Fox Marama: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFox Marama: General Debate[Sitting date: 30 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10015. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. A couple of weeks ago Television New Zealand to the credit of all those who want to know what it is like to be a Kiwi put out a survey called the KiwiMeter. It was going to take an academic look at how we view ourselves. There were some questions raised about whether there was any validity in the KiwiMeter and whether or not some of the questions were indeed racist. I put it to you that some of the questions were not only racist but also bigoted and misogynistic.There is a portion at the end of the KiwiMeter that has a whole lot of symbols—symbols that we are supposed to identify with as Kiwis. No. 1: the rugby ball—fantastic. No. 2: the All Blacks who play rugby—again fantastic. No. 3: the haka performed by the All Blacks who play rugby—fantastic. Not anywhere in those symbols did I see rowing knitting gardening or any other sort of pastime that other Kiwis in this country might like to enjoy. We get to the questions and the questions come up and say: “How do you perceive yourself? Do you think that Māori are privileged in this country?”. Oh my goodness! What sort of a question is that? What are we asking here? Is this really how we see ourselves as Kiwis in this country? Is this what this KiwiMeter was designed to do or was it merely a guise for fleshing out the most controversial subjects in front of our nation at the time: the flag referendum or whether or not we want more Asians or immigrants in this country. All of those questions are the focus of the KiwiMeter and really is that how we see ourselves?Do you know what? There is some misunderstanding in this country that Māori are seen to have some sort of undeserved special treatment—some sort of privilege. Well let me tell you a little bit about that privilege. According to the statistics that have just recently been put out in regard to the Better Public Services goals Māori make up 50 percent in the men’s prisons and 63 percent in the women’s prisons. Māori numbers for children in the care of Child Youth and Family are 60 percent despite 15 percent of the population being Māori. Is that the privilege that we are asked to determine in terms of whether Māori have special privileges in this country?Then we come to the Kermadecs. Yes that is right. We are going to talk a little bit more about the Kermadecs because this is the sanctuary that is a gift to the world on behalf of our Government. Yet we can with one stroke of a pen wipe away Treaty rights guaranteed to iwi under the fisheries settlement. We agreed that there should be a sanctuary but actually can we please address the issue of the rights and the property rights that have now been eliminated?Pita Paraone: Aren’t you sitting at the table?MARAMA FOX: And it is something that the member who likes to yell out from the right has agreed to as well. In fact the very honourable—or not so honourable; I am not quite sure—David Parker and that was in regard to whether or not he has been a Minister and not whether he is actually honourable said that Māori do not deserve compensation and that environmental rights need to take precedent over Treaty rights at all times.We are not saying that Māori would not have agreed with the Government and gifted that area to the country to the world as a sanctuary but actually if you do not bother to go and talk to them first before you remove their Treaty rights then surely it is a bit hard to swallow when they want to take you to court and determine whether or not compensation should be paid.Are those the sorts of privileges that we are talking about? Or is it about the privilege of whether Māori should be recognised in water rights? Should we recognise Māori in water rights? No because nobody owns the water. Is that not right? That is what we have heard. Yesterday we had a wonderful petition come here saying “We need to have not just swimmable water we think actually but drinkable water and water where we can gather our food.” Do Māori own the water? Do they have rights in water? Well I will tell you who think they have rights to own the water—regional councils because they allocate it as if they own it. They allocate it to farmers to horticulture as if they own the water. Once that water has been allocated in fact they do own it. They can also then go and sell it overseas. And what did they pay for it? Absolutely nothing.But here is the thing: the one thing that we do need to ensure that is put first before all other things is the rights of our children. When—when—will we be debating that under urgency? When will we ensure the safety of our children? Thank you.