‘A combat sport’ – Luxon fronts up to iwi chairs at Waitangi

2026-02-04 - 15:39

Comment: On Wednesday at Waitangi, 12 National Party ministers and 89 iwi representatives walked into a room. Two hours later, they all left – seemingly with very different ideas of what had occurred. Māori-Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka described the annual hui between the Government and the Iwi Chairs Forum as “robust” and “interrogative”. Justin Tipa, the kaiwhakahaere of Ngāi Tahu, characterised it as “robust” and “forthright”. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, meanwhile, said it was “incredibly positive” and “very, very constructive”. Of course, these differing interpretations can all be true. To some extent, the outcomes of these meetings are in the eye of the beholder. All three were also more nuanced in their descriptions when pressed – Tipa said messages were “delivered in a respectful manner, and there were some good conversations” and Luxon, when presented with Potaka’s words, said the conversations were “direct”. Potaka, who in both his ministerial roles and as one of National’s most prominent Māori MPs straddles the divide between the political world and te ao Māori, is more comfortable with disagreement. When iwi chairs push back against Government policy, he can see their perspective even as he sticks to his guns. “Politics, whether or not it’s national politics or even iwi and Māori politics, can be very contentious. It can be a combat sport,” Potaka said. Luxon, on the other hand, strongly insists at every turn that there are no issues with the Crown-Māori relationship, that the Government has done nothing to harm it or harm Māori. Over the course of the day, ministers, iwi chairs and Opposition MPs were asked whether the Government was “anti-Māori”. The answers were what you might expect – many iwi leaders pointed to policies they labelled anti-Māori, Labour leader Chris Hipkins did likewise, and the Government rejected the accusation out of hand. “Look, you can ask different people. We certainly are absolutely positive on opportunities for Māori to thrive and succeed,” Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said, pointing to declining violent crime rates as one example. Māori are disproportionately likely to be victims of violent crime. Paul Goldsmith and Tama Potaka speak to media after meeting with the Iwi Chairs Forum. Photo: Marc Daalder Luxon, asked whether the Government was anti-Māori, said, “No, not at all. This is a Government that actually wants to see outcomes for Māori improve. A lot of our conversations with iwi leaders right from the formation of the Government have been about how do we actually do that together.” Pushed again on the issue, Luxon pointed to the Treaty Principles Bill – “Act’s Treaty Principles Bill”, although it was a Government bill developed by the Ministry of Justice – as the source of any division. The rest of it, from removing te reo Māori from most school readers to amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area Act to restrict Māori foreshore and seabed claims (an issue the Iwi Chairs Forum has backed a legal challenge to) were not anti-Māori, in Luxon’s view. No Prime Minister would concede their Government has adopted anti-Māori policies. But there’s value in acknowledging, as Potaka has, that that is a view held by many in te ao Māori. Otherwise, the 89 iwi representatives who spent two hours asking questions and airing their concerns might think they hadn’t been heard at all. As with the meeting overall, iwi leaders came away with different perspectives as to whether the Government had listened to them. Aperahama Edwards, chair of Ngāti Wai, said people “felt heard and the opportunity was there for them to be able to present things that are top of mind to our people”. It was conciliatory from the man who twice confiscated Act leader David Seymour’s microphone stand during his speech at last year’s Waitangi pōwhiri for MPs. At the same time, Edwards said, “There’s still a lot of pain. Our people are hurting. We’re mindful of that. But there’s also a calm here as well and an optimism at the thought of what sort of change might be coming.” Perhaps that was a wink towards the coming election. Tipa, too, said he was conscious that politicians would be hoping to earn Māori votes through their performances and promises at Waitangi – an echo of a warning delivered by Kiingitanga spokesperson Tuku Morgan at Rātana last month. “It is an election year and we must be aware of the desire of all political parties to seek power. The real proof will be in the pudding post-November,” Tipa said. Ngāi Tahu chair Justin Tipa said politicians were hoping to rustle up votes at Waitangi. Photo: Sam Sachdeva Partially in acknowledgement of the possibility that the Prime Minister could be a different Christopher come next Waitangi, the Iwi Chairs Forum took the unusual step of meeting with representatives of the Opposition on Tuesday. Those in attendance included Hipkins as well as, surprisingly, Minister Shane Jones, “who seems to have joined the Opposition when it comes to these things these days,” the Labour leader riffed. Overall, Hipkins said, the hui was “very constructive” and “focused on the future”. While some iwi leaders were hopeful for a change of Government, he said, others were dedicated to working well with the Crown regardless of which party was in power. A more public gauge of Māori attitudes towards the Government will be visible on Thursday, during the political pōwhiri. Already, some activists have pledged to disrupt the event. And even if all goes according to plan, speakers on the hau kāinga side have been blistering in their criticism in the past. Luxon escaped some of that attention last year by spending Waitangi week at Ōnuku Marae in Akaroa. Here, he (alongside Seymour and Winston Peters) will face the full brunt of it. And while many iwi leaders are conscious that National itself is not driving many of the policies they are most troubled by, they’re equally conscious that Luxon is the Prime Minister and the buck stops with him. Last February at Ōnuku, Tipa challenged Luxon to show leadership and rein in the more divisive elements of his coalition. Asked on Wednesday whether the Prime Minister had met that challenge, the Ngāi Tahu leader was diplomatic: “I think the current political climate with the three way party coalition has been challenging, and I think there’s always room where the Government can do better.”