New Zealand First's Shane Jones told media that Winston Peters had a long history of coming to Waitangi, and a "robust fiery response" was not unexpected.

"Why would anybody be surprised? I'm not," he said when asked about Peters' combative comments.

"I think both Winston and I know, people have pent up emotions ... people are on edge."

He said there were a lot of views within Ngāpuhi but that they usually came together when there was a common foe, and he hoped that he didn't represent the common foe.

The crowd were "unnecessarily rude" to Act's Nicole McKee, Jones said.

"But hey, young people, I was young once, out in the hot sun you can get carried away."

On being called out by Annette Sykes, he said they had gone to university together and she had made an art form out of calling him out.

Jones also defended Luxon's speech, saying the prime minister was asked to talk about the country in 2040.

"I didn't think it was off colour at all."

He also spoke about Peters' history: "Respect goes two ways and Winston has a long-established history of fighting and delivering [for Māori] ... I think that's what he was responding to."

"There's going to be a lot more political water under this bridge," he said, adding he was going to take up a bigger role in the debate about the Treaty principles.

There were 57 references to treaty principles in legislation, he said.

"Are they all relevant?"

He said nothing the Government was doing was delegitimising "what it means to be Māori".

Opening up a debate on the role of the Waitangi Tribunal and looking at the relevancy of the Treaty principles in a contemporary setting did nothing to imperil what it means to be Māori, he said.

When asked about Luxon reading off cue cards, he said not everyone had the same gifts of oratory.

Helen Clark read off cards, he added, though Sir John Key didn't need to.

However, he added a jibe at Key, saying "then again everything he said was blown away by the wind" and that was why people questioned whether he'd left a legacy.

Act leader David Seymour, speaking after today's speeches, said it was a "small minority" who had booed him, but "overwhelmingly" it was a positive exchange of ideas.

"There were people who said we wanted to take it [Te Tiriti] away, that we wanted to belittle Māori language. That could couldn't be further from the truth," Seymour said.

People will be able to have their say on the Treaty Principles Bill when it is before a select committee, and he suspected that the public might be able to persuade National and NZ First to support the bill further.

"It was pretty fiery and, far out, those guys gave it heaps ... singling me out for special attention and I give as good as I get."

Seymour said Winston Peters "confronted them ... very forcefully", and he joked that Peters' advantage was that he could talk about his [Peters'] own experiences over two centuries.

He said "the great unwashed, as it's been said, the wider New Zealand public" should be able to have a say on what the Treaty principles are, not just the judiciary, the executive, public servants, or the Waitangi Tribunal.

He said there was no sustainable future where some New Zealanders had a certain constitutional status but others did not.

He supported "by Māori for Māori" solutions in health, education, housing and all aspects of life, and it was the previous Government's centralisation policies that were the antithesis of such solutions.

He said it would be much harder to solve the country's infrastructure, health, education and law and order issues if the constitutional issues of the country weren't settled.

Waitangi National Trust Board Chair Pita Tipene told media he thought Winston Peters was "combative" and eventually if you throw an upper cut, "you're going to get one back".

He said he had wanted Luxon to talk more about Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga - Declaration of Independence - rather than a generic vision of outcomes for all New Zealanders.

"We're talking past each other," he said, adding that he would like Luxon to stop Act's Treaty Principles Bill.

He said the crowd was "unfair" in their treatment of Peters, David Seymour and Act's Nicole McKee.

But he said "there has been some progress today".

"Let's get down and have some earnest discussions."

Asked about one message he had heard today, Luxon said it was wanting to work with the Government in "advancing New Zealand".

"I came here thinking we'd be challenged and there'd be a range of views - it was pretty much as I expected."

"At moments there wasn't full respect," he added.

He said there tended to be a focus on the "drama" of Waitangi, but people should "see through the noise" and see that there is a range of views that can be listened to respectfully.

"We want to partner with Maori, with a range of people, to work on getting things done."

He talked about being shown water and housing solutions in the Far North that the Government would take heed of.

He said his talks with iwi leaders had been "incredibly productive", and "we're getting on with the business".

Luxon said Te Tiriti had caused pain and suffering but New Zealand was a better country because of it.

He repeated that he had "no intention, no commitment" to support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading.

Luxon defended the lack of focus in his speech on Te Tiriti or to directly respond to the challenges that were presented to the Government today, saying again he was responding to the two questions that were meant to be the focus.

"I was tasked with talking about two questions ... and that's what we did."

Asked about Winston Peters' comment to "get an education" to someone in the audience, Luxon said education was a real challenge for the country.

He said how Winston Peters and David Seymour conducted themselves was up to them, but they were aligned around how to improve outcomes for New Zealanders.

Luxon said he wanted Māori to have more control over their own affairs and the Government would support that through localism and devolution.

Te Tiriti played a major part in that, he added.

Christopher Luxon said he came away "very impressed" that New Zealand could hold an event with a range of people and a range of views in one place.

He said his speech was answering two questions: the vision of New Zealand in 2024, and what needs to happen to make that a reality.

He said he wasn't going to kill the Treaty Principles Bill, saying he had committed to support it to a select committee.

We have been told the media conference will begin shortly.

The PM will be fronting media at approximately 2:30pm after his speech at Waitangi. The Herald will have a live stream of this, so if you have been following the blog for a while please refresh the article to watch.

Striking that he’s addressed none of the challenges laid down these last days, but attempted to shift the debate onto the core of the Government programme: Economy, education, health. Subtext: Stop worrying about te reo and te tiriti, and get on with building the economy.

Ben Dalton says “We’re not on the same page yet”.

Dalton ended by saying they’ve been busy showing ministers the problems with housing, water etc around the motu.

“Not wasted the time”.