Bridges Simon: Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill — First Reading 
Bridges Simon: Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5302] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena koutou e te Whare. I will start by acknowledging and congratulating Rahui Katene on what I am sure will always be a significant day if for no other reason than the Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill is her first member’s bill which is no small feat. I acknowledge her extended whanau who are here today no doubt to support her on this occasion. No one who has heard the member speak can doubt her sincerity her conviction and her integrity of purpose in bringing this bill to the House. I pay tribute to her and to the Maori Party for fleshing out this debate and for the work they have done in bringing to the fore issues to do with and concerning Maori in this Parliament. 
I have a growing respect for the members of the Maori Party and I hope it is a mutual thing. I have got to know Hone Harawira a little on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee and Te Ururoa Flavell as a member who shares with me Tauranga Moana. I have got to know other members of the Maori Party as well. I respect Rahui Katene and the Maori Party and I respect what they are trying to achieve at least as I understand it in bringing this bill forward. They come to this seeking not just to ask for a holiday on Matariki Day but also to raise issues of Maori culture and tradition and to bring them to the fore in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is as I think the member said quite apt that we have this bill before the House this week Maori Language Week. As the member said it must have been in the stars. 
But even though I support the purpose if you like and integrity behind this bill in bringing Maori issues traditions and custom to the fore I do not support nor believe that the mechanics of this bill are necessary or even right in terms of fulfilling the purposes albeit laudable that Rahui Katene and the Maori Party have. In short my view is quite clear. We do not require a public holiday to mark Matariki or more broadly to raise awareness of Maori custom and tradition issues in our nation. 
The reality as I perceive it in Tauranga Moana and in other parts of this nation is that there is a great movement towards events and traditions like Matariki. Last year I was at a Matariki ball in Tauranga although this year through parliamentary commitments I could not make it. I am also aware of a number of other functions in my own electorate to mark this time of the year. My point is that I do not believe it is necessary to have a public holiday to mark Matariki in order to have respect for it and an awareness of Maori traditions—our traditions. It is simply not correct to say in principle that in order to celebrate something and to believe in something even passionately a holiday is required. If that was the case we would have holidays on many other occasions as well. 
I will not be supporting this bill and National members will not be supporting this bill notwithstanding our respect for Rahui Katene the Maori Party and the integrity with which they bring this bill to the House. I say to Opposition members that this party does not come here with this bill to play petty politics and neither should they.