It looks like the Government and Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi shared one objective last Thursday. Both wanted to bring an end to proceedings that determined the fate of the three Māori Party MPs who had performed a haka during the vote on the first reading of the Principles of Treaty of Waitangi Bill last November.
Louis Collins, in an RNZ report headed The House: A sentencing hearing in Parliament, observed:
The Privileges hearing outcome was something the Government clearly wanted finished, and it ended the week. Leader of the House Chris Bishop, kicked off Thursday’s debate by asking the House to bring down the curtain on an issue that has lingered in Parliament for seven months.
The Hansard record of proceedings tells us Waititi wanted to get on with things, too:
Hon CHRIS BISHOP (Leader of the House): Thank you very much, Madam Acting Speaker. I think all member of the House know why we are here, and when the House last left this matter, some 10 days or so ago, the House voted to adjourn the debate so we could get through the Budget, which has now happened. It is, I have to say, regrettable that not all members of Parliament cast a vote in relation to the Budget. As I noted publicly at the time and as we adjourned the debate on this issue, Parliament’s authority to the Government to spend money is of paramount importance to this country. It’s one of the reasons why Parliament exists. The Government literally can’t function without supply—supply being voted by the Parliament. So there is no more important function than this Parliament. Unfortunately, some members of Parliament chose not to even exercise a vote in relation to the Budget, including members for whom the debate was specifically extended so that they could cast a vote.
Rawiri Waititi: Hurry up and get on with it! Stop mucking around!
Hon CHRIS BISHOP: Well, the member says, “Get on with it.” And that would be the only remarks I wish to make—
Rawiri Waititi: Get on with it!
Getting on with it meant that before long his party colleague, Takuta Ferris, would be given the chance to raise the contentious issue of sovereignty:
E te iwi Māori, we are more powerful than we know. We are not the helpless victims in the story of colonial domination. We are the sovereign people of this land. We are the sovereign people of Aotearoa. We are the sole sovereigns of our respective territories, as described in the Treaty text itself.
I’m reminded of a quote from Whatarangi Winiata, who said that the best way to reclaim and retain our sovereignty is to behave as if we never lost it. And these words from the great Ngāti Kahungunu leader Moana Jackson, who said that treaties are meant to be honoured; they are not meant to be settled.
So I stand here before you as an uri of the sovereign people of Ngāti Kahungunu and as a son of the sovereign people of Ngāti Kere, fully authorised to speak on their behalf, and declare to this House that we enact the right of retortion and hereby suspend our ongoing agreement and consent to Te Tiriti o Waitangi for a period of 21 days, or until the Crown can remedy its continued failure to act with dignity and honour and uphold the obligations that it set for itself in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ferris re-entered the fray soon after finishing his speech to interject while ACT’s Parmjeet Parmar was speaking. She had been chiding the Māori Party for insisting that the members of the Privileges Committee needed to understand tikanga Māori—this (she said) was playing the race card.
So they started playing the race card, only to shift and deflect the accountability for their misconduct.
Parmar was sharply rebuked.
Tākuta Ferris: We don’t have to play the race card—it’s our country. You’re in a Māori country.
That’s worth bringing to the attention not only of Parmar, but also of the country’s non-Māori population, around 83 per cent.
Parmar proceeded acknowledged that discussions around race and equality were important, but
… when members of Parliament start using race as an excuse, that is damaging. That is embarrassing for the communities. That’s why I also strongly reject what the Māori Party said in their written response, and that was that the—
Ferris interrupted to raise a point of order.
Tākuta Ferris: One of the simplest understandings of Te Tiriti o Waitangi that this House should know is that it has nothing to do with race.
Parmar seized on that to argue:
That’s why I strongly reject the assertion which was made by the Māori Party… that the appropriateness or inappropriateness of haka, including whether the expression of haka amounts to intimidation, should be actually decided by a Māori expert.
Why? The Māori Party is part of this democratically elected Parliament. They get all their entitlements according to the rules of this Parliament, so when it comes to misconduct, how can we have different standards for them? If we start applying different standards to members of Parliament on the basis of their ethnicity, on the basis of their cultural beliefs, we will have double standards in this House and that is not going to be acceptable.
