Okeroa Mahara: Budget Debate 
Okeroa Mahara: Budget Debate 
[Volume:608;Page:5964] 
MAHARA OKEROA (NZ Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Before I start I will make a comment about the previous speech. It was so full of information as to be inarticulate. Essentially that member has my respect as a fellow educationalist but maybe he had too much in his speech to make an impact. 
Ka tu mai ahau ki te tautoko mai i te mihi poroporoaki ki tetehi o nga rangatira e tiaki mai i nga Minita katoa mai ra ano. Ko te tangata ra hoki hoki atu ki tana kainga ukaipo. Ka tu mai ahau ki te mihi mai ki tena e tautoko mai i te korero o toku nei hoa a Tamihere. Kei a koe hei whakapakehatia. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
I rise to endorse the farewell tribute extended to one of the respected persons who has looked after Ministers for a very long time. That person has indeed returned to his maternal home. I stand to acknowledge and support the tribute made by this colleague of mine John Tamihere. 
] 
I just want to take a slice of the Budget. The slice I am talking about is worth $6.5 million. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Nothing. Waste of time. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: That member would not know about it. All that he represents is a very centrist view with regard to New Zealand society as it is. All that the National Party’s policies aim for is to appeal to a certain sector of our community which in my view is retrospective and retrograde. All that that party’s policy does with regard to the Treaty of Waitangi— 
Ron Mark 
: How are the mining rights going? 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: That member has a chance to speak. When his chance comes up he can talk. Until then Kahungunu me noho noho puku ai. 
[ 
until then Kahungunu you should sit down and not say anything 
.] 
There was a great man—and he does not have any tribal affiliation in New Zealand—named Martin Luther King who said: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” The member for Ilam is not prepared to listen to reason and we understand that. What Martin Luther King was referring to was the commitment of this Labour Party— 
Ron Mark 
: He didn’t even know its members. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: I find that member’s humour coming from a recently reborn Maori ill-fitting. 
Labour if I may say so is committed to leading a nation where the Treaty of Waitangi is understood. [ 
Interruption 
]If I may be allowed—there is a windbag sitting in the corner who is absolutely full of nonsense—I will say this about a former Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations by the name of Sir Douglas Graham. He was the first treaty negotiations Minister from 1991 to 1999 and he said that those 8 years were a massive learning experience for him. Why should he as a former Minister of the Crown and especially as a former Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations say that those 8 years were a massive learning experience for him? It was because like the honourable member sitting in the corner Sir Douglas Graham was totally ignorant of a whole range of factors that were very very significant to Maori. If the member does not mind my interrupting him I thought I would give that as an example of where the National Party is today. 
The National members do not know anything about treaty issues. All we get from that party’s leader is a one citizenship party. What does that mean? It means to me as a member elected for Te Tai Tonga together with the six other Maori electorate MPs that this is a one nation thing and it is all about assimilation. I tell that member that the dynamics of New Zealand society have moved on from that. That member is appealing to a group of people who are still living in the 1900s the 1920s the 1930s the 1940s and the 1950s. I say that member should wake up. The dynamics of our society have changed as Sir Tipene O’Regan said. He said that Ngai Tahu did ask as did Waikato-Tainui for the then National Government to run a treaty awareness and education programme for the wider public. What happened? 
In response to that member over there the newly reborn Maori all that I have to say is this: what is the price of ignorance? The price of ignorance is about making those kinds of comments in response to a commitment by the Labour Party. That commitment is about public awareness— 
Ron Mark 
: How far will $6 million go? 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: It will go a helluva lot further than what you might have put in if you were in Government. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member must not bring me into the debate by using the word “you”. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: I am referring to the honourable member who keeps interrupting my speech because he has nothing else to do. 
Ron Mark 
: That’s my job. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: If that is the member’s job then I have a real aroha for him. 
Hon Dover Samuels 
: You are overpaid bro. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: Yes he is overpaid for interrupting. We could do that for $5 an hour. 
Ron Mark 
: How much will $6 million get? 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: The Government as far as I am concerned can—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Running commentaries are out of order. If the member wants a speech— 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member is deliberately engaging me in direct discussion. Tradition allows me to respond to him. If he wishes to continue to draw me into his debate then that is a choice he makes and he is entitled to receive a reply to the questions he puts to me. That is fair; that is normal debate in this House. If I was throwing interjections at him consistently and he was not inviting me into his debate that would be a totally different story. But he is deliberately inviting me in. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am not inviting the member into my debate. All that he is doing is occupying himself by interrupting. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: There has been a bit of toing and froing tonight and given the nature of the debate we will let that pass. But members should be mindful of the Standing Orders. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: All that I am trying to do is to eliminate the price of ignorance. The interruptions acknowledge the level of ignorance that exists. 
As a member of this Labour Government I am very pleased to stand here and say that the Government wants to ensure more information is made available about the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty provides the basis for building relationships of respect and recognition and it is important that New Zealanders are able to debate the significance of the treaty in an informed and a positive way. I think that is the core of the policy. I think it is absolutely critical that those who avail themselves of the opportunity can gain that knowledge so that ignorance does not sit there unchallenged. 
As my concluding comment I say I totally support anything that adds to the knowledge of the members of this House. What this issue is about is that knowledge is power and once people are empowered we can in future have an informed debate about the treaty. Kia ora mai tatou katoa.