Jones becomes preacher for day
Politician-turnedpreacher-for-the-day NZ First MP Shane Jones evoked the Wall of Jericho and the “throaty sounds of motorbikes” in his Waitangi Day sermon to an interdenominational congregation.
Speaking at Te Whare Ru¯ nanga at the traditional Waitangi Day service, Jones reinterpreted the Parable of Jesus from the Book of Matthew about the wise and foolish builders.
If New Zealand was going to stand strong in the years ahead, it must have a solid foundation or cornerstone, he told a crowd of about 300 who gathered in front of the whare or sat on the grass beyond.
“Blasted by the wind, afflicted by floods, drenched with rain, but the house still stands,” Jones said of the house built on a solid foundation.
“And the challenge as we prepare to celebrate 180 years (since the Treaty was signed), what is the content of that cornerstone, of that foundation stone for you and I, respecters of the Treaty, lovers of our heritage and believers in the future?
“It will be no Wall of Jericho, with the throaty loud sounds of motorbikes. It will be no trumpets. The voices of din will not smash the traditions that we hold dear traceable back to the Treaty of Waitangi,” he said.
It was a likely reference to the presence of Bishop Brian Tamaki and his Destiny Church followers, who were at the same time yesterday holding a service at Te T¯ı Marae down the road from the Treaty Grounds.
Many of Tamaki’s followers, the Tu¯ Tangata Riders, arrived on motorcycles on Tuesday and the town of Paihia had echoed with the sound of loud bikes since.
It was a full house at the Treaty Grounds for the service, with every seat taken.
The service was led by Te Tai Tokerau Anglican Bishop Kito Pikaahu.
Before Jones’ sermon, the Treaty of Waitangi was read in both English and Ma¯ori.
The English version was read by Christopher Williams, a great-great grandson of Henry Williams, a missionary who translated the Treaty into Ma¯ori ahead of its signing in 1840.
Jones’ sermon began with a haka performed by a group of Nga¯puhi — the same haka that was performed in front of the missionaries when the Treaty was signed by Nga¯ puhi in 1840.
Jones said the haka, in a modern context, could be interpreted to mean that on one hand there were the traditions, customs and emblems of identity “which those of us who savour and love our country and love its site embedded in the Pacific, we must see that as something worthy of pursuit, struggle and eventually bequeathing to a new generation”.
And then there were the realities of making our way in a modern world, he said.
Jones said he was speaking not as a politician, but “as a proud son of the North where the blood of the pioneers, the industriousness of the Dalmatians and the very goodhumoured but unfortunately slightly large puku that should be of my Ma¯ori wha¯nau, it all exists within Matua Shane Jones”.