Christopher Luxon says he has a “tight disciplined team”.
Photo: RNZ / Screenshot
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed he will return to Waitangi next week to meet with iwi, after opting to be elsewhere last year.
Luxon, however, will not stay up north for the national holiday itself, instead spending Waitangi Day at a community event in Auckland.
In a statement, a spokesperson said Luxon was looking forward to visiting and engaging with iwi about the recent weather response and work the government is doing to grow the economy.
Last year, Luxon observed Waitangi Day with Ngāi Tahu at Ōnuku Marae in Akaroa.
At the time, he said his intention was to celebrate the day around New Zealand, rather than in one location.
Luxon’s confirmation means all party leaders in Parliament will travel north next week.
ACT leader David Seymour said he intended to use the occasion to make clear that: “we are all equal and alike in dignity and have the same opportunity in this country, regardless of when our ancestors got here”.
Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka said Waitangi represented the font of kotahitanga.
“We go with an open heart… and some pretty strong convictions around what we need to do to get things like the economy back on track, and public services, but also with an absolute appetite to settle and implement Treaty claims.”
The recent RNZ-Reid Research poll showed 62 percent of people think it is at least somewhat important for the prime minister to be in Waitangi for Waitangi Day.
Previous prime ministers have adopted different approaches.
Chris Hipkins and Jacinda Ardern spent a considerable length of time up north in the days leading up to and including Waitangi Day.
John Key and Helen Clark, however, adjusted their plans after falling out of favour.
After being heckled and jostled in 2004, Clark went up for breakfast in subsequent years, but would not visit Te Tii Marae.
And when Key was denied speaking rights in 2016, he opted to go to the NRL Nines in Auckland instead.
Bill English, in his sole year as prime minister, spent the day with Ngāti Whātua at Ōrākei Marae.
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