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February 08, 2022
Silence seen as assent for royal call
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On February 8, 2022
Download AudioThe Māori Party is taking a lack of reaction to its Waitangi Day call for divorce from the British royal family as a good sign.
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says she had expected a lot of negativity to the plan for constitutional change and greater Māori self-determination.
“This has probably been the least trolled. I think some of these Karanga we are putting out are largely supported not just by tangata whenua but by our tauiwi community who desire to be tangata tiriti, who are actively fighting for Te Tiriti, and they’ve just got to get on and do it now, now is the time to act,” she says.
Ms Ngarewa-Packer says the increasing demand by non-Māori for places in te reo Māori courses is another sign tauiwi want to be part of a Treaty of Waitangi process.
Te Pāti Māori have today launched a petition calling for the removal of the British royal family as head of state; and the creation of a Te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa through constitutional transformation.
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