Flavell Te Ururoa: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14251] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker 
. 
 Kia ora ano tatou. A ko te tikanga o tenei pire e ai ki taku e kite nei he ahua marama ana. He whakawhanui i te whainga me nga mahi o te society nei kia tapirihia atu ki te mahi rangahau a-tangata ara ko te humanities. E tika ana ki te ata rangahau i te society nei i te mea mai i tona timatanga i te tau 1867 kaore ano tetahi kia to mai me ki i te ropu nei ki te ao hou. Ko te mate ke koinei anake te mea e whakaarohia nei e te Royal 
Society ki te to mai i te hunga nei ki te ao hou ara ko te humanities 
tera. Ehara i te mea he huarahi mama tenei. Kua puta te pire nei i muri mai i nga mahi a nga pukenga o Kotimana me Kanata me tetahi kirimana i waenganui i te society nei me Te Whainga Aronui mo nga humanities.  
Kua kaha whakapau te Royal 
Society ki te kupu kotahi. Ara ki ta te Pati Maori me huri ke ki nga kupu e wha: Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Na ko te whainga nui o te pire nei he hiahia no ratou ki te aki ki te whakanui ki te whakarangatira i tenei mea ko te humanities. He mea pai tera. Na reira me patai i te patai penei a etahi atu: he aha tenei mea ko te humanities? Ara ano nga momo reo nga momo tuhinga nga momo ture nga hitori nga momo kaupapa here nga momo tikanga a-hahi tae atu ki nga mahi a-rehia. Me ki technology anthropology ano hoki cultural 
studies te mea te mea. Ara ano he korero mo te ahuatanga o te tangata. Ko te mate ke kaua ko te tangata Maori kaua ko te tangata whenua ranei. Karekau he paku korero i roto i te ture ara te Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997 ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ki a matou me whai wahi te tiriti i roto i tenei momo ako. Me whai wahi ano hoki tenei mea te cultural competency.  
I te mea a ko ake nei ka puta te purongo o te Wai 262 me titiro whanui tatou. Ko te tirohanga whanui e korerohia ana ko tera me ki i roto i te reo Pakeha me ki ko tetahi korero kua korerohia nei. Anei te korero tino rangatiratanga and kaitiaki by the claimants over indigenous flora and fauna and other taonga and also over matauranga Maori Maori traditional knowledge. Ana ko tera korero kua roa e korerohia ana i roto i te Wai 262. No reira koinei te tikanga o taku ki atu me titiro whanui tatou ki enei ahuatanga katoa kaua ko te humanities me tana titiro whaiti nei me whakawhanui tonu te titiro. Ka mutu kei te titiro ano hoki penei i taku e korero nei kei te titiro matou ki te ahuatanga o te piringa o te Tiriti o Waitangi ki tenei pire. Na runga i te aha? Na runga i te mea ko te Tiriti o Waitangi i tona whanuitanga he titiro ano ra ki nga rawa o Tangaroa ki te whenua e takoto nei ki te taiao me ki nga momo rangahau enei ahuatanga katoa. No reira ko ta matou ko te ki atu me titiro ano hoki ki a ngai Maori me te ahuatanga o te noho o te tangata me tana mohio ki te Ao Maori me nga mea o iwi ke. Koinei te ahuatanga o tenei mea. Te tumanako ia ka tautoko tenei ropu i te whakaputanga o Mataatua tae atu ki te whakaputanga o te ao ara i te reo Pakeha Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  
No reira he paku whakaaro noa ake enei kua puta i a matou i te po nei mo tenei pire. Kei te tautoko ake te Pati Maori i tenei pire i tona panuitanga tuatahi me te tumanako ia ka korerohia whanuitia enei take i te komiti whaiti. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to all of us once again. The purpose of this bill appears fairly simple: to expand the objective and functions of the Royal Society to include the humanities. One would think it both logical and necessary that a society that has been operating since 1867 actually becomes updated. Believe it or not all that the Royal Society thinks is necessary to meet the contemporary need of our communities is to add one word: humanities. It is not as easy as one might think. This bill has come about only after the analysis of scholars from Scotland and Canada and as a consequence of this society signing up to a memorandum of understanding with Te Whainga Aronui / the Council for the Humanities.  
But if the energies of the Royal Society have gone into just one word— humanities—the Maori Party wants to encourage a wider focus on just four words: Te Tiriti o Waitangi. What exactly do we mean by humanities?  
Examples of the disciplines of the humanities are ancient and modern languages literature law history philosophy religion and the visual and performing arts. Other disciplines include technology anthropology and cultural studies. They are about the human condition but not about Maori humans or tangata whenua. There is no reference in the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997 to the Treaty of Waitangi. It is our view that the Treaty should be included in these areas. The development of these areas should occur within an environment of cultural competency.  
As the report on the Wai 262 claim draws near we should be aware of the broader vision of that claim. Basically that vision is one that promotes tino rangatiratanga and kaitiaki by the claimants over indigenous flora and fauna and other taonga and also over matauranga Maori Maori traditional knowledge. That stance has been long discussed around the Wai 262 claim. And that is why I said we should take a broad view in terms of these matters as opposed to the narrow view of the humanities. In subsequent phases of this bill we will be looking for the connection between the Treaty of Waitangi natural resources the environment the economy the arts and culture and research science and technology. We would also like to see a greater understanding between Maori and non-Maori cultures and support for indigenous declarations such as the Mataatua declaration and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  
These are our views expressed tonight about this bill. The Maori Party will support this bill at its first reading and looks forward to further debate on these matters in the select committee 
.]