Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Tātou katoa i tae mai nei mō tēnei kaupapa tino whakahirahira tēnei te mihi ki ā tātou katoa ahakoa he rerekē ngā whakaaro ngā kōrero ko te mea nui kei konei tātou i raro i te kaupapa o te kotahitanga. Ki ngā manuhiri i tae mai nei i tēnei wā tēnei te tino mihi ki a koutou. E mōhio mātou tēnei he kaupapa tino whakahirahira tino taumaha i tēnei wā engari tēnei te mihi ki a koutou.[Greetings Mr Speaker. All of us who have gathered on this momentous occasion I thank you all regardless of the differences in opinion. The main thing is that we have come together. To the visitors who have arrived at this time you have my many thanks. We know this matter is very important very serious but I would like to acknowledge you.]It's an honour and a privilege to speak on this bill. Like Minister Tracey Martin I thank David Seymour. I've never been a fan of the ACT Party at all ever and Mr Seymour knows that but he touched our hearts a little bit when he came out with his Māori whakapapa about a year ago—that was one way in there Mr Seymour. So congratulations to him for his mahi.I also want to thank Maggie Barry for her strong advocacy and challenging me all the time constantly even up till about five minutes ago. So thank you very much—Hon Dr Nick Smith: There's hope.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: —to Maggie Barry for those challenges. No this is what the process has been and it's a very important process and it's good to see the type of respect that's been shown in the House by all sides. Mihi ana ki a tātou katoa. When I first came into the debate I brought my own personal experiences into this and I talked about my mother. Since this is the last kōrero on this it's proper that I talk about her again and a few other things particularly around Te Ao Māori aspects.My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer—terminal death I suppose; not cancer. She was given three months to live last year. She's still around but my mother as I've said in previous speeches changed dramatically from the passionate strong Māori leader that she was. June Temuranga Jackson my mother was the longest-serving Parole Board member in this country and led the urban Māori movement—the only person I know who could shut John Tamihere up—and she led us in terms of advocating for urban Māori rights for many years. She was seen as a mana wahine and we were all so proud of her and we are all still very proud of her. But then she got sick and she got so sick that for many of us in our whānau—some people have already heard this but I need just to repeat it again. Many in our whānau started changing their views started changing their thoughts in terms of what should happen next with her and then some of us swung in to the euthanasia side with the view that Mum wasn't the Mum we were used to. My mother became a different person. It broke our hearts but you know we were listening to the euthanasia arguments and they were very persuasive. So we were working things out. About five months ago my mother looked like she was going to die. We were preparing for the tangi. She went into a coma. She was on the way out. And then somehow she came out of it all woke up stood up walked out and she's better today than she was 18 months ago. So our views changed again and mine did too.So I went back to the other end—of my good friend Adrian Rurawhe where I've always been and I started thinking: No look this euthanasia thing is just out of hand; life is everything; this is our whakapapa."—all that sort of thing. But along the way I've been talking with not just Māori but people everywhere. And I've started to realise that the kaupapa is more than just about Mum even though I love my Mum dearly and we're all shaped by our experiences. And along the way I've been talking to the security in this Parliament and the cleaners and our drivers and they've all got experiences and we've heard them all. Just the other day one of our drivers talked to me about his father and he said "I wish Dad could have—".You know how the protocols are with the drivers but I asked him. I wanted to hear their views. And he said "You know I wish Dad had been able to go out with a bit of dignity." They talk about no pain but he told me his father was in so much pain it wasn't funny. And I take that into account because these people mean something to me—our security our cleaners our drivers; all their views matter. So I've talked to Pākehā and Māori everywhere. Then I talked to my friend Frances Smiler-Edwards who is so Christian—even more so than Anahila over here. And you know we've got them all here—her and Mr Sio. Oh yes. We're full of them—we're so diverse in Labour. She is my friend—so religious so religious and she had a daughter who got breast cancer who was 39 years of age. Her daughter she said was suffering from her toes to the top of her head in absolute pain. And my dear friend Frances Smiler said to her daughter Ira "You can't go girl—you can't go." This very religious whānau—and she suffered like you would not believe. She held on for her babies. She held on and she held on. And then she said "Mum I want to go." But Mum said "You're not going nowhere." She eventually went but my dear friend Frances has said to me since "I know my beliefs. I know how Christian I am. I know about wairua. I know about whakapapa. Someone has to talk for Ira—someone has to talk for Ira." I said to Frances "I'll talk for Ira—I'll talk for Ira" because there are so many Iras out there.I respect the religious the wairua thing—all that. I respect it all but there is another side. That's why last night I spoke with three of the most high-profile Māori leaders in this country—three of the most high-profile Māori leaders in this country. I took this seriously. I tried to talk to everyone. Then I thought I'd better go and talk to the flash ones last night. Two of them don't want me to mention their names. So I'm answering Dr Reti who I respect very much—mihi nui ki a koe mō tō wero ki a au. [A big thankyou for your challenge to me.]And the three of them—I'll mention one of their names: Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi matriarch queen of the kōhanga reo movement. She said "Mention my name." I said "I will" but the other two I can't. They all said this: they were tired of hearing that this bill was a breach of tikanga. They were tired of hearing that this was a violation of our culture. All were unanimous that in their view tikanga evolves tikanga changes and there is no one tikanga—there is no one tikanga. All were unanimous that whānau is everything—no debate there—and must be part of this process. Yet none of them thought that euthanasia was suicide. I know that's hard for my friends and whānau in our Māori caucus but I'm only relating what they're saying. All of them thought that euthanasia was dying with dignity.Their views were fascinating to me. One of them said and felt that suicide most times is about depression desperation stress and living without hope whilst another one felt—these are the two men; I can't give their names—that suicide was the squandering of one's life. The other person as I said who I'm allowed to name the 90-year-old Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi said this: her life is her life and her wonderful body is her body and she'd do anything she liked with it—our 90-year-old kuia and Māori in the House know how wonderful this kuia is.What really resonated with me was the kōrero from one of these very esteemed leaders—because this challenge of tikanga is so important in terms of Māori—he said his views about tikanga are this: tikanga is about dignity and mana. He said that the most important tikanga is mana and the ultimate indignity is living without mana. That resonates with me and I hope it resonates within the House. When I heard those words from him last night it touched me very much whether you agree or disagree. He says that mana is everything—for Māori for Pākehā. That means dignity is everything. He also says that our old people say that death isn't the end anyway but just the beginning. Kia ora anō tātou katoa."