Horomia Parekura: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Second Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:16983] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 Tena tatau. Na te mea i roto i ahau te whakaaro atu mai i te wa e tipu atu au i te taha o taku nanny mohio atu au te mahi kaki whero pera i te mahi o te tangata ra na te mea e haere tahi atu tatau i te takutai moana ki te ruku pupu ki te tiki kina ki te hi koura nga mahi pera tonu. E mohio atu tatau mai i te poipoia nga pakeke ki a tatau kaua koe e haere ki reira e kai ana i te kai i roto i te wai. Kaua koe e haere ki reira e ngatia te kai haere atu ki te tiki tetahi peke mo to whanau anake. Na te mea kite atu au kei te ngati hoki nga tangata o Aotearoa nga Maori nga tangata Hamoa me nga Pakeha. E ngatia hoki. Kei te ngarongaro haere nga hua o Tangaroa. E rapurapu atu nga Maori mo tera kai kei te ngarongaro atu. 
Na te mea i rongo atu i te wero o wetahi e tuhi atu ki te Komiti Maori i a ratau nga kaki whero e wero atu mo te e take e pa ana ki te pai mo tatau nga Maori me wetahi o tatau e haere pera tonu i te hakahaka haere mo to ratau whakaaro kare e pirangi e oti atu te pire nei. E rongo atu i te korero o te tangata nei a Honore Chris Finlayson. E pai ana tera e whakaae atu tera engari na te mea i roto i a koe tae kaha atu mo te oti mo tenei take anake na te mea e mohio atu tatau e ki atu wetahi noku te takutai moana. Wetahi o te Kawanatanga pera ano to tatou korero i nga tau a muri ra engari na tatau ngai Maori kotahi ano te tangata e manaaki e tu kaha atu mo te takutai moana ko Tangaroa. No reira e mihi kau ana ki a Tangaroa. E mihi kau ana ki nga take e pa ana ki te pire nei. Kia ora tatau. 
[ 
Greetings to us. I was just pondering about the time when I was growing up as a youngster with my nanny and how I had already become aware of what rednecks like that member over there are on about because we all used to go to the foreshore to dive for molluscs collect sea eggs dive for crayfish and all that. The elders were constantly at us saying “Don’t you go in the sea and eat the catch in there. Don’t you go there and exhaust the supply of seafood; just get enough in the bag for the family.” But I see how everybody in New Zealand—Maori Samoan and Pakeha included—has plundered stocks. Tangaroa’s resources are disappearing. Maoridom is trying to resolve this.  
But I heard the challenge by some who wrote to the Maori Affairs Committee that they the rednecks took issue with the matter relating to the benefits for us the Maori people and how some of us carry on about how we do not want this bill passed. I heard what the member the Hon Christopher Finlayson said. That is fine; I agree with it but only for this matter. We know that some have stated that the foreshore really belongs to them. Some in the Government share that view just as we did years ago. To us the Maori people there is only one person who is able to take care of the foreshore and sustain it and that is Tangaroa. So I acknowledge Tangaroa and matters relating to this bill. Greetings to us. 
]  
I go back to the delivery of the 500-page bill on Waitangi weekend when most Maoris were doing everything relevant to Maori. If one were a cynic one would wonder why it came out that weekend. Then on the first sitting day of Parliament in 2011 the bill got shot through in 2 hours. There are a host of reasons for that. That there was a denial in relation to getting legal advice is something that is quite brand new in terms of this House and its practice. Everybody has talked about 2004 and I must note before I forget that I was interested in one of the key points in relation to what Minister Finlayson said about the test. He aligned it and said it was akin to the examples in Canada. I do understand about customary property in Canada. A whole lot of it is out on the icebergs and out in the tundra and I am interested to see how he correlates those tests with whatever he is copying from Canada. 
