Harawira Hone: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Third Reading 
Harawira Hone: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:671;Page:17648] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Independent—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena tatou katoa e te Whare. “Te tino rangatiratanga ka ngaro i te ture nei. Te mana o nga tangata whenua ka ngaro i te ture nei.” Our sovereignty is lost under this law. Our authority as people of the land is lost under this law. Those words were spoken by a strong supporter of the Maori Party Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru when the hikoi arrived to oppose the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. They represent the feelings of Maori throughout Aotearoa who are opposed to this racist bill which will become law when the Maori Party votes for it. 
This is a sad moment for Maoridom. It is the end of a long and hopeful but ultimately tragic journey that began when 50000 people marched to oppose Labour’s confiscation of our rights to the foreshore and seabed in 2004 and blossomed when the Maori Party was elected to win back those rights in 2005. Hopes were lifted by the review in 2009 but sadly will be betrayed in 2011 when the Maori Party votes against the people who put them in power and in support of the continued confiscation of Maori rights to the foreshore and seabed. 
Eighty-nine percent of Maoridom does not want this racist bill but still the Maori Party tells everyone that it is a Maori Party bill. Those members are pleased to stand in support of it even though Tariana Turia has said that if they were negotiating on what is fair just and moral then there would have been a very different outcome; even though when Te Ururoa Flavell was asked: “Who is running the timetable?” he said it was National when asked: “Who wrote the bill?” he said it was National and when asked: “Whose bill is this?” he said it was National’s; and even though Rahui Katene said they knew that the test the Court of Appeal put in place was far too high and that few would be able to meet it. 
So confused and contradictory are the comments of the Maori Party MPs whose votes will turn this racist bill into law that I struggle to understand why they would do it. But a friend explained it like this: “Isn’t it amazing how you can become so embroiled in a fight that you don’t even notice who you are fighting anymore? You become so defensive you stop hearing the other person’s argument even if it is reasonable. You switch off; you only hear the voices that agree with you. You know deep in your heart that you are wrong and in those moments when you have only yourself to answer to you even acknowledge that you might be wrong but you blindly carry on in your course of destruction because you are stubborn. It takes a huge amount of humility to back down when you have invested so much energy in the fight but unless you do find a way to gracefully acknowledge that you are wrong you continue to reap angst and disharmony and you alienate people that you care about. I think that is where the Maori Party is at. I hope they find the mana they need to step back refocus and see who the real enemy is.” 
I support the repeal of the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act. I support Moana Jackson’s proposal that we take that repeal and simply add to it a 2-year moratorium to give Maori the opportunity to come back with a better deal than this. 
In closing I take this opportunity to thank the Maori Party for raising this issue albeit it gave it up without winning tupuna title; the ministerial review panel for the excellent and insightful report; the Attorney-General for fronting hui although his viewpoint was never accepted; the Greens for their consistent support for the Maori view on this; the 50000 people who marched with us against injustice in 2004; and the 500 people who marched for us against injustice in 2011. 
But most of all I thank our Maori people for their courage in the face of the continued denial of their rights for the compassion that they display for others and for the deep and abiding love they have for this land we call Aotearoa—a love they share with other New Zealanders whom I know also care passionately about this land. But there is a special love that comes to Maori by being born of this land. They are descendants of a people for whom the takutai moana is and always will be a part of their very existence. Although others might say that they have given up on this fight I pledge to Maoridom that for me at least this fight will not end until Maori finally have tupuna title to the takutai moana that they truly deserve. 
Tu te Ao Maori tu te rangatiratanga tu motuhake tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Long live Maoridom sovereignty and independence; greetings to us all. 
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