Henare Tau: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — Third Reading 
Henare Tau: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:647;Page:15894] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. I see that the Maori Party has castigated some of the members of the House for the mispronunciation of “Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa”. I want to congratulate those people who consider the pronunciation of one of the official languages of New Zealand. We are in a time when we should not be lazy about the pronunciation of New Zealand’s mother tongue whether it be English or Maori. 
Sandra Goudie 
: There is no need to get precious about it. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well it is not about being precious. It is about loving one’s nation. It is actually about nationalism. 
The reason I say that is that during the adjournment I happened to walk past a second-hand book store and for five bucks I purchased  
I George Nepia 
. I have just finished reading  
I George Nepia 
 which tells the story of one of this country’s icons. The thing that I got from reading about that man was his nationalism his love for his country—not Maori not Pakeha not English not Maori but his country—and everything that went with it; his rugby the way he did things and the way he saw the world. All it came down to I believe—and I could be wrong; I have been wrong before—is that he had respect for his nation. He loved his nation and he had respect for his nation—for the hills the valleys and the rivers—and he enjoyed everything in his nation to the utmost. 
So as I talk about the pronunciation of one of the mother tongues of this nation I say that I believe that English is one of the mother tongues as well and that it too should be enshrined somewhere in our legislation alongside Maori—which it is not actually at the moment. So we need to do something about that in the future. 
Anyway I go back to what we are talking about which is the New Zealand Geographic Board. If one is going to move that Maori language be incorporated in the name of this bill then one should actually try one’s hardest to pronounce it correctly. Some people do some people do not. I think it is intergenerational laziness— 
Hone Harawira 
: That’s a big word. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: What—laziness? It is for the member from Te Tai Tokerau! The member from Te Tai Tokerau would know a big word like “laziness” but I will leave it there. 
I want to wade into the debate about Wanganui and Whanganui and the use of the letter “h” by Mr Laws up in that lovely place Wanganui. I think we should leave it up to the people up there to decide. Leave it up to the people— 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: The Maori people. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No. You see this is the problem we get into if it is left to only one sector of society to have a say. Why does not everybody have a say about it put it all into the pot and let the elected officials go about their business? The Maori Party says no to letting the elected officials go about their business and I suppose that is their democratic right but it is also the democratic right of the council up in Wanganui to decide on whether to have the “h” inserted. Is it a big issue? I do not think it is and do members know why? Well let us say that tomorrow we get a rush of blood to the head and we insert the “h”. What would that do for the nation of Aotearoa or New Zealand? Well it would not sort out the educational strife that our people are in. It certainly would not stop the dairies in Moerewa selling stuff to our young people. It certainly would not stop the P epidemic that is flourishing in our neighbourhoods. Look I say we should leave it to the locals. Here is a funny story. Well I think it is funny. Just outside of Whangarei north of Whangarei by maybe 29 minutes as the crow flies there is a place called Towai. There is a little pub on the left-hand side. 
John Carter 
: What is it called? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: It is called Towai—T-o-w-a-i. 
John Carter 
: “Toe-why”. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That is absolutely correct. You know John Carter has said the correct pronunciation of what everybody else in the nation thinks is “Tor-wai”. It is not “Tor-wai”. Some bright spark forgot to put in the “u” and its correct pronunciation is “Toe-why”. So I congratulate Mr Carter on his correct pronunciation of that name. 
In Whangarei itself we have had the battle over what name we should give Parihaka one of the maunga one of the mountains in the area. I think that whether it is “Para-haki” or “Parry-haka” is a moot point. It is not “Parry-haka” as far as I am concerned. I have never known it to be “Parry-haka”. I had never ever heard it called “Parry-haka” by any of the kaumatua in the mid-north until someone had a bright spark and said it was called “Parry-haka”. Well it is not and that is the problem with these boards. 
This legislation is a complete waste of the House’s time—a complete waste. It shows a Government that does not have much to do apart from buying a few train sets. There is nothing in this bill that is new or that enhances the Geographic Board’s work. The bill fiddles around with the edges and I take the point made by the speaker just before me Sandra “Goo-dee”— 
Hone Harawira 
: “Gow-dee”. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Oh sorry. I apologise for my mispronunciation. That was as in the words of the great poet from Tai Tokerau “lazy”. 
I will talk about the Treaty of Waitangi. How this bill has anything to do with the Treaty of Waitangi is completely beyond me. Clause 6 “Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)” has three paragraphs. Paragraph (a) states: “section 11(1)(d) confers on the Board the function of collecting original Maori names of geographic features for recording on official charts and official maps;”. Paragraph (b) states: “section 11(1)(e) confers on the Board the function of encouraging the use of original Maori names of geographic features on official charts and official maps;”. Again what that has to do with the Treaty of Waitangi is beyond me. Maybe someone from the Maori Party can get up and elucidate on how that has anything to do with the Treaty of Waitangi. Further clause 6(c) states: “clause 1(2)(a) of Schedule 1 requires 2 persons to be appointed to the Board on the recommendation of the Minister of Maori Affairs.” 
Goodness gracious me! Is that what we have come to? After 169-odd years of being a nation the Minister of Maori Affairs is now doing a wonderful job by recommending two people to sit on that board. Why do we not just appoint two people who are good for the job? Let us get Cabinet the Government to do that. It is a radical suggestion but let us appoint people because they can do the job. That would be really really great. Let us have faith that Governments can appoint people not because they are Maori but because they can do the job that is expected of them.