February 02, 2017
Ministers meet Iwi Chairs
Prime Minister Bill English and many of his senior ministers will be in Waitangi today meeting the Iwi Chairs Forum to discuss topics like the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children Tamariki Ora and policies around water allocation.
But he won’t stick around for the official Waitangi Day commemorations on Monday, preferring to celebrate the national day in Tamaki Makaurau.
Education Minister Hekia Parata is accompanying him, and says she backs his refusal to attend a powhiri at Te Tii Marae on Sunday because of the terms laid down by the marae committee chair.
" I don’t know of any other marae that determines who will speak on behalf of the manuhiri. That has always been up to the manuhiri. So to have determined that the prime minister, as the leader of our delegation, can or can't speak, I think that counters any tikanga that I am aware of," says Hekia Parata.
Te Tii Marae is also facing opposition for demanding huge fees from media organisations which wish to attend, a move Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says will spell the end of it being used for the customary powhiri.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH HEKIA PARATA
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