As this issue of Ponsonby News goes to print, we have just received news about the passing of Hon. Nikki Kaye.
Only a few weeks ago, we were texting about supporting ambulance services on Aotea Great Barrier Island and we had been in frequent contact over the past few years about everything Auckland Central. She always made time and time again for people and put in the work to support them. She set the bar for what it meant to be an electorate MP and her legacy is one that centres the communities politicians serve, and values over partisanship, is especially worthy of crucial reflection right now. Moe mai rā, Nikki. We will miss you.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an incredible gift. It tells us so much about who we are, how we got here and what we can be if we treat each other and our planet well.
Aotearoa New Zealand is a deeply special place. What differentiates us from the rest of the world on the international stage is, proudly, unashamedly, celebratedly, Te Ao Māori. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s waka escorted Team New Zealand’s yacht to the start line at the America’s Cup and our All Blacks perform Ngāti Toa’s Ka Mate haka, composed back in 1820, 20 years before Te Tiriti was signed, both to immense international acclaim and national pride.
These are our collective taonga. But their rightful place in the spotlight cannot be taken for granted. When the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi, promising to look after its own subjects in peaceful cohabitation with Māori sovereignty (Tino Rangatiratanga), Māori outnumbered Pākehā 40 to one. The rest, unfortunately, is history, as the agreement was blatantly, violently dishonoured and the Crown stole land, language and culture.
Where we are today is a heroic story of resilience and revitalisation. Mainstream knowledge and use of te reo didn’t just happen. The survival of haka and waiata and the stories of this land are the direct result of staunch resistance in the face of attempts to completely annihilate what we now hold dear.
Tens of thousands of us marched across the Harbour Bridge in mid November, tracing the steps of those who peacefully protested during the foreshore and seabed debate 20 years earlier. The Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi has managed to galvanise and inspire the best of us. I see and feel and hear a country more unified and clear on who we are and who we want to be than I’ve ever felt in my lifetime. I was proud to march alongside the tens of thousands honouring Te Tiriti of Waitangi, many of whom were familiar faces from around the electorate. Mana whenua, teachers from our local schools and people of all backgrounds and ages marched together from Onepoto Domain over the Harbour Bridge which swayed with the sense of purpose and unity that held us all together.
Politics – power to make the decisions about our neighbourhoods, where our shared resources go and whose stories are heard and represented – belong to those who turn up. And no one makes those changes alone.
Everything meaningful that I’ve managed to achieve in my time as your local representative hasn’t been a one-person feat. Our campaign to save the St James took three years, on top of several years worth of work from many others. Expanding support for Māori Wardens and community patrols in the city centre took resolute collaboration between local and central government officials and elected representatives, businesses and residents. We are what we do. The standards we walk past are the standards we accept.
Many of us have been buoyed by the hope of the hīkoi, uniting tangata whenua and tangata tiriti. One of the many strengths of Auckland Central is our empathy and our care for each other.
I would like to acknowledge those who will work tirelessly over the holiday season to ensure we all stay safe. I hope you all have the opportunity to get out and enjoy the very best of what our electorate has to offer – our beautiful beaches, parks and local businesses that make Auckland Central what it is.
As your proud local MP, my electorate team and I are at the service of everyone in our community regardless of political persuasion and it has been our privilege to have assisted so many of you over the course of the last year. Here's to more good things for Auckland Central in 2025!
(Chlöe Swarbrick)
Chlöe Swarbrick, T: 09 378 4810, E: chloe.swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz www.greens.org.nz/chloe_swarbrick