This wānanga continues the kōrero from the foundation hui held at Turangawaewae, Ratana and Waitangi earlier this year.
Ngāti Kahungunu expects some 3000 people to attend. The hui will hear proposals for specific models for bringing the iwi together under the korowai of kotahitanga. This call has been driven by the increasing hostility of the current government to Māori people and to iwi Māori aspirations.
I have written about many of those provocations. This week came another when the assistant Speaker of the House rudely and, contrary to both tikanga and parliamentary practice, interrupted a karakia from a kaumatua at the conclusion of the voting on the Whakatōhea Claims Settlement Bill.
These settlement Bills include apologies for past economic and social wrongs. In fact the Minister of Treaty Settlements had just said ‘‘this final step marks the beginning of a new era of the relationship with the Crown based on trust and co-operation’’.
But if the coalition government cannot even bring itself to allow a karakia to acknowledge this new relationship, then clearly there is no substance to either the apology or the relationship.
It is difficult to reconcile the rhetoric of the government during settlement Bill debates with its rhetoric on other Māori-related matters.
Settlement Bills arise out of long negotiations between the Crown and iwi. Many kuia and kaumātua pass away during the negotiations that they work hard for but will never see the benefits of. The process drags and costs life-spans.
Ministers who work on settlements often develop long and respectful relationships with these kaumatua and kuia, attend their tangi and receive genuine manaaki from the whānau.
It is a unique constitutional relationship between the government and iwi where the intention for a relationship of trust and co-operation is usually genuinely desired by both.
But in non-settlement matters, this government in particular has not appreciated the either value or the fragility of these relationships.
It was always a mistake for the Prime Minster to have allowed the coalition partners to dictate the nature and scope of Māori and Treaty-related matters.
Other than the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the most egregious policy attacks on Māori aspirations come from the two coalition partners. These attacks have been enabled by the Prime Minister and oftentimes he has blamed the coalition agreement for the policies.
He cannot wash his hands of responsibility for the degradation in the relationships that have been built over many decades between governments of all colours and iwi Māori.
For 35 years, iwi Māori have worked with government in good faith in a settlement process designed and driven by government. Iwi Māori have made exceptional sacrifices to achieve some restitution.
In less than 12 months, this coalition government has, perhaps irrevocably, destroyed much of that trust and co-operation evidenced even this week by intolerance to just one karakia in Parliament at the end of a settlement Bill vote.
In the face of this leadership lacuna, iwi Māori will gather to discuss our own models for iwi mana motuhake.
There have been exceptional models proposed for the wānanga. These include the six inclusive constitutional models contained in Matike Mai, the spheres of rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga reiterated in He Puapua as well as other models that both iwi Māori and Pākehā have debated over the decades.
In the meantime, iwi Māori will get on with the work of kotahitanga for the benefit of both today’s community and future generations.
There are people who are deeply challenged by the idea of iwi Māori taking steps towards kotahitanga. These are people who are alarmed by the whanaungatanga of iwi Māori.
There are many more who understand whanaungatanga is supportive and enabling. They also know that whanaungatanga and rangatiratanga provide a blueprint for a respectful and inclusive country.
Decades of engagement between Crown and iwi Māori have produced excellent outcomes for the country. Iwi Māori value that legacy even if today’s government does not.
■Metiria Stanton-Turei is a law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
