Turia Tariana: Adjournment 
Turia Tariana: Adjournment 
[Volume:650;Page:19295] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. There is a whakatauaki that I want to share in our final korero of the forty-eighth Parliament: he mate tino tangata tena e renga mai—when an important person dies the place fills up. This Chamber is full to capacity with the presence of the lives of those who have touched us all. The forty-eighth Parliament opened with the tragic loss of Rod Donald and has ended with the sad news of the death of Brian Donnelly a politician for whom I had huge regard and we offer our sincere condolences to his whanau and to New Zealand First. Along the way the journey has been marked by many—too many to name—who have passed on but they are always here in our hearts and thoughts. We think of Tumu Putaura and Boyd Matene and how our Parliament came together to mourn their passing. E nga rangatira e nga hoa haere atu ra ki o awa tupuna. Hoki wairua mai ki a matou e whai atu ana i muri i a koutou. 
[ 
To the elite to the colleagues go forth to the landing places of your ancestors. Come back to us in spirit who are to follow you 
.]  
The valedictory speeches that have been heard this week have enabled us all to appreciate the distinctive contributions of each of the retiring members. We in the Maori Party thank you for your dedicated commitment to doing good for this nation and we wish you a much improved quality of life post 8 November. 
From the stunning excitement of election night in 2005 right through the last 3 years we four members of the Maori Party have loved the privilege of serving our constituency. From the elderly couple in Kawakawa who felt they were treated unfairly by Work and Income to the families in run-down State houses in Porirua we have had the honour of representing their issues and we have endeavoured to do our best for them. For they are the reason that we are here: to defend Maori rights to uphold Maori interests and to do so because we know that it will benefit Aotearoa. 
The Maori Party has been well served by time-honoured kaupapa which have motivated our every move watched over by the truly wise counsel of our president Whataranga Winiata. These kaupapa have enabled us to support what I believe was one of the most positive initiatives that occurred through the life of this Parliament and that was the introduction of a code of conduct which was first recommended by Ross Robertson an Assistant Speaker. Tena koe Ross. We enjoyed the opportunity to work collaboratively with members of the Greens ACT and United Future on that initiative and also on the successful repealing of the archaic sedition legislation. 
There have been many other opportunities for cross-parliamentary cooperation to be expressed. The commitment across party lines to “encourage courage” amongst our families and communities in treating our children as treasures was one of the most distinctive features of this Parliament. The legislation to outlaw the capacity of adults to use physical force against children established a bench mark that this Parliament should rightly be proud of and I mihi to the Greens for that legislation. We acknowledge however that the devastating impact of violence in our communities has featured too frequently too savagely for one to sit nohopuku. We must be better in our progress as a nation to create and maintain violence-free homes and violence-free communities. 
Parliament has endured many challenges over the last 3 years but none as dramatic as what happened to a small rural community Ruatoki almost 1 year ago. The introduction of the Taser gun the slaughter of police officers on the job and unprecedented growth of the prison population are all areas that must continue to be monitored if we value justice and the sense of a free and democratic society. 
We noted with some irony yesterday that the most dramatic event in the last decade of political history the theft—or was it the gifting—of the foreshore and seabed to the nation was missing from members’ summaries of their proud achievements perhaps out of shame. We must never forget that the world is watching. It watched our country vote against the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It watched Hone speak out against the injustice in the Northern Territory. It is watching a Government that has voted against the Treaty of Waitangi in successive bills in this House. 
But there have been some great moments in the life of the forty-eighth Parliament and the Maori Party members were thrilled when our support of Ngati Kahu Ngati Tuwharetoa and Hauraki meant that the Government was forced to back down over the Landcorp and Office of Treaty Settlements mismanagement of land. All parties have been enthusiastic at the sudden progress for iwi in concluding Treaty settlements and we have been impressed at the new approach of rangatira to rangatira. I mihi first to Mark Burton for his outstanding contribution to Treaty settlements and I want to say thank you to the Hon Dr Michael Cullen for his absolutely outstanding contribution to settling grievances. We are pleased that those iwi can move forward and progress. 
We are proud that Te Ururoa Flavell was part of the team promoting simultaneous interpretation in the House and that soon our official language will be truly practised as a living breathing language of choice. We are pleased with the progress we have experienced through our contributions to the select committees. I can speak really highly of the leadership of Sue Kedgley and we recognise the Health Committee for its support of the Treaty clause in the Public Health Bill. Te Ururoa Flavell’s pressure for an inquiry into Maori schooling resulted in an important set of recommendations for a future in which educational benefits can be enjoyed by all. Dr Pita Sharples has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Hon Dave Hereora and the other members of the Maori Affairs Committee. We all consider our work across Parliament to be a genuine source of satisfaction in a job well done. Of course there is still much to do. We must as a nation eliminate poverty. We must ensure every child and whanau has the opportunity to thrive. 
The work that we do across this Parliament is so much easier because of the professional and unrelenting support of so many worker bees in the hive. From the dawn chorus of the security guards the receptionists the telephonists the help desk team the messengers and the staff of Copperfields through to the midnight toil in the Office of the Clerk the Table Office the librarians the Hansard Office the legal team the cleaners and all the other people who make this place hum we are all extremely well served. 
We are a united team in the Maori Party. Our devoted parliamentary staff our loyal electorate kaimahi and our ever-loving whanau enable us to get through every day. Nga mihi aroha ki a koutou. Each and every one of the people who occupy our lives gives their all to enable us to be here and we are humbled by the commitment that they have made to the Maori Party but also to Parliament. 
We want to recognise the hard-working team in the press gallery above—the political journos the oft-maligned watchdogs of the fourth estate. They constantly encourage us through their questioning their commentary blogs and reports to go either left or right. They have yet to realise that we are the Maori Party and we will go neither left nor right. We are a party that is determined to go forward in the best interests of our people and that is the most important thing. 
Once the microphones are switched off and the cameras are put away we are all travellers on a journey that rarely has a day off and we acknowledge the impact that that has on all of us. 
Finally the company we keep in this Chamber makes this place really special. We will never forget that every one of the representatives in this Parliament is worthy of our respect and our admiration for taking on the role of public office and so we mihi to you all. 
We have greatly appreciated the leadership of Madam Speaker and those who have also occupied her Chair: the Hon Marian Hobbs the Hon Clem Simich Ross Robertson and Ann Hartley. You have presided over some intense debates and you have always done so with integrity. 
And just as Hone Harawira rose to let the first voice of the forty-eighth Parliament be that of te reo rangatira let the last word be words that we all hope to live up to in every aspect of our lives: to have trust and openness and integrity. No reira tena koutou.