Te Pāti Māori: Government uses ‘scare tactics’ to discourage Budget Day protests

Te Pāti Māori has accused the government of using scare tactics to discourage people from taking part in protests due to take place across the country on Budget Day.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has warned that calls by the Toitū Te Tiriti movement for a strike on Thursday against government policies are illegal.

said Labor Party leader Chris Hipkins Morning report encouraged people to exercise their right to freedom of speech.

But he said calling it a “strike” suggests that people are being encouraged to stop working and that they can only do so under certain conditions.

Te Pāti Māori co-chair Rawiri Waititi told Mihingarangi Forbes on RNZ’s Mata podcast that Māori are eligible to participate.

Waititi said people wishing to disassociate from kaupapa must reaffirm their “rangatiratanga” and employers who penalize workers for participating will be dealt with accordingly.

“Look, if employers want to get into labor law, well, we can wrap you in the Bill of Rights, we can wrap you in human rights, we can wrap you in Tiriti violations, let’s let it go, but we’ve got to be brave enough and start preaching rangatiratanga.”

Co-chair Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the government’s focus on the word “strike” being illegal is an attempt to obscure the real kaupapa behind the nationwide call to action.

“If we stay in the weeds with this korero, if we are scared, then we will never, ever break with this racist agenda from the kāwana and how it treats our whānau, our whenua, yes, it is a challenge to our own way of thinking, but we must get up.”

Te Kaupapa – national activation #2

Te Pāti Māori and members of the Toitū Te Tiriti movement have issued their second ‘National Call to Action’, calling on tangata Whenua and tangata Tiriti to take part in a series of ‘activations’ across the country to mark Budget Day.

On RNZ MatWaititi said there would be hīkoi and rolling car blockades across the country to demonstrate Aotearoa’s unified response to what he described as “an attack on Māori for being Māori”.

He said the Government’s budget announcement would reflect the impact of the Government’s rapid dismantling of legislation upholding its Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

“We have a Pākeha government that will announce a Pākeha budget for the Pākeha economy. For far too long we have allowed them to have absolute sovereignty and governance over us, this must be put to an end.”

Māori and tangata Tiriti are being called on to strike for the day and demonstrate “the power of our Māori economy by completely disassociating from it.”

Waititi said the government continues to underestimate the strength of the brown economy.

“We are the ones who make the country’s tires roll. We are the people who work in these trucks, drive these buses, work in the ports, work in the airports, we are teachers, lawyers, doctors, nurses. We produce a large part of the country’s GDP.

Ngarewa-Packer said the Māori economy’s greatest asset was its people. She said the Toitū Te Tiriti movement is a “revolution” led by Generation T (the Tiriti generation).

“Our greatest advantage is that the majority of the Māori population is under the age of 40. This is our Māori economy that we have and we respect our taiao. This is our Māori economy, sustainable and innovative, this is our future.”

Rallies, hīkoi blockades and car rolls will take place at 29 locations across the country, with the hīkoi drive to Parliament House starting tomorrow in Wellington at noon.

Last December, thousands of people responded to the national call to action and Waititi believes the turnout will be even bigger this time.

Luxon has warned Te Pāti Māori and the Toitū Te Tiriti movement about the rhetoric they are using.

He said people were free to express their views, but a “strike” would be illegal.

ACT Party leader David Seymour described Toitū Te Tiriti as “a small group of people fantasizing about race”.

He told RNZ he saw nothing constructive from the move and remained focused on a budget for “all New Zealanders”.