain in Parliament.
That seat is likely to be Northland, which Peters won in a by-election in 2015 and narrowly lost to National’s Matt King in 2017. At Waitangi, NZ First MP and current Cabinet minister Shane Jones all but confirmed he was running in the seat, although he has yet to be formally confirmed as a candidate.
Jones will run a fierce campaign in the North but he would be much aided if Labour and the Greens came to some arrangement with NZ First, either in the form of a deal to campaign only for the party vote, similar to what National and ACT do in Epsom.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said no deal would be done. ‘‘I did not do deals last election, I have no plans to do deals this election,’’ she said.
Another option is for Labour to quietly tell its candidate, Willow-Jean Prime, to stop campaigning in the seat – which it essentially did in 2015.
Waitangi is a big event for Ma¯ ori politics. Leaders from across the country gathered to meet with the Government.
Leading up to the event, there had been much focus on issues around Oranga Tamariki, Wha¯ nau Ora, and Ihuma¯ tao but none of these issues appeared to cause massive concern at Waitangi itself.
Wha¯ nau Ora was raised at a closed-door meeting with iwi leaders on Wednesday but it appears the Government’s increase of funding for the agency quashed most criticism about the way it was being run.
Ihuma¯ tao was the topic of a small hikoi but there seemed to be satisfaction with the process being run to find a resolution to the standoff.
Andrew Little won plaudits for his speech at the Tuesday powhiri, which was entirely in te reo Ma¯ ori. It was directed primarily at Nga¯ puhi, the iwi with whom the Crown has been locked in negotiations over a settlement for 10 years.
The Nga¯ puhi settlement has been almost impossible to achieve. Little focused his speech on He Whakaputanga, the 1835 Declaration of Independence signed by a number of Nga¯ puhi chiefs which proclaimed them sovereign over New Zealand.
Nga¯ puhi have used this to argue that sovereignty was not ceded by the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.
Little touched on these arguments in his speech.
‘‘There is another agreement we cannot ignore. It is very important to Ma¯ ori of the north. ‘‘It is He Whakaputanga. ‘‘Neither He Whakaputanga nor Te Tiriti stand on their own.
‘‘We have talked much about Te Tiriti. We must talk about He Whakaputanga.
‘‘There are many thoughts about it. But we must talk about it. We must understand,’’ he said.
His acknowledgment of the importance of the declaration, and the fact it was delivered in te reo Ma¯ ori, was described as a ‘‘breakthrough’’ and could lead to new ground being made towards a settlement.
The chair of Nga¯ puhi
Ru¯ nanga, Mere Mangu, praised Little.
‘‘Andrew Little made my heart sing, made me shed some tears.
‘‘We have had him for two years walking with us during our settlement negotiation so far, just in chatting, he has taken all that learning to heart, learnt the reo, and opened his heart for us to see, to show how much he has learnt along the journey,’’ she said.
Mangu has taken over from Sonny Tau, regarded by many including former Treaty Negotiation Minister Chris Finlayson as being an obstacle to settlement. While a settlement is likely to be some way away, it was acknowledged that both sides had made significant ground.
National also waded into Treaty politics, with Bridges suggesting the Waitangi Tribunal should itself be abolished one day.
Waitangi is ‘‘the end of the beginning’’, marking the last day of the phoney war of caucus retreats and set-pieces that lie between the start of the year and Parliament returning.
After one of the most intensely political Waitangi Days in years, the stage is set for a fiercely contested election.