Ngā Toki Whakarururanga joins Constitutional Kaupapa Inquiry Wai 3300
He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of NZ. Source: Archives NZ
On April 2, Ngā Toki Whakarururanga filed a Statement of Claim to the the Waitangi Tribunal Constitutional Kaupapa Inquiry. The claimants who have filed on our behalf are the co-convenors Pita Tipene and Moana Maniapoto, kaihautū Donna Kerridge, George Laking and India Logan-Riley, and pūkenga Veronica Tawhai. Annette Sykes is claimant counsel.
Our claim has four parts (causes of action):
- The Crown’s Constitution breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi;
- The Crown’s Treaty Principles breach Te Tiriti;
- Imposition of Capitalism is a denial of Tino Rangtiratanga; and
- International trade and investment agreements are a denial of Tino Rangatiratanga.
The Tribunal has granted urgency for the issues of the Treaty Principles Bill and the policy to review legislation that refers to the “principles of the Treaty”, which fall within part 2. The hearing is scheduled for May 9-10. The Statement of Claim can be accessed here. Other significant documents will be uploaded as they become publicly available.
He Whenua Rongo hui a great success
Hundreds unite for the sold-out He Whenua Rongo symposium. Photo source: Papawhakaritorito Trust
Ngā Toki Whakarururanga joined Te Waka Kai Ora and the Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust to co-host the first day of He Whenua Rongo Indigenous Seed Soil and Food Sovereignty hui in Tāmaki Makaurau on April 11-13 on “Globalisation, free trade and post-capitalist economies”. The hui was supported by Wai 262 Te Pae Tawhiti projects on hua parakore, GMOs and free trade agreements.
The speakers were all either Ngā Toki Whakarururanga kaihautū or pūkenga. A rousing scene-setter by host and emcee Dr Jessica Hutchings set the positive and upbeat theme for the hui, full of possibilities as Māori and other Indigenous Peoples reassert rangatiratanga and resist capitalist colonial patriarchy. Annette Sykes rocked the 300 plus participants with an opening korero that took them back to the early 1990s when Māori began resisting free trade agreements that claimed intellectual property rights over mātauranga and other taonga and became part of the Wai 262 claim.
Then Aroha Te Pareake Mead showed people how Māori can and did make their own international agreements with the Mataatua Declaration on the Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration was adopted at the first Indigenous hui on Indigenous Peoples’ IP rights at Whakatane in 1993 and later tabled in the United Nations during the Decade of Indigenous Peoples. There’s a hui in June to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey explained the threat that of free trade agreements pose to indigenous sovereignty, recently on GMOs and rongoā.
In the panel after lunch, rongoā practitioner and kuia Donna Kerridge reinforced the practical realities of trade agreements ’impact for the many growers and practitioners. Bringing a rangatahi perspective, India Logan-Riley stressed the need to bring tikanga, mātauranga, activism, and community together in reclaiming rangatiratanga. Fresh from planting tens of thousands of trees as regenerative agriculture in practice, Maui Solomon beamed in from Rēkohu to reinforce the connections between Wai 262 to now.
And the pièce de résistance for the day: global super-star Dr Vandana Shiva, who has fought many battles to protect food, seeds and Indigenous culture from the World Trade Organization and free trade agreements, brought the hui full circle to the destructive force of capitalist colonial patriarchy, the power of resistance, and the liberating potential of food and seed sovereignty.
Click to watch speeches by NTW kaihautū & pūkenga at He Whenua Rongo here.
To listen to NTW kaihautū Aroha Mead’s interview with Merepeka Raukawa Tait about the symposium on Radio Waatea click here.
Kaihautū hui with Te Taumata
Ngā Toki Whakarururanga kaihautū and pūkenga meet with Charlie Rahiri and members of Te Taumata.
Ngā Toki Whakarururanga kaihautū held their three-monthly in-person hui along with the pūkenga at Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa marae, Auckland airport on April 2. This was an opportunity for the governance body to reflect on the turbulent racist politics of the kāwanatanga in light of our vision of He Whenua Rangatira – We are an independent and sovereign nation committed to uphold He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni me Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
We had a constructive kōrero with Charlie Rahiri, the director of the new Māori Policy Unit in Manatū Aorere/Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, about current developments in MFAT as they relate to Ngā Toki Whakarururanga.
We also invited Te Taumata to hui with us about ways we might cooperate in the future, despite our different kaupapa. We are looking forward to further positive and constructive conversations, along with other Māori entities working in what we describe broadly as the “trade” space.
Welcome to Rhieve Grey as Te Hiwa
Nau mai haere mai to our fabulous new Te Hiwa Rhieve Grey (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa) who has just completed a Masters of Public Policy in Oxford. He will coordinate Ngā Toki Whakarururanga alongside Te Tautiaki Sara Tara (admin) and Te Manu Tukutuku Jessica Tyson (comms).
Rhieve is also doing work with Te Kuaka on Māori engagement in foreign affairs, which will complement each other. We are indebted to Tania Pouwhare for stepping in after Ben returned to France and putting all remaining foundations in place for the rōpū.
Tania Pouwhare joins Labour sub-committee for NZ-UK FTA
We have lost Tania Pouwhare as Te Hiwa, but she is still a pūkenga and has agreed to be our voice on the labour issues under the FTA. Trade and Labour Chapter of the NZ-UK FTA is meant to promote trade and investment between the Parties that is “conducive to full and productive employment and decent work for all”.
There is a Labour Sub-Committee (government officials only) to oversee the Chapter and provide a forum for discussion, cooperation and resolving differences. In Aotearoa, that is the Ministry of Business and Innovation (MBIE). The Chapter also has advisory groups for each country of relevant non-government parties, including a Labour Sub-Committee to meet to discuss issues relevant to the chapter’s implementation. The Environment Chapter provides for a similar arrangement.
The Aotearoa labour group is made up of representatives from the Council of Trade Unions (CTU), Business NZ and Tania Pouwhare (Pūkenga) on behalf of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga. The environmental advisory group hasn’t yet been established. The UK Advisory Group was established during Brexit negotiations with the EU, is much larger than NZ and includes environmental groups.
The Labour Sub-Committee had its 1st meeting on April 11 to discuss procedural matters, updates and cooperation. Two issues of potential cooperation, identified by the Minister of Workplace Relations, are: holidays legislation and health and safety reform. A high-level report of the Sub-Committee’s meeting will be published at some point.
A Joint Dialogue between the NZ and UK sub-committees and their advisory groups is planned for May or June, with both the Labour and Environment chapters because there is apparently some overlap between them. The UK labour group is bigger than ours, and there is no environment group, so there’s a need to proactively propose topics and a way forward that is relevant to us, especially to Māori, especially given the new government’s agenda. The online meeting will likely be live streamed. We’ll be doing outreach on this as the process unfolds.