Flavell Te Ururoa: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: General Debate[Sitting date: 31 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12128. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Continuing on a theme of justice I suppose for this afternoon I wanted to draw some consideration to two key statements around the administration of justice. Most of us in the House would know or would have heard of the statement that is often quoted: “Justice delayed is justice denied.” which has become code for injustice. In effect it means that if justice is not carried out right away then even if it is carried out late it is not really justice because there has been a period of time when there has been a lack of justice. The second words of wisdom come from the black human rights champion Martin Luther King. He said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”One might think that these statements are statements of intent for how various arms of the justice system should operate so I want to raise three particular cases to have a look at. I am talking about the situation for theNēpata brothers and their treatment by the defence forces; I want to talk about Operation Eight with particular reference to the New Zealand Police; and thirdly the experience ofTeinaPora through sentencing in the courts and his subsequent incarceration. As a starting point most of us here would say that everyone is equal before the law and in perhaps another bigger context that we should take recognition of the recommendations from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and its report to decrease racial discrimination within New Zealand.So let me start with theNēpata brothers. I know this family. I know these two gentlemen. DamienNēpata was serving as a lance corporal in the New Zealand Army when he suffered extensive burns from an accident that occurred while he was driving a tank at the army camp atWaiōuru in 1994. He suffered burns to 40 percent of his body. His brother GeorgeNēpata was serving as a private in the army when he was seriously injured in a training accident in Singapore in 1989. He now lives as a tetraplegic. TheNēpata brothers have presented petitions to this House on two previous occasions in 1999 and in 2003 for compensation up to the level of entitlement that they would have received had they enlisted after 1992. The downside is that both petitions were rejected by the Government. TheMāori Party could neither tolerate nor accept the lack of action for thiswhānau so we wrote to the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs the Minister of Defence and the Prime Minister to request adequate compensation for the injuries suffered while under the duty of care of the army. We also referred the case to theMāori Affairs Committee and we are delighted that the committee gave the issue urgent priority. Just to cut to the chase these injuries and injustices date back two decades.Moving on then to Operation Eight. If ever there was an incident of institutional discrimination that was it. I have spoken at length in this House about the need for justice and fairness for thewhānau thehapū and the iwi ofTūhoePōtiki and in particular the people of theRuātoki valley inTāneatua. TheMāori Party will not rest until the police recognise and acknowledge their failings and take steps to rebuild the broken relationship. It is not good enough that the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority report have not been an immediate trigger for the police to re-engage with affectedwhānau and look to repair the grievous harm that has occurred. Oneimmediate step could be to amend the police policy manual for encountering children and vulnerable people while executing search warrants. Another could be the mechanism to undertake community impact assessments for operations in any future situations. Although one would hope that we would all learn from the appalling circumstances of that time around the raids and the subsequent delays there is still work to be done.Finally I raise the case of the situation ofTeinaPora who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994 and who has been waiting for a staggering 20 years for the criminal justice system to come up with real evidence. The lack of accountability from the State over this time has meant thatTeina and hiswhānau continue to dwell in an unjustified nightmare. TheMāori Party has supported a royal prerogative of mercy from the Governor-General which provides for a special avenue for criminal cases to be reopened where a person may have been wrongly convicted and sentenced. It is a constitutional safeguard in our criminal justice system when new evidence raises serious doubt about a conviction. However if thewhānau ofTeinaPora wishes to go to the Privy Council to have their views heard we will also back them 100 percent.