Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has departed an annual Maori traditional meeting early after being booed and heckled during a speech in Northland, while his coalition counterpart also faced jeers from the audience.
Mr. Peters told reporters he was raised in a time when speakers were always shown respect on the “marae” meeting ground, but that he hadn’t been shown any.
A large number of people chanted “he noho” (sit down) as he was speaking, while others shouted over him.
“I used to go to marae where they had [protocols] and respect, not people shouting at the speaker,” he said.
The leader of the NZ First party had been direct in his address to the audience.
“If you think separatism and division will take us to 2040, you’ve got another thing coming,” he told the crowd. “Some of us have been fighting for land rights for decades and where were you?
“Whoever said we were getting rid of the Treaty? So, stop the crap, stop the hysteria!”
Seymour Accused of ‘Audacity’
ACT Leader David Seymour also came under attack, with prominent Māori lawyer and activist Annette Sykes saying she wanted to “talk to you from my Pākehā whakapapa [Eurpoean heritage], not my Māori one.“He would never tinker with the testament of the bible. The 10 Commandments are what he lived by. He would never presume the audacity he had the ability to do that. But you Mr Seymour ... are putting forward a rewrite of the Treaty of Waitangi. You do it behind closed doors.”
Earlier, as Mr. Seymour began speaking, many in the crowd began singing in an attempt to drown him out. Several other people told the group to show proper respect in keeping with marae protocol, but the singing continued.
“We need to start talking about ideas and stop attacking people,” Mr. Seymour said. “Let’s have respect and let’s have facts.”
“If you want to have a battle of ideas, then it helps to turn up for that battle,” Mr. Seymour said, in a veiled reference to The Maori Party.
Scuffle as Protester Approaches Party Leader
As he began talking about partnership for all, a protester began to approach, swearing at the ACT leader. As security intervened, the crowd again began singing.“You are not going to beat an idea with singing any more than you are going to beat an idea with a gun,” Mr. Seymour said in response. “These debates are about our identity.” He speculated that people across the country would be watching events at Waitangi and asking themselves: “Why do those people have a right to stop the rest of New Zealand debating their future?”
“Newsflash, you don’t,” he said.
The strongest opposition to Mr. Seymour so far has come from former Māori Party MP Hone Harawira.
He mentioned he was at Waitangi 50 years ago standing up for the Treaty and the Māori language, and “now you buggers want to get rid of it.”
He told David Seymour he was alone and pledged that Māoris will fight any attempts to gain control over open areas of land or sea.
“You might open the door, but we will shame it shut,” Mr. Harawira said.
ACT Minister Nicole McKee also spoke.
She said her party aimed to speak about the rights of the Treaty in a “new world,” saying it would bring everyone together.
Some in the crowd yelled out and others sang while she tried to speak.
Prime Minister Avoids Confrontation
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was given a better reception.Describing Waitangi as “the most important place for Aotearoa New Zealand,” he says the nation faces two questions: where does it want to be by 2040, and what needs to be done over the next three years to get there?
He said those who signed the Treaty likely had different understandings of what they were doing, and that the government had long ago accepted it wasn’t always upheld. But no country had attempted to right historic wrongs like New Zealand has, he claimed.
Calling it the best country on earth, the prime minister said: “We have unlimited potential, and everything we need to be successful: the best people, a country well positioned in the middle of the Asia Pacific region, and a liberal democracy with well-established social institutions.
“We are a multi-cultural nation built on strong bi-cultural foundations, with an acute sense of fairness and a willingness to lend a hand to those who need it.
Government Position on ACT Treaty Bill Unclear
He committed his government to focusing on improving the economy over the next three years because it “underscores the standard of living of every single one of us, every family.”He also spoke about the need to improve education, healthcare, and infrastructure while meeting the country’s commitments on climate.
His speech was notable more for what it didn’t cover, however.
Mr. Luxon addressed none of the challenges that had been laid down by previous speakers and did not touch on policies concerning the Treaty or the Māori language. He also failed to clarify the government’s position on ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill, and the National’s position that it would support the bill only through its first reading.
Waitangi Trust CEO Ben Dalton spoke immediately after the prime minister, saying: “In summary, I would say we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re not speaking the same language just yet.”
But he thanked the government for attending the event and said he was glad the welcome had ended without violence.
