Dr Rawiri Taonui | Ihumātao Understanding the Agreement 28 Dec 2020 22:51 PM Author: Dr Rawiri Taonui More Related Stories Dr Rawiri Taonui | Ihumātao Understanding the Agreement When Te Ahiwaru-Ngāti Māhuta made their stand behind flimsy palisades of pallets and nylon at Ihumātao few predicted they would win against conglomerate Fletcher Building. Despite ridicule by Fletchers, right-wing commentators and journalists, MPs from Act, National, New Zealand First and occasionally from their relations in Te Kawerau ā Maki, their five-year showdown took a major forward when the Labour government signed an agreement with the Kīngitanga and Fletcher Building. Led by a new generation of young Māori leaders with wāhine Pania Newton and Qiane Matata-Sipu at the fore, Te Ahiwaru won because they stood in the spirit of 160 years of ancestors subjugated but never broken. Sustained by elders and whānau from Makaurau Marae, super-confident millennial-GenZ peers unimpressed with old racism in new disguise, and a super-diverse tautoko from across the multi-cultural spectrum of Aotearoa not seen since 80 Pākehā stood with Ngāti Whātua at Bastion Point, they would not be denied.