Delahunty Catherine: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Delahunty Catherine: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6439] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
 Tena koutou katoa. My colleagues from the Green Party have spoken with eloquence about the reasons why we are opposing the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. I totally agree with the points made by Sue Bradford who spent many hours on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee and also the experienced perspective of Sue Kedgley who has spent many years in local government politics. I also agree with Keith Locke an Auckland MP of many years’ standing who has spoken clearly on the key issue of the single transferable vote being a better model for any new council. 
I want to speak strongly today on the issue of Maori seats as a central point in the debate. I spent 3 days on the select committee which was a very valuable experience. This was not only because I appreciated working with more experienced MPs on that committee. I also appreciated the leadership of the Hon John Carter as chair and also the work of the officials. I appreciated working with Nikki Kaye who asked just about as many questions of individual submitters over those 3 days as I did. She showed a genuine interest in the community group submitters as well. Maybe MPs can congratulate themselves on a well-run event but I do not think the submitters were quite so happy. My brief conversations with a number of groups after they gave their submissions included comments like “ridiculously brief opportunity” “we feel patronised” and “give us Maori seats”. Many of them marched on the hikoi to no avail as did the Green Party. 
In addition to a number of issues that were repeatedly raised by submitters there was the issue of absolute assurance that the assets of the Auckland region would not be privatised or further alienated from the control of citizens. It has been said that the Local Government Act protects those assets but this legislation does not clarify or explicitly recognise the people’s concerns about this matter which were consistently raised during the select committee. The people wanted it spelt out in this new governance arrangement and they did not get it. 
Mainly I want to speak about the political and constitutional opportunity lost for Tamaki-makau-rau and the country as a whole. The mana whenua and Maori seats were recommended by the royal commission and they were supported by a huge number of submitters. These submitters included a wide diversity of groups many of whom supported the calls of tangata whenua for Maori seats. I was particularly interested in the tauiwi and other Pakeha groups who supported this call. I will give a short sample of the roll call when I was present at the select committee for a short time over those 3 days. As somebody mentioned earlier Alasdair Thompson from the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) Inc. an organisation not known for its support for tino rangatiratanga was present and took a strong stand. Also present were representatives from the National Council of Women the Auckland City Youth Council the Ponsonby Economics Study Group the Tamaki Community Board the Auckland Regional Council the Auckland branch of Grey Power and the Cook Islands Community Forum. The Cook Islands Community Forum representatives were particularly notable as were the other Pasifika groups for their strong support for mana whenua and the rights of tangata whenua as people whom they saw had mana whenua status and who would support them in their struggle for representation but who came first as the first people of Aotearoa. Then there were the universities and the Auckland University of Technology. Many many individuals over those 3 days supported Maori seats. In other words 80 percent of the tauiwi submissions supported Maori seats. 
At that point I felt heartened that I live in a country where progress is being made only to find the legislation has failed the people. Maori or mana whenua seats on any council are not an accurate reflection of the rights affirmed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi; they are just a start. Tau Henare made good reference to the historical reasons for Maori seats. Since 2001 Environment Bay of Plenty has had Maori seats as Mita Ririnui has said. It solves by no means all of the political issues for tangata whenua of that rohe but it is a start and the Green Party supported that legislation at the time. But now that Maori seats have been suggested for Auckland they could have been a useful step towards a better governance model for Tamaki. 
It was more than poignant to hear Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua ki Orakei speaking on  
Back Benches 
 the other night of how his tupuna would have been shocked to see him standing there in a bar talking about being refused a seat at the table of governance. His tupuna would have been shocked because his tupuna had allowed Pakeha access to much of the land in Tamaki and now their mokopuna are today begging for a seat at a table of governance in a city built on whenua belonging to those people. What about Ngati Te Ata Tainui Kawerau a Maki Te Waiohua Ngai Tai ki Tamaki as well as Ngati Whatua ki Orakei—me nga hapu katoa of Tamaki—not to mention Nga Hau E Wha whanau? 
Sometimes an idea like Maori seats in Tamaki reaches a critical mass with support from a wide range of people. In 2009 it was time for this positive step. Everyone was ready to support an option even if people were not sure how many seats whether mana whenua or Maori roll or how it would play out. The communities were ready to acknowledge that Western democracy needed modification for a Pacific reality and as a step towards a te Tiriti relationship. The people were ready but the Government denied them. Many of them stood on Takaparawhau in 1978. I stood there 6 months pregnant with the hope that my child would live in a just Treaty-based society. But that child is now 30 years old and we are not there yet. 
I remember Simon Bridges saying on the select committee that he got elected and that he has Maori whakapapa which proves that we do not need the seats. But did he campaign as a member of his hapu seeking to advance tino rangatiratanga to the people of Tauranga? Was that the public platform that he campaigned on in his electorate? Then we have Ray Ahipene-Mercer on the Wellington City Council who opposed Maori seats. But he admitted that he could not get elected by campaigning on Maori issues. He could only get elected by campaigning on environmental issues. Enough said. One cannot get there by being who one is. One cannot get there by representing one’s hapu. One can only get there by acting as an individual. That is the Westminster system and it does not work. We are in Aotearoa. It is time to recognise te Tiriti. It is time to modify our democracy in a step towards the 1840s agreement. 
People were really clear in their submissions. They were really passionate. They were really diverse. So it is incredibly disappointing to see the Minister and the Government fail the people on this issue. Many of us walked in the rain on the hikoi with an expectation that the new inclusive Government would be more flexible. As the people said on that hikoi: “Ka whawhai tonu matou ake ake ake.” If members do not know that means: “We will fight on for ever.” The people will fight on for ever because they have not been heard. 
The Green Party is very very disappointed that a select committee that promoted reasonableness has failed the critical test in our time. It is not often that this country is prepared to step up on this issue. God knows I know having worked as a Treaty educator for the last 25 years how hard it has been to get Pakeha to step up. And when they step up what does the Government do? When they step up they are ignored. The passion of all those communities has been trashed and it is being trashed again before this Committee today. 
I say again to those people out there: do not give up. We will not be giving up. The Green Party will certainly not be giving up. Ka whawhai tonu matou ake ake ake. Kia ora.