Riders from across the lower North Island will travel hundreds of kilometres on horseback to Parliament this week, carrying a petition opposing moves to weaken or remove references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi from legislation.
The five-day trek will leave Waimārama Marae on Friday and travel through the Ngāti Kahungunu takiwā before crossing the Remutaka Range and arriving at Parliament on Tuesday, where the petition is expected to be presented to Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated chair Bayden Barber wants to send a clear message to the Government, and whoever forms the next government after the November 7 election.
“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.”
The petition calls on Parliament to “not remove or amend Te Tiriti Principles or references in legislation”.
It comes as the coalition Government continues work on a separate and wide-ranging review of Treaty provisions across existing laws.
That review stems from the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, which committed the Government to reviewing legislation containing references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and either replacing those references with more specific wording or repealing them.
Cabinet has since agreed to changes across a range of legislation, including lowering some stronger Treaty obligations, such as requirements to “give effect to” Te Tiriti or its principles, to no higher than a requirement to “take into account” Te Tiriti.
The Waitangi Tribunal has strongly criticised the Treaty clause review and recommended the Government pause the reforms.
Its urgent inquiry found the proposed changes would significantly weaken statutory recognition of Te Tiriti and described them as a “significant constitutional regression”.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has rejected the Tribunal’s recommendation to halt the work.
However, he has acknowledged the legislation will not be passed before the November 7 election, meaning the future of the reforms will ultimately depend on the next Parliament.
The Government is continuing work on the bill in the meantime.
A response to ‘silencing the voice of Māori’
Barber describes the trek as a direct response to a series of government policies he believes are weakening Māori rights under Te Tiriti, including the decision to scrap existing Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements under its replacement for the Resource Management Act.
The agreements allowed iwi authorities and councils to formally agree on how they work together on resource management issues, including planning, engagement and how Treaty settlement obligations are reflected in local decision-making.
Federated Farmers had lobbied the Government to stop the agreements from carrying over into the new planning system, with Resource Management Reform Minister Chris Bishop later acknowledging the organisation had advocated for the change.
He says, the trek is a statement to those who continue to ‘trample on the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.’
“He tukituki i waenganui i a tātou ka tika, nā te mea, kei te takahī tonutia e rātou Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nōreira tā mātou ekenga hōiho, e tohu ana ki a rātou,
“I a mātou e eke nei ki ngā taone pērā i a Waipawa, Waipukurau, Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua, Te Whakaoriori, he nui ngā Pākehā e tautoko ana i ngā takahatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
Barber says the choice to travel by horseback is deliberate.
“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.”
‘He tamaiti ahau nā Te Tiriti o Waitangi.’
The journey also draws on the whakapapa of Ngāti Kahungunu signatories to Te Tiriti.
It begins at Waimārama Marae, home of Harawira Mahikai Te Tātere, a Ngāti Kurukuru chief and ancestor of Barber who signed Te Tiriti at Waipūreku in 1840.
Riders will connect with whānau from Heretaunga, Ahuriri and Wairoa before travelling through Havelock North and Hastings, and on to Kahurānaki Marae at Te Hauke.
Te Hapuku Te Ika nui o Te Moana, another Ngāti Kahungunu rangatira, also signed Te Tiriti at Waipūreku, while the journey will pass Pukehou, the rohe of another signatory, Hoani Waikato.
From there, riders will continue through Waipawa, Waipukurau, Rākautātahi, Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua and Te Whakaoriori before crossing the Remutaka into Te Awakairangi.
He says each stop has a significance and correlation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“Ka tū ki ērā o ngā marae te pupuri i ngā kōrero, he tamaiti ahau nā Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He uri mātou, tātou nō Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
The trek will arrive in Waiwhetū next Tuesday morning before riders make their final journey to Parliament.
Organisers are inviting riders from other iwi to join the final leg from Pito One to Te Whare Paremata.
“Ngā kaiwhakaeke hōhio ā iwi, huri noa i te motu, mehemea ka pīrangi hono mai ki tēnei kaupapa haramai,” says Barber.
What’s expected?
The petition is expected to be handed to Tangaere-Manuel at midday next Wednesday, with the intention it will be presented to the House later that afternoon.
The timing also coincides with Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and evokes another petition delivered to Parliament more than half a century ago.
In 1972, more than 30,000 people signed the Māori language petition calling for te reo Māori to be taught in schools, which was presented to Parliament on September 14 and became a defining moment in the Māori language revitalisation movement.
“Ko te reo o Te Tiriti, koia ko te reo Māori,” Barber said.
The iwi says its concerns extend beyond the Treaty clause review to a wider programme of legislative change affecting Māori rights and interests, including the replacement of the Resource Management Act and changes to Ngā Mana Whakahono ā Rohe arrangements.
Te Taiwhenua o Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua representative and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated deputy chair Hayden Hape says the petition comes after what he describes as continued attacks on Te Tiriti within government legislation.
“This petition is especially important as we have experienced continued attacks on Te Tiriti o Waitangi within government legislation, basically absolving the government of its responsibility to uphold Treaty precepts and principles.”
Barber says the trek is also intended to encourage Māori participation in this year’s election.
“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.”
“This is the most important election for this country, especially for Māori, in our generation.”