Displaying reckless behaviour and then playing the race card is concerning. Displaying disorderly behaviour and then taking pride in that is hugely concerning.
The members there should look around and see that this House is made up of members who come from so many different cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds. We don’t all look the same. That doesn’t mean we start using our cultural beliefs, our ethnicity to justify misconduct in this House.
But Rawiri Waititi was in no mood to agree:
Today, we are ordered from the Chamber for 21 days because we dared to meet the Treaty principles bill with a haka. This House calls it disorderly. We call it an elevation of our indigenous voice. A declaration that Māori will never surrender the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi
And:
Well, I’ve got a message for you all today: we will not be silenced, we will not be assimilated, we will not be subjugated, and we make no apology for being absolutely unapologetically, unfettered, unbridled Māori human beings. Kia ora tātou.
The Treaty might have nothing to say about race.
The Māori Party wouldn’t exist without it.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog - where this article was sourced.
The Hansard record of proceedings tells us Waititi wanted to get on with things, too:
Hon CHRIS BISHOP (Leader of the House): Thank you very much, Madam Acting Speaker. I think all member of the House know why we are here, and when the House last left this matter, some 10 days or so ago, the House voted to adjourn the debate so we could get through the Budget, which has now happened. It is, I have to say, regrettable that not all members of Parliament cast a vote in relation to the Budget. As I noted publicly at the time and as we adjourned the debate on this issue, Parliament’s authority to the Government to spend money is of paramount importance to this country. It’s one of the reasons why Parliament exists. The Government literally can’t function without supply—supply being voted by the Parliament. So there is no more important function than this Parliament. Unfortunately, some members of Parliament chose not to even exercise a vote in relation to the Budget, including members for whom the debate was specifically extended so that they could cast a vote.
Rawiri Waititi: Hurry up and get on with it! Stop mucking around!
Hon CHRIS BISHOP: Well, the member says, “Get on with it.” And that would be the only remarks I wish to make—
Rawiri Waititi: Get on with it!
Getting on with it meant that before long his party colleague, Takuta Ferris, would be given the chance to raise the contentious issue of sovereignty:
E te iwi Māori, we are more powerful than we know. We are not the helpless victims in the story of colonial domination. We are the sovereign people of this land. We are the sovereign people of Aotearoa. We are the sole sovereigns of our respective territories, as described in the Treaty text itself.
I’m reminded of a quote from Whatarangi Winiata, who said that the best way to reclaim and retain our sovereignty is to behave as if we never lost it. And these words from the great Ngāti Kahungunu leader Moana Jackson, who said that treaties are meant to be honoured; they are not meant to be settled.
So I stand here before you as an uri of the sovereign people of Ngāti Kahungunu and as a son of the sovereign people of Ngāti Kere, fully authorised to speak on their behalf, and declare to this House that we enact the right of retortion and hereby suspend our ongoing agreement and consent to Te Tiriti o Waitangi for a period of 21 days, or until the Crown can remedy its continued failure to act with dignity and honour and uphold the obligations that it set for itself in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ferris re-entered the fray soon after finishing his speech to interject while ACT’s Parmjeet Parmar was speaking. She had been chiding the Māori Party for insisting that the members of the Privileges Committee needed to understand tikanga Māori—this (she said) was playing the race card.
So they started playing the race card, only to shift and deflect the accountability for their misconduct.
Parmar was sharply rebuked.
Tākuta Ferris: We don’t have to play the race card—it’s our country. You’re in a Māori country.
That’s worth bringing to the attention not only of Parmar, but also of the country’s non-Māori population, around 83 per cent.
Parmar proceeded acknowledged that discussions around race and equality were important, but
… when members of Parliament start using race as an excuse, that is damaging. That is embarrassing for the communities. That’s why I also strongly reject what the Māori Party said in their written response, and that was that the—
Ferris interrupted to raise a point of order.
Tākuta Ferris: One of the simplest understandings of Te Tiriti o Waitangi that this House should know is that it has nothing to do with race.
