Episode description
The resumption of Parliament this week has been underlined by outcry from Māori, soon matched by fury within the debating chamber. With just two weeks before the Christmas break and Waitangi Day fast approaching on the other side, the government will have plenty to work through. In this week's Focus on Politics, Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch examines the start of the 54th Parliament and the racially charged indignation that heralded it.
Protesters from the "National Māori Action Day" marched in all corners of the country on Tuesday, the same day MPs were sworn in at the Commission Opening of Parliament.
"This government has opened the floodgates of hatred toward Māori" - Rawiri Waititi
The resumption of Parliament this week has been underlined by outcry from Māori, soon matched by fury within the debating chamber.
With just two weeks before the Christmas break and Waitangi Day fast approaching on the other side, the government will have plenty to work through.
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Politicians arriving to be sworn in as MPs on Tuesday were greeted by hundreds of protesters on Parliament's forecourt objecting to the new government's policies and plans affecting Māori. The march was led by Te Pāti Māori, whose co-leaders were unapologetic, promising this was just the start.
As National's caucus prepared to meet ahead of the Commission Opening, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the protests were unfair, and the government should be given more time to deliver better outcomes for Māori. That held little weight with the protesters, however, railing against his coalition's policies and plans laid out clearly and in detail, rather than the government's record.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
His coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First went further in their dismissal, calling the protests anti-democratic.
Having tripled in size this election, Te Pāti Māori is determined to make its presence known in the halls of power. They continued to test boundaries at the swearing-in, which requires all MPs to pledge allegiance to the King, a practice the party argues is a colonial constraint that contradicts the equal partnership promised by Te Tiriti.
One by one, all six preceded their vow with an oath of their own: to mokopuna, in accordance with tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The new MP for Te Tai Tonga, Tākuta Ferris, was the first to perform Te Pāti Māori's unconventional oath.
This was followed by the usual oath or affirmation but again with a twist - with some swearing to "Kīngi Harehare", an alternative translation of Charles, which can also be used to mean "scab", or "something objectionable"…