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February 09, 2021
Necktie symbol of assimilation for Waititi
Waatea Team
Posted On February 9, 2021
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi says being asked to wear a tie in parliament is about subjugation and assimilation.
Speaker Trevor Mallard yesterday ordered the Waiariki MP from the chamber when he turned up with a taonga rather than a tie around his neck.
Mr Waititi says just days after the commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, his treaty right to participate on his own terms is being denied.
"We have been assimilated and subjugated by one partner who is telling the other partner, Māori, to dress like them, to act like them, to smell like them, to talk like them and to be like them and for future Māori leaders coming through I will not accept that and we will make sure we challenge this to ensure our people can freely be Māori in a place our tipuna consented to establish here in Aotearoa," he says.
Mr Waititi says his expulsion means he was unable to ask a supplementary question about the new year riot at Waikeria Prison.
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