Parmar seized on that to argue:
That’s why I strongly reject the assertion which was made by the Māori Party… that the appropriateness or inappropriateness of haka, including whether the expression of haka amounts to intimidation, should be actually decided by a Māori expert.
Why? The Māori Party is part of this democratically elected Parliament. They get all their entitlements according to the rules of this Parliament, so when it comes to misconduct, how can we have different standards for them? If we start applying different standards to members of Parliament on the basis of their ethnicity, on the basis of their cultural beliefs, we will have double standards in this House and that is not going to be acceptable.
Displaying reckless behaviour and then playing the race card is concerning. Displaying disorderly behaviour and then taking pride in that is hugely concerning.
The members there should look around and see that this House is made up of members who come from so many different cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds. We don’t all look the same. That doesn’t mean we start using our cultural beliefs, our ethnicity to justify misconduct in this House.
But Rawiri Waititi was in no mood to agree:
Today, we are ordered from the Chamber for 21 days because we dared to meet the Treaty principles bill with a haka. This House calls it disorderly. We call it an elevation of our indigenous voice. A declaration that Māori will never surrender the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi
And:
Well, I’ve got a message for you all today: we will not be silenced, we will not be assimilated, we will not be subjugated, and we make no apology for being absolutely unapologetically, unfettered, unbridled Māori human beings. Kia ora tātou.
The Treaty might have nothing to say about race.
The Māori Party wouldn’t exist without it.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog - where this article was sourced.
11 comments:
After tipping many tens of millions into race based marae, that is the response
With regard to this post and in response to a 'maori-suck-up' letter in The Post from 2 days ago, I sent the following in with no expectation of it being published. Breaking Views at least offers a forum.
"I have been waiting in vain for the Post to publish a letter criticising that childish display of petulance in the house by members of the Maori party some weeks ago. A majority decision was made to, rightly, suspend the miscreants but still we get letters (e.g., Jenny Gigg, 9 June) praising their actions, as if shouting, prancing and threatening gestures should somehow be the norm during parliamentary procedures. Listening politely to an argument, responding with a reasoned rebuttal and eventually reaching an agreement, or not, seems to me the way mature adults should deal with points of discussion. Apparently, I am wrong, and the Westminster system of government brought to this country by my forebears is being replaced by hooliganism. Looking further afield at overseas commentary, it seems New Zealand is a laughing stock and rightly so. If the Maori party wants to be taken seriously then its leaders need to take a hard look at themselves, because its current image is repugnant".
It beggars belief just how dumb these people are.
>"...we will not be assimilated..."
A bit late to make a fuss about that as the Maori race has already been 'assimilated' - there are no 'pure-blooded Maori' alive today.
I truly believe Parliament should use Te Pati Maori statement of the act of retortion by agreeing with TPM and passing it in the House along with a statement of retortion of all ethic based payments immediately at the next sitting day .
“ We are the sole sovereigns of our respective territories, as described in the Treaty text itself”.
Not in the original Maori treaty text you’re not, Ferris, you know, the REAL one that is being deliberately ignored because your ancestors agreed on behalf of their people to become British subjects with the same rights as the people of England, after giving up for ever to the Queen all the government of their lands. No more, no less, no partnership, no principle and no co-governance.
God, what are they, the Borg? They certainly behave that way!
It indicates that another era could be starting - i.e. the era of re-tribalization where this offensive behaviour is normal.
Now - expect to fight for that "original Treaty" interpretation. It has been arbitrarily replaced and noone is objecting.
Anon 1.11 pm you are right except it has started already. This brown clowns are just the fun show piece.
Get them out of parliament, stop paying their salaries - they are offering up so many opportunities to cancel them - why are these not being taken? They haven't been properly investigated for the marae shenanigans to garner more votes. They still haven't properly filed their annual accounts. They have more seats in parliament than any other non-Maori party would have got from the number of votes they received, due to the undemocratic Maori roll that has been foisted upon many of us without any way to reverse it in the short term. Most Maori New Zealanders DIDN'T vote for them, so why do they claim to be representing all Maori? This is not fair or democratic. It's an embarrasment. There needs to be an end to this.
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