Category: Te Pati Maori

Source: Te Pati Maori

Over 41,000 Palestinian’s have been murdered by Israel in the last 12 months. At the same time, Israel have launched attacks against at least four other countries in the Middle East including Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran.

“You cannot play the aggressor and the victim at the same time,” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“What we are seeing today is the culmination of decades of US imperialism in the Middle East. Iran has for a long time been a barrier to Western control in the region. This is what the West’s uncritical support of Israel has been leading up to” Ngarewa-Packer said. 

“Meanwhile the New Zealand Government is in talks with the United States about joining AUKUS to further support their war efforts. This represents the next phase of global colonisation, and it is being negotiated behind closed doors,” co-leader Rawiri Waititi said.

“The US want to use Aotearoa as a Pacific spy base. This could mean the end of our longstanding nuclear free policy to allow their war ships into our waters.

“AUKUS threatens our sovereignty as an independent nation, and the Mana Motuhake of every nation in the Pacific. It threatens to drag Aotearoa into World War 3,” said Waititi.

“The New Zealand Government is putting everyone in Aotearoa at risk through their complicity. They must end all talks about joining AUKUS immediately. They must sanction Israel and cut ties with all countries who are committing and aiding war crimes,” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“As Tangata Whenua we will not allow our sovereignty to be determined by others, whether it is the New Zealand Government or the United States Government,” said Waititi.

Te Pāti Māori condemns the killing of innocent people. We condemn all actions that have led to today’s escalation of war.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Today the government announced a $30m cut to Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori- a programme that develops te reo Māori among our kaiako.

“This announcement is just the latest in an onslaught of attacks on te iwi Māori,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi.

“This is what the new wave of colonisation looks like:

• Demolishing Te Aka Whai Ora.
• Throwing out Smokefree Targets- sentencing more Māori to premature death.
• Sidestepping Te Tiriti with the fast-track bill.
• Repealing section 7aa of the Oranga Tamariki Act – stealing our mokopuna.
• Confiscating our coastlines with their Marine and Coastal Area Amendments.
• Extracting oil and gas from our Moana.
• Cutting $300 million of targeted Māori funding.
• Cutting Matariki funding.
• Rejecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
• Defunding section 27 reports.
• Restoring Three Strikes.
• Building Mega-Prisons.
• Resurrecting youth bootcamps.
• Removing Te Mana o Te Wai obligations.
• Ignoring the Waitangi Tribunal Recommendations and High Court Rulings.
Setting in motion a wave of anti-Māori sentiment by giving life to the Treaty Principles Bill.

“The government are playing with fire, and they must back down. Our people are too invested in our mokopuna and our whenua to let this ethnocide occur right in front of our eyes,” said Waititi.

“Te iwi Māori, tangata Tiriti, and tangata Moana are all preparing to activate because we all believe in a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa that values the protection of our mokopuna, our whenua, and our taiao,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

We will back the will of our people. We will support their intentions and their activations in all the ways we can.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Today, the Crown Mineral Amendment Bill was read for the first time, reversing the ban on oil exploration off the coast of Taranaki.

It was no accident that this proposed law change was read directly after the Government started to unravel the ability of iwi and hapū Māori to have their rights in the Foreshore and Seabed recognised with the Takutai Moana Amendment Bill.

“The insidious timing of the Crown Minerals Bill demonstrates this government’s true priorities: Short-term profit has been chosen over the rights and well-being of Māori communities, our moana, and our whenua.”  Said MP for Te Tai Hauāuru and Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“Whānau, hapū, and iwi Māori are the last line of defence against mega rich oil and gas companies relentlessly mining and drilling our seabeds and causing irreversible damage to our Taiao.

“This is textbook colonisation. They have come to our land, they are taking our resources, and they are selling them off to the highest bidder – with no benefit to Māori.

“This will not be the last exploitative bill passed by this government. Once they erase the few rights we have left, there will be nothing stopping them from plundering and pillaging as they please.

“For years, ngā iwi o Taranaki have been determined to permanently rid their coastlines of exploitative oil exploration. 

“No one wants to go backward. The government must collaborate with Taranaki iwi and hapū to transition toward renewable energy.

“Te Pāti Māori believes that the only way forward is to ban seabed mining permits nationwide, withdraw existing permits and introduce a national Māori strategy for renewable energy,” said Ngarewa-Packer.

 

Source: Te Pati Maori

Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Justice, Tākuta Ferris, has hit out at the Government, demanding the Crown prove its rights to the foreshore, following the Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill, passing its first reading.

