Rawiri Waititi

This digital illustration is by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Kahungunu). It features a portrait of Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of Te Pāti Māori and Member of Parliament, as he declared “Te Tiriti o Waitangi is superior to any person and any law ever created in this House” during the First Reading of the controversial Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill in Parliament on 14 November 2024.

Background

A National-led coalition government came to power in November 2023, and in the first six months of its term the government proposed or implemented a number of policies related to co-governance and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. One of the most controversial was the ACT Party’s Treaty Principles Bill. The goal of the legislation, as stated on the ACT party website, was to ‘unwind the divisive modern “partnership” interpretation of the Treaty and restore its meaning to what was actually written and signed in 1840’. They suggested three draft principles: the New Zealand Government has the right to govern for all New Zealanders; the New Zealand Government will honour all New Zealanders in the chieftainship of their land and all their property; all New Zealanders are equal under the law with the same rights and duties.

A number of legal challenges were made to the Waitangi Tribunal about the Treaty Principles Bill, which the Tribunal commented on in an interim report released in August 2024. The Tribunal found, among other things, that the Crown’s agreement to pursue the Treaty Principles Bill belied the existence of the partnership between tangata whenua and the Crown established by the Treaty of Waitangi, that the Bill was fashioned on a distorted historical reality, and that if enacted, it would reduce the constitutional status of Te Tiriti/The Treaty, limit Māori rights and Crown obligations, and undermine social cohesion.

Toitū te Tiriti was founded by Eru Kapa-Kingi alongside Kiri Tamihere and Hohepa Thompson, and has strong links to Te Pāti Māori. In December 2023 they called for a ‘National Māori Action Day’ as Parliament restarted, and in May 2024 they followed this up with a series of ‘strikes’, timed to coincide with the government’s budget announcement.

The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti was announced in mid-October 2024 and kicked off in Te Kāo on 10 November. Over nine days the group travelled from Cape Reinga to Parliament, with thousands of people joining urban activations in centres such as Rotorua, Hamilton, Auckland, and Palmerston North. The hīkoi consisted of vehicle convoys with runners covering the ground in between rallying points.

On Tuesday 19 November, the final day of the hīkoi, more than 42,000 people marched from Waitangi Park beside Te Papa to Parliament grounds. Among the dignitaries towards the front of the hīkoi was Māori Queen Nga wai hono i te po, who stood alongside Hone Harawira, Tuku Morgan and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke. A petition opposing the Treaty Principles Bill was presented with 203,653 signatures.

Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho is adept at capturing the zeitgeist of protest movements and activist moments. Their work is primarily influenced by their whakapapa, takatāpui identity and political beliefs.

Epilogue

Over 300,000 submissions on the bill were received by Parliament, with 90 percent opposed to it. The bill was voted down in Parliament on its second reading on 10 April 2025 (112 noes to 11 ayes). Every party except for ACT voted against it.*

*RNZ (11 April 2025). Celebrations at defeat of divisive Treaty Principles Bill. RNZ News.