Penny Hulse

Te Tiriti is our guiding document in how to negotiate this long-term partnership

When Penny Hulse first came to Aotearoa, as a 15-year-old girl from South Africa, she struggled to feel she belonged.

The kids at her high school in Gisborne barely spoke to her, “because I was the only foreign person in the school,” she says.
“I’m 65 now and I can still remember exactly that feeling at 15; it’s given me a lot of aroha and empathy for migrants to this country.

“But it was also my first introduction to wonderful, strong Ngāti Porou women. A group of amazing Māori girls took me under their wing, which I’ll be grateful for, for the rest of my life. And I will forever feel bonded to Gisborne and Tairāwhiti.”

Penny fell in love with her new homeland and forged a strong connection with both the people and the land – as an environmental activist, a local body politician for almost three decades, and the deputy mayor of the country’s largest city.

Now she’s standing up for Aotearoa, its tangata whenua, and the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in making it a better place for all New Zealanders. Especially as a grandmother, she wants a thriving environment and a brighter, more unified future for her mokopuna.

“The essence of it is Te Tiriti is the thing that stops us sliding backwards as a nation,” Penny says.

“We should all be so proud of living in a country that has an agreement with its First Nation people that sets out a plan for how to live in a respectful relationship with one another. We need to genuinely engage in seeking what it means to be tangata Tiriti and understand the responsibilities that come from being partners in this treaty.”

“Te Tiriti is our guiding document in how to negotiate this long-term partnership; in ensuring a socially just and environmentally sustainable future for Aotearoa, and our future generations.”

Penny’s father was a Kiwi, who went to South Africa on his OE, following in the footsteps of uncles who were New Zealand Mounted Rifles soldiers in the Boer War. He stayed there and became a pilot, bringing his family back to Aotearoa when he retired.

It wasn’t until 15 years after Penny settled in Gisborne that she came across Te Tiriti, through her career in politics.

“When I first arrived here, no one talked about it and there was nothing taught about it at school,” she says.
“I was an environmental activist, who battled with the council, and when I was about 30, I got elected to the Waitakere Community Board. That was a time when Waitakere really pushed the boat out with its relationship with local iwi, particularly Te Kawerau ā Maki. “

“At my very first meeting, Te Kawerau ā Maki presented the mayor, Bob Harvey, with a korowai. And I thought, ‘What is this? This is amazing. I love it’.”

She learned more through meetings of Te Taumata Rūnanga, a council committee of iwi representatives and Māori organisations, and other council procedures where tikanga Māori was observed and te reo Māori was spoken. District plans began taking into consideration sites of Māori cultural significance and realising the importance of the Waitakere Ranges to iwi.

“Through the council processes, I discovered what Te Tiriti was, and why it was important – in the way many Kiwis know it’s special, but they’re still not too sure what it’s all about. It’s really only been in the last decade or so it’s become clearer to me,” she says.

Penny was the first deputy mayor of the Auckland Super City, a role she held for six years, and since retiring from politics in 2019, she served on the independent panel reviewing the future for local government.

“We went around the country talking to all local governments, which was incredibly rewarding, and 90 percent of those councils were hugely enthusiastic about being Te Tiriti partners. It was overwhelming,” she says.

“They’re excited to have Māori wards, then everyone says quietly to each other, ‘But it’s really hard to engage in discussions to explain to people what being a Te Tiriti-based organisation is, and how do we have discussions with people who aren’t positive about it?’ I think people really want to have those bigger conversations.”

Although Penny believes most New Zealanders are still deeply respectful of the environment, she’s hugely concerned that the “focus on economically driven decision-making will push the environment out of the way completely.

“But one thing that is sacrosanct is the role of iwi in the protection of the whenua, and it’s probably never been more important,” she says. “It’s an area where I imagine the courts are quietly dusting off copies of Te Tiriti and hopefully ensuring that becomes the last bastion in protecting the environment.”

So does Penny feel she has a good understanding of Te Tiriti today?

“No, the older I get, the more I realise what I don’t know,” she says. “I can picture in my head kāwanatanga, where we have governance that’s absolutely inclusive of and an equal opportunity for iwi Māori. And rangati- ratanga, where we have Māori run, govern and manage areas and spheres that are completely theirs to run. I understand that at a theoretical level, but it’s almost daily that things seem to evolve and change.”

She recently had an “aha moment” where she realised she saw New Zealanders as either Pākehā or Māori. “As Pākehā, our biggest challenge is to view ourselves as tangata Tiriti – which is all of us. This isn’t a big discussion for Māori and Pākehā to have. This is a big discussion between all non-Māori to have first, and when we catch up, to have a big discussion with Māori.”

“In many households, I think there’s a degree of tension about how we talk about these things. For our moko, I hope discussions around family tables, and in the media and in public, are better informed. There are ways to make this much more accessible, less threatening and less combative.”

“Someone told me a beautiful way to say it: If you want to let someone stand in the sunlight, just move out of the way. It doesn’t stop the sunlight still shining on you.”