Harawira Hone: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:643;Page:12884] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. I will start my speech by referring directly to the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill and reading from the purpose clause which states: “The purpose of this Act is to delete and remove from every enactment those provisions which contain the expressions—(a) ‘the principles of the Treaty’; and (b) ‘the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ and (c) ‘Treaty of Waitangi and its principles’.” 
Now I must say that it was a real privilege and a joy to be on the Justice and Electoral Committee and to hear the submissions on this bizarre bill to delete the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” from legislation. It was a privilege because it enabled me and the rest of the committee to get a real sense of how united the country seems to be in opposing this mean-spirited piece of legislative malevolence and a joy because I got a buzz from the passion the intensity and the rationale that backstopped the overwhelming opposition to this bill sponsored by Doug Woolerton and represented by Pita Paraone on behalf of New Zealand First. 
And it was also a joy to hear the submissions because I was able to listen to all the groups many of whom were non-Maori who were able to tell us what an incredibly dumb idea this bill was. They were not telling us that it was a good idea at the wrong time or that it had merit but had simply been badly written. Nor in fact were they saying that there were some good clauses that might benefit from being rewritten. They were saying that this bill would do unspeakable harm to race relations in this country roll back any gains made over the past 25 years and work to the detriment of the whole nation. Te Korowai Aroha health centre said that taking the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” out of legislation would not enhance Maori health but would in fact make it worse. Ngai Tahu-Mamoe said that the principles of the Treaty actually help to protect our ecosystem from pollution and the excessive extraction of resources. Sir Ivor Richardson himself said “for its part the Crown [in 1840] sought legitimacy from the indigenous people for its acquisition of sovereignty and in return it gave certain guarantees”. 
Those words—legitimacy sovereignty and guarantee—which all refer to concepts that are pivotal to the status of the Treaty and the relationship of the Treaty partners came up time and time again through all the many submissions we received. The majority of submissions—some 160 out of 171—said that those concepts had been discredited by successive Governments and would be permanently scarred if this bill were to go through. In its submission Te Kaunihera Kaumatua o Te Whanganui-a-Tara said: “Maori have honoured their part of the Treaty … as for the Crown they have never fully honoured their part of the Treaty and continue to use legislation to steal what is rightfully owned by Maori—for example the foreshore and seabed”. 
The Treaty was supposed to establish a partnership in which both partners have a duty to act reasonably and in good faith but this bill goes a long way towards destroying utterly a partnership that is already in dire straits following this Government’s support for police use of the Terrorism Suppression Act as a vehicle for mounting attacks against Maori communities and individuals and for engendering widespread feelings of anxiety throughout the wider community. The Maori Party absolutely rejects New Zealand First’s unsubstantiated and ludicrous claims that taking the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” out of legislation would actually be good for the relationship between Maori and Pakeha just as we also absolutely reject its preposterous claim that the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” will harm race relations in Aotearoa. 
But—and I repeat “But”—that is not nearly as ludicrous as preposterous or as farcical as Labour’s Maori MPs going along with this legislative foolishness. For Labour’s Maori MPs to vote to delete the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” from legislation is as dumb as it would be for turkeys to vote for an early Christmas or for Helen Clark to call for a snap election. But vote for it they did and not just a couple of them either but the whole lot of them: Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones. Who on earth do they think will support them after they have voted to delete the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” from legislation? Can Labour’s party politics be as dictatorial as that and can Labour’s Maori MPs be rendered voiceless so powerless and so helpless that they would willingly sacrifice their very Maoriness by voting to delete the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” from legislation? 
For heaven’s sake! This country is founded on the Treaty of Waitangi and—dare I say it again—this very Prime Minister herself even went so far as to contradict her own vote on this bill when she called the Treaty of Waitangi the foundation document of this nation. It is not the principles that have caused harm; it is the principles that have not been honoured that have caused the real harm. The Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre spoke to that very point when it said that “If passed this bill will do unspeakable harm to the race relations of New Zealand Aotearoa.” 
In that light it is very easy to see exactly what the mighty co-leader of the Maori Party Dr Pita Sharples meant when he said that the recent terrorist raids in Ruatoki had “set race relations in this country back a hundred years.” And in the same way that we condemn this damnable piece of legislation to the refuse heap so too do we condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent actions taken against the Tuhoe nation the Ruatoki community in particular and tangata whenua in general. 
The Waitangi Tribunal says that acting reasonably honourably and in good faith requires both Treaty partners to acknowledge each other’s respective interests authority and values. Yet what Te Runanga o Ngati Apa told us was that the “removal of the principles would signal a continuing erosion of the already fractured relationship between Maori and the Crown”. It described this type of behaviour as not befitting a partnership but rather as demonstrating the arrogance of a domineering partner. Ngati Apa also reminded us of the words of the great Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana when through Ratana MP Eruera Tirikatene he placed before Parliament a petition calling for the Treaty to be enshrined in all legislation a call that Ngati Apa told us has been virtually ignored. 
The New Zealand Chinese Association said that this bill was nothing more than an attempt at the “denial erasure or the forced forgetting of New Zealand’s history” when what we all need is to remember and acknowledge our history accountability reconciliation and healing. 
We could not help but notice that while we were hearing submissions on this bill the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was noting with concern the proposal to remove statutory references to the Treaty of Waitangi through this very bill. That United Nations committee was of course called in to respond to the Foreshore and Seabed Act which was frequently and consistently referred to throughout select committee hearings as representing the ultimate breach of the Treaty. 
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa however came at it from another angle altogether when it suggested that if New Zealand First’s argument that putting in the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi was made “not at the request of Maori but by paternalistic and interfering Ministers” then on principle New Zealand First should also have supported striking out other legislation like the Foreshore and Seabed Act which was made “not at the request of Maori but by paternalistic and interfering Ministers”. But did the New Zealand First members do that? Oh no. The stated aim of their bill is not to help Maori; it is to eliminate all references to the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles”. This bill this callous attempt to wipe out all references to the “Treaty of Waitangi and its principles” from legislation confirms the intention of this Government and its partners to minimise the Treaty to marginalise Maori and to reduce Treaty rights to a nullity. 
The Maori Party will never accept the arguments of those parties and of Labour’s Maori MPs in particular who voted to destroy the Treaty. The Maori Party stands by its commitment to the principles of partnership active protection and the duty to act reasonably honourably and in good faith. The Maori Party stands by its commitment to “defending Maori rights and advancing Maori interests for the benefit of the whole nation”. The Maori Party invites all other parties to enter into discussions as to how we might make the Treaty the basis of a positive future together rather than the rock on which our uncertain alliance will forever founder. The Maori Party opposes this bill with every fibre of its being. Kia ora tatou katoa.