Co-governance “is expressed when we sing the national anthem, when the All Blacks do the haka, when our media people greet us with ‘Kia ora’, and when our mokopuna come home from school and sing us a new waiata they’ve been taught.” — Te Huia Bill Hamilton.
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“Once the manager found out who Julian really was, she rang him back, told him that this was a Māori business and to go hither and fornicate with himself, or words to that effect.” — Denis O’Reilly on the anti-co-governance roadshow.
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“There is an unfortunate sort of baiting that’s going on at the moment that isn’t going to take us forward as a country. It’s using Māori as a political punching bag. I hate that style of politics.” — Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
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“All we’re asking for is a world in which Māori make our own decisions about our own lives, the government makes its own decisions about its people’s lives, and we sit together and make decisions on matters that relate to us both.” — Professor Margaret Mutu.
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“Rather than just talking about power-sharing as compliance with our obligations, I think we should be talking about how it creates a real opportunity to get better solutions for the crises we face.” — Dr Carwyn Jones.
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“There is a history of recognising the particular rights of Māori in this country, but I don’t believe giving Māori something necessarily takes anything away from the rest of us.” — Local government minister Kieran McAnulty.
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“I think we’re at a really interesting period in colonial history in New Zealand, where people are going to have to take stances more and more on what they believe in and where they stand.” — Rob Campbell.
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“To have a constitutional conversation, you’ve got to rip your heart open and say: ‘These are the values that we have, these are the things that are important to us. How shall we make them work together?’’’ — Te Huia Bill Hamilton, Treaty educator.
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“Times have changed, but the debate over the co-governance of water has highlighted how far we have to go in local government, and how the allergy to genuine power sharing is still widespread.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“We want safe drinking water, reliable stormwater systems and clean beaches. Doing nothing is not an option.” And also: “Why give in to racism?” — Simon Wilson on Three Waters.
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“Getting Māori land back is not going to happen by magic. It’s not going to happen by other people’s generosity. It’s only going to happen by our own straight-out determination and persistence.” — Robyn Bargh on the return of hapū land.
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“A decade of my life was spent on Treaty settlements. I think many people would be a lot more sympathetic toward the notion of co-governance if they learned the things that I was able to learn as a public official in that role.” — Chris Finlayson, former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.
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