Speech at the Waitangi Day Church Service
Date: 6 Feb 2003
Speaker: Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: St Lawrence Jewry, Gresham Street, London, UK
Rau Rangitira Ma
Tena Kotou
Tuatami Me Mihi
Ki Te Runga Rawa
Nana Nei Nga Mea Katoa
Tuarua Me Mihi
Ki Te Iwi
E Nga Mana, E Nga Waka, E Nga Reo
Tena Kotou, Tena Kotou, Tena Kotou, Katoa
I'm very happy to be with you today.
Particularly pleased, as this is the 75th anniversary of the New Zealand Society, a Society that has been very active in forging strong links between the UK and New Zealand - and providing wonderful opportunities for ex-pats to meet up and share memories of our wonderful country!
Of course, we are here to acknowledge and celebrate Waitangi Day, an important landmark in our country's history.
Like all landmarks, there are debates about its meaning and its implications for New Zealanders everywhere.
Every time February 6th comes round, many do ask the question: "have we got it right?", "how should we celebrate?", "what should we celebrate?" and some also ask: "isn't Waitangi Day more about commemorating than celebrating?"
Some would say 6 February was just one date amongst many that could represent New Zealand National Day.
In his recent speech on "When, if ever, did New Zealand become independent?", David Macintyre, the distinguished Commonwealth scholar, lists several significant landmark dates in the history of our country. Among them:
1852 - We were delivered a Constitution Act
1907 - We were accorded the title of 'Dominion'
1931 - We formally received independence under the Statute of Westminster
1945 - Even though we joined the UN as New Zealand in 1945, it was two years before the New Zealand government adopted the:
1947 - Statute of Westminster
1948 - And in 1948, New Zealand citizenship was defined
However, none of these landmarks can detract from events leading up to February 6, 1840, or what began on that day in the Bay of Islands.
As we are all too well aware, there is the ongoing dispute over the meaning within the first article of the Treaty of Waitangi, which ceded kawanatanga by the Maori to the Crown. The British translated kawanatanga as "sovereignty" over New Zealand in the English-language version of the Treaty. Maori, however, claim that the term in the Maori language version means "governorship".
The question also remains: "was there true agreement and understanding on whether land could be sold and thereafter cease to have relevance to the original occupiers?"
These issues are still subject to continued negotiations between the Government and the Maori. We all hope this debate, culminating in resolutions, no matter how long they take to reach, will be final. But our recent history shows "full and final settlement" is still considered by some to be open to re-interpretation and litigation.
As a consequence of this legacy of uncertainty, we have come to approach Waitangi Day with a degree of concern and even apprehension, though I'm pleased to say in many parts of New Zealand it is celebrated with great enthusiasm. This latter characteristic, to me, underpins the fact that people do want to acknowledge and celebrate being New Zealanders.
In the 1990-99 Government of which I was a member we hesitatingly talked about commemorating rather than celebrating Waitangi day. We were so aware of the sensitivities and the history of many Waitangi Days that we debated long and hard about who would go to Waitangi, when they would get there, what they would do and when they would leave.
As the Minister responsible for Waitangi Day over a 3 year period, I can categorically say one event was highly successful, one was average and one a total disaster, much to the delight of a disruptive minority and much to the anger and despair of others, both Maori and Pakeha. We the "manuhire" were never too sure what was going to happen, whether or not the Queen's representative was there.
But whilst we introduced to the Waitangi events the co-chairmanships of proceedings and the ministerial forum for open debate, what we found really valuable was putting into place a system of supporting local communities doing their own thing on February 6 and that is where we saw true celebratory activity. These became a mixture of the A&P show, a sports festival, a talent quest and competitions for local artists, resulting in a complete abandonment of formalities, and enjoyed by all, especially those in Porirua, Manakau, Wellington and O Kanes Bay on Banks Peninsular.
I believe New Zealanders do want to have a day we can call our own, a day on which we can reflect, recognise what was done, and why it was done, acknowledge the problems and recognise the concerns that have to be put right - all in a spirit of cooperation, partnership and togetherness.
We must work hard to achieve this, it will take forgiveness, it does require a generous spirit, it can only succeed with good, honest intentions.
We must also recognise the context within which we now seek to reconcile. New Zealanders with different standards of living all share our past history. We must have realistic expectations of holding that past to account.
The challenge is not to dispute the dates, rewrite the Treaty or just hope it will go away - and each of those ideas has its own band of followers - it is to recognise that by working together across the broad spectrum of issues and doing so with good intentions we can and will diminish the negatives that Waitangi Day currently exposes.
Those who were born in New Zealand see it as our country, our Turangawaewae, whether our antecedents had been there for 1000 years or 150 years or we are the children of Vietnamese, Somali or Iraqi refugees who came in the last 25 years.
People do want to belong. We all want to feel part of a family or extended family, part of a community we know is ours, to be part of a country we wish to be proud of, to cheer the national sports teams, to make a contribution to our country, and invest in its future.
Waitangi Day should be an occasion to celebrate what we all have in common as equal citizens who share the same rights and obligations. All New Zealand citizens should be proud of what they share as New Zealanders.
Unlike my generation, most of whom received a 1950s rather mono-cultural education, our children should know and respect our shared history. There were many events we can be exceptionally proud of - there are also events that should never have happened, they must be talked about. There must be reconciliation.
February 6 will work if people want it to work. Let's recognise that we have not got it quite right, but still have the determination to get it right. We must acknowledge that grievances can ultimately become a thing of the past and that ultimately a social structure should not be defined by race or those dominating in numbers.
For many of us living here in London, Waitangi and the Bay of Islands are a long way away from here.
Here we read of Iraq, North Korea, the Middle East or Zimbabwe, many headlines that not only make us pray for a more peaceful world, but remind us how lucky we are that life in the South West Pacific, remote as it seems, does have its compensation. Indeed, we must recognise how privileged and lucky we are to be from that part of the world.
New Zealand is our Turangawaewae and what happened on February 6th 1840 was a big step in our history. It helps define us as a people and that will never change.
Progress can only come by recognising that we all share a common purpose. And our common purpose is to build a society of opportunity and partnership, where all citizens can fulfil their true potential and contribute to the common good. Ultimately, and as always, this can only depend on "he tangata, he tangata, he tangata" - the people, the people, the people.
Kia Ora Tatou Katoa.
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Speech at the Waitangi Day Church Service
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