This Budget is in an election year that will either help or hurt the coalition’s chances for re-election.
With it coming up fast, there are concerns about how recent political moves made by the government to weaken Te Tiriti will affect funding towards Māori services and initiatives.
Lawyer Jack Potaka is calling for a change of government in these elections to protect Te Tiriti.
“Ki te puta te katoa o tātou e whakapono nui ana au ka panoni tēnei kāwanatanga, ka hoki pea ki tētahi kāwanatanga, ka ngana ki te whakapūmau, ki te whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi, kāore he kōrero i tua atu i tēnā."
He said the coalition partners have turned their backs on Māori so they can appeal to voters.
“Āna ki te mahi pērā rawa a Luxon mā, Act, New Zealand First, kei te hia rātou ki te kohi i ngā pōti o te hunga ka tau kia huri tuarā atu rātou ki a mātou, ngāi te iwi taketake o tēnei whenua.”
In a recent Waitangi Tribunal finding, found the government’s proposed education law reforms are a “major breach” of Te Tiriti.
A claim that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon rejected, and defended along with other reforms as necessary to create “clarity” and “certainty” across the 19 other legislation amendments.
“As you know, we’ve had a series over 30, 40 years…of generic and open-ended Treaty clauses that’ve been dropped into lots of different bits of legislation.
“We wanna get consistency in that,” said Luxon.
Potaka’s concern is around the loss of mana Māori that will be faced if the amendments are pushed through.
“Ka heke te mana kōwhiri ki a tātou te Māori, ka whakakorengia ētahi tūru ki ngā tēpu kōwhiriwhiri kia puta ētahi whakatau e hāngai pū ana ki a tātou mō te taiao, mō ngā take mātauranga, mō te take hauora,” he said.
Potaka feels that with Te Tiriti being downplayed in legislation, Māori are feeling unwanted on their own land.
“Kei te hoki tātou ki tētahi wā kua noho te iwi Māori ki raro e pūtū ana i roto i ngā tūāhuatanga katoa o tēnei whenua, kei te whakamanuhiri i a tātou anō i runga i ō mātou ake whenua.
“Kua mimiti nga putea engāri e kore e mimiti te wariu o te pōti.”
