Waitangi 2026: Heckles, history and hard truths
Friday, 6 February 2026
The prime minister left Waitangi hoping to have sent a clear message: that his Government is honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi by focusing on equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes.
And the day went off without a hitch ‒ just a few heckles.
Christopher Luxon and the parliamentary delegation were formally welcomed on to the Treaty Grounds on Thursday with a three-hour pōwhiri, during which politicians from across the spectrum were confronted over their records and intentions.
As they walked on to the marae, the delegation passed dozens of Ngāpuhi wāhine wearing paraikete whero — red blankets symbolising land lost by Māori.
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The first speaker, Te Mutunga Rameka, set the tone.
“It’s not that we don’t like you,” he told the delegation. “We don’t like what you’re doing.”
But the sharpest criticism came from Eru Kapa-Kingi, who led the Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill and took the pae second.
“Where is your love for the Māori people?” he asked in te reo.
“There is none. There is none. There is none.”
He questioned why Māori continued to “welcome the spider into our house”, accusing the current Government of stabbing Māori “in the front” — and Labour of stabbing them “in the back”.
“Labour, I’m looking at you,” he said, urging both Labour and Te Pāti Māori to “sort yourselves out” and accusing them of “milking Māori” over decades.
Luxon, the last of the manuhiri to speak, used his address to outline how he understood the three articles of the Treaty — and how he believed his Government was meeting them.
Improving productivity and lifting health and education outcomes was kāwanatanga in action, he said.
Article Two — tino rangatiratanga — was the most contested, Luxon acknowledged, and he said this was why planning reforms included Treaty provisions. Critics, however, argue that Māori input under those changes will be minimal.
“Article Three must guarantee equality of opportunity,” Luxon said.
“It cannot — and should not — guarantee equality of outcomes, because that, frankly, is socialism.”
He said when a New Zealander arrives at hospital or needs urgent care, the system should not ask about their whakapapa, but about clinical need.
Throughout his speech, a small group of protesters heckled from the Treaty Grounds, calling out “treason”, “had enough” and “did you bring any KFC?” — a reference to Luxon bringing fried chicken to East Coast storm clean-up crews last month.
The loudest jeers, however, were reserved for Winston Peters, who appeared to relish the exchange.
“There’s some young pup out there shouting who doesn’t know what day it is,” he yelled back.
David Seymour also drew taunts, though the reception was markedly calmer than two years ago, when debate over the Treaty Principles Bill saw his microphone cut.
Seymour described the defeat of the bill as a pyrrhic victory.
“You can kill a bill, but you can’t kill an idea,” he said.
“There is no better system than liberal democracy.”
Later, he signalled ACT may not pursue a similar bill next term — or make it a bottom line — though he insisted the constitutional debate would resurface.
“It may or may not be in my time,” he said.
The commemorations also exposed lingering tensions between — and within — opposition parties.
Some of the turmoil that engulfed Te Pāti Māori last year stemmed from Kapa-Kingi’s decision to split the Toitū Te Tiriti movement from the party, accusing its leadership of “dictatorship”.
The party later expelled two MPs — a move now being challenged in court — including Kapa-Kingi’s mother, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, who remains the independent MP for Te Tai Tokerau.
In his whaikōrero, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi acknowledged the activist directly.
“I can hear the anger and I can feel the pain,” he said.
He said he had come “humbly” to Waitangi and had met with Ngāpuhi leadership.
“It’s all right to have problems,” Waititi said. “But those problems must be dealt with in our own house.”
“There is only one enemy before us, and it is not ourselves.”
Later, Waititi criticised Labour for contesting Māori electorates rather than allowing Te Pāti Māori to hold them to help ensure a one-term Government.
“A vote for Labour is a vote for New Zealand First,” he said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins rejected that outright, saying Labour does not do electorate deals.
Senior Labour MP Willie Jackson also bristled at Kapa-Kingi’s accusation that Labour had betrayed Māori.
“Load of rubbish,” he said.
“We did a lot of work for Māori. Eru doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”