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Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka admits he needs to “get out there” and understand the concerns surrounding the Treaty Principles Bill and other Government work “a little bit better”.

On Monday, a submitter on the Treaty Principles Bill told Parliament’s justice select committee that Māori were tired of having to constantly defend themselves and their ways of life against Government policy. He described this as “cultural defence fatigue”.

The submitter’s remarks were put to Potaka on Tuesday. Potaka said there was “genuine pain and disappointment” at the pace of travel of some of the Government’s work.

“I think that I have a lot of aroha for those concerns but also, I need to get out there and understand the concerns a little bit better.”

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka admits he needs to “get out there” and understand the concerns surrounding the Treaty Principles Bill and other Government work “a little bit better”. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said the bill had contributed to an “absolute diverse and rigorous and comprehensive response” to some of the drivers of the bill and the importance of ensuring that the Treaty / Te Tiriti was recognised as a founding document.

Potaka also said there was a need to ensure equality of opportunity and equal citizenship – “neither of which is achieved by this bill”.

Tama Potaka (second left) with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Winston Peters, Shane Jones and David Seymour at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Act leader David Seymour is the architect of the bill, which proposes replacing the many Treaty principles developed over decades by the courts and Waitangi Tribunal with three new ones determined by Parliament.

National and Act’s other coalition partner NZ First have said, including at recent Ratana and Waitangi Day commemorations, they would only support the bill to first reading, meaning it is unlikely to become law.

‘Cease and desist’

Speaking to the justice select committee on Monday, Rahui Papa of the National Iwi Chairs Forum, asked MPs why “more time, energy and resource” was being applied to this bill if NZ First and National had already stressed publicly it was “dead duck on the water”.

“We say that there has been enough time, energy and resource that has been wasted on this conversation. That actually pou tangata call for a bipartisan cease and desist because this is going to be pivotal conversation.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Kīngitanga spokesman Rahui Papa hongi at the annual Rātana celebrations near Whanganui. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Rawiri Wright, the co-chair of Te Runanga Nui o Nga Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa, which represents 66 kura kaupapa nationally, said Māori were feeling “cultural defence fatigue”.

“[Pākehā] will never have an inkling of the enormity of loss we Māori have experienced. The trauma is real. Intergenerational transmission of trauma is real,” he told the committee.

“There is another social phenomenon which is equally real for Māori and I refer to it as cultural defence fatigue.”

Several opposing submitters have told the committee that they felt obliged to submit, even though the bill was unlikely to become law, because they feared their silence may be taken as agreement.

“We are tired of having to constantly defend ourselves and our way of life against issues such as this and what this current Government is inflicting upon us,” Wright said.

“But as we have done since the Pākehā arrived in Aotearoa, we will endure.”

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.