Treaty Principles Bill date switch adds fuel to hīkoi, says organiser
Wednesday, 6 November 2024
The Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti will go ahead as planned, starting on Sunday in Te Kao, organisers say.
That’s despite news of the Government’s last-minute move to introduce the Treaty Principles Bill on Thursday, instead of November 18 as originally planned.
Organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi said estimated more than 50,000 people would take part over the nine-day hīkoi, with activations planned all over the country.
“This is not a Hīkoi Mō te Pire, this is a Hīkoi Mō te Tiriti,” says Toitū te Tiriti spokesperson Eru Kapa-Kingi, a reminder that the upcoming nine-day protest march across the motu is about the Treaty of Waitangi, not the Treaty Principles Bill.
He said the hīkoi will go ahead as planned, despite news on Tuesday evening of a last-minute switch by the Government to introduce the contentious bill on Thursday, November 7, almost two weeks ahead of schedule.
“Bills come and go, governments come and go, but we are forever and Te Tiriti is forever - let’s just use this as kaha, as fuel for our haerenga [journey].”
The Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti, a series of convoys, marches and protests, kicks off on Sunday, November 10, with marchers meeting at Pōtahi Marae in Te Kao in the Far North, before setting off for Wellington from Cape Reinga the next day.
The bill was scheduled to be introduced on November 18, but a memo sent to lawyers by the Waitangi Tribunal and seen by Stuff, said the Crown had indicated it would be put before the House on November 7.
In alignment with the original schedule, the hīkoi was timed to end with a rally outside Parliament on November 19, in what organisers anticipate will be a massive display of kotahitanga or unity in support of the Treaty.
“We always knew the Government would pull a snake move like this and switch things up right before we hit the road,” Kapa-Kingi said, but the hīkoi was much bigger than a “bill that has no mana”.
“My guess is that the intention behind moving the introduction to tomorrow is actually to put it out of reach of the Waitangi Tribunal,” he said.
“If a matter is introduced as a bill into the House of Parliament, then no court or tribunal can continue to consider that matter.”
It’s the same move the Government used to disetablish Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority ahead of an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing.
Hīkoi organiser Kiri Tamihere said that while the bill would be introduced on Thursday, it didn’t mean the first reading would take place then too, although it could.
Tamihere said the Government could also move the House into urgency, “which means they make the House go from Thursday to Saturday to Sunday to fast-track the reading of the bill.
“We don’t know yet, we’ll find out if and when they decide to do that.”
Kapa-Kingi said the bill represented “a void of understanding” of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“We want to touch and reach the wairua (spirit) of all of our people, and all people that live in Aotearoa, for whom Te Tiriti stands.
“Te Tiriti created a home, as an opportunity. It created a home here for all peoples, and … that's the truth that we're standing in throughout this hikoi.”
He said estimates of 50,000 people taking part in the hīkoi would be underselling it.
“I think 50,000 is a conservative [estimate] if you're thinking about the amount of people that will be involved, from top to bottom … I think we’ll be well over that,” he said.
Kapa-Kingi also expected a huge surge of support in Wellington on November 19.
Activations will take place across the country over the nine-day hīkoi, with convoys from different parts of both islands scheduled to join the main group on the way to or in Wellington for the final rally at Parliament.