Explained: What to expect at the second national hui for unity
Thursday, 30 May 2024
The second national hui for unity is set to held in Hawke’s Bay on Friday at Omāhu Marae near Hastings.
Iwi Ngāti Kahungunu is hosting the hui with around 3000 people expected to attend.
The hui comes on the back of widespread activation marches and protests taking place across the country on Thursday.
Thousands are set to mobilise once again for the second national hui for unity, with Hawke’s Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu geared up to host during what has been a week of political action.
The national hui for unity or Hui-a-motu are a series of gatherings that have seen iwi leaders, politicians, and community members both Māori and non-Māori converge in response to the coalition Government’s policies and proposed legislation to redefine Treaty of Waitangi principles.
Hawke’s Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu, says it will be ready to host the masses come Friday with more than 3000 attendees expected. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will not, however, be attending - his Office saying he will be at post-Budget events in Auckland.
Ngāti Kahungunu board chairman Bayden Barber says there is a hive of work going on ahead of time. “But everyone’s looking forward to the hui, the kaupapa is a big one.”
The hui will be about “maintaining the momentum” of unity from previous gatherings Barber says.
“There are proposals and models on kotahitanga [unity or collective action] that will be spoken to at the hui, we need to now move to what the form and function of kotahitanga could look like and have that discussion as te iwi Māori.
“We all need to be a part of it, we must see ourselves in any kotahitanga movement.”
In March Ngāti Kahungunu put its hand up to host the second national hui with the iwi having a track-record of mobilising Māoridom from the Foreshore and Seabed hikoi to setting up their own civil defence networks in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.
The widespread mobilisations began on January 20, sparked by a rare proclamation from the Māori King, Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII where an estimated 10,000 people from around Aotearoa descended on Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia.
The Kīngitanga says Māori are willing to work collaboratively with the Government on delivering solutions to the needs of all New Zealanders.
Omāhu Marae was a fitting location Barber says as it was one of the largest if not the largest marae in Hastings while it also had historic links to the Kīngitanga.
During the late 1800’s King Tāwhiao Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero had attended Kotahitanga hui held at the time at Omāhu Marae and ties to the monarchy had remained since.
Kīngitanga spokesman Ngira Simmonds says the Māori Kīngi will carry the mauri (lifeforce) from te Hui-ā-Motu in Tūrangawaewae earlier this year.
The marae suffered damage during Cyclone Gabrielle and had also undergone major restorations making Friday’s gathering an important one.
“We had Kīngi Tūheitia visit Omāhu marae not long after the flood, to bring him back a year on and show him what’s been going on, how communities can come together, iwi and hāpu to rejuvenate the communities,” Barber says.
A pōwhiri would be taking place in the morning with visitors being welcomed onto the marae grounds while the hui itself would taking place on one central platform compared to the multi-stage arrangement seen at the first hui.
Previous gatherings have also been held at Rātana and Waitangi commemorations where opposition to the Government was aired.
The hui comes during a week of political action with a second tranche of activation marches and car-koi or convoys taking place across the motu on Thursday from the Far North to Invercargill, including the Auckland motorway.
The first activation day took place in December and saw a similar series of marches and traffic stoppages across the country.