Waitangi Day

Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand, the day when the founding of our nation is celebrated. New Zealand is different from most countries that were colonised by European countries in the nineteenth century, because a treaty was agreed between the British government and the leaders of the indigenous Maori people. This treaty, or covenant, was signed on 6 January 1840.

This was a great start for a nation, but unfortunately the treaty was ignored for the next 100 years, because it was never put into legislation by the new parliament.. The Maori people were ripped off left, right and centre, and towards the end of the nineteenth century, some experts thought they might die out.

In the last forty years, efforts have been made to recognise the treaty and to put right some of the injustices that were done. I cannot say that there has been strong support for this change, as most New Zealanders do not care. The changes were really pushed through by middle-aged, European politicians from different parties, who were not leaders, but who gained sufficient influence to push through the changes they wanted. Geoffrey Palmer got Treaty of Waitangi clauses introduced to some important pieces of legislation. Doug Graham got the Treaty settlement process working effectively, and Michael Cullen, Chris Finlayson and Andrew Little have completed a number of important settlements.

Most Christians do not understand the importance of these changes, but settling some of the injustices was really important for the spiritual status of New Zealand. I explain the spiritual consequences of covenants between nations in and article called the Treaty of Waitangi, that was first published in 1883, All Christians need to understand the importance of honouring covenants, regardless of the circumstances in which they were made.