Politicians descend on Ratana to kick off the political year

January 24, 2018

The PM was given a gift of Waru as the middle name at Ratana.

This concludes 1 NEWS NOW's live coverage of politicians across the House descending on the small town near Whanganui to celebrate the Ratana Movement and kick off the political year.   Relive our live coverage of the morning and early afternoon portion of events below. 

The annual Ratana celebrations were a chance for the PM to give her first political address of the year.

Click here for the live stream.

1.29pm Ms Ardern called today's welcome "warm". 

The PM says Labour and Ratana both plan to make inroads on both issues.

"There is great hope .. we will fulfill some of the things we want to achieve as a government."

"Those are my goals too."

1.26pm  Jacinda Ardern is addressing media, and said she feels privileged about the amount of people who have suggested names for her baby.

"The eighth is very significant for the Ratana movement."

She said all of the children on her street have suggested their names be used for the baby. 

1.15pm Senior church member Andre Mason earlier joked that Ms Ardern should give the child the middle name 'Waru', he has just told media that is the "most significant day in the Ratana Movement."

12.57pm  The PM said they will try to tackle the over representation of Maori on unemployment statistics, prison population, tamariki living in poverty and regional Maori having opportunities for a decent job and a decent future. 

12.55pm Ms Ardern spoke of the relationship in 1936 between Ratana and Labour's Michael Joseph Savage when a formal relationship was created. 

"That was a call to action for the Labour Party from that day going forward." 

"It is a living commitment."

12.44pm PM Jacinda Ardern has begun her speech. 

She spoke of the Maori members of parliament. 

"Alongside all of our Maori caucus members and Maori members of government, we have record numbers, with that comes a huge weight of responsibility and expectation."

"Our Maori members are a strong part of that foundation."

It is the first time in a decade a Labour government has been welcomed to the grounds.

She acknowledged Ratana founder Tahupotiki Wiremu. 

Ms Ardern said the baby name gift of Waru was not the first name suggestion she had received. 

"Trevor, James, Grant, Winston has been suggested by others."

MPs have decsended on Ratana to kick off the potitical year.

"I even had the suggestion he should be the God father, I pointed out he already was."

12.41pm  Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters only had to stand to cause the crowd to erupt into applause. He said "a lot has changed in 12 months". 

12.36pm  NZ First MP Shane Jones had guests and MPs at Ratana in stitches, as he joked about the baby name offer and Bill English. 

"To the media, never bring a drone to Ratana, it’ll be mistaken for a kereru, shot out of the sky, and consumed."

He said “Please remind Bill English the Maori language belongs to everyone”.

"PM you are hearing all these Maori offer names for the baby, make sure they offer land as well," he told the crowd. 

He went on to have a dig at National leader Bill English over recent comments over te reo Maori.

"People remind English the Maori language belongs to everyone. It is not just someone else's language."

12.25pm  James Shaw thanked "Pirimia [Prime Minister] Jacinda Ardern, or baby mumma" for the MoU to change the government, "it worked", he said. 

He said he would hold the Treaty of Waitangi "close" in their work, and wanted to "maintain our commitment". 

Earlier today there had been calls by a speaker to move the Treaty into law. 

1 NEWS Political reporter has the latest with a signing date set for March.

12.24pm Green party co leader James Shaw has begun speaking, thanking Ratana for their hospitality. 

12.22pm Labour MP Peeni Henare who represents Tāmaki Makaurau just completed a passionate speech at Ratana. 

12.13pm Te Waru o Noema means November 8, the anniversary of Ratana Movement founder Tahupotiki Wiremu's vision, where he was said to have received a command from the Holy Spirit telling him to unite Maori.

The PM says after “bumps” including a US withdrawal and Canada’s temporarily walking away, the trade deal will go ahead.

11.56am Former Labour leader Andrew Little has been mentioned during Ratana celebrations for "having the vision and the wisdom" to stand aside for Jacinda Ardern as leader. 

"It took courage to do that."

He went on to give Jacinda Ardern a middle name for the baby. 

"Congratulations on the baby, we would like to give you a gift, and that gift is a name."

"Waru".

11.40am  Winston Peters has told 1 NEWS NZ First are backing the CPTPP deal, with the Green Party continuing to oppose the revised deal. 

11.26am  After an introduction in te reo, the MPs have been welcomed with a song. 

11.16am  Earlier, Ms Ardern spoke of the revised CPTPP deal that looks to be signed in March, saying all parties (the 11 countries including Canada) have said they are now in agreement with the CPTPP as it stands.

"This is another step towards the finalisation of that agreement." 

11.10am  PM Jacinda Ardern, Deputy PM Winston Peters and Green co-leader James Shaw, along with other government MPs can be seen being welcomed to the church by a passionate haka. 

11.06am  Ms Ardern revealed details around the issues of the recent  CPTPP  deal. 

She said one of the stumbling blocks recently after Canada temporarily removed itself from the agreement was due to "seeking support for their cultural exception". 

"New Zealand has a cultural exception, that's something we've long fought for in our trade agreements."

The exception enables trade agreements to differentiate culture from commercial products. 

New Zealand offered support for Canada's cultural exception "and to offer any assistance we could". 

Ms Ardern says Canada are now satisfied with how the agreement now stands. 

10.52am: PM Jacinda Ardern  says it looks likely that the new  CPTPP  will be signed in Chile at the start of March.

She says obviously there have been bumps in the road so they don’t want to get ahead of themselves.

Ms Ardern spoke to Justin Trudeau last week about some outstanding issues Canada had with the agreement.

10.50am:  MPs will be marking the  145th anniversary of Ratana founder, Tahupotiki Wiremu

Ratana has been backing the Labour Party for 33 years but this is the first time in a decade a Labour Government has been welcomed to the pa.

Bill English was the first National Party leader to visit Ratana in 2002.  

This morning, 1 NEWS political reporter Andrea Vance said the pilgrimage to Ratana Church kicks off the political year. 

"It was in the early days a political movement," she said. 

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