Davis Kelvin: Te Pire mō Te Reo Māori / Māori Language Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDavis Kelvin: Te Pire mō Te Reo Māori / Māori Language Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 07 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10332. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KELVIN DAVIS (Labour—Te Tai Tokerau):Tēnā koeMr Chair. Kātahi anō ahau i whai tāima i whai wā ki te kōrero ki tēnei ēngari tuatahi māku e tāpirihia ōku mihi maioha ōku poroporoāki ki runga i tērā o ngā mate nā Marama i whakahuatia mai arā ko taku hoa a Shaun Stevensonā kua tukua atu ki Te Kōpū o Te Whenua i te rangi nei i te ata nei. Tētahi o ōku hoa whakaako i roto i ngā kura ā ko ia te tūmuaki o te kura takawaenga o Waimāhia o roto o Te Tonga o Tāmaki-makau-rau. Nā reira e te hoa Shaun e moe e moe e moe atu rā!Hanga pōuri ana ahau kia rongo e kōrero ana tātou i te pire i roto i te wāhanga katoa.Ko tāku e hiahia ai kia whakawehewehe i te pire nei ki roto i ōna wāhanga e rima kia āta tirohia e tātou ki āta wānangahia e tātou ngā wāhanga o tēnei pire. Ēngari kia ahatia rā i te mea horekau ahau i konei! Kua rongo ahau he whakaritenga i waenganui i ō mātou kaiwhakahaere o Te Whare ka wānangahia tēnei pire i roto i te wāhanga kotahi. Ēngari e pai ana tēnā ko tāku e hiahia ana kia āta wānangahia kia whakawhāitihia kia tino whakakaha ai i tēnei pire. Hei aha? Hei oranga mō tō tātou Reo. E āwangawanga ana ahau nā te tino whānui o ngā kōrero ka kore tātou e whakapakari ai i tēnei pire. Ēhara i te mea e hiahia ana ahau kia haukotihia te haere ki roto i Te Whare ēngari i runga i tōku tino aroha mō tō tātou Reo koia tāku hiahia kia kōrero ia wāhanga. Ēngari kia ahatia rā!E ai ki ngā kōrero te kōrero o te tupuna a Peeni:“Ko Te Reo te mauri o te mana Māori.” Nā reira kei roto i tēnā kōrero e whakahuatia ana he aha te take he mea tika tēnei pire! Nā reira tautokongia ana e ahau wēnā kōrero rangatira a Tā Hēmi e pā ana ki tō tātou Reo.[Thank you Mr Chair. At last I have the opportunity and time to address this but in the first instance I add my affectionate and farewell tributes to those of the deaths alluded to by Marama Fox namely Shaun Stevenson a friend of mine who was interred this morning in the bowels of the earth. He was a fellow teacher and the principal of Waimāhia Intermediate School in South Auckland. And so my friend Shaun rest sleep and slumber on.I am disappointed to hear that this bill is to be debated together as one. What I really wanted done was to debate the five parts of this bill separately part by part so that we could examine and debate each part carefully. But never mind because I was not here!I heard that our parliamentary officials agreed amongst themselves that this bill be taken as one. That is fine but what I really wanted was to have this bill debated properly refined and made even more powerful. And why?As nourishment for our language. I was concerned that because the contributions were so wide-ranging we would not be able to strengthen this bill. It was not as though I wanted to hinder its progress through the Housebut rather because of my real empathy for our language; but never mind.According to the saying by Peeni’s grandfather: “The language is the essence of Māori integrity.”Therefore mentioned in that saying is what the purpose is—this bill is a legal one! So I endorse those esteemed sentiments of Sir James Hēnare in terms of our language.]First of all Marama Fox acknowledged the passing of an esteemed kaumātua. I just also want to in the first instance acknowledge the passing of a good friend of mine who was actually the deputy principal of the school that I was principal of. He was principal of Waimahia Intermediate School in South Auckland. He passed away last Friday. He was a great Māori educator and I would just acknowledge Shaun Stevenson.This is the first opportunity I have had to talk on this bill and I was disappointed to hear that we are talking about the parts of the bill as one whole. I was hoping that we would break the bill into parts and deliberate on each of the parts not so that we could slow down the passage of the bill or be obstructive or anything like that but because I believe that we really need to pay due respect to the bill so that we really strengthen it and get the bill right. I believe we have an obligation to Te Reo Māori to make sure that this bill is as good as it can possibly be. Like I say I did not want to do that to slow down the passage or be obstructive but it is just because of the depth of feeling I have personally and I am sure others have for Te Reo Māori.It was Peeni Henare’s grandfather who said: “Ko Te Reo te mauri o te mana Māori.”