Te Pāti Māori says it was “tone-deaf and colour-blind” to acknowledge the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Waitangi Day, given the Crown’s role in “the degradation of the rights of tangata whenua for 182 years”.
On Wednesday, Parliament debated whether it should “congratulate Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty's accession to the Throne”.
Labour, National, the Greens, and ACT all voted in favour of the motion. Te Pāti Māori voted against it.
“This will come at no surprise to this House, or to [Māori Development Minister] Willie Jackson for that matter, that Te Pāti Māori absolutely refute this motion,” Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said.
“We were disappointed when the Prime Minister acknowledged the Queen's platinum jubilee on Waitangi Day.
“We believe it was tone-deaf and colour-blind to the degradation of the rights of tangata whenua for 182 years.”
It followed the party’s call on Waitangi Day to remove the British royal family as head of state.
“This is an opportunity to re-balance the scales of power in Aotearoa”, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said.
MPs from Labour, National, the Greens, and ACT, meanwhile, reflected on the Queen’s 70 years of service.
"This change in the world's geopolitical make-up is a strong reminder of the tremendous changes that have taken place in the world in the last 70 years, and through all of those years the Queen has stood as a model of service and unwavering dedication to her role,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
National leader Christopher Luxon said the Queen’s reign had “strengthened the role of a modern monarchy”.
Greens co-leader James Shaw said as the country reflected on 70 years, it should also look to the future.
“It is completely anachronistic to think that values and identity of 21st century New Zealand, a democratic nation, born of the Pacific, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, is best personified by an inherited monarchy from the opposite side of the planet, steeped in the history and values of feudal aristocracy and imperial colonialism.”
He said a debate over the country’s future constitutional arrangements was “overdue”.
ACT MP Nicole McKee praised the queen for “doing an exceptional and consistent job for the people”.
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