Delahunty Catherine: Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Delahunty Catherine: Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6406. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena koutou katoa. I would first like to acknowledge the leader of the Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill Te Ururoa Flavell the Maori Party those who have spoken in favour of the bill and indeed those who have spoken against it because Te Tiriti o Waitangi embraces all of us. It is just unfortunate that some parties in this House cannot embrace the concept of choice which is kind of interesting because the National Party has always gone on and on about choice since I have been in this House. Here is an opportunity to create more choice for the citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand and National is not going to support it which is incredibly disappointing. 
However I want to say something about this bill because the Green Party is very very happy to support it. We believe that if it could be passed to the Maori Affairs Committee it would herald a new age of respect for Te Tiriti o Waitangi not only for Maori but also for tangata Tiriti for Pakeha like me who tried when we came into this House to swear and affirm on both Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the other oath—and I was not the only one. This bill reflects what many of us have held in our hearts for some time and we are grateful to the member who has brought it because when we came here we wanted to take the oath based on an affirmation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It was not that we were rejecting anything else; it was what we wanted to affirm as a critical part of our nationhood. 
This bill is very generous and is designed with key words like “allow” “in addition” and “may”. There is nothing in this bill that uses compulsion or force or denies the respect that others may wish to pay to the other oath which is the normal one at this time. It is generous it creates space and opportunity it is gentle and offers choice and it is fundamentally positive and symbolic about an issue that we all claim to recognise symbolically in recognising the founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi. And what does it commit us to? Is that the real fear? It commits us to recognising what Te Tiriti o Waitangi stands for which is a great opportunity for Pakeha and tauiwi katoa because as the Hon Tau Henare said it is our unique identity. It is what makes us wonderful in the world and it is what makes us hold our heads up and say that we are not at war. Since 1840 when Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed it has been a commitment to negotiation and dialogue. I do not know what people would prefer but I know that the Green Party would prefer that we were not at war and that what happened in 1840 was a declaration of peace and a declaration for continuing dialogue and negotiation. Otherwise what have we got as a nation? We have not got anything. What we have got is unfinished business and unfinished battles. 
Te Tiriti o Waitangi the Maori text—and that must be recognised. There is a principle called contra proferentem that recognises the Maori text—I always thought it sounded like “contraception”; I was not quite sure what it was—and it is an international way in which we recognise indigenous language texts. That is what Te Tiriti stands for. What this bill would do would be to allow some of us who have learnt about this—not sufficiently through our education system because it has failed to educate successive generations on this issue—to uphold what we truly believe is an opportunity for harmony peace and justice not only in this Whare but in every place where New Zealanders or new citizens or representatives take an oath or make a declaration. It is not threatening the foundation of the Crown. 
Many people are afraid that if we recognise Te Tiriti in this way it might somehow undermine the Crown and in no way does it do that. Many people who believe in republicanism think that we do not need the Crown but actually what Te Tiriti does is far more fundamental. What is disturbing about the rejection of this opportunity is that we should be applying this to all our work because it is a spirit that enriches us all as a nation and if we believe in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which the National Government upheld in theory it has to be seen in practice. It has to be implemented in reality. 
I have a bill that complements my colleague’s—it is the Citizenship (Acknowledgement of Te Tiriti o Waitangi) Amendment Bill which is in the ballot—which would ensure that all new citizens when they come to the ceremony have an opportunity to learn about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to understand whose rohe they are in and who are the tangata whenua. It would allow mayors to decide how they do it and to actually acknowledge that. My bill is complementary to my colleague’s because rather than wait for the constitutional debate to reach whatever conclusion every day and in every way we need to stand up for Te Tiriti. This opportunity should be upheld and I want to honour Te Ururoa Flavell tonight. Kia ora tatou.