Friday, 27 September 2019
MATANGIREIA
WITH MORGAN
GODFERY
He kokonga
whare, e kitea;
He kokonga ngakau, e kore e kitea.
E rere ana ngā mihi ki ngā kaitōrangapū o mua.
I whakairia e rātou ngā korero ki ngā pakitara o Matangireia.
Tēnā koutou katoa
A compelling new RNZ / NZ On Air video and podcast series was launched at Parliament last night by Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development.
In this six-part series, acclaimed
political writer and commentator Morgan Godfery conducts
frank interviews with six former Māori MPs: Hon Dame
Tariana Turia, Metiria Turei, Hon Sandra Lee, Hon Tuariki
Delemere, Hon Tau Henare and Marama Fox.
Produced and directed by journalists Annabelle Lee-Mather and Mihingarangi Forbes, the series takes its name from Parliament’s former Māori Affairs Committee room ‘Matangireia’ which was built in 1922. It is also where the series was filmed.
Lee-Mather said it was fitting that the series was recorded in a room that holds such a significant place in the history of Māori politics.
“Every time you walk into Matangirea you can feel the weight of history. Not only is it a beautiful space, the room itself exudes its own mana.”
The series provides new and compelling insights into the most challenging moments of six political careers, with the former politicians opening up about their darkest days and their moments of triumph. They also discuss the difficulties of transitioning to life after politics.
Forbes said it was a privilege to be trusted with these stories.
“We were really pleased with the level of candour each politician approached the interview with. I think there’s something in each episode that will surprise the audience and we feel very fortunate to have been able to capture their reflections on some of the major events that have shaped Aotearoa in recent times.”
Lee-Mather said she hopes the series will provide a better understanding of the challenges Māori face in Parliament.
“The weight of expectation placed on Māori MPs is really incomparable to that of their tauiwi colleagues. They’re sent to Parliament carrying the aspirations of their whānau, hapū and iwi and that includes righting some of the wrongs past generations of Māori have suffered so they are under huge pressure to deliver.”
While most were enjoying life after politics, others surprisingly expressed a strong desire to return to parliament to finish what they started.
Matangireia
Host: Morgan Godfrey
(Ngāti Awa, Lalomanu)
Writer and trade unionist Morgan Godfery is one of the most high profile political commentators in Aotearoa. Godfery was still at university when he began his popular Maui Street political blog and soon found himself appearing across a range networks.
Although he is no stranger to the screen, Matangireia sees Godfery taking on hosting duties for the first time, but his remarkable knowledge of New Zealand politics made it a seamless transition. Godfery has a law degree from Victoria University and politics is in the whakapapa. His paternal grandfather was a cabinet minister in Samoa and he grew up in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau where he saw first-hand the legacy of Rogernomics.
“Growing up in Kawerau, you can’t help but be politicised. I think, if you see poverty around you, and you see the consequences of the economic reforms of the 1980s and the 1990s, you can’t help but notice that the situation is unfair. And then you make the connection that someone’s responsible for it.”
Godfery is currently writing a book for Bridget Williams Books on the history of protest in New Zealand.
EPISODE ONE: METIRIA TUREI
Former Green Party
co-leader Metiria Turei spent 15 years in parliament where
she championed social justice issues such as child poverty
as well as treaty issues. She rose through the ranks as a
list MP to lead the Green Party, becoming one of te ao
Māori’s most respected and trusted politicians. Turei
reflects on her time in Parliament including the 2017
election campaign which ultimately cost her political
career.
EPISODE TWO: HON DAME TARIANA TURIA
Former Māori Party
co-leader Hon Dame Tariana Turia became a symbol of Māori
resistance in 2004 when she crossed the floor to vote
against the Labour Government over the controversial
foreshore and seabed legislation. She went onto forge a new
relationship with the National Party that saw the
realisation of her platform policy Whānau Ora. Turia opens
up about the dark days of the foreshore and seabed, the
birth of the Māori Party and her aspirations for
Māori.
EPISODE THREE: HON TUARIKI
DELAMERE
Hon Tuariki
Delamere had never been a politician, but when he entered
parliament with New Zealand First in 1996 he was immediately
promoted to the position of cabinet minister. Delamere
served in New Zealand’s very first coalition government
with National and New Zealand First, but the relationship
was ultimately doomed and quickly fell apart. He reflects on
his tumultuous three years in Parliament.
EPISODE
FOUR: HON SANDRA LEE
When
former Mana Motuhake leader Hon Sandra Lee entered
parliament in 1993 as part of the Alliance, she became the
first Māori woman to win a general electorate. She went on
to become a cabinet minister in the Labour Alliance
coalition government of 1999 before retiring in 2001. She
looks back on the challenges of job, the loss of her
political mentor Hon Matiu Rata and the realities of Māori
political movements under MMP.
EPISODE FIVE:
HON TAU HENARE
Hon Tau
Henare’s time in parliament spans two decades but his
family’s political heritage stretches back nearly a
century. A former Minister of Māori Affairs, Henare first
entered Parliament in 1993 as Winston Peter’s right-hand
man in the newly formed New Zealand First, and retired in
2014 as a list MP for the National Party in 2014. He opens
up about the fateful decision to join the ill-fated National
Party, New Zealand First coalition, the personal cost of
politics and life after parliament.
EPISODE SIX:
MARAMA FOX
She came to
parliament in 2014 like a bolt from the blue. Former Māori
Party co-leader Marama Fox spent just three years in
Parliament but made a big impression. The mother of nine
from Masterton became known for her no-holds-barred approach
to politics and quickly became a darling of the press
gallery. But the Māori Party’s relationship with National
and Jacinda-mania prematurely ended Fox’s political
career. She reflects on the fall of the Māori Party and the
challenges of life in the public eye.
ends