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Download AudioMāori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi says sacking the queen would be a sign of maturity and open up a conversations about what treaty-based governance would look like.
Te Pāti Māori marked Waitangi Day by calling for the removal of the British royal as head of state, and moving Aotearoa to a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-based nation.
Its Mana Motuhake policy includes establishing a Māori Parliament and implementing the recommendations of the Makite Mai report on constitutional transformation.
Mr Waititi says the intent of the tipuna who signed the treaty was to have an equal and just society – which is not what they got.
“A Tiriti-centric Aotearoa is not democracy. Democracy has always been the tyranny of the majority, so that never works for indigenous peoples all over the world. So these are some of the courageous and mature conversations we need to have. We need to have a mature and courageous conversation about having a sovereign live in England, because I think that’s a sort of fairy tale,” he says.
Mr Waititi says a tiriti-based relationship would mean creating parallel institutions so tangata whenua can make their own decisions on things like health.
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