10,000 attend rare national unity meeting over NZ gov’t’s ‘anti-Māori’ policies

Sydney, Australia, Jan 20 (EFE).- At least 10,000 people attended a rare national meeting on Saturday called by the Māori king to unite over concerns for the policies of New Zealand’s new rightwing government that are widely seen as “anti-Māori.”

(L-R) Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and ACT party leader David Seymour speak at the announcement of the new government in New Zealand, in the Banquet Hall of the Parliament Buildings in Wellington, New Zealand, 24 November 2023. EFE-EPA FILE/MARK COOTE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

At the seat of the Kiingitanga (Maori king movement) in the North Island town of Ngāruawāhia, Māori king Kiingi Tuuheitia said the world was watching and the government would be foolish to underestimate what Māori are capable of, public broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported.

In his speech at Tūrangawaewae Marae (traditional meeting grounds), the king added that indigenous nations around the world support the cause.

The meeting was attended by both Māori and non-Māori which, according to Kiingi Tuuheitia, sent the government a strong message it will not be able to ignore, anticipating more meetings in other parts of the country.

At the end of last year, the Māori king issued a rare royal proclamation inviting iwi (tribes) to come together to “unify the nation and ensure all voices are heard when holding the new coalition government to account.”

The new government coalition was formed in November between the election-winning conservative National Party led by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, the nationalist New Zealand First party, and the libertarian ACT party.

Since then, the coalition has announced at least a dozen policies that would disproportionately affect Māori, such modifing policies regarding co-governance, rolling back the use of Māori language in public services, and scrapping Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority and anti-smoking laws, and among other issues.

It has also announced steps towards a possible review of the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s founding document signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Māori leaders, which upholds Māori rights.

These policies have prompted several iwi to file claims in the Waitangi Tribunal, a permanent commission of inquiry created in 1975 to investigate claims by Māori against actions of the Crown.

Founded in 1858, Kiingitanga emerged in an attempt to unite tribes under one sovereign, with the aim of preserving culture and land against British colonization.

Luxon, who met privately with Kiingi Tuuheitia on Monday, did not attend the meeting because he considered it to be “not for politicians.”

Saturday’s meeting will be followed by three weeks of events in which the rights of indigenous groups will be debated.

On Dec. 5, thousands of Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders marched across the country to protest the new government’s “anti-Māori” initiatives. EFE

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