Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he has been clear National won’t support the Treaty Principles Bill past select committee.

Speaking to media after giving a speech at Rātana Pā, Luxon said there was a “range of views and feelings and people are free to express it”.

“I want to hear that. That’s why I’m here,” he said.

“There is no commitment to supporting it past first reading. I don’t know how to be any clearer.

“The position of the National Party: no intention, no commitment, it’s not a policy we support,” he said.

Luxon said iwi leaders understood the Government wouldn’t support the bill past first reading based on what they had told him in recent meetings.

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Luxon and deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, along with a government delegation, were earlier welcomed to Rātana Pā.

Earlier, Labour leader Chris Hipkins warned the coalition Government would “take New Zealand backwards” in matters of race relations while also conceding his Government didn’t get everything right by leaving non-Māori out of advancements made.

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Hipkins hit out against the Government for having an agenda to take New Zealand backwards, scrapping the Māori health authority, limiting the use of te reo in the public service and rewriting Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

He said the government’s policies would “encourage, foster and enable racism” and that it “should be called out for what it is”.

He did accept that Labour “didn’t get everything right” because it didn’t bring non-Māori with them. He pledged to “redouble efforts to do that”.

Labour’s Peeni Henare and Greens co-leader Marama Davidson have both spoken to media ahead of their welcome, criticising coalition Government for “wasting time” with the Treaty Principles Bill when National and NZ First hadn’t committed to supporting the contentious bill past the select committee stage.

Hipkins led the Opposition convoy from the Rātana Church, led by the famous Rātana band, to the marae. He walked next to Davidson, the pair chatted and laughed and they slowly walked the short journey to the marae.

Davidson urged Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to “listen to Māori” and “shouldn’t say much at all”.

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson and Labour leader Chris Hopkins leading their MPs during their powhiri at Rātana Pā. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

She claimed the coalition and in particular Act leader David Seymour, were “appealing to the worst of us” through their proposed policies, which include the bill that sought to redefine the Treaty principles.

National’s coalition agreement with Act included no commitment to support the bill into legislation. NZ First minister Shane Jones was vague on whether his party would vote in favour of the bill.

Henare said the Government should stop “wasting time” with the bill if they wouldn’t support it.

Yesterday Luxon said he was aware of the challenges he’s set to face from Māori leaders at Rātana amid growing concern about how the Government’s policies could affect Māoridom.

Luxon will address leaders at Rātana Pā in Whanganui today as part of the annual Rātana Church celebrations, which included the opportunity for church and iwi leaders to converse with politicians about Māori issues.

The event, often said to be the start of the political year, is taking place only days after more than 10,000 people converged on Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia for a national hui, organised by the Kīngitanga, on some of the Government’s proposed policies regarding te reo Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including stripping Treaty references from legislation and downplaying the importance of te reo in the public service.

Māori King Kīngi Tūheitia issued a message of hope that Māori could unify and protest by living Māori values, but did issue a strong condemnation of the proposed Treaty Principles Bill, which aimed to redefine Treaty principles.

The bill, which had become a flashpoint for Māori at the hui, was created by Act and guaranteed support by National through the House only until the select committee process. Luxon hadn’t clarified whether National would support it further.

Some of the kōrero that emerged from Saturday’s hui included claims accusing the Government of being underpinned by white supremacy, something echoed by Te Pāti Māori leadership, and which Luxon rejected outright.

Luxon yesterday said his experience at Rātana last year and several visits to Waitangi had prepared him for what could be tough conversations.

“That’s my observation, is that’s the place where we should have challenging provocation and stimulation and that’s okay.”

Despite the hui prompting strong concern about his government’s policies, Luxon said it hadn’t changed the message he would be sending today.

“My message will be actually sort of laying out where we’re coming from as a government and how we want to work and partner with Māori to deliver improved outcomes.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was confident Luxon and other government representatives would face strong challenges in kōrero from Māori leaders, but would also be respected.

“Manuhiri [visitors] on the marae at Rātana and Tūrangawaewae have always treated people with respect,” Waititi told the Herald.

“I know there will be courageous kōrero on the marae and that’s where courageous kōrero should be.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi speaking at last year's Rātana celebration. Photo / RNZ 

Waititi, co-leader and Rātana morehu (follower) Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and others from Te Pāti Māori were welcomed onto Rātana Pā yesterday alongside Kīngi Tūheitia and representatives of the Kīngitanga — before all other political parties, which would arrive in Rātana today.

Waititi yesterday explained it was intended to show the party’s “realignment to the mana motuhake [self-determination] space”.

“The Treaty was signed between tangata whenua and the Crown and so this is the realignment of our political waka to our mana motuhake space and allowing us to be the manifestation of the journeys of our people within a kāwanatanga [government] space and the representation of mana motuhake within a government or a kāwanatanga space.”

Party leaders, alongside their public speeches, would also have private meetings with Rātana and iwi leaders.

Te Taepa Kameta, spokesman for Rātana tumuaki (president) Manuao Te Kohamutunga Tamou, wasn’t surprised by the enormous crowd in Ngāruawāhia on Saturday, and Rātana Pā to be busy this week.

The Rātana Church is a movement with long-held ties to the Labour Party. Photo / Whakaata Māori 

“At the end of the day, when you poke the taniwha enough, the taniwha is obviously going to wake.

“I think by touching Te Tiriti o Waitangi [te reo version of the Treaty], something that we were all so passionate about, I think they have gone and awakened the taniwha.

“It’s a matter of sitting down with the three-headed beast, and I’m talking about the Government here and the three leaders, to sit down and to have these types of discussions with them so that we were able to move forward in the best way possible for everybody.”

While Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters were expected to attend, Act leader David Seymour would be absent. It was understood no one from Act would be in attendance.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got the prime minister and the deputy at this point in time, so it doesn’t really matter if [Seymour] shows up or not,” Kameta said.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.