There is an imminent need, now more than ever that Māori have a voice who solely prioritises their aspirations and their needs and that is unapologetic about doing so. The Māori Party is the only party who can do that.
― Rawiri Waititi.
Rawiri Waititi (c. 1980) is a New Zealand politician and the current co-leader of the Māori Party as of 2020.
Political career[]
On October 28, 2020, Waititi took the position as co-leader of the Māori Party, succeeding his father-in-law, John Tamihere. Waititi then performed a waerea in protest to the allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II without reference to the Waitangi treaty of 1840, which recognized Māori ownership of lands in New Zealand prior to the land wars before his speech was unfairly declined by Speaker Trevor Mallard.
Over the following months, Waititi offered negotiations for sixteen prisoners at Waikeria Prison, who were allegedly suffering from inhumane conditions. Waititi stated that the prisoners deserve better treatment and that they belong to whanau.
On February 9, 2021, Waititi was ejected from parliament for refusing to wear a necktie, which he described as a "colonial noose" and instead wore a hei-tiki tie, which he claimed was Māori business attire. Waititi protested against the rule of wearing ties in parliament until Mallard abolished the policy.
On May 12, Waititi argued against Judith Collins' proposition of a Māori Health Authority, accusing her of racism and sought to raise a point of order for self-determination of indigenous rights. Speaker Mallard denied his point of order, to which Waititi performed a haka in protest, resulting in him being ejected from parliament, while being accompanied by Māori Party politicians Ngarewa-Packer and Teanau Tuiono.
In October, Waititi criticized the New Zealand government for eliminating their previous elimination strategy against COVID-19 and stated that the new COVID-19 Protection Framework is insufficient in providing Māori people protection.
Since February 15, 2022, Waititi voted in favor of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Act, which provided safety zones for abortion providers. Waititi has also supported the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act, which banned conversion therapy, which Waititi described as being based on colonial ideologies that were foreign to Māori people.
In March, 2022, Waititi supported the Russia Sanctions Act in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while also pointing out the New Zealand government's failure to condemn the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan in addition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.