Flavell Te Ururoa: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill — Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4441] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. a tena tatou katoa me koutou hoki i te kainga e whakarongo mai nei. He taonga tuku iho ko te manu tukutuku. Kua ngaro atu ke ki nga hau e wha. Kua whakamiharo o tatou nei ngakau. Kia patu ake ki te whai ao ki te ao marama. Anei ke pea te whakamarama o tenei korero. He taonga ka ngaro i te hau; kia kitea mai katahi ka puta ko te harikoa. Ki te ata titirohia nga whakapapa me nga korero o nehe o Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa katahi ka marama tatou ki te tikanga o te manu tukutuku me tona rere ki taua iwi. Waihoki e ai ki tenei pire he rongonui a Rongowhakaata mo te whakarere manu tukutuku. Koia nei ano hoki ko te mahi o Te Torangapu Maori he whakaara ake i te take nei ara kia korerorero kia wananga ki te taha o te mana whenua o Rongowhakaata. Ko ta matou ko te whakarere i te take nei o te tika me te pono me te wahanga o te tangata whenua i roto i nga whiriwhiringa. 
E te Kaikorero e tino tika ana kia tae mai te pire nei ki mua i te aroaro o te Whare i tenei rangi tonu nei i a tatou e ata titiro ana ki te wahanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi hei korowai mo nga ture o te motu. Ka hoki nga mahara ki te take i kokirihia e te Kaunihera Maori o Aotearoa ki te Kooti Pira. Ko ta ratou ko te noho a-Tiriti he rite ki te noho rangapu ara; he wahanga ki a koe he wahanga ki a au. Ko te noho rangapu i waenganui i a Pakeha me Maori e akiaki nei i a raua tahi kia tika te noho kia pono te noho orite.  
He aha tenei tu momo rangapu ki te noho wahangu tetahi taha? Na Rongowhakaata te papa o Alfred Cox i tuku i runga i te tikanga o Te Ture Whenua Rahui 1977 “hei painga mo te katoa”. Kati. He aha tona hokinga mai? He whakahawea he whakaiti. Ko te whenua kei te putake o te pire nei he whenua muru i a Rongowhakaata i raro i Te Pire Mahi Tumatanui. 
Kei roto i te pire nei ko nga matapono whakahirahira o Te Tiriti o Waitangi na te Pati Maori tonu i whakairi hei mea wananga ma tenei Paremata. I te panuitanga tuatahi me te mea tuarua o tenei pire i whakatakoto matou i nga whainga matua na te Tiriti i whakatau ki runga i tena i tena. Kua korerohia e tatou tenei mea te Kawanatanga me ki ko te wahanga ki te Karauna ko te hanga ture me te tango whenua hei painga mo te katoa o te hapori me tona whanaungatanga ki te rangatiratanga o te ao Maori ki runga i ona whenua. 
Ko ta te Karauna oati ki te tangata whenua ka pumau tona tino rangatiratanga ki runga i ona whenua. Engari tenei i noho pohehe te Karauna he whenua noho kau tenei a kaore he raruraru ki te tuku hei whenua parapara ma te taone.  
Kei te kokiri anotia e matou tenei take kia noho tapu nga korero a te Kawanatanga. Tino kore matou e rata ki nga tiwaha a nga mema pera i a Moana Mackey me Anne Tolley. He korero enei kua puta ano nei kaore he whakaaro mo nga tangata e pangia ana e tenei pire. 
Ehara mo te Torangapu Maori tenei pire. I tu matou i runga i te tika ki te whakaatu i nga whakaaro o to matou hapori. Kei te pumau matou ki te whakaaro me whawhai mo nga tika a Maori me kokiri hoki i nga take Maori hei painga mo te whenua katoa. Mo Te Tiriti o Waitangi tenei kia whai oranga ai ia hei kawenata hei kaupapa mo to tatou kirimana hapori. He kirimana e taea ai e nga iwi katoa te noho tahi te whakaatu i o ratou whakaaro hei whakaputa hoki i o ratou awangawanga. 
Tae noa ki te panuitanga tuarua kaore i tutuki taua kirimana hapori. Kaore he hiahia ki te hui ki nga mangai o Rongowhakaata me nga iwi o Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa korero ai mo nga ahuatanga o te pire. Koira ta matou i hiahia ai ko te korero.  
I hara mai matou ki tenei Whare ki te patai i te patai; he orite te mana o nga hoa Tiriti? Ae ranei kaore ranei? Mehemea i pera i te wa i panuitia nga tono a-hapori i te Hongongoi ki te Hakihea o tera tau kua kitea i whai wahi te Kaunihera a-Rohe o Turanga ki te korero tahi me Rongowhakaata. Ko te noho tahi ko te korero tahi koia tera? Ko tona tikanga ka kaha nei nga kaunihera a-rohe a-motu hoki ki te noho tahi ahakoa whanau hapu iwi ranei. 
E ai ki ta te Taraipiunara titiro ko te noho tahi i runga i te tika me te pono me whakanui tetahi hoa Tiriti i tetahi. I takahia i tukinohia te rangatiratanga o te iwi e nga whakatau a te Kaunihera a-Rohe o Turanga me nga mema Paremata na runga i to ratou kore korero ki nga tangata whenua to ratou kore aro mai ki te tino rangatiratanga Maori na runga hoki i te kore hiahia ki te korero ki te tangata whenua. He huri tuara ke. 
