English defends Waitangi no-show
Prime Minister Bill English has defended his decision to skip Waitangi Day commemorations at the treaty grounds, saying many Kiwis ‘‘cringe a bit’’ at the protests that take place on New Zealand’s national day.
English has accepted an invitation from iwi leaders to lead a delegation of ministers to Waitangi to meet ahead of Waitangi Day celebrations but announced he will not attend the annual powhiri at Te Tii Marae.
The attendance of the prime minister at Waitangi is a vexed issue every year, with John Key making the decision not to go in 2016 after being refused speaking rights and threats of protests.
Speaking to media in Auckland, English said he had written to marae officials after being appointed prime minister to determine the conditions on his attendance.
He had been told he would not be able to speak at the powhiri, a decision which he did not believe was appropriate for the leader of the country.
‘‘The marae committee has decided that the prime minister can’t speak on their marae, and that as far as I’m concerned is not respectful of the role. We have the right to decide [whether to attend] . . . protocol is I don’t have to go onto that marae if the arrangements aren’t respectful for New Zealand and New Zealanders.’’
While protests at Waitangi had been ‘‘nationally relevant’’ 15 to 20 years ago, that was no longer the case.
‘‘Political discussion at Te Tii Marae is now really about Ngapuhi issues and their own concerns in Northland, but it’s a national day, a day for New Zea- landers to be proud of their whole country.
‘‘A lot of New Zealanders cringe a bit on Waitangi Day when they see the way that the ceremonies are being conducted, the ceremonies and welcomes, the type of protest there has been in recent years, and I’m pretty keen that we have a day when they’re proud.’’
English said he had not yet decided what he would do on Waitangi Day, although he will be in Auckland.
While English has made his decision not to go, his reasons for doing so are news to the chair of the Waitangi Organising Committee and NZ First MP Pita Paraone.
‘‘Not being able to speak wasn’t the tenor of our discussions that we had late last year and early this year . . . it’s news to me.’’
At a meeting at Waitangi in November, the committee and Ngapuhi elders voted unanimously to invite then Prime Minister Key back to Te Tii Marae with no conditions on what he could or couldn’t speak about.
At the time Paraone said even he was ‘‘surprised by the ease in which it went through’’.
Yesterday, Paraone said he didn’t know who the gagging order had come from.
He said he was concerned this would be the beginning of a new tradition whereby the prime minister wouldn’t attend commemorations of the national day at Waitangi.
‘‘Hell yeah I’m disappointed. If the prime minister of our country can’t see a way clear to attend commemorations at Waitangi – the signing of our founding document – then you can understand why some Maori are quite cynical about the Crown’s approach to Waitangi issues.’’ he said. – Fairfax NZ