Katene Rahui: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Katene Rahui: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6596] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Outside this Chamber the date today is actually 17 September and it is a day to remember. Four years ago on 17 September 2005 the Maori Party took the nation by surprise capturing four of the seven Maori seats in a spectacular demonstration of Maori political power. There is no doubt that the previous Government’s decision in 2004 to legislate away Maori rights to the foreshore and seabed was the trigger to the Maori Party’s establishment. The Maori Party became a vehicle in which to channel the intense discontent expressed by New Zealanders over an action that sought to erode the status of Maori as tangata whenua and the human rights protections guaranteed and affirmed to us under te Tiriti o Waitangi. But the vehicle that brought us into Parliament was also a powerful force for Maori political representation—to articulate a strong and independent Maori voice in every aspect of the parliamentary programme. This was exactly what we sought for Auckland: the right to articulate a strong and independent Maori voice in every aspect of the local government agenda. 
Throughout the long hours of this debate we have brought to the House the aspirations of iwi and Maori submitters around Maori representation in local bodies and participation in local governance. They asked Parliament to invest in the full participation of Maori in governance arrangements. Iwi and Maori submitters sought to increase Maori representation in local governance bodies. They shared the experience of the establishment of Maori wards provided for under the Local Electoral Act 2001 as indeed the Bay of Plenty Regional Council has done. They expressed the importance of recognising te Tiriti o Waitangi in local governance arrangements including the rangatiratanga kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga rights and responsibilities of mana whenua. 
I want to acknowledge today our profound sadness at the way in which mana whenua have been treated by this Government in this decision today. Earlier this morning the chair of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee the Hon John Carter rose and praised the process as having reflected the heartbeat of Auckland. I want to offer the wisdom of one of our well-known whakatauki which guides us in the pivotal role that mana whenua play in our land: “Hutia te rito o te harakeke kei hea te komako e ko? Ki mai ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e ki atu he tangata he tangata he tangata.” 
[ 
If the centre shoot of the flax plant is plucked out where will the bellbird go? Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world and I will respond it is mankind it is mankind it is mankind 
.]  
Mana whenua representation has been fundamental to the history and the evolution of Tamaki-makau-rau. The respective iwi have adopted a collaborative approach to building the city of Auckland. Tangata whenua have worked alongside the founding fathers to establish New Zealand’s largest city. All the time they have maintained their obligations of manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga to look after all the people who settle within their territories. Mana whenua in essence are the pounding heart of every rohe. They hold occupational rights and interests over tribal areas and they will continue to hold this role no matter what the vote tells them today. 
Ngati Whatua spokesman Ngarimu Blair shared this view in a comment he made yesterday: “When we look at struggles we don’t think of three year terms like our Pakeha politicians do our people think in blocs of generations and know it’s inevitable that there will be Maori seats in Auckland and across the country”. So I pay my tributes today to the generosity of mana whenua their patience and their longstanding optimism that will continue to provide the heartbeat to Tamaki-makau-rau with or without this bill. 
The Maori Party sought to exercise creativity in putting forward five different options to honour the desire for Maori representation. We put forward amendments for two mana whenua seats candidates put up by mana whenua and voted on by all Maori; for two mana whenua seats in which candidates sign a whakapapa declaration voted on by all Maori; for two Maori seats voted on by all Maori; for one Maori seat voted on by all Maori; and for ensuring that Local Electoral Act 2001 provisions are lawful if Auckand Council members or electors want to establish Maori seats. One by one each of these amendments was voted down. It reflected indeed the supposition of Te Waiohua which told the select committee that without special acknowledgment of the Treaty partner they predicted a form of political ghettoisation where Maori are in a minority and are overridden in every vote cast. 
I acknowledge the support of Labour the Green Party the Progressive party and individual National MPs who supported these amendments and in doing so supported the right and responsibility for mana whenua representation. I have to commend the initiative of Ngati Whatua which recommended that the Maori seats should have been made a conscience issue to enable MPs from National to cross the floor on such a critical issue. 
Ngati Whatua themselves have admitted that they have been here before. In 2007 the Waitangi Tribunal castigated the Labour Government for the sloppy way in which it had approached negotiations with Auckland iwi. Just 2 years on we see another shameful episode which throws into question the Government’s understanding of the constitutional rights and obligations of partnership under the Treaty of Waitangi applied between the Crown and the mana whenua which gifted land on which Auckland City is built. Today our thoughts are with the people of Ngai Tai Ngati Manuhiri Ngati Maru Ngati Paoa Ngati Rehua Ngati Te Ata - Wai o Hua Ngati Tamaoho Ngati Tamatera Ngati Whanaunga Ngati Whatua Tainui Te Ahiwaru Te Akitai and Te Kawerau-a-Maki. These people have generously opened their arms and welcomed people into their rohe. We recognise the magnanimity of Ngati Whatua in granting the opportunity to establish a settlement that would flourish socially and economically. 
I am thinking too of the 15000 people who walked in the hikoi to call for Maori seats in the super-city and the 80 percent of the submissions supporting these seats as being the strongest form of Maori representation. The decision today is not just one of exclusive import to the people of Auckland. The Local Government Act 2002 requires that local governments acknowledge the authority of mana whenua. As provided for in the Treaty tangata whenua should have an equitable say in the decisions that affect them via Treaty-based representation. 
I listened to the Minister sponsoring this bill the Hon Rodney Hide say that getting Auckland right is in the interests of all Aucklanders and all New Zealanders as well. I have to say that we have not got it right in terms of Maori representation. We have not got it right in terms of supporting Maori communities and advancing Maori representation through forms such as the single transferable vote through Maori representative positions on council committees and advisory bodies nor through the Maori seats. 
I bring back to the House the words of my colleague Hone Harawira: “The report of the committee is unjust improper and politically motivated. The bill signals an enduring and profoundly disturbing fear of sharing decision-making with Maori as provided for in the Treaty of Waitangi.” 
Finally in the spirit of anniversaries I reflect on the historic Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was signed 2 years ago this week. Article 18 of that declaration agreed that indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision making in matters that would affect their rights through representatives chosen by they themselves. What harm would it have done to share decision making to invest in Maori representation and to engage with tangata whenua the first peoples of this land? I guess we will never know. But the heart will keep beating; the call of the people for justice for dignity for representation will continue. We know that it is inevitable that one day there will be Maori seats in Auckland and across the nation. Tena koutou.