From north to south, national hīkoi underway

A national hīkoi is underway to take a stand against ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill.

The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti began in the small Far North town of Te Kao and is due to arrive at Parliament on 19 November.

Kairākau lead the hikoi through the Far North. Photo/RNZ

Supporters from Bluff, at the far end of the South Island, are also travelling toward Wellington to join the North Island group.

Launched on Sunday, the hīkoi includes nine days of convoys and events, interacting with tens of thousands of supporters, including non-Māori, culminating in a visit to Parliament.

Organisers say they aim to protect a Treaty they warn is under threat.

But ACT leader David Seymour says the Bill does not take away anyone's rights and "it doesn't stop anybody speaking their language or practising their culture.

A dawn karakia at Cape Reinga that launched the national hīkoi opposing the Treaty Principles bill and government policy affecting Māori. Photo/RNZ

"What it does do is that it says, these principles are for treaty," he told Pacific Mornings Khalia Strong.

"What are they? Parliament in 1975 said there were principles, but no elected parliament has ever actually passed a law to say what the principles are. And I think that needs to be finished as a job.

"I think that the principles I'm proposing are actually good for everybody, and there's only three of them. One is that the government has the right to govern. Two is that the government has a duty to protect the rights of Māori as they had in 1840.

"But actually it has a duty to protect the rights of everybody. And finally, that the government should uphold equal rights for all people.

"Now, I challenge people to say what objection they have to those three ideas. The government has the right to govern, it has a duty to uphold all of our rights, and that everyone's rights are equal.

"Those are pretty positive things I would have thought. So my challenge to people is to say, well, what exactly is wrong with that?"

The opposition parties - Labour, Green, and Te Pāti Māori - are calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to block the Treaty Principles Bill.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi told Strong Seymour's Bill would not protect the rights of all New Zealanders.

"What the Tiriti o Waitangi does in every article is protect the rights of everyone. And so it is now under threat because he is trying to redefine what those articles are.

"And so the articles are, is that iwi Māori and the Crown agreed to kāwanatanga. Kāwanatanga is there to ensure that everybody's rights are protected and that everybody can live with dignity.

Listen as Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi responds to David Seymour.

"Unfortunately, we've got huge poverty issues here and Māori and Pasifika are at the top of the statistics for all the wrong reasons. When it comes to health, for all the wrong reasons. When it comes to education, for all the wrong reasons.

"Even the articles themselves, Pākehā have breached those treaty rights. And so the principles bill then, what it does, it impedes the breach of those rights. And so it doesn't protect those rights that are afforded to everyone.

"If they got it right from the start, we wouldn't be in a position where many of our people are homeless where many of our people are represented in the highest statistics for the wrong reasons in regards to health, where our people, again, are the highest statistics when it comes to poverty.

"I don't know what he's trying to achieve, but to embed the Westminster-type system where indigenous peoples and peoples of colour are at the bottom of the run. So this will not improve the lives of Māori. It will not improve the lives of the Pasifika.

"It doesn't change the lives of Pākehā living in this country, but it will have an intergenerational impact on īwi Māori and many other indigenous people living in Aotearoa."

Will 'Ilolahia is calling on Pacific communities in Aotearoa to support the national hikoi. Photo/supplied

Will 'Ilolahi, a founding member of the Polynesian Panthers, is calling on Pacific people to show their support and join the hikoi in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday.

"We're going to do Mate Ma'a Tiriti tomorrow up at Bastion Point so we're asking all our Tongan supporters - 50 per cent of New Zealand-born Tongans that are Kiwis are part-Māori - to come up tomorrow at 12.45pm to welcome the hikoi that's coming down across the bridge from up north," he told Strong.

'Ilolahia says it's a long way from his days as a Poly-panther.

"It's a big improvement. At least I'm allowed to walk down Ponsonby Road now, not being called a nigger.

"So I hope you all come up tomorrow to the Point. Wear red, and if you're Sāmoan, red, blue. Niuean, wear green but if you can wear red it would be nice."