The co-leaders of New Zealand’s Māori party, Te Pāti Māori, have defended their actions at the swearing-in ceremony at parliament in Wellington on Tuesday. The party’s MPs all broke with protocol by standing and giving a whaikorero (formal address) when it was their turn to be sworn in.

In their remarks, members of the party swore allegiance to the mokopuna (grandchildren) and said they would exercise their duties in accordance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi (New Zealand’s founding document, the treaty of Waitangi). They each then approached the Clerk of the House to give their affirmations of allegiance to King Charles, a prerequisite to formally becoming an MP.

Much of this tension will come to a head in early February, when New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day

Several of them, however – including co-leaders Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Tākuta Ferris – diverged even further from protocol. The MPs altered the prescribed Māori phrasing and used the term, ‘Kingi harehare’. According to the Māori Dictionary, harehare can mean a ‘skin rash’ or ‘eczema’.

That wasn’t their intended expression, Waititi told media afterwards. ‘Harehare is another name for Charles. Yes, Hare is another name for Charles,’ he said. Asked if there was another meaning, Waititi said: ‘I don’t know.’

But MP Shane Jones, a member of the governing coalition, claimed Te Pāti Māori knew of the second meaning. ‘They are trying to make fun of the transliteration “Hare”, which if said as harehare is kind of a transliteration of Charlie, but it also means something objectionable.’

Te Pati Māori’s claims of innocent misinterpretation seem a little dubious given the prevailing atmosphere in New Zealand politics. In response to a raft of co-governance related policies announced last week by the new National party-led coalition, Te Pati Māori issued a nationwide call to action via Twitter/X, scheduled for Tuesday 5 December.

Protesters duly hit the streets around the country yesterday in a day of protest, causing significant travel disruption on key highways across New Zealand. The demonstration coincided with the opening of the 54th term of parliament, where MPs are required to swear an oath of allegiance to the English Crown.

Te Pāti Māori said Tuesday’s demonstrations are the first of ‘many activations’ to come. ‘We will learn from this first hit out and get better and better,’ they said. The Green party supported the demonstrations, calling the government’s 100-day plan a ‘legislative assault’ that seeks to undo decades of progress for Māori.

Discourse around the treaty of Waitangi has become tense since the October election. National’s coalition partners, Act and NZ First, have been openly sceptical, proposing changes that could fundamentally alter how the Treaty is interpreted by the courts. Te Pāti Māori describes the proposals as an ‘assault on tangata whenua’ (the people of the land).

The government is reportedly looking to scrap incentives for public sector workers to speak the Māori language, alongside other work to decrease its use in favour of English. Further policies include scrapping te aka whai ora, the Māori Health Authority, just 16 months after its establishment, and the proposal of a Treaty Principles Bill. The Bill promises a comprehensive review of all legislation, aside from the full and final Treaty Settlements Act.

The aim of the review would be to remove existing references to ‘principles of the treaty of Waitangi’ from law. A 15-page coalition agreement between the NZ First party and National said it would replace such references ‘with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the treaty, or repeal the references’. National, Act and NZ First have agreed to support a Treaty Principles Bill up to the select committee stage, but it is unclear whether the legislation will make it to a referendum or not.

Much of this tension will come to a head in early February, when New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day, its national holiday. The tradition is for the incumbent prime minister to journey to the historic treaty grounds in New Zaland’s far north, and take part in various formalities. As a political set-piece it has always been fraught, with the occasional minor tussles and shouted disparagements during walkabouts.

In the current atmosphere, Prime Minister Luxon may not be well received. By then, however, much of his busy first-hundred-day legislative agenda will already be formalised in law.