November 24, 2016
Waitangi invite fit for PM
Labour Party leader Andrew Little has welcomed a decision by organisers of next year’s treaty commemorations at Waitangi to issue an unconditional invite to the Prime Minister.
John Key refused to attend this year’s event after some elders objected to his support for the Trans Pacific Partnership and tried to place conditions on what he could say during the welcome on the lower Te Tii Marae.
That resulted in calls to move the welcome up to the Treaty Grounds.
But organising committee chair Pita Paraone says Ngapuhi decided at the weekend the powhiri should remain at Te Tii Marae.
Mr Little says it’s a sensible outcome.
"My view is regardless of which party the prime minister is from, the prime minister should be at Waitangi on Waitangi Day. It's our national day. The day we celebrate the birth of the nation so to speak and Waitangi is that very special day and the prime minister should be there. I think it's a good thing that they have reinstated the invitation and I hope that the prime minister takes that up," he says.
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