This is a statement of the Darlington 3 community event, held in Williamstown, Melbourne, 7-9 January 2020.
As acknowledged by the Darlington Statement, intersex people have existed in all cultures and societies throughout history, including in the Tangata Whenua.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) 1840 is the foundational document of New Zealand (NZ). It is the agreement between the Crown (now the Government of NZ) and Māori as a partnership to govern what is now Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is important for two reasons. First, it provides Māori with sovereignty over who they are (including what we call ‘intersex’), life, traditions, culture and customary law. Secondly, It is important for organisations in Aotearoa/New Zealand to take Te Tiriti into account in its operations and provide for Māori self-determination as appropriate.
This gathering of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australian intersex community organisations and individuals acknowledges that Te Tiriti is the founding document of Aotearoa/New Zealand, that it provides for the rights of Māori to their culture, traditions and tikanga (customary law) and that these traditions include understand and accept intersex people within Te Ao Māori (Māori world view). We recognise that the Tangata Whenua did not cede sovereignty, have the unqualified exercise of the Cheiftainship over their lands, villages, and taonga, and they have the same rights rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England. We recognise the devastating ongoing impacts of colonisation, unresolved injustices and unacknowledged truths and call on the Aotearoa/New Zealand Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and maintain its implementation.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi)
Darlington Statement