‘Three-headed taniwha’, government the enemy of Māori - Rātana criticism should give PM pause

Thursday, 25 January 2024

ANALYSIS: Even if you only visit for one day a year to Rātana - as most politicians and journalists do - there are fixtures of the annual celebration you come to appreciate.

The watermelon floaters stuffed with scoops of vanilla ice cream, the fried bread and, most symbolically, the Ratana brass band which marches visitors onto the marae without fear or favour no matter the political stripes, the same cheery beat - a great equaliser.

The children bounding up to political leaders have a similarly egalitarian effect, there’s no room for prime ministerial pretence when kids are yelling “Yo Christopher” and “Where’s your hair at?!”

Politics is also always a fixture but what’s harder to predict is exactly how those politics will manifest - and this year the message sent to the Prime Minister was emphatic.

The National/NZ First/ACT government wasn’t just challenged - it was ridiculed, it was called a three-headed taniwha, the enemy of Maori and Winston Peters and Shane Jones were booed during their speeches.

Jones later said he thought it may have been the first time ever a politician had been booed at Ratana. Dubious honour.

There was applause too - though never for the politicians - mostly just for Rahui Papa, a spokesperson for the Kingitanga, who vociferously challenged the government.

The first cheers went up when he suggested there was an undercurrent of confusion among the ranks of the coalition government. He received an even greater response when he said, “if there is any measure of meddling with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori will not sit idly by”.

To his credit Christopher Luxon heard and responded to that sentiment, which was echoed in all the speeches challenging the government, when he said during his speech, “ we will honour the Treaty … We will honour it without moving away from equal voting rights.'

His comment might have reassured those who had challenged him, if only Luxon had backed it up with a categorical commitment to rule out support for ACT’s Treaty principles bill beyond the first reading.

The PM has been asked about it repeatedly but the most he can muster - on high rotate - is that National has “no intention, no commitment to take it beyond the first reading”.

“No intention, no commitment” enough apparently for David Seymour to feel satisfied his coalition deal is solid.

Luxon’s non-committal refusal to rule out further support for the divisive policy has shades of his non-committal refusal to rule out working with Winston Peters for most of last year’s election campaign. We know how that turned out.

Peters’ speech at Ratana rang a bit like an album of greatest hits. A few of his favourite sayings were reserved for a protester he called “honey child” and challenged “if you’re looking for trouble you’ve come to the right place”. There were the requisite hits at Labour, rubbishing their record for Māori and Te Pāti Māori always gets a special mention these days, “wearing half the South Island around their necks”.

But because Winston is Winston, despite getting possibly the first and definitely the loudest jeers from the Rātana crowd, he cracked a joke, got the laughs and re-endeared himself saying “I didn’t come here to give you a political speech” after delivering a hotly political speech.

It wasn’t a patch on the political bazooka Chris Hipkins had earlier launched during his speech. Shot after shot at the government, capitalising on Labour’s long and strong ties to the Rātana church and the antipathy the government is facing from Māori.

“The policies of this current government encourage, foster, and enable racism in New Zealand and we should call it out for what it is,” Hipkins told the supportive crowd.

He later agreed with another speaker who had called the government the enemy of Māori.

As the unofficial start of the political year, Rātana is a political event when the politicians arrive but this year that was felt more keenly, hot on the heels of the nationwide hui a week ago at Tūrangawaewae Marae.

Waitangi, a place more accustomed to protest, will round out the trifecta of major Māori events launching this year.

During his post-cabinet press conference on Monday and in defence of the divergent views between the government parties on the need for a Treaty principles referendum, Luxon said: “yes, there will be differences.. but at the core of what we've got in this government is massive alignment around the things that matter most to New Zealanders.”

The Prime Minister has a week and a half before Waitangi to reflect on that statement and how much Māori rights matter.