September 22, 2023
Mahuta annoyed but unfazed by Peters’ ankle tap
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has rejected criticism from New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters that she should be back home campaigning rather than attending the United National General Assembly.
Speaking from New York, Ms Mahuta says at Mr Peters promise to renege on this country’s commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – and his position that Māori aren’t Indigenous.
New Zealand’s experience is helping other countries think about their Indigenous populations and how to address the legacy of colonisation in areas like truth and reconciliation, the treatment of indigenous children in care and systemic inequality.
“For all those reasons I reject the fact that Winston has used Māori as a political football and is now a Trojan horse for some really insipid thinking that has been fermenting out in our communities that it not conducive to creating a cohesive nation – it is creating greater division,” she says.
Ms Mahuta says New Zealand has important business at the United Nations, and it’s not helpful to be ankle tapped from back home.