The New Zealand Trade Minister, Todd McClay says the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will not prevent the Crown meeting its obligations to Māori.
The Minister released a statement which he says confirms the TPP recognises the Treaty of Waitangi as well as other areas of significance for Māori.
However, those in opposition to the agreement remain unconvinced.
Te Tii Kaumatua, Kingi Taurua says the TPPA will undermine the sacred covenants signed by Māori chiefs at Waitangi.
The government confirmed it had issued invitations to TPP Ministers to sign the agreement in Auckland next month, 2 days before Waitangi Day.
Taurua says his concern is the TPPA could be signed before the government arrives at Waitangi.
"When that's done they come to Waitangi on February 5 and I pose the question what are they coming for? Is it to rub salt into Ngāpuhi wounds perhaps that's it. I don't agree that they should come onto our marae like that and it’s an issue that all of Ngāpuhi need to deliberate over."
The Trade Minister says, “As with all of New Zealand’s free trade agreements since 2001, TPP includes a specific provision preserving the pre-eminence of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand.
Taurua says, " in years to come large corporations will take over this country and that's my concern because the Tiriti o Waitangi and the 1835 Declaration of Independence will be undermined and lost like the moa."
Protest rallies opposing the government’s plan to host the signing of the TPPA are expected to take place across the country.
A rally in opposition of the signing will be held in Auckland on the 4th of February at Aotea Square and organisers say, "People are angry and rightly so. Our sovereignty, democracy and the protection of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is at stake. As our representatives, the government needs to take heed of democratic processes in which they have denied throughout the negotiations and now the signing of the TPPA."
Opposition to the agreement is still strong, despite the Trade Ministers claim that “Being part of TPP – which covers 36 per cent of global GDP, and takes 40 per cent of our exports – is strongly in New Zealand’s national interest.”
An online campaign is also underway to stop the signing, a petition titled We do not consent to the TPPA has gained over 38 thousand signatures so far.