—the language is the life-force of being Māori. I could not agree more. If we do not have our Reo if we do not have our language then who are we as Māori? It is absolutely what binds us together and it is important that we really do justice to this bill. Some of the concerns I have in particular with the scope and purpose of the bill is that it is mainly administrative. If we look at clause 3(1) it says: “This Act—(a) replaces the Māori Language Act 1987; and (b) amends the Broadcasting Act 1989; and (c) amends the Māori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Māori) Act 2003.” When the Minister within 3 years goes to review this those are really simple things to tick off and say that yes we have replaced the Māori Language Act we have amended the Broadcasting Act and we have amended the Māori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Māori) Act. The reality is that this bill needs to do more than that.I came into the Māori Affairs Committee right at the end of the deliberation—I came over from another select committee—and the first thing I note is that I firmly believe that the purpose of a Māori Language Act should be to increase the number of Māori speakers and to improve the fluency of Māori speakers. If at the end of 3 years we cannot demonstrate an increase in the number of Māori speakers and an increase in the fluency of people then I believe that this bill will be a waste of time. That has got to be front and centre.It was added—sort of—under clause 3(3)(b) which states that the Act “provides for Te Mātāwai and the Crown to develop Māori language strategies to support the revitalisation of the Māori language including by promoting an increase in the number of people speaking the Māori language and improving their fluency in that language;”. It was added in as an afterthought and it is not right at the front and centre of this clause which is where I believe it should be. That to me is the purpose of this bill.The last thing I want to see is that in 3 years’ time in 10 years’ time or in 20 years’ time we have not made a difference even though we have passed this bill. It is wonderful that the bill is in both languages. It is wonderful that both languages have equal status but if there is a dispute between which one should take precedence it is the Māori version that takes precedence. That is wonderful. But what is the point in having a Māori language bill if in 30 years there is no one around who can actually read it and understand it? What is the point in having it in two languages if we do not have the people there who can read it and understand it? The bill is great. It does affirm the status of Te Reo Māori and I congratulate the Minister on making sure that the bill is in both languages. But the reality is that front and centre we need to have as the purpose of the Act to increase the number of the speakers and to improve their fluency.Clause 3(2) says: “The purpose of this Act is—(a) to affirm the status of the Māori language as—(i) the indigenous language of New Zealand;”—so that has affirmed what the Māori Language Act 1987 said—“(ii) a taonga of iwi and Māori; and (iii) a language valued by the nation;”. OK so if it is a taonga for iwi and Māori and if it is a language that is valued I believe we need to have an apology in this bill—an apology to our parents and grandparents and great-aunties and great-uncles for being punished for speaking Te Reo Māori. I know that there is going to be an acknowledgment but I do not believe an acknowledgment goes far enough. I believe there should be an apology.Basically the disciplining of children for speaking Māori at school is partly to blame—and largely to blame—for the fact that many Māori now cannot speak the language and I believe that it is essential that there is an apology. I know that Treaty settlement bills that are going through and Acts that have been passed have an apology of sorts for a number of things but I believe that we should have an apology for our forebears being strapped and caned for speaking Māori. It is not good enough just to have an iwi getting an apology for a whole heap of things as well as their people not being able to speak Māori. I think an apology needs to be seen as essential.I am not sure what the downstream effects of an apology are and I just wonder whether the Government is actually concerned that if we apologise now it might lead to downstream effects and other issues. I do not know. I genuinely do not know but I honestly do believe that an apology to Māori for our forebears being whacked at school is essential. OK the education system has tried to make amends. You know we now have kōhanga reo we have kura kaupapa Māori and we have wānanga. You know that is great but now it is almost getting to the stage where it is too late. I actually heard somebody say probably 15 years ago when I was still a principal that it is unfair now to leave the burden of revitalisation of Te Reo Māori up to schools.