On 9 August, Pita Tipene, on behalf of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, made an oral submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Select Committee on the NZ-EU FTA:
“Only the Crown was at the table negotiating matters of major significance to Māori, including protection of our duties, responsibilities, rights and interests, and the Crown’s obligations, under Te Tiriti. That is not the rangatiratanga/kawanatanga relationship Te Tiriti o Waitangi envisaged”
Presented alongside the submission was an independent Tiriti o Waitangi assessment of the NZ-EU FTA prepared by Ngā Toki Whakarururanga.
Te Puni Kōkiri and Ngā Toki Whakarururanga
Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, with the support of a grant from Te Puni Kōkiri’s Te Pae Tawhiti fund, is developing four projects to build on existing relationships and analysis in the areas of:
- Hua Parakore, Kai Atua, and the intersection between Free Trade Agreements, Organics, and GMOs, alongside Te Waka Kai Ora;
- Māori Data Sovereignty and and Māori Data Governance, alongside the Data Iwi Leaders Group, among others;
- The Protection of Rongōa Māori, while developing authentic export opportunities, alongside Donna Kerridge and Rongōa practitioners;
- The Protection of Māori Intellectual Property, such as music, writing, and kapa haka, in Free Trade Agreements.
As of now, our Hua Parakore and Māori Data projects are underway, with the others to commence soon.
Get Involved
Please reach out to us if you are interested in being part of any of the projects.
Digital and environmental challenges in free trade policy
As part of our education role, we have started running Trade and Te Tiriti 101 webinars on topics of importance to Māori, presented by our pūkenga Jane Kelsey. The first three were on Digital Trade; Te Taiao, the Climate Crisis and Investment Agreements; and Te Taiao, the Climate Crisis and FTAs. You can access them with the link below. If you are interested in alerts to future webinars please email ngatokiwhakarururanga@gmail.com with your areas of interest.
Hāere Mai
A warm welcome to the newest member of our Kaihautū
Peter-Lucas Jones (Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kahu) . Peter-Lucas brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the Māori media and Māori data spaces to Ngā Toki Whakarururanga and we hope to draw on his expertise as we move forward.