The key questions left in the wake of Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Crowds spilled out around Parliament as a hikoi protesting David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill reached Wellington, with thousands of people making their voices heard loud and clear. Jenna Lynch reports.

ANALYSIS: There is no doubt that Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti will go down in history. But what will its legacy be?

Tuesday’s hīkoi was almost certainty the biggest protest Wellington has ever seen, with crowds engulfing not only the grounds outside Parliament - but the surrounding streets as well.

The sea of tino rangatiratanga and Toitū Te Tiriti flags flowed down the hill around Beehive, past the Supreme Court on Lambton Quay, and past the National Library housing Te Tiriti itself on Molesworth St.

The scale of the hīkoi will mark it as one of the most memorable moments in recent political history. What’s uncertain is what the impact of this remarkable display will be.

As we assess the impact of Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti, here are four key questions:

1. What will happen to the Treaty Principles Bill?

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has tried repeatedly to create distance between himself and the Treaty Principles Bill.

This bill was the main catalyst for Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti, despite promises from Luxon and NZ First to, eventually, kill the bill once it returns from its six-month public consultation period.

Parliament’s Justice Committee is set to continue hearing oral submissions until around the end of February. It will then take a few months to write its report about the bill.

ACT leader David Seymour briefly stepped outside to see the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti protest outside Parliament.

That means Parliament won’t be called to vote again on the Treaty Principles until mid-2025. All going to plan, and all promises kept, that means the bill will finally be voted down around the same time that its sponsor, David Seymour, becomes deputy prime minister.

It could be a long process, but the “kill the bill” protesters should eventually get their wish.

For Seymour, the conflict between his party, ACT, and its coalition partners will present a point of difference to voters. It can therefore be expected that the Treaty Principles Bill could return to political debate closer to the 2026 election, long after it has been voted down in the House.

2. What are the next steps for the movement?

While the Treaty Principles Bill sparked the hīkoi, it was not the only topic up for discussion. That bill, given the prime minister has already sealed its fate, provided a good opportunity to protest.

At least 42,000 people marched through Wellington as part of Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti.

Outside Parliament on Tuesday, the speeches largely focused on other issues.

Hīkoi leader Eru Kapa-Kingi, a former Te Pāti Māori candidate, said this was the start, not the end, of a larger movement to call for the Government to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Te Rawhitiroa Bosch, another key organiser of Toitū Te Tiriti, said they would be talking with those who supported the hīkoi about what the next steps should be.

The ongoing process of hearing submissions about the Treaty Principles Bill would provide opportunity for further protest. At Waitangi next year, expect the Government to face further questions about if it is serious about upholding its Treaty obligations - and what it thinks those are.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the hīkoi was to build “unity”, or kotahitanga, amongst Māori and tangata Tiriti.

Helmut Modlik, the head of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, said the energy created around the Māori rights movement should be harnessed. He said iwi leaders were actively working to set up their own institutions, such as “Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga”.

Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti organisers say there will be more campaigning.

That would be the next step towards unity across Māori institutions, which could be harnessed to bring major political might to debates such as this one about Te Tiriti.

Which leads to question three…

3. What is Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga?

Modlik said iwi and Māori leaders were planning to establish a new institution to collaborate and debate issues impacting Māori.

That would be called Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga, Modlik announced during his speech outside Parliament on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti, Helmut Modlik said iwi leaders were planning to establish a new Māori political institution.

“It will provide a unified, or near unified, view,” Modlik said, in an interview with Stuff on Wednesday.

“We anticipate Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga will be periodically operating for deliberation and action on an issue that demands it - where there is a national consensus,” he said.

The idea to form Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga had come about through the hui-aa-motu.

Those hui were called by the late Kiingi Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII, at the start of this year, in response to Māori concerns about the coalition Government’s policies;

The issues were ride ranging. From the Treaty Principles Bill, to the Government’s decision to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority), and its campaigning against “co-governance” - a term which was never clearly defined.

Those hui have been ongoing throughout the year.

Te Pāti Māori is urging supporters to enrol on the Māori roll.

Modlik said there would be another hui, early next year, to finalise plans for Te Whare o te Rangatiratanga.

Over the next week, he said iwi would be discussing the idea with their people.

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi TPM, with MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi Clarke at Te Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti.

The idea of a Whare Rangatiratanga has been discussed for well over a century, as a way for Māori to express their rights to self-determination - as set out in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Modlik said this was not going to be a Māori Parliament, but would be a standing forum for Māori - including iwi, hapū, urban Māori groups and organisations such as the Māori Women’s Welfare league - to meet and work together.

4. How could this change the political landscape?

At every opportunity, Te Pāti Māori MPs have been urging Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti supporters to enrol to vote. They have been saying the best way for Māori to defend Te Tiriti would be enrolling on the Māori electoral roll.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke told the crowd outside Parliament, “If every single Māori person registered on the Māori roll, we would have 20 automatic Māori seats here in Parliament.”

That strategy has earnt ire from coalition parties, especially NZ First. Winston Peters and Shane Jones have accused Te Pāti Māori of exploiting the Treaty Principles issue for their own political campaign. In Parliament on Thursday, Peters tried to downplay the significance of the hīkoi by saying it was not “grassroots” and pointing out that some of the organisers are relations of te Pāti Māori MPs and party staffers.

Ngarewa-Packer has previously acknowledged that MPs families and staff were involved in organising the hīkoi, but said that wasn’t surprising given their strongly held views on this topic.

If Te Pāti Māori were to succeed in getting all Māori to enrol on the Māori electoral roll, that would reshape Parliament. Maipi-Clarke said it would more than triple the number of Māori seats in the House, up from six to 20.

That would be a huge change for New Zealand’s political landscape.