THE King appears to have been branded a “scab” by Maori MPs ahead of his first visit to New Zealand as monarch.
The comment was made by at least two MPs in the country's parliament just hours after it was confirmed that Charles and Queen Camilla would visit for the first time since their coronation.
As newly-elected Maori MPs were sworn into the parliament following October’s General Election, some defied protocol that requires allegiance to be declared to the British monarch and instead delivered oaths to Maori values.
At least two MPs – including the co-leader of the Maori Party Rawiri Waititi – referred to King Charles as “Kīngi Harehare” which can mean “King scab”.
The Maori Party had a record six MPs elected to the parliament in October.
Waititi later claimed that the Maori word “harehare” was also a term for “Charles”.
“Those are the words that we use on the coast … I have an uncle called Harehare,” he told the New Zealand Herald, which reported that the MP added “with a wry smile” that he would never call the King a word like “scab”.
Waititi was among the global voices who called on King Charles to grapple with the royal family's colonial legacy and begin a process of reparations ahead of his coronation earlier this year.
“Like a rumble under your throne, we will upset the colonial legal fictions you have built your house of iniquity upon. We will survive you. Watch us. We will teach you what honour looks like," he told a press conference at the time.
News of the royal visit – which is set to take place late next year – came as mass protests by indigenous Maori took place across New Zealand to coincide with the opening of the nation’s parliament.
Maori MPs have been pushing to be allowed to declare allegiance to others, including their own Maori king, when being sworn in.
Thousands of Maori marched in protests on Tuesday against the new conservative government led by Christopher Luxon.
His governing coalition includes the libertarian Act Party, led by cabinet minister David Seymour, who campaigned heavily on ending New Zealand’s principle of shared governance with Maori.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the co-leader of the Maori Party, said: “What we have is a government that is doing state-sponsored terrorism to undo everything that we’ve done to try and live equally.”
Luxon, who has said he is committed to improving outcomes for Maori, said Tuesday’s protests were “unfair” for a government that had been in power for less than a week.
