Jacinda Ardern was treated like royalty at Waitangi with people coming from near and far to see her every February. Newly minted Prime Minister Chris Hipkins isn’t a familiar face in the Far North and will have his work cut out this weekend, writes political editor Jo Moir.
Analysis: About 120 people gathered in Ohaeawai on Thursday morning to honour and recognise the sacrifice of Māori and British troops who fought there in June 1845.
Jacinda Ardern had been scheduled to attend – a commitment made months in advance – but the changing of the guard meant neither Ardern nor her successor made the trip and fewer than half of the 300 catered for actually showed up.
Exactly two weeks earlier Ardern had called time on the prime ministership and a few days later Chris Hipkins took over, but his attentions were elsewhere on Thursday.
He was in Auckland meeting with business owners and leaders impacted by the severe flooding.
READ MORE: * Hipkins picks his team, turns his focus to policy purge * Hipkins tours a water-logged Auckland
While his absence was understandable under the circumstances, it didn’t go unnoticed by Northland locals and there were raised eyebrows about what to do with the pre-ordered food that risked being wasted.
Waitangi and Te Tai Tokerau isn’t somewhere Hipkins would describe feeling at home.
While he’s attended Waitangi commemorations alongside his parliamentary colleagues for years, it’s not somewhere his previous ministerial portfolios have necessarily meant he’s needed to establish strong relationships or visit often.
Ardern has made a point of not coming north this year, despite still being an MP, because she wanted to clear the path for Hipkins and allow the focus to be solely on him.
Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis says that shows exactly how selfless Ardern is, and while Ngāpuhi is disappointed she won’t be at Waitangi there are already plans in the works to farewell her at some later point this year.
While Hipkins wasn’t there for the first official event of the government programme, plenty of other ministers were, and they’re the faces most recognised in this part of the country.
Treaty Negotiations Minister and newly appointed Defence Minister Andrew Little (who goes by Anaru Iti in the North to acknowledge his commitment to learning te reo Māori), Tourism and ACC Minister Peeni Henare (both he and Davis are sons of Ngāpuhi and the North), Justice Minister Kiri Allan, Climate Change Minister James Shaw, freshly-sworn in Conservation Minister Willow-Jean Prime (a daughter of Ngāpuhi and MP for Northland) and Davis were there to represent the Government.
Just along from them in the front row during the church service was former Labour Party MP and minister, and more recently, New Zealand First minister Shane Jones.
His name was mentioned early in the service and that was a good enough invite for Jones to take it upon himself to stand up and deliver the closing remarks with his usual bombastic style.
In 22 years, it will be the 200th anniversary of the Ohaeawai Battalion and Jones noted while Davis and he might not still be around to attend it, “rest assured I’ll meet you at the end of this year” he directed at the Labour ministers.
Jones isn’t afraid to use any platform, any time, any place to do a bit of politicking and on Saturday, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters will join him in the North.
Saturday evening is Jones’ annual Waitangi bash at his home near Kerikeri where MPs of all stripes, dignitaries, staff, and media gather and are treated to local kaimoana and hangi.
With New Zealand First looking for a comeback and sitting at about 4 percent in some recent polls, a sizeable number of both National and Labour MPs will no doubt attend to make sure relationships are intact for any potential future coalition talks.
Jones and Peters are expected to show up at the Upper Treaty Grounds at Waitangi on Sunday too, when MPs from across Parliament will be welcomed onto the marae before party leaders exchange their intentions and commitments to deliver for Māori.
But first the Government will face iwi chair leaders on Friday morning where reform of the Resource Management Act (RMA) and Three Waters are expected to be top of the agenda.
The co-governance aspects of Three Waters and more broadly across the Government’s work programme is a debate that has sucked up a lot of oxygen over the past year.
Iwi leaders will be looking to change the narrative, which currently has political opponents claiming Māori will receive preferential treatment under Labour’s plans to expand co-governance, which has resulted in much vitriol toward Māori.
Co-governance is set for a shake-up and a peeling back under Hipkins but what exactly it will look like, particularly in the case of Three Waters which the Government plans to push ahead with, remains to be seen.
Hipkins can expect to get some feedback and suggestions from iwi leaders on Friday.
It’s how the Prime Minister's received and presents himself over the next three days that will count, and how many remember his face and name after he’s left that matters even more.
But even higher on the agenda is RMA reform and housing.
Some iwi leaders are worried the reforms going through Parliament will impact already agreed Treaty settlements, and ministers will be coming armed with a response as to how that will be avoided.
Most of that will be left to the likes of David Parker, the minister responsible for RMA reform, Little, and Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson to explain.
Hipkins has a much bigger job to focus on – establishing connections with all iwi leaders, the people of Ngāpuhi, and the Far North more broadly.
Many of those who turn up to listen and offer advice to the Government are the same faces that have shown up every year for decades.
Hipkins will know some, and have heard of others, but in many cases will have no relationship at all.
The connections at Waitangi came easily to Ardern but she also put in a lot of time nurturing them – moving away from predecessors who turned up for just two days each year to instead fulfilling a week-long itinerary each February.
Hipkins is already on the back foot shortening his time but given the state of emergency in Auckland most will forgive that.
It’s how the Prime Minister is received and presents himself over the next three days that will count, and how many remember his face and name after he’s left that matters even more.
Labour currently holds six of the seven Māori seats and they’re important to the party, even more so in an election year destined to be a tight MMP race down to the wire.
If iwi think they’re not being heard they’ll look elsewhere, and the risk is they find a more familiar face.
