File photo. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
A group of wāhine from Te Tai Tokerau are aiming to amplify the voices of Māori women in the face of challenges from the coalition government.
Among their members are doctors, katiaki and politicians including Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
One is Frances Goulton of Ngāti Ruamahue, who said the wāhine of Northland had been discussing and debating for centuries.
But concerns about rhetoric from the current government are what inspired them to be more engaged. And the fact that three of the leaders of the government are from Te Tai Tokerau, NZ First's Winston Peters and Shane Jones, and ACT's David Seymour, was a source of angst she said.
"We looked at the 100-day plan and we thought 'no we're not just going to sit by and watch this happen to us, we're going to become involved and engaged'," she said.
The new government had brought a sense of unease that progress around te reo, education and health could be halted, Goulton said.
"Why are we still in 2024 fighting for a voice just to be heard on our own whenua and under our own stars. Why is this so?."
Since then the group has been in conversation trying to decide how to push back against the government's agenda, she said.
"That's what we're trying to do, to get a voice heard so that the things that are important to us as Māori as wāhine Māori are protected and indeed are supported to continue."
Goulton said racism against wāhine Māori was visible on the street and online - to counter that they had decided to be more forward about the issues affecting wāhine.
She said they wanted to ensure that wāhine were heard rather than just walking behind the tāne.
"If things settle down then we will have done our job, so our job is to change the face to change the rhetoric and to make sure that all those things that matter to being a female are addressed in an appropriate way."