Hon Christopher Finlayson 
: Don’t diminish this debate with rubbish. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I do not intend to diminish this debate with rubbish because I have some respect for Minister Finlayson. I sat on the hill with him on Saturday I think it was and that was great. However I will not stand for the other rubbish about rushing through this bill dishing it out on Waitangi weekend and then blaming everything on 2004. Let me tell members this. We could have done better we went too fast— 
Hon Member 
: Talk to Ngati Porou. They want it through as fast as possible. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That is right; we went too fast in my mind but there was a fascinating response to that by National. This country was plastered with “Iwi/Kiwi” billboards. It was plastered with “Barbecues on the beach only by Maoris” and all of that rubbish. I say to members that yes we could have done better in 2004 but what we did do was learn from it. We learnt from it. 
Before National took command of the Government benches it promised to repeal the legislation and was quite definitive about the framework and how it would look. This bill has ended up nowhere near that—nowhere at all. It has not ended up like that— 
Paul Quinn 
: So why was the Electoral Finance Act rammed through? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: —and Mr Quinn knows that. Labour will be opposing this bill and I hope during that period of time the Maoris over there will understand the same issues that we understand. 
Paul Quinn 
: Of course Ngati Porou have got a deal haven’t they? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Certainly they have had a deal and some iwi hapu and whanau have lived by the takutai moana for generations. As I said I was a tamariki a youngster who went with my nan and my family to the takutai moana. The kai in the takutai moana was plentiful. 
I sit here and wonder and ponder about the debate around ownership. Maoridom in lore understands that there is only one person who guides and owns the takutai moana and that is Tangaroa. Nobody mentions that here. We have skewed off centre on to tenure that is not necessarily and especially in this bill going to advance or be of benefit to Maoridom. I am pleased to hear the Minister say that the private titles will not be touched. That is something to start off with; there are a whole lot of those private titles. 
We have always maintained that we are willing to work responsibly to achieve an enduring solution to the foreshore and seabed issue. We have always maintained that but we were short-changed in the sense of what finally came out in the legislation and in the unprecedented rushing to get it up and through within 2 hours. Everybody said that it was Tau Henare. That is what the Government said. It was not Tau. I know Tau pretty well. He was pushed and shoved to rush it through. He was under instruction to make sure of that. We have been willing to consider alternatives to the current Act including its repeal. We have not stoked race-based fears which seem to have come in too fast and there were too many from both ends of the spectrum. 
We are dismayed that the Government has now adopted a process that has blocked any legal advice on the effect of the changes to the threshold test for establishment of a customary marine title. That is outrageous. 
Hon Christopher Finlayson 
: Crocodile tears! What did Auntie Helen do in 2004? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That was 2004; we are talking about now. We are not denying that. We are not denying that but when the Minister came in there was a promise that he would make it better. Ignoring the 5000 submissions is unprecedented in this House. I found it very interesting that the Minister said that it was not the bulk or the content of the submissions that should count. That is how we get voted into this place—by the majority. That is why we as Maori as a minority understand what happens when the majority run ragged around us. 
I assure members that what Minister Turia said was very very interesting. I recognise Minister Turia and John Tamihere for their part in the 2004 bill right up to the last minute. We woke up one morning and she was gone. 
This bill should have been postponed because of the Canterbury earthquake. It should have been strung out. There are a lot more important things going on that are putting Maori at risk right now in this country. The cost of living has skyrocketed through the roof. What do the Maori Party and the Government care about that? As for jobs under National this is the highest unemployment rate for Maori since the Second World War. What is the Government going to do about this? This is the highest Maori unemployment rate since the Second World War. 
Paul Quinn 
: Stick to the bill! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I am sticking to the bill but I am trying to say why it should be important in the sense of what we should be talking through in this House. This member kept the unemployment rate down at 6 percent; that is what this member did. This member made sure that food prices were down. This member made sure that there were 14 settlements lined up and made it very easy for the current Minister when he got in to finish off. That is what this member did. This member made sure about that. This member made sure that Maori Television started and that the second channel started so that we could watch it so that all members of this House could be on it and so that all members of this House could be seen by the public. 
This bill is a disgrace. It was rushed through unnecessarily. It is being rushed through now unnecessarily when we should be looking for and creating a better space. It is important that we get the best solution that makes it better for everyone. The red-necked people sending in submissions need to be chastised and those who are into extreme benefits for one class of people need to be not recognised. Thank you.