Harawira Hone: Easter Sunday Shop Trading Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Harawira Hone: Easter Sunday Shop Trading Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3187] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 In September 1959  
Te Ao Hou 
 magazine included the following report of the Roman Catholic Hui Aranga that was held at Ranana along the Whanganui River: “The weather was dreadful and the road almost inaccessible yet there was an attendance of 900 and the programme religious and social was full and satisfying. Teams from Christchurch Wellington Otaki Levin Feilding Hawera Hastings Kaiwhaiki and Ranana competed in action songs Maori oratory choir events religious quiz haka poi Rugby tennis table tennis and basketball.” 
Every Easter all over the country that same kind of report appears in different newspapers as Maori return in their thousands to their home marae for a whole host of whanau activities. Anglican Catholic Ratana and the rest flock to their homelands to worship enjoy one another’s company catch up on the goss participate in sports feast and be with one another. Maori people plan their big occasions around Easter because they know it is a 4-day weekend. Those occasions include weddings reunions unveilings and cultural festivals—you name it and Maori are doing it at Easter time. 
The mokopuna are different of course. They will play anything perform anywhere and go hard till they drop—as long as they get the hot cross buns and chocolate Easter eggs. They are a lot easier to please but I know they enjoy having their cousins around bludging off their uncles and aunties and greasing around their grandparents for little goodies as well. But for all that to go off successfully Maori have to plan for months. Then they can enjoy some good-quality time with one another and still have time for the slow cruise home on Easter Monday. 
Then like Darth Vader swooping into shot dominating the screen and bumming out the good guys along comes the Easter Sunday Shop Trading Amendment Bill. Instead of cracking jokes unwinding and sharing time together whanau will be faced with subtle and obvious pressures to work. They will get comments from their bosses like: “Sorry Mita we’re opening tomorrow and you’re going to have to come in.” or “Hey Parekura didn’t you go to that hui last year? We need you at work tomorrow.” or “Look Nanaia we all have places we’d like to go to but being committed to your career means you have to make sacrifices.” or the big one: “No Mahara you don’t have to come in tomorrow. Your job’s safe.” Yeah right! 
Whanau are at the core of everything the Maori Party stands for and that philosophy guides our thinking on this bill. Although the bill is focused on two particular towns Wanaka and Tauranga we know that others will follow. Indeed MP Steve Chadwick wants to put Rotorua into the loop and it will not be long before the ripples are felt right throughout the land. 
The contribution the bill will make to our GDP is well recognised but the Maori Party would argue factors other than just tourist dollars need to be considered as part of this nation’s genuine progress indicator. What will be the effect of the increasing pressure on whanau to work when our workforce is already characterised by increasingly longer work days and less time to take the kids to sport look after the whanau and just have time to think? Certainly revenue will be increased but will society be enhanced by this bill? Will the rights of those who are expected to work on those days be properly protected? Increased GDP is important but no more so than those other factors. 
Last week the household labour force survey came out. It highlighted some very sobering statistics one of which showed that Maori are earning on average $4 an hour less than non-Maori. Instead of increasing the workload perhaps we should be looking to increase the pay rate. Working more hours for a pittance just to get by does not enhance society; it only embitters those whom we treat so badly. 
This House has the capacity to determine the times when we as a nation can honour whanau and when we can preserve and respect the responsibilities and importance of family—rather than continually eroding the precious scraps of time we have left. When Sitiveni Rabuka took over Fiji he shut down Sundays in order to improve the spiritual balance of his people. When I came to Parliament my wife told everyone I would be having Sundays off for the same reason—so we could relax enjoy the whanau and recharge the batteries. 
The Maori Party will not stand in the way of the Easter Sunday Shop Trading Amendment Bill going to the select committee but we raise again the need for this House to give due consideration to the importance of family as the heart of the nation and to protecting the little time we have to be with one another.