Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrives in Hamilton, war of words arrives in capital
Thursday, 14 November 2024
Hamilton, Wellington and the Treaty took centre stage on Thursday as thousands massed in the centre of the Waikato city, and conflict boiled over in the centre of democracy.
The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti was hosted by Hamilton - its main street jam-packed with marchers who braved the swaying Auckland Harbour Bridge the previous day, and the thousands who waited to greet them.
In Wellington, the Treaty Principles Bill that sparked the hīkoi had sparked its own war of words as it was debated in Parliament.
New Zealand had its own tale of two cities on Thursday as thousands of kaitautoko (supporters) of the Treaty flooded Hamilton’s main street, named after Queen Victoria - while in Wellington, ACT stepped up to debate its contentious new Treaty Principles Bill.
The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti rolled into Kirikiriroa, the city at the centre of regional dairy powerhouse, Waikato - and key part of the Kīngitanga - with more than 6000 people marching on Victoria St as they journey to the steps of Parliament next Tuesday.
An estimated 2000-3000 people greeted the marchers when they arrived at Garden Place, in central Hamilton.
Hīkoi spokesperson Eru Kapa-Kingi said the event was “walking the talk” of kotahitanga - the legacy of the late Kīngi Tūheitia - with both Maori and non-Māori coming out in support.
Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.
He said the march was about looking after the younger, and coming generations, “so they don’t have to live in a world where there is kōrero that diminishes their mana”.
It followed extraordinary scenes the day before in Auckland, as thousands braved the swaying Auckland Harbour Bridge to cross the Waitematā Harbour by foot.
The hīkoi, which is aligned with Te Pāti Māori, is opposed to the Treaty Principles Bill.
Meanwhile, in Parliament, Wellington, on Thursday afternoon, ACT leader David Seymour spoke amid fierce heckling as his party’s Treaty Principles Bill had its first reading.
As reported by Stuff, he said the bill would would address an issue where Māori are 'afforded different rights than other New Zealanders'.
It would offer a binding referendum where New Zealanders could vote whether to replace decades-worth of principles with the three in the proposed legislation.
In Parliament, Seymour said the bill was a good thing and would be a 'democratisation of the Treaty' .
Labour MP Willie Jackson disagreed, and was booted from the House after calling Seymour 'a liar'; Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi compared ACT to the KKK; meanwhile, National MP Louise Upston took a milder tone, calling the bill “simplistic”.
National agreed to support the bill through the public submissions phase as part of its coalition deal with ACT. Despite this support, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has continued to distance the party from the bill.
On the ground in Hamilton on Thursday, the vibe was friendlier: Kaitautoko busting out waiata and haka, and listening to another politician, and Māori Party MP for Hauraki-Waikato, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.
After the event, she said she would be heading down to Wellington to fight against the bill, and “all I ask for you is to live by this treaty, live it breathe it …”
The hīkoi pressed on to Apumoana Marae in Rotorua for the night.
Meanwhile, late Thursday afternoon, back in Wellington, Speaker Gerry Brownlee was forced to suspend the sitting of Parliament. The Ngāti Toa haka Ka Mate, was spreading from the public gallery to Opposition MPs including the Maori Party, Labour and the Greens.
Maipi-Clarke, who started the haka after tearing up the bill, and Māori Party co-leaders Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer performed Ka Mate, eyeball to eyeball, with Seymour.
On Friday, after a rally in Rotorua, the hīkoi will travel to Hastings in Hawke’s Bay - Ngāti Kahungunu, for another rally there on Saturday. It will be bolstered by an Ikaroa-Rāwhiti contingent travelling from Gisborne to Hastings on Friday as well.
Kaitautoko, from all walks of life, were expected to line the streets as the hīkoi rolls on.