Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says he’s proud of yesterday’s commotion during the Treaty Principles Bill debates and how it has made older Pākehā colonialists nervous.
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was named and barred from the House for 24 hours after the House erupted in haka during the vote.
Waititi says this disruption is prompting racist New Zealanders to reveal themselves.
“We want to draw these people out. We want to see their faces, but we want to also challenge their thinking. We want them to know we’re not going anywhere, and that te iwi Māori is a forever people, and that Te Pāti Māori is a forever movement, and that Toitū Te Tiriti is also a forever movement,” says Waititi.
Rawiri Waititi says haka is at the heart of debating on the marae, and as Māori, we must use our cultural tools to express ourselves.
