This is a moving feast and there will be more to come in a developing situation. It seems like the iwi (tribe) at Waitangi, affter voting 3:1 against inviting Key ignored the vote and extended an invitation, while in Auckland the government has been able to find a group of 3-4 to do a ceremony where normally 50 or more would be expected. Overall, a slap in the face for the government.
Martyn Bradbury's assessement below is spot-on.
Desperate Key calls off Waitangi
Visit and provocatively raises
TPPA protest stakes
By
Martyn Bradbury
2
February, 2016
A
mix of desperation at the level of protest building at Waitangi Day
with the need to manufacture violence during the TPPA signing has led
Key to dramatically call off going to Waitangi Day celebrations
unless he gets an invite.
Prime
Minister John Key’s attendance at official Waitangi Day
commemorations is in doubt as he awaits on Ngapuhi to decide whether
he’s welcome at Te Tii marae.
It’s
understood Key will stay away from Waitangi and instead attend
celebrations in Auckland if Ngapuhi can’t agree on extending a
formal invitation for him to speak at the marae.
While
this should not affect his official attendance at the Waitangi Treaty
grounds it’s understood he won’t go at all unless both marae are
open to him.
Ngapuhi
co-chairman Rudy Taylor released a statement on Tuesday saying it was
Key’s duty to attend Te Tii marae and Ngapuhi would “honour its
role in hosting the Government”.
“It’s
high time the Government hears the voice of Ngapuhi and the only way
to listen is to front up to Maori at Te Tii Marae and blocking Mr Key
is not the solution”.
This
is needlessly provocative and Key’s manufacturing is obvious.
The
manner in which Key is driving towards conflict is alarming.
This new media agency, Neshub is proving to be an instant disappointment
This new media agency, Neshub is proving to be an instant disappointment
Ngapuhi
block John Key from Waitangi marae
2
February, 2016
Prime
Minister John Key says his plans for Waitangi weekend are "TBC"
amidst a backdrop of uncertainty of whether he'll be allowed on marae
grounds or not.
There's
division in the Far North about whether Mr Key will be invited onto
Te Tii Marae on Waitangi Day.
A
hui of Ngāpuhi and Ngati Porou leaders finished this afternoon and
voted to block Mr Key from attending.
However,
the marae's trustees say the Prime Minister is welcome on Te Tii
Marae on February 5.
During
that meeting, Ngāpuhi kaumatua Kingi Taurua told iwi leaders to
"wake up".
Mr
Taurua told the hui that Mr Key is breaking the law by signing the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and that coming to the marae just
days after signing the agreement is "rubbing the salt in".
"I
don't understand why we want to welcome a Prime Minister when he has
already signed away our sovereignty," he said.
Following
the meeting, Mr Taurua told Newshub the tribe's trustees "don't
have the power" to decide who to allow onto the marae.
"Your
tribe's trustees make sure that the food is on the table. You are not
there to make these kind of decisions; it is up to the tribe to make
these decisions," he says.
"The
trustees don't have that power… they're saying that the trustees
have more power than the whole tribe? That is not right, the tribe
has the power.
"There's
no invite. The tribe will not have the Prime Minister come on."
At
his post-Cabinet news conference, Mr Key said his office received an
official invitation from Titiwhai Harawira extending an official
invite to come onto the marae.
"I
attend a number of events at Waitangi each year, including the iwi
leader's forum and the dawn service, and it is my strong preference
to attend all of them.
"I
understand tikanga states Te Tii Marae is the gateway to Waitangi and
the Treaty grounds, therefore if I'm not welcome and not permitted to
speak at the lower marae I have no intention of gate-crashing events
at Waitangi.
"If
that is the case, I will celebrate New Zealand's national day in
another part of the country."
Mr
Key says another meeting will be held tonight to come to an agreement
on the decision.
Also
at the meeting at Te Tii Marae were Labour MP Kelvin Davis and former
MP Dover Samuels.
Mr
Davis says those at the hui voted "two-to-one" to not let
Mr Key onto the grounds.
"Hau
kainga, the home people there, it's their marae. I believe they've
decided they will still welcome the Prime Minister on and they're
doing that under tikanga, and I think they're going to have the final
say in the end," Mr Davis says.
The
Labour Party will be at the Waitangi Day events, and Mr Davis says
what other parties do is up to them.
"Even
though a hui was called to all of Ngāpuhi and at the end of the day,
if the trustees want him and they extend the invitation, well then
the invitation is there and it is up to [Mr Key] whether he accepts
it."
Mr
Davis believes the Government has misjudged how Māori feel about the
TPP.
"I
think the Government has underestimated the depth of feeling from
Māori towards the TPPA."
Mr
Taurua has threatened to stop government ministers from attending the
commemorations because the TPP deal is being signed in Auckland on
February 4.
He
was worried about the implications of the free trade deal for Māori
and said details had been kept secret.
However,
Mr Taurua's views aren't shared by everyone within Ngāpuhi.
An update -
An update -
Te
Tii Marae invites PM to Waitangi
Ngapuhi
kuia Titewhai Harawira takes Prime Minister John Key on to Te Tii
Marae last year.
Photo: RNZ
/ Diego Opatowski
Iwi
leaders and kaumatua spent most of the day debating whether Mr Key
should be welcomed on to the marae if he signs the Trans Pacific
Partnership (TPP) deal on Thursday.
Ngapuhi
elder Kingi Taurua said most people decided to not invite Mr Key but
the Te Tii Marae Trust later decided to ignore the vote.
Kuia
Titewhai Harawira said there was heated debate on both sides of the
argument but the powhiri would go ahead.
"The
trustees and the haukāinga said 'no, we are not turning our backs on
the manuhiri no matter who they are'.
"They
will come on as always and answer the questions that are put to them
by the people."
Ms
Harawira intended to walk Mr Key on to Te Tii Marae, and he would
face questions from the people there as usual.
She
had also invited him to the forum tent, to discuss political issues.
Read more on this story
Mr
Taurua had suggested Mr Key should be blocked from attending the
commemorations if the controversial TPP deal was signed before
Waitangi Day.
Te
Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu Ngapuhi co-chairman Rudy Taylor, who attended
the meeting, said Mr Key should be welcomed on the marae, as the only
way the government could hear the voice of Ngapuhi was if it fronted
up.
Mr
Taylor said other marae might step in and welcome Mr Key to their
commemorations if he was blocked from Te Tii Marae.
The
controversy over the signing of the multi-national trade deal in
Auckland on Thursday has extended to the official powhiri, with six
iwi in the Tamaki Collective refusing to perform.
Ngāti
Whātua o Ōrakei, the mana whenua in Auckland central, has refused
to participate because it believes the multinational trade deal will
undermine the country's sovereignty. Ngāti Paoa, Te Uri o Hau, Ngāti
Te Ata, Ngāti Whanaunga and Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have also said
they would not perform.
The
trade deal dominated the Ratana gathering last month, with Maori
leaders at the annual celebrations marking the birthday of the Ratana
Church founder calling on the government to delay the signing.
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