Kei te marama tonu tatou me hapaitia nga tikanga o tenei Whare. He aha te take kaore i perahia nga tikanga mo tenei pire? Ko nga matapono o te noho rangapu ara ko te noho tahi korero tahi i runga i te whakaaro ngatahi ko te tikanga ka korerohia te pire nei ki te taha o nga iwi o Te Tai Rawhiti. Ko ta te Torangapu Maori i roto i nga korero nei he tono i a Anne Tolley ki te hoki ki te putake o tenei take ara ki te korero ki a Rongowhakaata me Turanga Tangata. E ai ki ta matou e rongo nei kua pera ke te kaunihera o Turanga kua aro pai ia ki te tikanga o nga matapono o te Tiriti o Waitangi i raro i tenei pire.  
E tika ana ta matou pakanga mo nga korero hitori o Te Tai Rawhiti me to ratou kaha hiahia ki te tiaki i nga ingoa rangatira i roto i o ratou whakapapa ka mutu ki te whakanui i wo ratou tupuna. I tona mutunga ko ta matou noa iho me wananga tenei take. He kaha nei to matou nei whakapono ma te iwi Maori ano ana huarahi e whakarite. Kua timata tera ahuatanga ma tenei pire ara ko te Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill. Kei te harikoa hoki te Pati Maori kia kite mai ai ko te haki tino rangatiratanga e iri ana kei runga ake hei whakanui i te wairua o te Tiriti. Kia ora tatou. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Madam Assistant Speaker and to us all as well as to those at home listening in.  
There is a saying: “A treasured kite lost to the winds brings much joy when found again.” The importance and significance of kite-making and kite-flying to the iwi of Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa are obvious when the genealogies and history are looked at. In particular as relevant to the purposes of this bill Rongowhakaata was a kite flyer of some repute. In many ways this was what the Maori Party was attempting to do when we raised the  
importance of consultation and involvement of mana whenua Rongowhakaata. We were flying the kite of justice for the importance of an appropriate and mandated consultation process with tangata whenua. 
It is highly appropriate that this bill comes before the House on a day when we are debating the constitutional significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We recall the Court of Appeal in the New Zealand Maori Council case which declared that the Treaty relationship is akin to or in the nature of a partnership—a partnership between Pakeha and Maori that requires each of them to act reasonably towards the other and with the utmost good faith. 
What sort of partnership willingly sets up a scenario to create a silent partner? Rongowhakaata originally gifted the Alfred Cox Park within the  
constraints of the Reserves Act 1977 and a deed of trust that represented the “utmost good faith”. Yet how were they treated? With the utmost contempt! The land from which this bill derives its source was wrongfully taken from Rongowhakaata under the Public Works Act. 
The issues raised by the bill involve important principles of the Treaty of Waitangi that the Maori Party wanted to flag for the consideration of this Parliament. At both first and second readings of this bill we raised the issue of the underlying mutual obligations and responsibilities that the Treaty places on each party. We have talked about Kawanatanga the Crown’s right to make laws and take land in the public interest balanced with rangatiratanga the guarantees of protection of Maori ownership of lands.  
The Crown guaranteed tino rangatiratanga to tangata whenua: full authority over their lands. Y 
et in this case the Crown assumed that Rongowhakaata land was idle land and that there would be no great shame in using it as a dumping ground for the town’s rubbish.  
We take the time to raise these issues again because they must be considered part of the public record. We have not been impressed at the outburst of members such as Moana Mackey and National Party MP Anne Tolley—outbursts that have occurred seemingly without a heart for all of the people who stand to be affected by this bill. 
This bill was never about the Maori Party. We stood to make our points simply to do what was required of us in representing the views of our constituency. Our adamant belief is that we must d 
efend Maori rights and advance Maori interests for the benefit of the nation. This is about the Treaty as a living instrument an ongoing partnership that provides our foundation as a developing social contract—a contract in which all parties come to the table able to put forward their views and have their positions heard and their concerns reflected. 
Even up until the second reading that social contract was not in place. There had not been a willingness to meet with the appropriate representatives of Rongowhakaata and Turanga iwi to discuss the implications of this bill. That is all we were asking for—the moral obligation to talk. 
We came to this House to ask the question: did the Treaty partners have equal status? Yes or no? If that was so at the time when public submissions were called in July 2005 and closed in December 2005 the record would have shown that the Gisborne District Council made time to discuss the matter with representatives of Rongowhakaata. Active participation as a partnership principle is exactly that. It means that local and central government make the effort to engage with whanau hapu and iwi. 
The tribunal has found that acting reasonably honourably and in good faith requires both Treaty partners to acknowledge each other’s respective interests and authority over natural resources. Tribal tino rangatiratanga was compromised nay sacrificed by the decision of both the Gisborne District Council and the local MPs to fail to consult—to fail to respect Maori authority to fail to initiate dialogue to ignore tangata whenua. 
This House is very clear about the significance of protocol as a means of respecting parliamentary business. It would have been helpful if for this bill such respect for protocol had also been taken up. The principles of partnership of active protection—the duty to act reasonably honourably and in good faith—should have meant the bill was discussed with local iwi in Te Tai Rawhiti. Members of the Maori Party in our speeches throughout this debate have offered Anne Tolley an opportunity to revisit the issue and seek an audience with Rongowhakaata and Turanga iwi. We have been informed that the Gisborne District Council has taken up this opportunity and that there has been an increasing responsibility for proper regard to be had for the impact of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as it applies in this bill. 
The tribal histories of Te Tai Rawhiti their determination to protect the place names of significance within their whakapapa—and in doing so to honour their tupuna—were worth fighting for.  
At the end of the day all that we sought was that the discussion take place. We believe passionately in the right of a vibrant Maori society to be actively involved in securing its future cultural survival. That discussion has begun in the case of the Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill—and the Maori Party is pleased to see that tino rangatiratanga flag flying as it should to honour the spirit of the Treaty.  
Greetings to us. 
]