Te Pāti Māori File For Divorce From The Crown – The Maori Party

Te Pāti Māori are calling to remove the British royal family as head of state, and move Aotearoa to a Te Tiriti o Waitangi based nation.

“The only way this nation can work is when Māori assert their rights to self-management, self-determination, and self-governance over all our domains. Our vision is for constitutional transformation that restores the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua in this country” says Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“If you look at our founding covenant as a marriage between tangata whenua and the Crown, then Te Tiriti is the child of that marriage. It’s time tangata whenua to take full custody of Te Tiriti o Waitangi from the Crown” says co-leader Rawiri Waititi

“This won’t mean the Crown is off the hook. If a couple gets divorced, you don’t lose responsibility for your child. This will be an opportunity to reimagine a more meaningful and fulfilling partnership, between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti.

“Our Mana Motuhake policy is a revolutionary plan that sets out how this can be achieved. This would include establishing a Māori Parliament and implementing all Matike Mai recommendations for constitutional transformation. We would also overhaul the Treaty Settlement process and return land to whānau, hapū and iwi” says Ngarewa-Packer.

“Te Tiriti is the foundation of a living, evolving relationship between tangata whenua and the Crown. ‘Full and final’ settlements is not what Te Tiriti is about – Te Tiriti was signed BEFORE it was breached. Tangata whenua had tino rangatiratanga BEFORE the Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“We are here to be an unapologetic voice for a Te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa. To rebalance the scales of power in a Aotearoa and realise the partnership that was envisaged by our tupuna, tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti, in Te Tiriti o Waitangi” says Waititi.

“There is an new generation of tangata whenua and Tangata Tiriti who recognise that being forced to work within the system does not suit our struggle for mana motuhake. We are here to dismantle this system” says Waititi.