Winston Peters has delivered a fiery speech at Waitangi, and many of those in attendance responded in kind by chanting e noho (sit down) at the Deputy Prime Minister.
The Government was welcomed onto Waitangi today, with plenty of passion on display on both sides.
Peters opened his speech by saying he was keeping it short as he had a meeting with ambassadors in a bid to advance NZ's economy and relations, prompting a smattering of boos.
He then fired up by saying there needed to be an end to the "hysteria" and "nonsese" around the Government's plans for Māori.
"You tell me whoever said we're getting rid of the Treaty of Waitangi. Stop the crap.
"Some of us have been fighting for land rights for decades and where were you?
“If you think separatism and division will take us to 2040, you’ve got another thing coming.”
He then told people to get an education, which promoted chants of "e noho" (sit down) from many of those in attendance.
His speech was followed by academic and lawyer Annette Sykes, who addressed ACT's David Seymour.
"David Seymour I want to talk to you from my Pākehā whakapapa, not my Māori one," she said.
"My father was a staunch catholic. He would never tinker with the testament of the bible. The 10 Commandments are what he lived by. He would never presume the audacity he had the ability to do that. But you Mr Seymour, who doesn't speak Māori and has had to let a woman speak today. You are putting forward a rewrite of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. You do it behind closed doors. Thank goodness. Who is the hero that leaked the document from the Ministry of Justice?"
She was referring to a leaked document - reported on by 1News - that warned the Government's proposed Treaty Principles Bill's key points were at odds with what the Treaty of Waitangi actually says.
A number of times those in attendance were reminded of tikanga and listening to a speaker they disagreed with.
ACT leader David Seymour followed Sykes and started his speech by saying: "I want to acknowledge some of the people and some of the things that have been said before talking about what I believe is the Government's vision for 2040."
He also took aim at comments by Labour MP Kelvin Davis, which referred to the Government as "spiders".
"I'm sorry to say, not even Donald Trump is calling his opponent's insects yet."
His speech ended amid protesters heckling and singing over him.
The crowd repeated the chorus of "Ngā Iwi e" over and over until he finished.
"See ya next year, we can't wait for this debate to continue," he concluded.
Earlier ACT's Nicole McKee saw waiata sung over the end of her speech as people expressed their disagreement to what she had to say.
Later Ngāpuhi's Mere Mangu would claim McKee as her whanaunga, making the connection from McKee reciting her pepeha at the start.
SHARE ME