Following their Waitangi Day call to remove the British royal family as head of state, Te Pāti Māori have today launched a petition that will bring their vision for constitutional transformation into reality.

“This is an opportunity to rebalance the scales of power in Aotearoa. To create an Aotearoa that respects the mana of papatūanuku and her descendants, and leaves no one behind”, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.

“The Crown are intent on ‘settling’ Te Tiriti because they are unwilling to honour it. What we’ve had until now is a one-sided relationship, completely defined by the Crown, that looks more like a dictatorship than a partnership. The Crown has failed in their duty of care to tangata whenua and I think Aotearoa is more than ready to relieve them of that duty”, said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

The petition calls on the New Zealand Parliament to;

1. Remove the British royal family as head of state; and

1. Create a Te Tiriti Centric Aotearoa through constitutional transformation

Te Pāti Māori’s Mana Motuhake sets out a blueprint for how constitutional transformation can be achieved, which would include establishing a Māori Parliament, and ending all ‘full and final’ Treaty Settlements, returning land to whānau, hapū and iwi.

A link to the petition can be found here.

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