Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi has called out the Prime Minister for considering not attending Waitangi Day next year.
Waititi told RNZ, Luxon skipping on the annual recognition of the treaty would show he “has no balls”, adding he’d be a “drop-nuts”.
Despite receiving invitations from multiple iwi around the country, Luxon has yet to decide whether he will attend the event.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins believes he should show up to face the backlash over government policies affecting Māori, like ACT's controversial Treaty Principles Bill - which sparked a nationwide hīkoi in protest of the Bill.
"When you're doing something that's controversial, that's upset a lot of people, it's more important than ever that you show up and talk about it," Hipkins said via RNZ.
However, Labour MP Willie Jackson thinks they should proceed with caution when making the decision to attend, backing concerns it might be “unsafe”.
While not confirming where the information came from, Jackson claims he heard "off the grapevine that they're very worried about the safety of some of the MPs".
“I can understand why they’re worried, that's why they're probably taking their time” Jackson added, acknowledging that Māori are angry about the government’s policies.
While he says the majority of people at Waitangi will be fine, he warned that emotions are high after the hīkoi last month.
"Māori are angry, Māori are furious, and we saw that with the hīkoi, but at least it was a very peaceful hīkoi but if I was part of the government I'd be worried going up there too."
Waititi wasn’t having any of it and thinks suggesting Māori spaces are unsafe was unhelpful.
It's not helpful and I don't agree - I haven't heard anything like that.
He called out the claims as damaging and unnecessary, insisting that the idea that Māori spaces are dangerous only fuels fear.
And hence, the comments made about Luxons, ahem, nuts.
National MP and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka confirmed he will be at Waitangi, but it’s ultimately up to the Prime Minister to decide whether he will attend.
