Flavell Te Ururoa: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2453] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 The consideration of the estimates and financial reviews in the Committee of the whole House has traditionally been regarded as the time dedicated to holding the Government to account. And what better day to hold the Government to account for the work of the Ministry of Justice than today—a day on which the nation is reeling from the damning  
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People 
 presented to the United Nations by Rodolfo Stavenhagen. I urge the Minister of Justice to spend his adjournment time in looking over that report and in considering how he may implement the many recommendations in terms of both policy formulation and practice. 
The special rapporteur considers that New Zealand’s human rights legislation does not provide sufficient protection mechanisms regarding the collective rights of Maori that emanate from article 2 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi—in other words our tino rangatiratanga. The Maori Party has made approaches to the Auditor-General and the Human Rights Commission regarding the Foreshore and Seabed Act and the response in our view was inadequate. The report of the special rapporteur supports our view. He also considers that the underlying legal and political fragility of Maori rights translates into a human rights protection gap that seems not to be sufficiently covered by existing legislation. 
The legal and political fragility of Maori was brought home to us most vividly this morning with reports of our car-koi allegedly breaking the law. We were advised by members of the car-koi that yesterday two of their cars one with Mr Hone Harawira’s face featured on it and another with a Maori Party flag flying from the window were followed through the fine town of Tokoroa a haven for Maori Party activity. When apprehended the car driver was charged with unreasonable use of a warning device. Cars were sounding their horns in support in a celebration of democracy. The alleged offence incurred an infringement fee of $1000 for one driver and $750 for the other. The offences included driving in a manner likely to annoy other people. Well although I cannot see it I suppose the dial of Mr Harawira has the potential to annoy other people who may envy those incredible good looks but it does seem bizarre to me that the only cars pulled out of the line of cars travelling that road were those identified with the Maori Party insignia. 
The legal and political fragility of our people—as proven in Tokoroa—is seen day after day in the courts of this land. It is little wonder that the special rapporteur also became aware of it. As the House was told earlier today the United Nations special rapporteur’s report found: “The inherent rights of Maori were not constitutionally recognized…”. For that reason the report of the United Nations included a very strong recommendation about the urgent need for constitutional reform in order to regulate clearly the relationship between the Government and Maori people on the basis of the Treaty of Waitangi and the internationally recognised rights of all people to self-determination. The special rapporteur recommends that the Treaty of Waitangi should be entrenched constitutionally. He also recommends that the MMP electoral system should be constitutionally entrenched to guarantee adequate representation of Maori in the legislature and at regional and local government levels. 
That is a key recommendation for the Minister of Justice and it could hardly have had better timing than the very start of the Maori electoral option campaign. We are greatly heartened by reports from political analysts that the political landscape will change dramatically through the proactive decisions of large numbers of young Maori who are enrolling to vote. We know that the numbers of Maori seats in this House could be increased to 13 if all tangata whenua enrolled on the Maori roll. 
This is the most exciting opportunity for tangata whenua to increase our influence in the political decision-making of this nation. The independent Maori political voice is a means to achieving tino rangatiratanga—that is a degree of self-determination consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The independent Maori political voice in this House has created a wave of interest for many Maori people to participate as equals. Is that not worth sounding our horns for?