January 25, 2022
Footage in can for canned Waitangi Day
The chair of the Waitangi National Trust hopes a virtual presentation for Waitangi Day will be some substitute for the real thing.
The Prime Minister, Governor-General and the Chief Justice were at the Treaty Grounds last week for the filming of a pōwhiri to be broadcast on February 6, by Three.
A dawn service led by Archbishop Kito Pikaahu was also recorded.
Pita Tipene says the trust’s decision to scrap in-person events this year because of public safety has proven to be wise.
“Given that Omicron at the time was imminent and we’re now all under the red light, we’re very confident we made the right decision and we’re encouraging people to commemorate our most important document in the history, the constitution basically of this county, in their own areas and hopefully, I’m sure we will return in 2023 as we have in the past,” he says.
Mr Tipene says Waitangi is now just one of many Waitangi Day commemorations around the country.