Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will not attend Waitangi at all next year

The Prime Minister has confirmed he will not attend Waitangi at all next year.

Christopher Luxon says senior representatives of the government will attend events across the country, including Waitangi, but he has chosen to take part in commemorating it elsewhere.

That means Luxon will not attend government talks with the Iwi Chairs Forum on 4 February, and will not be there for the annual political talks on 5 February.

On Monday he would not confirm to reporters whether he was attending the commemorations in Northland, prompting the chair of the Waitangi National Trust Pita Tipene to urge him to accept the invitation.

Tipene confirmed on Thursday the prime minister had called him personally to let him know he would not be attending - but it did not make him feel any less disappointed.

"I'm still of the opinion that kāwanatanga and rangatiratanga need to have conversations, as heavy and as challenging as those conversations may get.

"I would have liked to have seen him at Waitangi 2025 to lead those discussions and be accountable for the position that he holds as the top executive in our government."

Pita said it was a time for the government to meet Māori face-to-face.

"Everybody is talking about the Treaty Principles Bill. We know that ACT is pushing [it] but nonetheless, this is a coalition government, and all government leaders need to front.

"What he's missing out on is the conversation, he's missing out on the vibe, but, moreover, he and the government are missing out on the leadership that is required to build nationhood - that's what I'm disappointed with."

He said the opening of the meeting house - Te Whare Rūnanga - was attended by the likes of Sir Apirana Ngata in 1940 to mark 100 years since the signing of the Treaty.

"They were the leaders who constructed that whare to ensure that the Treaty House, that had been there for over 100 years, had the whare to represent all of the iwi of the motū to have conversations about Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

"It is going to be very disappointing that the prime minister will not be there," Tipene said.

Tipene told RNZ on Tuesday the trust's kaupapa saw Waitangi as "the enduring symbol of nationhood".

"What we're clear about is that a promise was made at Waitangi on the 6th of February 1840. Therefore, discourse or conversations need to continue.

"Over the last few years, everyone comes to Waitangi. Why would the prime minister not come?"

Tipene said while things had the potential to get "volatile", Waitangi commemorations were safe environments.

Luxon has confirmed he will attend Rātana celebrations in January, but has ruled out going to any of the set-piece calendar events in Waitangi in February.

"It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different iwi," Luxon said.

"I have been in Waitangi the last two years, including in my first year as prime minister, so next year I have decided to head to another part of the country.

"Waitangi Day is of national importance, and I am keen to join New Zealanders celebrating it in other regions."

'Cowardly behaviour - Te Pāti Māori

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Luxon was a coward for not fronting at Waitangi next year.

"Fronting up is a real Aotearoa thing. I think every culture across Aotearoa respects the fact that you front up and you wear it.

"What we've seen from Chris Luxon is cowardly behaviour.

"It's going to kill me to say this, but Winston stands by Winston, and we know what to expect from ACT - but Chris has continuously shown that he has absolutely no long-term relationship, respect or view for the unity of Aotearoa.

"He's here for a short term, he's here for the economic, short-term gains, and then he's out."

Ngarewa-Packer said Luxon's reasoning for not attending was "a cop out" and believed he had actually decided against going to Waitangi because he was under pressure.

"Is he really doing this to be regionally available, which is doable, or is he doing this because the heat is on him from his own right-wing players and funders?

"Even when you make decisions that a whole lot of us can't stand, you still front because you still represent a lot of those people.

"We still need to know as the prime minister that you still represent those who didn't vote for you."

Seymour commits to Waitangi 2025

ACT leader David Seymour had committed to going to Waitangi and said at this stage Luxon's absence would not change those plans.

Seymour told RNZ he would consider a proposal from Luxon to go elsewhere on Waitangi Day if it was suggested the three coalition parties did so together.

Labour's Māori caucus co-chair Willie Jackson called the prime minister "pathetic" for deciding not to attend.

"I don't know if I'd call him a coward, I'd just say it's a little bit pathetic he's going down this track."

Jackson said both Waitangi and te ao Māori expected the prime minister to front.

"Prime ministers should be in Waitangi for the main couple of days up there, and I don't care if it's a Labour or National one, that's our national day and the Prime Minister should always front instead of coming up with weak-kneed excuses."

The decision was a step backwards for Māori-Crown relations, he said.

"It's a real worry, given the long relationships we have with iwi.

"No doubt David Seymour will be turning up, and I believe Winston Peters is turning up - he clearly can't find it in himself to front Māoridom, and that's a shame because that's the nation on show, that's where all our iwi leaders are, and they'll be rightly disappointed, as we are."

Jackson said the whole point of moving the political talks from Te Tii Marae to the upper Treaty Grounds was to take a lot of the heat out of the day.

"He may well have been given advice that there's concerns up there, but everyone is given that type of advice every year, and we've had no problems since 15 years ago with Helen Clark."

Even then, he said, Clark fronted after passing legislation around the seabed and foreshore, which he said took courage.

"He should show some courage now instead of taking this pathetic sort of out."

To Seymour's credit, Jackson said at least he is fronting up.

'Running away from problems of his own creation' - Hipkins

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Luxon was "running away from problems of his own creation".

"This decision by Christopher Luxon shows that he is not willing to stand on his own track record, and defend the decisions his government is making... Christopher Luxon could easily do both - go up to Waitangi and join in some of the celebrations in the lead up to Waitangi Day and be part of the pōwhiri. He can then go and celebrate Waitangi Day elsewhere."

His choosing not to showed he was "not willing to honour the Treaty of Waitangi despite his claims he would", Hipkins said.

Former prime ministers Sir John Key, Sir Bill English, and Helen Clark also decided to stay away from Waitangi and Te Tii marae in the past over issues around speaking rights.

Since 2018, however, the political talks have moved away from the controversial Te Tii Marae and have been held at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which is seen as a more neutral environment.

Key did not attend the Iwi Chairs Forum, political talks, or Waitangi dawn service in 2016 and in 2017 English went to Waitangi to meet iwi chairs but did not stay on beyond that.

Luxon said his talks with iwi chairs on Thursday morning were a "positive and productive discussion".

"There are a number of areas where the government and Māori are already working together, for example in health, housing, infrastructure and climate adaptation.

"There is a lot of great work being done by iwi throughout the country and there are many opportunities for us to work together and do so much more."

Details of where the prime minister will spend Waitangi Day will be announced closer to the time.

Minister for Māori-Crown relations and Māori development Minister Tama Potaka has already committed to going to Waitangi.

"As you know, I'm pretty committed to the kaupapa, the whakapapa, and the kotahitanga that comes with Waitangi," Potaka said earlier in the week.

Potaka said he was certain Waitangi would deliver robust conversation next year, but noted the peaceful nature of the recent hīkoi to Parliament.

"There's a real sense of pride, whakahīhī you might call it, but also commitment to kaitiakitanga [guardianship] that many of the engagements have had.

"I was really enthused by the level of rangimārie or peacefulness at the hīkoi recently. That was absolutely outstanding and a credit to those people who led that."

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