Kua nui aku taetanga atu ki Waitangi i roto i ngā tau, heoi i motuhake ake tēnei nā te mahi a te kāwanatanga hōu ki te takahi i te oroko tuhinga o Aotearoa, o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

I korā te mahi a te tangata ki Waitangi  i tēnei tau. I mārakerake te kite i te noho ngātahitanga a te Māori me te Pākehā ki te whakamana i Te Tiriti me te kaha hoki o te kaupare i a rātou o te kāwanatanga e ngana ana ki te whakaiti me te whakawehe. 

He hōnore nui te haere tahi ki a Greenpeace Aotearoa ki te whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Russel Norman, Fili Fepulea’i, Jess Desmond, Niamh O'Flynn and Emma Page of Greenpeace Aotearoa at Waitangi wearing Honour TeTiriti / Toitū Te Tiriti shirts.
Russel Norman, Fili Fepulea’i, Jess Desmond, Niamh O’Flynn and Emma Page of Greenpeace Aotearoa at Waitangi wearing Honour TeTiriti / Toitū Te Tiriti shirts.

Ko tā te tono a te Kāwanatanga he ngana ki te panoni i ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti, mōku ake me tū kotahi mātou me ngā tangata whenua kia kaupare i ngā pēhitanga o taua mahi.

Ko ngā wāhanga matua o te tono ā-pire nei i whākina, ā, kei roto ko ngā panonitanga a ngā ‘mātāpono’, e whakatauira ana i ngā atikara e toru o Te Tiriti, me te aha ka tangohia katoatia ngā pānga ki te Māori. Hei tā ngā āpiha o Te Manatū Ture, e taupatupatu ana te pire ki ngā tuhinga o Te Tiriti. Anei tā rātou i kī ai:

“Ka panoni Te Pire i te āhuatanga o ngā  te hononga ā-whakapapa me te mahitahi a te Karauna me te Māori ki tētahi anō hononga a te Karauna ki ngā kirirarau katoa o Aotearoa. Kāore tēnei e tautokohia ana e te wairua o Te Tiriti, e te kōrero o Te Tiriti rānei.”  

He tino hoki kōmuri rawa te tono kia tangohia ngā pānga o te Māori i Ngā Mātāpono o Te Tiriti. E noho ana tātou ki tētahi whenua i tāmihia kinotia, ko ngā whenua me ngā taonga i riro i te raupatu i ngā tāngata i noho ki konei. Kāore he ara whakamua ki te kore e whakamana i tēnei tūkinotanga me te ngana ki te mahi tahi i tētahi ara whakamua. Ko Te Tiriti te anga o taua haerenga. 

Ehara i te mea ohorere ko tēnei te kāwanatanga tino arokore ki te taiao i roto i ngā tau. Ko ngā mana e pēhi ana i te mana motuhake o ngā iwi taketake me ngā mōtika ki te tiaki i te taiao hei taonga, ko aua mana tonu e arokore ana ki te tiketiketanga o te taiao. Me te aha, he mea haere tahi te pakanga ki te tiaki taiao i te parahanga me ngā pakanga mō ngā mōtika o ngā iwi taketake. 

Mā te taenga atu ki Waitangi I tēnei tau i hiahia mātou kia whakaatu i te tū a Greenpeace ki te taha o te hunga e ngana ana ki te tiaki me te whakapūmau tonu i ngā hononga o Te Tiriti. I ētahi tau kua pahure ake nei i āpitihia e Greenpeace te taunakitanga mō Te Tiriti i roto i tō mātou turepapa, e tautoko tonu ana mātou i taua whakataunga.  

E whakahī pai ana mātou ki te pakanga tahi me Te Whānau a Apanui me ētahi atu hapū me ngā iwi ki te whakakore i te tūhura hinu i te hōhohu o te moana. E whakahī ana mātou ki te mahi tahi ki a Ngāti Ruanui me Ngā Rauru i roto i ngā kōti ki te mana te whakakore a te maina papamoana me te pārai i te whakawhānuitanga o te ahumahi whakahaumako i Taranaki. 

E maimoatia ana tō mātou hononga ki a Ngāti Kura hei kaitiaki o te tohu whakamaumahara o te Rainbow Warrior ki te moana o Matauri.

Ā, he maha noa atu ngā kōrero pakanga i tēnei take nui taioreore o te ahuarangi me te kanorau koiora e whai hononga ana mātou ki ngā iwi me ngā hapū o Aotearoa. 

I a koe ka tū pokowhiwhi ki te pokowhiwhi  ki te ārai i a Papatūānuku ka maumahara koe ki ngā tāngata i tū kotahi ki a koe.