In a special Waitangi edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Ātea editor Liam Rātana and politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith recap a politically charged few days at the Treaty Grounds.

Our Waitangi 2025 coverage is possible because of the 13,000-plus Spinoff members who regularly pay to support our work. If you aren’t a member yet, now is the time.

A passive protest at the pōwhiri. A prime minister avoiding the Treaty Grounds. A “very interesting” idea about a possible te Tiriti commissioner. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been a pretty full on Waitangi week, and The Spinoff’s unofficial Māori unit has been there to witness it all.

Recorded on the sandy shores of the mighty North, guest hosts Liam Rātana and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (along with regular producer Te Aihe Butler) discuss the problem of David Seymour, Tama Potaka’s messy kūpapa-kaupapa wordplay, the (seemingly undercooked) te Tiriti Commission proposal, and what we’d like to see at Waitangi in 2026.