“Māori rights to the foreshore pre-exist the Declaration of Independence, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and any law that this House has ever made. That right still exists today,” said Tākuta Ferris.

“It should always have been the Crown coming to Māori to prove the rights they believe they have to the foreshore, not the other way around.

“Let’s not forget that Labour are complicit in this crime. In 2004, they passed the Foreshore and Seabed Bill, directly extinguishing the pre-existing rights Māori had to the takutai moana and enacting the largest land grab in Aotearoa’s history—a whopping 333,000 square kilometres of area.

“What this Government is doing today is reverting to Labour’s intent of confiscating the takutai moana. It is disgusting that they think their sovereignty of Parliament trumps Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“The Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill shifts the goalposts for Māori to prove customary marine title to something that is near impossible, thus slamming the door shut on hapū and iwi and confiscating the takutai moana.

“It is a disgusting breach of Te Tiriti. This Government is bold in their deliberate reassertion of white dominance.

“The Government should be considered the applicant to hapū and iwi. I invite them to put their case forward to prove ownership of the takutai moana to us as tangata whenua,” said Ferris.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Te Pāti Māori Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is urging a full wraparound of services to intervene quickly with families affected by today’s announced closure of the Penrose Mill. Seventy-five people are set to lose their jobs right on the eve of Christmas.

“I want to extend my thoughts and aroha to those families who will be affected by today’s announced closure of the Penrose Mill. I am gutted,” said Takutai Tarsh Kemp.

“The mill, operated by OjiFS, employs a high number of Māori and Pacific people. The impact of the loss of jobs will be felt widely.

“Today I’ll be reaching out to the mill and contacting services to ensure they have the support needed to facilitate reemployment and support for the people and families affected. It’s really important they get the support through this hard time.”

The mill cites a range of factors contributing to the economic decline of the Penrose plant, including supply chain disruptions, increased costs for raw materials, freight, and energy.

“All political parties should take heed of the closure of Penrose and Winstone Mills as a warning, not just for businesses but the livelihoods of our whānau. We all need to work together on energy security in Aotearoa,’ Kemp said.

Oji says it will meet all contractual and legal obligations regarding the impact on employment.

Source: Te Pati Maori

An imminent decision to increase the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for snapper would be a direct violation of the first-ever Treaty Settlement and inevitably breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi, says Te Pāti Māori.

Te Ohu Kaimoana has sought a High Court declaration to prevent the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries from increasing the TACC without Māori receiving a proportional increase, as guaranteed in the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement 1992.

“This coalition is reckless, undermining the principles of Te Tiriti, and now threatening, in the darkness of the moana at night, to place the Māori Fisheries Settlement into dispute,” said Tākuta Ferris, spokesperson for fisheries and MP for Te Tai Tonga.

“The High Court judge has warned the Fisheries Minister and Crown that a decision threatening a 20-29% loss of the Māori fisheries quota would be yet another breach of the 1992 settlement.

“Since the 1992 settlement, increases in TACC for any species should have been met with the same increases to Māori quota. This government has been continuous in its breach of this settlement and the Treaty,” said the MP for Te Tai Tonga.

“What’s more, is that any additional species added to the Quota Management System also had to have the relevant percentage of quota afforded to Māori.

“This government fails to acknowledge that Te Tiriti supersedes any legislation and must be upheld first. No law consented by virtue of Te Tiriti o Waitangi trumps it.

“A decision to increase the TACC without redress and proportional increases to Māori quota will reignite the debate on the management of New Zealand’s fisheries and Māori fisheries rights. They should expect to bear the consequences,” said Ferris.

 

Source: Te Pati Maori

The Waitangi Tribunal has released an Urgent Report on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Takutai Moana Act 2011.

The report calls out Paul Goldsmith’s proposal for what it is: a “gross breach of the Treaty” and an “illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga”.

The Tribunal is recommending the Crown step down in its efforts to amend the Takutai Moana Act and make a genuine effort to engage with Māori before it causes irreparable damage.

“The largest confiscation of Māori land in history happened in 2004 with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This was the genesis of our Party,” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“This Government is hellbent on taking us back 20 years and entrenching the theft of our moana and coastlines. They better be prepared for what comes next because te iwi Māori will not stand for a repeat of the Foreshore and Seabed Act,” Waititi said.

“The Tribunal has confirmed what we already knew to be true: this Government is intent on reducing Māori rights to almost nothing,” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“Tangata whenua rights are the last barrier to this Government’s agenda to pillage, extract, and sell off Aotearoa to the highest bidder,” Ngarewa-Packer said.

