'Government is attacking Māori'

By Justin Tipa, Kaiwhakahaere

This was originally published in E-Tangata.

The government has announced it will amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act in order to overturn a Court of Appeal decision on the law’s implementation.

It’s the latest in a string of government policies that target Māori aspirations, and it takes us back to the dark ages.

This is no longer just a new government that is undoing policy it doesn’t like. This is a government that’s going out of its way to attack Māori rights. And now, we see that they’re prepared to deliberately overrule the judiciary to do that.

That’s not the way we do things in this country. New Zealanders support the rule of law. We believe in access to justice. We’re proud of the country we’ve built on the foundations of Te Tiriti. For a government to announce it will overrule the courts of law, in order to make it nigh on impossible for Māori to attempt to claim our customary rights, takes us back to the dark ages.

When the Marine and Coastal Area Act (Takutai Moana) came into force in 2011, there was all sorts of fear-mongering — claims that iwi which obtained customary marine title would lock people out, prevent others from enjoying the ocean, the beaches, and the things that are important to all of us.

But that has never materialised. It just hasn’t happened.

So, for the government to say that the courts need reining in, as if those old fears are real and present, is nothing less than a direct attack on Māori. It’s a direct attack on our way of life, on what’s important to us, and our expressions of identity.

The foreshore and seabed issue exploded 20 odd years ago because the Labour-led government stopped Māori from having our rightful day in court. The political fallout was catastrophic. It’s taken decades for the relationships to start to heal. This government’s actions reopen the controversy.

Not only does that take us backwards as a country, but it’s a massive distraction from the things that are top of mind for most people, such as addressing the cost of living, an economic downturn, a failing health care system and unaffordable housing.

I think during the first part of this new political term, people were prepared to give the National Party some benefit of the doubt. We thought, okay, obviously the coalition partners are having an influence, and there are compromises to be made. We expected some pandering to the noisy minority that voted for the coalition partners.

But it’s become overwhelmingly clear in recent weeks that what we’re seeing is no longer the coalition partners thumping their drums, but a National Party that is 100 percent behind anti-Māori legislative changes. They’re leading those changes. They’re front-footing them. And they’re not prepared to temper the discussion at all.

That is not the sort of National-led government that Ngāi Tahu have known and worked with constructively in the past. We don’t align ourselves with any party, but if I look at the previous relationships we’ve had with National leaders and the party, there has been a willingness to engage in a genuine manner. We’ve been able to properly discuss issues and get movement to both benefit the country and benefit Māori. I’m not seeing that same willingness from Christopher Luxon’s regime.

My last interaction with the prime minister and other ministers was at the Iwi Chairs Forum event hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. The issue of the Marine and Coastal Area Act (the MACA Act) amendment was tabled by a number of iwi, along with multiple other issues.

And the ministers who were there said things that sounded okay to those in the room. They dialed it back a bit. Then, as soon as they leave the room, we see them coming out with very strong positions that are just the opposite.

So, either they’re not listening, they don’t want to listen, or they’re not interested. I think they don’t care, quite frankly. They’re still pandering to the noisy minority.

To see the announcement about the MACA legislation was a real shock. And I can tell you, Ngāi Tahu will be exploring all of our options to fight this. Because when we talk about takutai moana, the foreshore and seabed, it speaks to our whole way of life. This is what connects us to our mahinga kai and the traditional practices of our ancestors. That’s something we take very seriously as Ngāi Tahu. So we’re currently having some pretty in-depth discussions about the options in front of us.

The number of non-Māori members of our community who are reaching out in disbelief at what’s happening, and in support of our position, is quite overwhelming. The majority of New Zealanders just want to get on and live life, be prosperous, be safe, be healthy.

And it’s no different if you’re Māori. The difference for us is that the way we’re healthy, the way we’re prosperous, and safe, is dependent on our relationship with the taiao, our environment, and being able to give effect to our cultural practices, which is what the MACA law goes some way to enabling us to do.

In the last few years, we’ve seen a real maturing in our country. There’s been a willingness to accept the normalisation of te reo and tikanga Māori, and successive governments have embraced those things too. Now, suddenly, we’re seeing a minister removing Māori greetings from an invite to a Māori ceremony. It’s ridiculous.

What’s really sad, for me, is the impact this is having on our young people. To go from a place where our language, our culture and our tikanga were being acknowledged and embraced, to a place where our young people genuinely feel under attack, is so disheartening. They’re asking: “Why?” Why would our own country, our own political leaders, demonize our culture, our language, and, inherently, our people?

Like most iwi, we’ve been thrown into having to respond to the policies. It’s costing us a huge amount in time, energy and resources to respond to the raft of proposed legislative changes. And we’re given very little time to formulate those responses.

Still, from our side of things, Ngāi Tahu remains committed to being good partners and leaders. With local water management, for example, we’re willing to contribute to a solution for the benefit of everyone, so we’ll carry on pulling together local, regional and territorial authorities to work towards something constructive and forward-looking.

It’s a shame to have to pour so much time and energy into responding to the current policies. I’d much rather be totally focused on our own people and what we can be doing for ourselves in a positive way, not having to fight such regressive, retrograde government actions.