Ko te tohe kia whai wāhanga ai Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki te oati a ngā kirirarau ki Aotearoa kei te puta ake anō. E whai ana tēnei i te rewanga ake o tētahi petihana ā-tihi nā tētahi rōpū Māori, manene hoki i tīmata, e karanga ana kia whai wāhanga te tiriti ki roto i ngā kupu oati ki Aotearoa.
Ko te oati nā Ricardo Menendez March i tuku i tērā tau, me te manako ia ka whakaurua te wāhanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi ki roto, whēnei i tēnei.
"I swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Tangata Whenua and the Crown, according to law, that I will honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and faithfully observe the laws of New Zealand and fulfil my duties as a New Zealand citizen."
He mema a March rātou ko ngā iwi Māori o te rōpū Change the Oath, i whakamānu i tētehi petihana ā-ipurangi ki te Minita o Te Tari Taiwhenua kia whai mana te Tiriti i roto i ngā kupu taurangi.
“We think that in 2018 there should be recognition of tangata whenua in that oath, and that honouring the Tiriti o Waitangi is actually a really important part of what it means to be a citizen in Aotearoa today,” i mea atu a tākuta Dr Arama Rata o Change the Oath.
“When I did my citizenship oath to pledge allegiance to the queen. I felt like it was a disingenuous thing to do, because I know that this wasn't in accord to what had happened in the history of this country,” i kī atu a March.
I te tau rua mano tekau mā rua kāore i whai kiko te pire a te mema o Ngā Kākāriki, a Catherine Delahunty, kia oati hoki ki te tiriti. Wheoi, hei tā te Minita Whakawhanake Māori, kua tae ki te wā kia ara ake anō te take ki rō pāremata.
“Ko te mea nunui, kua puta mai, kua puia mai tēnei kaupapa kei waenganui i ngā tāngata e āhei ana te aro atu ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi, kia whakamanahia ki tō rātou nei hapori, tā rātou nei peka o tō tātou nei motu,” i kōrero atu a Nanaia Mahuta.
“We hope that now that the Labour government signed a confidence supply agreement with the Green Party, committing themselves to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a founding document, that the new government will be committed to making these changes,” said March.
Kei te whare pāremata te kōrero whakamutunga mo nga panonitanga. I raro i te ture ka whai waahi te tangata ki te tuku i ana kupu taurangi ki te reo Māori. Hei tā te Minita o Te Tari Taiwhenua a Tracey Martin, tāria te wā kia kite i ngā hua o te petihana.