“The Takutai Moana Act as it currently stands only gives Māori the ability to have very limited rights recognised. Customary Marine Title doesn’t come close to the ownership promised by Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” said Waititi.

“It makes me wonder what the motivation is behind this. Why has Cabinet given Paul Goldsmith free rein to act unlawfully, and in flagrant breach of the Treaty, to extinguish basic, limited rights?” Ngarewa-Packer said.

The Waitangi Tribunal concludes:

The Crown is “…doggedly continuing a path which is in clear Treaty breach and which repeats the approach of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.”

“Te takutai moana is a significant taonga, and changes to its legislative regime require the Crown to demonstrate the highest standard of consultation, which it failed to meet at every step of the policy development process, despite the advice from officials.”

They recommend:

• The Crown halt its current efforts to amend the Takutai Moana Act;
• The Crown make a genuine attempt at meaningful engagement with Māori; and
• The focus of this engagement should be on the perceived issues of permissions for resource consents, rather than interrupting the process of awarding customary marine titles.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week.

The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between the ages of 18 and 35 from around the world.

The winners are selected by a panel of expert judges, including First Woman President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, based on their impact in their home countries and how they have used their position to benefit young people specifically.

The programme includes an acceptance ceremony and five days of engagements at the One Young World Summit in Montreal Canada. Hana-Rawhiti will then travel to New York and participate in the hybrid AFS Intercultural empowering youth to lead the world, run in parallel with the United Nations Summit of the Future.

“I am very humbled to be selected as one of four recipients of the One Young World, Politician of the Year Award for 2024 and want to acknowledge last year’s recipient, Far North Mayor, Moko Te Pania.

“For me, this is about holding space for future wahine Māori, and Māori rangatahi and hopefully inspiring them to use their Māori magic and aspire to achieve.

“Only 2% of politicians are under the age of 30. We risk losing a whole generation, particularly with this government who is consistently attacking our being, from engaging in politics,” said Maipi-Clarke.

Hana-Rawhiti will travel alongside a rangatahi roopu composed of future Māori leaders.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation.

“Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication of Māori. It is emboldened by this government’s overreach and interference in the work of democratically elected local councillors to achieve racial injustice,” said Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

“The government has been cunning in its purposeful misuse of the term ‘democracy’ to manipulate local councils and their communities into eradicating Māori rights, voice, and opportunity.

“Democracy in this country is granted on the premise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. That asserts this country’s constitution, based on rights before democracy.

“Local councils that have voted to remove Māori Wards will exile whānau Māori and leave them without community support or representation.”

“The legal proceedings taken by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua against the Kaipara District Council prove that even in the face of legal action, few councils have been given the right of way to recklessly implore modern day silencing and colonisation.

“I send my support to those most impacted in Kaipara, where the cycle of us Māori being forced to champion our own rights for inclusion, voice, and status continues.”

Whangārei and Far North District Councils voted to maintain Māori Wards until at least 2028.

“I acknowledge the local councils who have responded with unwavering support for Māori Wards.

“Māori Wards are critical to local council efforts in reflecting the unique aspirations and needs of mana whenua.

“All local councils who have affirmed their dedication to mana whenua as Tiriti partners by voting to uphold Māori Wards,” said Kapa-Kingi.

Source: Te Pati Maori

Papā te whatitiri, hikohiko te uira, i kanapu ki te rangi, i whētuki i raro rā, rū ana te whenua e.

Uea te pou o tōku whare kia tū tangata he kapua whakairi nāku nā runga o Taupiri. Ko taku kiri ka tōkia ki te anu mātao. E te iwi whītiki, whītiki, whakarewa.

Kua whati a roto, kua pohara te iwi Māori i tō wehenga atu. E te Ariki, e te Kiingi Māori Tuheitia, moe mai rā i roto i ngā ringaringa o te atua.

Kaikini te aroha, kaikini te manawa, kaikini te wairua. Hei aha rā, hei aha rā, tū tonu te mahara.

“It is with deep sadness that we received news early this morning of the passing of Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII. His passing is deeply mourned,” said Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi.

“The Kiingitanga, in our people’s darkest moments, gave our people hope. It is a Māori movement that has never surrendered its mana,” said President John Tamihere.

“Kiingi Tūheitia was grassroots, humble, not fluent or flashy in formalities, yet naturally prepared to serve and lead,” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“His legacy of unification, of mana motuhake and rangatiratanga, will live on through the movement and through te iwi Māori,” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

Te Pāti Māori will pay tribute to Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII alongside their respective iwi. No media requests will be taken until further notice.