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TRANSCRIPT
A sitting week in New Zealand's parliament... the parliament building, popularly known as the Beehive, is buzzing.
Two months from a federal election, polls show support for the Labour government is slipping.
But minor parties are enjoying a boost in popularity.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is the co-leader of Te Pati Maori, leading a push for constitutional transformation:
" It means what Aotearoa would have looked like had our natural development not been interfered with, had the Treaty of Waitangi been honoured. And what it looks like is that we live in harmony, we live with dignity, side by side. Maori being able to assert our tino rangatiratanga (independence, autonomy), our mana motuhake, our self determination."
New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed in 1840.
The Treaty is an agreement, in Maori and English, that was made between the British Crown and about 540 Maori rangatira, or chiefs.
However, the English and Maori versions of the Treaty are not exact translations.
The biggest difference is the word ‘sovereignty’,which was translated as ‘kawanatanga’ meaning 'governance'.
In 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was set-up to enable a process for addressing historical wrongs.
More than 2000 claims have been lodged with the tribunal since then, and a number of major settlements reached, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Andrew Little is the minister responsible for Treaty Negotiations.
"The Crown's conduct has been pretty appalling, actually, historically. So the process of reconciling that, understanding it, knowing that it's happened, the crown accepting it, and then negotiating redress, is it's been an absolutely critical path to the crown, restoring its own kind of 'mana' or respect or status in New Zealand and it's been a very important process to go through."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, committing to Labor's promise of Voice, treaty and truth during his election night victory speech at the last election said ‘I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart in FULL’, to rapturous applause.
That's become a political sticking point in recent weeks, such as in this exchange between the LNP's Sussan Ley and Labour's Linda Burney
SUSSAN LEY: Does the Minister for Indigenous Australians support a treaty with financial compensation?
LINDA BURNEY: Progress on Makarrata will not occur until after the referendum. Our priority is constitutional recognition through a Voice.
State-based treaties are already underway in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Victoria with proponents, looking to New Zealand for advice.
Andrew Little again:
"They want to know what the journey looks like, and I think to a large extent what it feels like. Because it's uneven. There are people who get anxious about it. There are people who think that somehow some greater privilege has been conferred on Indigenous people. It is not. It's about restoring their place and their standing that they always had before settlers arrived."
As well as a Treaty, there are seven designated Maori seats in New Zealand’s parliament, with those MPs elected by Maori constituents who can choose to vote on a separate electoral roll.
It’s not a Voice to parliament… so much as Voices in it.
These New Zealand citizens are fully supportive of the aims of the Treaty of Waitangi.
FIRST WOMAN:"Without it I'd hate to think where we would be."
SECOND WOMAN:"The land that that government is built on is Indigenous land. Why shouldn't they have a Voice?"
Australia and New Zealand have very different histories.
But as the referendum on an Indigenous Voice approaches, both Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Andrew Little offer reflections on New Zealand's path towards reconciliation. First, Ms Ngarewa-Packer:
"Even though the Treaty is not honoured to the extent that it should be in Aotearoa. It is the threshold that we aim for. And if you keep your threshold low, on how you're going to treat each other, then that becomes not aspirational at all."
And Andrew Little:
"People will feel anxious, people will feel uncomfortable, people will be asked to kind of step outside their comfort zone. That's what the process of reconciliation,n of national reconciliation feels like. But it's nothing to fear. It is important to be engaged in the debate."
The debate, meanwhile, rages on, at home.
