In this episode, we sit down with Te Pāti Māori MP Debbie Packer to talk about Indigenous rights, ancestral wisdom, environmental protection, and what it means to lead as "forever people." In her conversation with Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, Packer shares the story of the haka heard around the world. She reflects on public health lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, and she breaks down the fight against seabed mining off the Taranaki coast. Drawing from her perspectives as a grassroots Māori activist and elected member of parliament, Packer demonstrates how Indigenous movements across the Pacific provide a blueprint for solidarity, community care, and protecting our shared ocean.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is a member of parliament representing Te Tai Hauāuru on Aotearoa’s North Island, and she is co-leader of Te Pāti Māori, or the Māori Party. As an activist, executive, and elected official, Ms. Ngarewa-Packer has devoted her career to advancing public health, protecting the environment, and upholding Māori rights under the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or the Treaty of Waitangi.
Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua is an award-winning author and professor of Indigenous politics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She is a trustee at Kamehameha Schools. At UH, she leads Hawaiʻi Papa o ke Ao.