The Late 1980s: Labour Plays it Down

In 1986 a similar programme was followed, with more promotion of the day as a national celebration: there were two partners to the treaty, but the Pakeha partner now had many cultures to be acknowledged. When the dual commemoration pattern was repeated in 1987, protesters at Waitangi made speech-making nearly impossible. It was obvious that dual ceremonies were not going to silence protest. The government decided that in 1988 there would be no official commemoration. Local authorities could begin to consider appropriate ways of recognising the 150th anniversary of the treaty in 1990. Northern Maori recognised Waitangi Day, but protest was controlled. The far northern Maori group Te Kawariki was given a right to speak: �The real issue', said its leader Shane Jones, �is sovereignty over our resources.'

Labour had pledged to deal with treaty issues and had set in motion a series of measures to change the treaty's position in the nation's life. By the end of the 1980s these included several pieces of legislation, the requirement that government agencies be more bicultural in their mode of operation, and an extension of the Waitangi Tribunal's powers allowing it to investigate claims dating back to 1840. But the process of resolving claims was slow.