Waitangi Day dilemma for Sir Paul

Press, 29 January 1986, Page 8

Waitangi Day dilemma for Sir Paul

PA Wellington A decision is expected soon on where the Gover-nor-General, Sir Paul Reeves, will spend Waitangi Day. Early in December the Minister of Lands, Mr Wetere,, announced that the official Government observance of Waitangi Day would be moved from Waitangi to Wellington this year. He said it was likely the Tai Tokerau people would arrange a local ceremony at Waitangi. An invitation for Sir Paul to attend the local ceremony has been sent by the Mayor of Whangarei, Mrs Joyce Ryan, and by the member of Parliament for Northern Maori, Dr Bruce Gregory. Dr Gregory said the invitation to Waitangi had been made after careful

deliberation by respected elders, Maoris and Pakehas. Sir Paul was in a unique position to bring together “the strands of history, culture, races and spiritual considerations as a unity.”

“That he must have the warmth of his chiefly feather cloak and his head adorned with the four white feathers, three of his people of Ati-awa and the fourth of the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, as adviser and head of Government, indicate the ensuing extent of this important invitation.” A spokesman at Government House told the Press Association that any statement on whether Sir Paul would go to Waitangi would have to come from the Government, as it was a political matter.