Rawiri Waititi In Cambridge Union Debate On The Commonwealth

Thursday, 15 June 2023, 12:13 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party

Rawiri Waititi will be taking part in the Cambridge Union
Presidential Debate in the UK this Friday, at 7am NZ Time.
Founded in 1815, the Cambridge Union is the oldest
continuously running debating society in the world. Rawiri
will be one of a small handful of Aotearoa MPs, including
Georgina Beyer and Helen Clark, to have addressed the
Cambridge Union.

The topic of Friday’s debate is
“the Commonwealth Still Serves a Purpose, which Rawiri
will be opposing alongside Jonty Yin, and a student
speaker.

The proposition side will consist of the Rt.
Hon. Andrew Mitchell MP (Minister of State for Development
and Africa in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office), Shailesh Vara MP (Conservative MP for Northwest
Cambridgeshire), and the outgoing Cambridge Union president
James Appiah.

Te Pāti Māori will be livestreaming
the full debate across all our social media platforms at 7am
tomorrow.

“The Commonwealth was built on the stolen
wealth and blood of indigenous nations. It is the throne
from which the Crown maintains white supremacy globally”
said Rawiri Waititi.

“The British Crown has reigned
war upon every continent on earth and has inherited power
through theft and genocide. It continues to be in illegal
occupation of hundreds of indigenous nations throughout the
world, directly and through its successor colonial
governments.

“The British Crown is a thief, a
murderer, and a coward heavy under the weight of its
oppression. It is a war bonnet for those indigenous nations
who’ve encountered it. It cannot be worn by the moral or the
brave, it would break them both. No single piece of
jewellery has ever represented so much murder and
pain.

“The legacy of this Crown has been genocidal.
King Charles is now the figurehead of the world’s largest,
longest, and most politically supported terrorist
organisation.

“The one thing all Commonwealth
nations have in common with each other is our oppressor. We
will no longer be defined on their terms” Waititi
said.

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