Katene Rahui: Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill — First Reading 
Katene Rahui: Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5299] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 I move  
That the Te Ra o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill be now read a first time. 
 E te Manu Korero rau rangatira ma tena koutou katoa. Tena hoki koutou nga kaitautoko koia nei taku pire tuatahi hei whakanui i a Matariki. No reira e nga mana e nga reo tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings 
to you Mr Assistant Speaker and the many chiefs greetings to you all. Greetings also to supporters. This is my first bill to celebrate Matariki. So to the powers and languages greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all 
.] 
The stars have certainly been in alignment for this important bill to be read today. At the midpoint of Maori Language Week we are proposing the introduction of a significant occurrence within the Maori calendar: the celebration of Matariki the Maori new year. The theme for Maori Language Week this week is Te Reo i te Hapori Maori Language in the Community. There is no better expression of community passion than in the Matariki festivals and celebrations held around the country. 
The first reading of the Matariki Day Bill comes hot on the heels of an important report from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage called  
Cultural Indicators for New Zealand 2009. 
 The report sets a very clear direction ahead for what the ministry describes as a “distinctly ‘New Zealand’ cultural identity”. Three key themes underlie the concept: first New Zealanders identify their common culture and heritage as being distinctive to this nation; second expressions of our culture are valued because they link past present and future generations of New Zealanders; and third Maori culture is valued for the contribution it makes to New Zealand’s identity. 
The Matariki Day Bill therefore is an opportunity to embrace and welcome the chance to stand proud of our distinctly New Zealand cultural identity. The bill is an idea that has been waiting to happen. Over 15 years ago artists Diane Prince Iwa Holmes and others formed a trust to reintroduce Matariki celebrations. Jim Rahi a member of the trust named it Te Whakanui i a Matariki and in 1995 Pipitea Marae celebrated it in style. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. 
Nowadays Matariki is an event that is almost universally celebrated around the motu. Matariki builds on a groundswell of support for a new indigenous event to celebrate the unique place in which we live and to pay our respects to the land the people and the history. Matariki is a positive occasion—literally the dawning of a new age. Matariki has traditionally been a time for planting and planning activities for the year ahead for valuing our past and for preparing for our future. All those activities are significant steps in nation-building. Matariki symbolises the optimum time for new harvests. In earlier times our people used to make offerings to the gods Rongo Uenuku and Whiro to protect our crops for the coming year. 
Matariki is a very special time of the year a time in which we pause and reflect on the year that was and the year that will be. On this unique indigenous occasion we seek to value our past and to preserve history knowledge culture and traditional practices while at the same time preparing for the future. I ask the House what other days in the year we are able to say we celebrate the indigenous peoples of the land. Some might say that Waitangi Day is such a day but Waitangi Day is about the birth of our nation the bringing together of two peoples and the signing of the sacred covenant Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Matariki is a festival in which we can truly commemorate the indigenous origins of Aotearoa by giving respect to the unique customs and culture of tangata whenua. 
What is exciting about the promotion of Matariki is that it also joins us in the special relationships we have with our brothers and sisters in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa the peoples of the Pacific. In Samoa they refer to the time of year as Matali’i in Tahiti it is known as Matari’i in Hawaii it is known as Makali’i and in Rarotonga and Aotearoa it is known as Matariki. 
The glittering star cluster that signals Matariki was celebrated by our ancestors mai ra ano. In fact Dr Rawiri Taonui from Canterbury University suggests that the celebrations continued until after 1900 with the last traditional festival known in 1940. 
 The inspiration to mark Matariki as a day of national importance has emerged from the people with the drive for the revitalisation of te reo and the renaissance of Maori. It is a breath of fresh air into the journey for nationhood. For those with green passions the moment of Matariki rising connects to an interest in astronomy and our natural world. For historians Matariki is a time to treasure our past. For all New Zealanders Matariki offers us a unique opportunity to connect in a positive celebration that takes its origins from this land. 
Just over a month ago the Mayor of Waitakere Bob Harvey called for a new public holiday to mark Matariki. It is a call that has come from all corners. The Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand wrote to all of New Zealand’s mayors in May of this year and received responses from several who were already planning to host Matariki celebrations. At Christchurch’s Nga Hau e Wha national marae the Matariki event is for everyone as demonstrated by the range of multicultural communities taking part. In Te Arawa Anaru Rangiheuea supports the concept of Matariki as a national event as a way of what he suggests is “celebrating this special country we live in”. Over in Ngati Kahungunu territory Ngahiwi Tomoana called for making Matariki a public holiday concluding: “I believe that future generations of New Zealanders will embrace it with gusto.” Even in this House Green co-leader Metiria Turei has promoted the call of the people to make Matariki a public holiday. 
If we are ever going to move forward as a nation we need to find things that connect us. It was heartening to hear the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage the Hon Chris Finlayson stand in the Chamber today and proclaim that Maori culture and celebrations of that culture is part of New Zealand’s unique international brand. He went further recognising that the strength and vitality of Maori culture and celebrations of that culture help to set us apart on the international stage. That is all so true. We know that his voice is not a lone voice in the National caucus. Would it not be great to allow the public a voice to open the debate about whether New Zealanders would like an opportunity to celebrate our distinctive cultural identity by the introduction of a Matariki Day? 
What possible defence can there be for maintaining the “day after” holidays—the day after 1 January and the day after Christmas Day—or for maintaining events to commemorate a man who devised a gunpowder plot to blow up the English Parliament yet to flatly refuse— 
Hone Harawira 
: May I continue Mr Assistant Speaker? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: You certainly may.