MāORI PARTY EVOLUTION

The Māori Party was born in 2004 on a wave of fierce pride and fury amid claims that the Labour Government was riding roughshod over Māori rights and cultural traditions when it passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Almost six years later to the day, Māori Party Co-Leader Tariana Turia delivered an address at the National Iwi Māori Kaumātua Service Providers hui in Nelson, telling them she still remembered what drove her to defy then-Prime Minister Helen Clark, by crossing the floor in opposition to the bill.

"I stood at the third reading of the Foreshore and Seabed bill and asked, "Does anyone in this House honestly think tangata whenua will be fooled into thinking they can trust a government which has sacrificed, extinguished, confiscated the last piece of customary land that we held by default?"

Two months later Turia was back in Parliament when she won the by-election for her Te Tai Hauāuru seat – this time at the helm of the fledging party alongside co-leader and academic, Dr Pita Sharples. Māori rights campaigner Professor Whatarangi Winiata was voted in as party president.

The party made its presence felt in the 2005 election, winning four seats but chose not to join Labour in a coalition government. Unsure of Labour's commitment to meeting the Māori Party's interests, Turia and Sharples chose to stay in opposition and vote on an issue-by-issue basis.

Search For Calm Waters

Hīkoi

Gale-force winds marked the change blowing through New Zealand politics when they ushered a 20,000 strong crowd into Parliament grounds to protest the government's legislation on the foreshore and seabed in May 2004. [More...]

Going Global

Determined to broadcast the confiscation of its rights to the highest possible forum, Māori took their grievance about the proposed foreshore and seabed legislation to the United Nations. [More...]

For the Love of People

"Who me? Why would you want me? I don't know anything about fish." This was the stunned response of Hana O'Regan when she was asked to sit on the Foreshore and Seabed Panel. The Māori education and culture specialist says it was an instinctive response. "I thought they must have the wrong O'Regan." [More...]

Māori Party Evolution

The Māori Party was born in 2004 on a wave of fierce pride and fury amid claims that the Labour Government was riding roughshod over Māori rights and cultural traditions when it passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act. [More...]

Inside Issue 45

SEARCH FOR CALM WATERS

THROUGH THE TREES

MEETING TŪTOKO

ULVA'S ISLAND

ARM STRONG

COUNTRY EXPEDITION

HAVE YIKE, WILL TRAVEL

 

Issue #45 Published Dec 2009
© Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu