Davis Kelvin: General Debate 
Davis Kelvin: General Debate 
[Volume:656;Page:5899] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. We know the statistics surrounding Maori. We know we live shorter lives we underachieve at school we fill unskilled low-paid jobs and many of us have lost touch with our language and customs and our culture whereas 170 years ago we Maori were in control of our lives. We Maori had our structures; we Maori had our lores—l-o-r-e-s. We had our laws—l-a-w-s—and we had our beliefs and ways of doing things. Now we have very little. Maori have been relegated from the position of decision makers and masters of our own destinies to being powerless marginalised observers which is a shame because we have so much to offer. 
We have so much as a people to contribute and if we were just allowed to have a meaningful voice at the Auckland Council table maybe we could contribute to turning round those statistics that plague us. What is this National - Maori Party - ACT Government so scared of that they are unwilling to give Maori seats at the council table? What is it that scares this Government about Maori contributing to the running of Tamaki-makau-rau? Do they not like us? Do they not trust us? Do they not value us? This is not an issue about race; it is about honouring the Treaty of Waitangi which I was taught at school and as a teacher I myself have taught to schoolchildren is a partnership. I apologise now to those schoolchildren for the deception: there is no partnership. 
I recall a Ngati Hine kaumatua the Rev. Charlie Shortland describing the Maori world and Pakeha world as opposite banks of a river. The Treaty of Waitangi was the bridge that connected those two worlds. But the question he asked was this: since the signing of the Treaty who has crossed that bridge most often and stepped into the world opposite? How many Maori have made that short trip and have accepted the language customs laws and culture of the Pakeha? Almost all of us have. 
I ask members to contrast that with the number of Pakeha who have crossed back the other way and accepted the language customs laws and culture of Maori? Except for a few courageous Pakeha souls the traffic has virtually been one-way across that bridge to the point now that there is a barrier across one end. In the case of the Auckland super-city council that barrier is preventing people from even starting to cross into the world of the Maori. That barrier allows the Maori perspective to be seen only from afar and the distance between those two banks of that river is growing and preventing the voices of Maoridom from even being heard. 
Pakeha have nothing to fear from Maori. If diversity is strength then Maori faces at the Auckland Council table can be only a good thing. If the Maori Party partnership with the National - ACT Government is meant to be a mana-enhancing relationship why would Maori seats at the council table be any different? The precedent for Maori seats at the council was set by Mita Ririnui who introduced a similar piece of legislation in 2001 that established Maori seats on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Environment Bay of Plenty Chairman John Cronin said just yesterday that the Maori seats there were working well. If it works well in the Bay of Plenty it will work well in Auckland. 
I have concern about the way the Maori Party has been treated. It voted for a Budget that cut funding and services to Maori communities because it had an agreement with John Key. Pita Sharples said recently that being in Government is about compromise. So those members ended up compromising on what they knew was right for a shot at being influential. It appears that John Key’s understanding of that agreement is to wheel out the Maori Party for photo opportunities when he wants to win brown friends and influence people but then he disregards those wishes when the wishes may upset the nice white folk who voted for him last year. 
There is no Maori influence in the National Party or the ACT Party but I along with many other Maori across the country acknowledge the Hon Tau Henare for trying. New Zealand has no reason to be afraid of Maori.