Ngāti Kahungunu delivers Te Tiriti petition to Parliament on horseback
A horseback journey from Hawke’s Bay to Parliament has culminated in the delivery of a Ngāti Kahungunu petition opposing changes to Te Tiriti o Waitangi provisions in legislation.
The petition, carrying more than 50,000 signatures, was accepted on Tuesday by Labour’s Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, with Māori MPs from across opposition parties welcoming the contingent.
Forty riders made their way through central Wellington, but only one horse was allowed onto Parliament’s grounds for the petition handover. The others were tethered at the front gate.
Speaking to Hawke’s Bay News in Wellington, Tanishia Kurupo said being there was about the future of tamariki and generations yet to come.
“For us it's very important because it impacts the future generation of how our whole country will live and carry on, how our tamariki grow within themselves, around themselves.”
Kurupo said the issue was emotional because she believed the changes threatened the foundations of the country. She spoke of kotahitanga, or togetherness, and ensuring tamariki and mokopuna yet to come would be safe.
“And I think it's just very important and that's why we're here today.”
Tanishia Kurupo, from Hawke's Bay, pictured in Wellington. Photo/Amrit Singh.
Eleven riders had departed from River Road on the outskirts of Havelock North, accompanied by whānau and supporters in a convoy.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated chair Bayden Barber said before the trek that taking the petition on horseback was a deliberate statement.
“When farmers are unhappy with governments, they protest with their tractors. We, as tangata whenua—the people of the land—will take our horses to the steps of Parliament so that our message is crystal clear: protect Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
The petition, “Do not remove or amend Te Tiriti Principles or references in legislation”, reflects concerns about legislative changes Barber said were “stripping away the rights of Iwi Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.
He said the message extended beyond the current Government.
“We want to send a message to this Government that we are serious about protecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding agreement of this country. Not only to this Government, but whoever is there come November 7.”
Speaking to Hawke’s Bay News before the arrival, Tangaere-Manuel said Labour had committed to reinstating Treaty clauses that had been removed.
She viewed the trek as Kahungunu reminding whānau of what was at stake in the election.
“People across not just iwi and Māori but Aotearoa have felt that the treaty has just been targeted,” she said.
In a response to Hawke’s Bay News before the trek, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith rejected the suggestion that the Government’s changes to Treaty references would weaken its obligations.
“We do not agree or accept that this legislation weakens treaty obligations.”
Goldsmith said the changes were intended to create consistency across legislation.
“Over the last 30 or 40 years, Parliament has made all sorts of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Sometimes it’s ‘honour’, or ‘have regard to’, or ‘give effect to’, or ‘take into account’. We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance. A core foundation of our success as a nation is predictability in the law.”
Organisers timed the arrival to coincide with Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, drawing a connection with the Māori language petition delivered to Parliament in 1972.
Barber said he also hoped the journey would encourage whānau to vote.
“If our young people can ride their horses from Waimārama to Pōneke, then surely our whānau can get along to the polling booth and vote.”
In Photos:
Photo/Amrit Singh.
Photo/Amrit Singh.
Photo/Amrit Singh.
Photo/Erin Austin
Photo/Erin Austin
Photo/Erin Austin
