As It Began
Aotearoa's Kuini speaks to Britain's King about our coalition.
So sad, her eyes
Smiling, dark eyes
So sad, her eyes
As it began
Songwriter: Brian May
Protecting Te Tiriti.
The Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te pō, is not the leader of all of us, but this week she represented the people of our nation and took it upon herself to let our Head of State, the Crown, King Charles, know that his representatives, our coalition government, were not behaving honourably.
Despite the fact that the Māori monarch normally keeps their distance from party politics, as the British one does, things had gone too far, and so she felt compelled to say that those in power were failing to respect the treaty between our two peoples and were showing great disrespect for the Māori people.
Te Arikinui told King Charles about the disappointment felt by some and that our government is not upholding the Treaty's intent. I thought it was courageous and right that she did so, conveying to our Head of State and to the world that our government is failing to meet its obligations.
It’s not as if other avenues had not been tried through protest marches and submissions; in fact, it feels as if Māoridom and those of us pākehā who believe the treaty should be honoured have done much to resist during this coalition.
With a government that refuses to listen and appears to take delight in actions so many find abhorrent, the next logical step was to raise the matter with the Crown.
This was not the first time Te Arikinui had visited London to see Charles, having done so in 2022, before she became Kuini and when Charles was a Prince. It is worth watching the following video, in which her role allowed her to speak more freely than her current one:
I love the moment when she says, “I have a loud mouth, so I need to be careful”. These days, she may speak more quietly, but her words are stronger for it.
The Waitangi Tribunal responds.
Yesterday, the Waitangi Tribunal, which was conducting an urgent inquiry into changes to our education system that most schools had rejected, recommended that the Crown immediately halt the proposed legislative changes to the Education and Training Act 2020.
It found that the Crown had breached treaty principles by deciding to downgrade treaty obligations in the education system without meaningfully engaging with Māori.
Presiding officer of the Tribunal, Rachel Mullins, said of the changes, “It is as bad as the Treaty Principles Bill in its attempt to erase the Crown's duty to comply with the agreement made between Māori and the Crown in 1840. It may even be worse, because the Treaty Principles Bill, in theory, was never going to be enacted.”
The Tribunal recommended that the Crown:
Immediately halt the advancement of the amending legislation intended to effect the changes to the ETA
Engage meaningfully with Māori in the co-design of Treaty provisions if the Crown intends to pursue amendments to the ETA Treaty provisions
Take immediate steps to repair the Māori-Crown relationship.
But do you think this government would do that?
Paul Goldsmith - Treaty Diluter.
Just 25 minutes before the Tribunal released its report, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith issued a statement confirming the changes.
Even for a government that includes Christopher Luxon, this is cowardice in the extreme. Knowing that a recommendation is coming from the Tribunal, he confirmed the changes without considering the hard work of those who sought fair outcomes under te tiriti.
Yesterday, Minister Goldsmith confirmed the Government would go ahead with amending 19 pieces of legislation “to ensure references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are clear and consistent”. Including the Education and Training Act 2020.
Wherever there are strong protections grounded in Treaty Principles, the government is watering them down into a “take into account” clause. Not for clarity, as Minister Goldsmith claims, but to degrade the role of te Tiriti in our nation and to make good on the National Party’s coalition agreement with NZ First.
Across 19 statutes, the coalition agreed to “amend two references to be more specific, repeal seven references, and specify no higher standard than to ‘take into account’ should be used in provisions to the Treaty of Waitangi across ten acts,” Goldsmith said.
What is it with MPs from Epsom and their rabid desire to ensure that Māori don’t get anything, not even the honouring of a treaty signed in good faith? I posted:
Why do you think Paul Goldsmith is so obsessed with undermining and disempowering Te Tiriti?
Debbie suggested, “Because someone thought he was Māori once and he’s still bitter about it.”
You might recall the days of Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye, when National were so underrepresented by Māori that they even tried to claim Matua Goldsmith of Ngati Epsom descent.
Te Ariki had a more serious answer, and one that was dead on the money, “Because Te Tiriti is a line of defence that often prohibits corporate interests from lining their pockets. If Te Tiriti is out of the way, they can be greedy.”
Josephine also summed it up, “He and the rest of this racist government don’t intend and never had any intention of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
Paul said, “Contrast him with the Māori Queen, who had the guts to tell King Charles of the racism within the coalition. One to admire, but no suitable word for Goldsmith.”
It was indeed quite a contrast between the honour and integrity of our elegant Māori Queen and the clumsy colonialism of Goldsmith. But she shouldn’t have to travel to London to be heard by the crown.
It occurred to me that if Te Arikinui is acting as the guardian of our Treaty, perhaps she should become the Head of State, to better uphold its intent.
Wouldn’t it be fitting for a leader of Māoridom to be our Head of State? Perhaps you think that ridiculous, but surely it would be far more relevant than having a Head of State on the other side of the world, so far removed from the issues we are facing with this racist government.
What do you think?
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Have a good Saturday, all you lovely people, and I’m interested to see what people think about changing our Head of State in the comments.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To end today, it’s Queen with White Queen (As It Began), utter brilliance from Brian May.
It's about time we had someone with whakapapa Māori leading this country. Way back in the mists of time, I thought that person might be Winston. But he turned out to be as venal and self serving as any tory mp.
What an excellent idea Nick! I applaud your bold thinking! It would be great if we had a big movement towards affirming that idea! Good luck!