Sharples Pita: Mixed Ownership Model Bill — First Reading 
Sharples Pita: Mixed Ownership Model Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1002] 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. I say at the outset the Maori Party will oppose this bill the Mixed Ownership Model Bill. We have said that at the beginning and we say it today. We repeat it today. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: You sure now? 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: In triplicate yeah. No reira hoki atu maua ki te wa au e tamariki ana. I whanau au i Takapau taku piringa ki Ngati Kahungunu. I a au e tamariki ana e kaha ana nga matau ki te korero e pa ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. kei roto i nga waiata i nga korero i runga marae ka puta mai te kaupapa o te Tiriti me te tino kaupapa o taua kawenata. Ki mai taku iwi ki ahau na te mea na Te Hapuku i haina te Tiriti i roto i nga whakapapa naku i haina naku Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Na reira kua tae nei ki tenei wa ka kite au i nga iwi Maori me nga kiri ma kai te noho tonu i roto i ena whakaaro he taonga te Tiriti o Waitangi. He kaupapa nui rawa atu mo tatau na te mea kua hainatia te Tiriti ka ahei nga tauiwi ki te hara mai ki Aotearoa noho ai kia nohotahi ai tatau i tenei whenua. Na reira nga Kawanatanga whai atu i tera Kawanatanga Reipa Kawanatanga Nahinara na ratau i tini ko te Tiriti o Waitangi to tatou kawenata whakakotahi ai tatau i roto i a Aotearoa nei a ki roto i te reo Pakeha our founding document 
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So we would go back to the time when I was a child. I was born at Takapau which is my connection to Ngati Kahungunu. While I was young parents talked hard out on the Treaty of Waitangi. The principles of the Treaty and its real purpose emerged in songs and stories on marae. My people told me that because Te Hapuku signed the Treaty I signed it too because of my genealogical links so the Treaty of Waitangi is mine as well. So we have reached this point in time where I see Maori and fair-skinned people still living in that mindset that the Treaty of Waitangi is a treasure. It is a really great philosophy for us because the Treaty has been signed and foreigners are able to come to New Zealand and live as one in this land. Successive Labour and National Governments after that changed it by saying that the Treaty of Waitangi is our founding covenant that makes us one here throughout New Zealand and in the English language our founding document. 
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I have spoken initially about the Treaty of Waitangi because over and over again Maori are always having to litigate the case of the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi to us as a nation. As I have said it is a founding document of this country of our nationhood but it also is the means by which tangata Tiriti and tangata whenua can noho tahi—can live together—and grow our nation inviting other people from other countries to come and live with us but under our umbrella if you like as a people of New Zealand.  
So when this bill came up and we saw that the first draft we saw from Treasury had no reference to te Tiriti o Waitangi our opposition was in two areas. In the first place to sell Papatuanuku—the land—would to us be wrong. It would be wrong to sell our land to overseas people. If they want to come and live here and be New Zealanders and buy land that is different but the possibility of selling it to overseas people and we are the tenants in those lands is foreign to tikanga Maori. So we value very much that we do not sell our land over there and our taonga that we have. That is at the base of it.  
But secondly we noticed in that initial document that the reference to the principles of the Treaty that is present in the State-Owned Enterprises Act under section 9 was absent. So we immediately made a challenge to the National Government which we are in coalition with to reinstate section 9 from the State-Owned Enterprises Act into this new amendment to the Public Finance Act so that if this is passed then the Crown will still be bound by the principles of the Treaty.  
You know it is just time and time again for all Maori who are in the front line for different activities. We see our people relitigating relitigating the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi to our country and what it will do for us in the future.  
 So that is why—the two reasons—we have fought so much about section 9 of the State-Owned Enterprises Act because as everyone knows we said we were considering whether we should stay with our Government which is supporting us in other areas or whether we should perhaps leave. On no other issue have we ever said that. But because it is the Treaty and we feel that we have made our point along with iwi leaders at the consultations section 9 basically word for word is now inside the new bill.  
However we will not be supporting the bill because of our belief that our land should stay with us in Aotearoa. The land is the mother and the sky is the father and the elements and they nourish each other. That is the real reason why we oppose the bill. However it is not over. If it passes then in there is the opportunity for the sales to take place and one still has to look at who appoints the directors how they are appointed their responsibilities under the Treaty and so on. So even though the Crown is 51 percent shareholder how will it act out in terms of the responsibilities to the principles of the Treaty? How will it affect the water—and iwi are down a long road already with Government talking about the rights and interests in water of all New Zealanders including Maori tribal people on the riverbanks of those rivers.  
So it has been good that we have been able to get this far in those kinds of discussions about our natural resources and I am pleased that an assurance has been given to Sir Tumu te Heuheu and the Maori water group of iwi leaders that discussions will continue in the same vein that they have before and that clearly there could be co-management of our waterways and our fresh water in the future as was being planned.  
Just to summarise my view and our party’s view we are sad that our land and our assets are going to be sold. We are glad that the Treaty section section 9 is in there and we will be looking with interest to see how the Crown is actually bound and how it intends as 51 percent shareholder to observe those principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. I am happy to be leading a review of the constitution of this country with the Minister of Finance the Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and this will take place over the next 2 years. It will include a review conducted by iwi Maori and those views will be compared with each other of course. But the whole idea of this is an opportunity for us to actually talk about: kei hea te Tiriti i tenei wa? Where is the Treaty in today’s time? We talk about it; the principles are in there. The Ratana Church makes much out of the fact that it has not been honoured—the promise made to Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana. Also at Waitangi we have had disputes over the years about the mana of the Treaty in our land. So where does it stand in terms of our constitution? Our New Zealand constitution is made up of bits and pieces and one of those bits is the Treaty but in terms of where it actually stands in our country’s mana and legislation that has not been determined. I am hoping that people will get themselves involved in this constitutional review and put their thoughts forward. That is all I have to say and kia mihi atu ki nga iwi i haere ki nga hui 
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I want to acknowledge the people who went to the hui 
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—the consultation hui where they brought their korero about their journeys their feeling for the taonga and so on and put it on the floor for everyone to hear and I congratulate them on their efforts to make sure that the Treaty is involved in the new bill. Tena koe.