By Elishya Perera
AUCKLAND (CWBN)_The Māori Party is pushing for the parliamentary oath swearing allegiance to the Queen, to be changed so as to acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi.
Minutes after taking their oath, the two co-leaders of the Party said that they would issue a wero (a challenge) to change the oath in such a manner that it acknowledges the treaty.
The MPs are required by law to pledge their allegiance to the New Zealand’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, as well as her heirs and successors, and they may swear the oath either on a Bible or other document.
Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi pointed out that the oath “keeps our people on bended knee to a sovereign who we never gave sovereignty to”.
He added that he has no problem with the Queen herself, but noted that it was unfair to swear an oath to one part of the Treaty, namely the Crown, but not to the other, the Māori people.
Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement formed between the British Crown and Māori chiefs in 1840, according to which, the Māori community ceded the sovereignty of New Zealand to Britain, gave the Crown an exclusive right to buy lands they wish to sell, and, in return, they were guaranteed full rights of ownership of their lands, forests, fisheries and other possessions. The Treaty also gives Māori the rights and privileges of British subjects.
The agreement is not considered part of New Zealand’s domestic law, except where its principles are referred to in Acts of Parliament.
Back in 2011, Former Māori Party and then Mana MP Hone Harawira was kicked out of the House for swearing an oath to the Treaty, following which, the Party put up a bill to change the oath. However, it was not successful.
Following the recent calls for change in the oath, Speaker Trevor Mallard said he was open to the idea, but pointed out that it would require a change in law. He added that the current oath sits within a whole group of other things from the New Zealand’s Constitution, and that changing it would require consideration of whether or not the Queen is the head of state. “If she is to be the Head of State, we have got to have something that acknowledges her,” he said.
