Turia Tariana: Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill — First Reading 
Turia Tariana: Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:2835] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koutou te Whare. The most serious influenza pandemic on record is the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The virus hit Aotearoa in October 1919 probably arriving here with troops returning after World War I. It lasted a brief but violent 3 months taking the lives of some 8600 people. Throughout Aotearoa estimates put the number of Maori deaths at 2160 which was about 42.3 per 1000 deaths but that figure could have been much higher because at that time not all Maori deaths were recorded. Maori died at seven times the Pakeha rate and were one in four of the dead. In his book  
Te Puea 
 Michael King stated that some Maori settlements were virtually annihilated. In respect of my electorate he stated: “… a Pakeha visitor to the Atiawa settlement at the headwaters of the Waitara River in Taranaki counted 140 people there before the epidemic and less than fifty afterwards.” Indeed it was following the enormous toll of that epidemic that in 1920 the Department of Health established the division of Maori hygiene with Te Rangi Hiroa—Sir Peter Buck—as its first director. This history must be known and never forgotten. 
I make mention of it firstly in recognition of the fact that the Spanish flu of 1918-19 which killed 20 million to 50 million people shares genetic characteristics with the avian flu virus H5N1. Both are true avian viruses not ones adapted to people as more typical flu viruses are. But I draw on our past in order for us to learn for our present. This context must ensure that we have special provision to protect ourselves from ever again having to bear the cost of such a massive loss of life for Maori people. 
Yet how can it be that the pandemic plans publicly available make no special provision for Maori? Public health physician Dr Nick Wilson who has written about the projected toll from a pandemic guides us in knowing that one thing we can operate on in confidence is that Maori will again be at risk of dying in greater numbers than non-Maori. Faced with the release today from the Wellington school of medicine which reminds us of the ongoing systemic ethnic disparities in mortality rates I say that the news is all bad. I alert this House to the urgent need to be familiar with this report which delivers another powerful statement about the “historical and social processes that systematically disadvantage Maori (ie colonisation discrimination and racism).” 
Is this House prepared to tolerate another decade of disparity? Well the Maori Party certainly is not prepared to. Given that no major political party has a solution we and our constituency who are affected by these disparities have a solution. We will be developing legislative measures to address the impact of racism as a matter of priority and we would hope that the Maori members across the House will support us. 
This latest report and the report from Dr Nick Wilson provides sobering data about the context of more chronic illnesses more respiratory problems high cigarette smoking statistics and lower socio-economic status. All these factors create an environment ripe for the bird flu. Dr Wilson concluded: “If we have learned anything in the last hundred years we would be doing more in these plans to protect Maori.” Members should note that quotation. So how can it be that the word “Maori” does not even rate one mention in this grand new Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill? It reminds me of last year’s Budget. How can this be when Maori health professionals have been advising the Government of the vital need for Maori participation at all levels of the emergency planning? And how can this be when for months now Maori have challenged the Government that there must be an appropriate authority to speak on behalf of Maori and the resources must be made available for them to have input? 
The issue of avian flu has provoked huge reaction from tangata whenua. Members will recall the outrage of kaumatua who responded with utter dismay to the plan to ban tangi and to refrigerate bodies for up to 6 months. Other strategies raised were the direction to ban hongi as they say that any close contact between people could spread the virus. I recall the Te Arawa Maori Trust Board chairman Anaru Rangiheuea speaking out at the time and advising the nation that any delays in farewelling the dead were a breach of our cultural practices and would aggravate the grieving process. He stated: “Being isolated from a loved one would have serious implications for many families and there would be issues for Maori on how their dead were being treated.” Pihopa Kingi also spoke out challenging the speculation that a hongi should be feared. So did Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao chief exective Dennis Curtis reminding us that hongi and tangi are as natural to Maori as breathing air and any ban on such practices would enrage and outrage Maori like some of the behaviour that has been experienced in the last week. 
I mihi today to the leadership of people such as Ngaire Whata of Te Korowai Aroha and of Te Arawa who I know has spent a great deal of time preparing for such a pandemic. Tangata whenua as the Treaty partner must be actively involved at all stages of the process. 
Our history reinforces the excessive mortality Maori have suffered from communicable diseases and without the appropriate Maori leadership use of Maori infrastructures and the ability of health personnel to engage with iwi and Maori communities they are likely to be severely affected by way of mortality morbidity and economic social and cultural development. The Maori Party has been advising the Government for some time now of the urgent need to establish a Maori body to develop a Maori emergency plan—a body with Maori who have wide expertise and who are able to mobilise resources and develop a strategy that the Government can use to ensure that Maori and Crown interests are enhanced. The Maori Party has been writing to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Maori Affairs again and again. We must ensure that Maori well-being can be protected and enhanced so that the future of our nation is assured. 
Many many more questions have to be asked about the efficacy of Tamiflu. We have been advised that the efficacy of Tamiflu against the common flu is questioned by the greater part of the scientific community. Last week in the House I sought a response from the Associate Minister of Health the Hon Jim Anderton as to the level of confidence the nation can draw from the efficacy of Tamiflu and the answer left a great deal to be desired. I quote the Minister’s declaration to the nation: “Until there is a pandemic of that kind there will not be any definitive answer to that question.” 
Why is it then that there is so much to-do about nothing—or is it about nothing? There are then many wider questions that people have been raising such as asking whether there really is a pandemic or even an epidemic. Evidence is that the bird flu although fatal to birds is rarely transferred between human beings. The  
Concise Oxford Dictionary 
 classifies an epidemic as meaning a sudden widespread occurrence of an infectious disease. As of 27 April exactly a week ago the cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian flu reported to the World Health Organization was 205—I understand that that is over 10 years—with 113 deaths. 
We will not vote against this bill because even one death is one death too many. For tangata whenua the advent of avian flu given our history and our present situation would be very severe if it did occur.