Esther and Tom Teasdale wanted to stand up for collective Māori rights but likely wouldn't have made a submission without help from Miaana Patene (centre). Photo: LDR / Supplied
Sessions to help Taranaki whānau have their say on the Treaty bill moving through Parliament are being fine-tuned to help address future legislation affecting Māori rights and interests.
The Treaty Principles Bill turbo-charged November's Hīkoi to become a record-setting protest and is now powering a surge in select committee submissions.
Across Taranaki workers from iwi and hapū, te Pāti Māori staff, activists and individuals are helping whānau make submissions on the government's rewrite of the principles used to interpret Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Many are sharing suggested lines and dozens of entire submissions via social media.
Te Kāhui o Taranaki trustee Miaana Patene (Ngā Mahanga a Tāiri, Ngāti Tara, Ngāti Haupoto) was in Ōpunakē on Thursday assisting submission writers.
"This is a dangerous piece of legislation causing a lot of harm in our community and fuelling a lot of racism."
She said more Bills were coming that would erode collective Māori rights, interests and obligations.
"I hope we've earned trust from whānau and from the community - that we can help them through the process and it's not so scary… so it's a launching pad for responding to [future Bills]."
ACT Party leader David Seymour wrote the Treaty Principles Bill and another Seymour proposal had been sparking concern - the Regulatory Standards Bill.
Patene said Seymour talks about "simplifying" regulations but his Bill "has not included anything about Te Tiriti o Waitangi."
"It's another concern for us. We're empowering our whānau to also submit against that."
Kuia Esther Teasdale reckons she wouldn't have made a submission without help.
"I probably wouldn't understand what I had to do - you sort of had to have somebody who could explain it to you."
Kui Esther knew she wanted to stand against Māori losing collective rights and thought they had a good chance of winning.
"We've got too many clever Māoris in the system: they look after us and they fight for our rights."
She said government ministers should back away from Te Tiriti.
"Because it's between us and the Crown, not between the white men."
Sick of unjust labour arrangements in his native County Durham 52 years ago, Tom Teasdale was a '£10 Pom' who came to New Zealand - and met and married Esther.
He had felt the government would ignore individual pleas, but their daughter Angela sent them along.
"Coming here and seeing the support, I feel more encouraged because it's organised.
"You have encouragement, you have knowledge, and suddenly you're able to put in a meaningful submission with so many others."
Patene said elders would urge their families to take part.
"A lot of our pāhake were talking about doing this for their mokopuna.
"They want to make a stand within their whānau dynamic that this is not okay, and they're going to go home and encourage the rest of their whānau to join them."
Several tamariki dropped in to write submissions.
"Our youngest submitter today was nine years old and did her submission entirely in te reo. To see her pride once she'd done it - pretty neat," said Patene.
"Engaging in this process at that age is amazing - they'll be our leaders of tomorrow."
It was crucial to remove barriers to political engagement.
"Our role has been listening to them and actually completing the form with them.
"Submissions need to be personalised, so their whakaaro needs to be put out there. Our role is to take away those technological barriers and help them have their voices heard."
Her husband Hayden (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāruahine, Ngaa Rauru) is pou whakatoka at Te Kāhui o Taranaki, strengthening identity with history, tikanga, kawa and te reo.
Miaana and Hayden Patene brought their tamariki Tahurangi (left), Ani, and baby Te Ataao to the submission-writing session. Photo: LDR / Supplied
For him, the submissions were tomorrow's history.
"In manuscripts and old writings of our tūpuna, you find cool inspirational stuff from tūpuna you directly descend from.
"Submissions become publicly available so down the track our great-grandchildren can say: 'Hey, this is what my tūpuna said at a pivotal time in Aotearoa's constitution - they wanted to have their say and stand up for the rights of themselves, their people, but also for their mokopuna'."
"As a legacy, that's important and inspiring for us."
He said Seymour's efforts to change laws affecting whānau, hapū and iwi had fostered a new unity.
"We're practising kotahitanga through this vehicle and strengthening the bonds between uri (descendants), within uri.
"We need to get accustomed and comfortable with this process because there're so many bills that are going to come up for review and amendment, so we need to be vigilant."
Submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill close on 7 January and the Regulatory Standards Bill on 13 January.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air