Politics Blog - Waitangi 2024
The re-invention of romance at Waitangi
Love, aroha, togetherness was the theme of the dawn service at Waitangi this year.
A quote by Tina Turner, “what’s love got to do with it”, started the ceremony. The opening sermon, which preached unity using love as a metaphor for harmonious race relations, inspired Green co-leader James Shaw who changed his prayer at the last moment to match the theme.
The poem he recited was familiar to many.
A quote by Tina Turner, “what’s love got to do with it”, started the ceremony. The opening sermon, which preached unity using love as a metaphor for harmonious race relations, inspired Green co-leader James Shaw who changed his prayer at the last moment to match the theme.
The poem he recited was familiar to many.
I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had.
A few moments ago, I asked Shaw where he came across that quote. It’s from The Notebook, a 2004 romance film. Shaw said he’d quickly searched a line from the sermon, having recognised it but being unable to place exactly where. The Notebook - a story about romance, with lessons for a bicultural national identity?