Samuels Dover: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Samuels Dover: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:629;Page:1195] 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS (Minister of State) 
: 
Te mea tuatahi maku Mr Deputy Speaker kei te mihi atu ki a koe mo tenei nohonga tuatahi o te Whare Paremata ara mo te tau hou kei te haere. 
Mr Deputy Speaker I am acknowledging that this is our first sitting of Parliament for this year and also acknowledging your role as Deputy Speaker of the House. 
I have listened to many politically desperate speeches. In the time that I have been in this House I and many members have had the opportunity to listen to speeches from the Opposition. After hearing the last two speeches from National Party members—specifically from Wayne Mapp and Tau Henare—the mind boggles with imagination. Sometimes I think that perhaps they are suffering from some sort of amnesia. 
I was interested to hear Wayne Mapp talking about stench. National having been in the freezer in cold storage for 6 years and recognising that it is going through a process of defrosting one wonders what Dr Mapp means by stench. From my experience if one takes something out of the freezer and leaves it out in the sun too long it begins to defrost and get pirau—that means it goes rotten—and then one smells the stench. 
 Then we had Tau Henare pointing his finger at his former leader Winston Peters. I remember the advice that my whanaunga Winston Peters gave to his junior member who at that time was the member for Te Tai Tokerau. He said to Tau that the first lesson to learn when one comes into this House is to keep one’s ears open keep one’s nose open and keep one’s mouth shut. Today and this evening we have seen the member who used to sit with New Zealand First and who then went to the National benches when I thought he would come here sitting over on the other side. There is a description for members of Parliament like that—and one does not even have to go to the Maori dictionary. He is known as the “king of the waka jumpers”. “Waka jumper” is actually in the Maori dictionary and that member knows what it is all about. 
Perhaps Mr Henare could learn from the wisdom of his former leader who said that he recognises the Year of the Dog and the Chinese New Year and who then made reference to the National Party becoming a lame duck. Last night I met some Chinese friends and they told me a proverb about a lame duck. They asked: “Why did the lame duck cross the road?” I said: “How would I know? Why did the lame duck cross the road?” They said: “Because the duck wanted to end up as a Peking duck.” [ 
Interruption 
] Mr Henare says it is OK. 
Then Mr Henare went on to talk about when he was campaigning at Moerewa as the member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. Claptrap and gabble was spoken about that and about promises about the Ngawha prison. I remind the member that he stood in this House and he canvassed during the election and he said that he would never ever sit at the same Cabinet table with Jenny Shipley. That is a matter of record. The people of Te Tai Tokerau remember it because he said it in Maori. I know that he suffers from amnesia but the people of Te Tai Tokerau know that he said: “My principles kia kaha kia manawanui that is who I am. I will never sit around the table with Jenny Shipley.” 
Yesterday we saw the difference between the two leaders. Helen Clark made a very visionary statement about the future and the pathway of this country. She laid out the pathway for everybody to see and she gave the solutions and the policies that would lead us down the pathway. I was sad because I thought it was a great opportunity for Gerry Brownlee and his leader Don Brash to get up and make a big hit after the Prime Minister’s speech. I listened intently. I saw Gerry Brownlee but I did not hear him. But I heard his leader make a pathetic response to the Prime Minister. That is the difference between the two leaders. Don Brash was putting down this country talking about doom and gloom and talking about stench. 
I say to the members of the Opposition that I know it is hard to put up an argument in Opposition when things are looking so good for the country. I know it is tough. I know that Tau Henare agrees with me that it is tough. How can they mount an Opposition debate that has integrity when we have the lowest unemployment in the OECD? How can they do it? My advice to my new colleague from the Maori Party is to open his ears open his nose and shut his mouth for 12 months before starting to spout out. 
I have sat in this House and fought throughout for the introduction of the principles of the Treaty into domestic legislation. [ 
Interruption 
] Yes I have. That member is suffering from amnesia again. The only party—and I acknowledge New Zealand First—that has committed to the principles of the Treaty in legislation is the Labour Party. The National Party has publicly come out and said that not only does it want to abolish the Maori seats—here is Mr Henare suffering from amnesia again—but it also wants to get rid of the Treaty let alone the principles of the Treaty. 
One thing I have to hand to Don Brash is that he has turned it up. He said in his speech at Orewa that National is going to look very carefully at race-based policies and at repealing references to the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation. That is what he said and no wonder. I say to that member that Labour has fronted up and delivered. 
I tell the Maori Party members that the time has come. The challenge is not to us as Maori members; the challenge is to them. There will be no more talk. The honeymoon is over. The Maori Party members will be judged at the next election by what they deliver not by what they talk about. They will not be judged by the honeymoon nor by patting themselves on the back and saying they are doing a good job. What they deliver will decide whether they will stay in this House after the election or whether it is “Pokare Kare Ana”. It is as simple as that. 
The challenge is not to the Maori members of this Parliament. The challenge to the Maori Party members is to deliver on their promises. They said they would repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act. I am waiting for them to do that. The National Party said it would repeal the Act but for different reasons—because it does not want any reference to Maori customary rights; it just wants the foreshore and seabed to be owned by the Crown. Members can ask Gerry Brownlee—that is what he said at the select committee. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: No no. 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS 
: I am sorry but I think Tau should go and see the local doctor or psychiatrist—one of the two—because he is suffering from amnesia. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for your patience and consideration. Kei te mihi atu ki a koe. Ki a tatou katoa hoki o te Whare Paremata kia pono te korero.  
[ 
I acknowledge you. To all of us in the House speak honestly 
].  
Tena koutou tena koutou happy New Year.