Henare Tau: Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6402. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 I am torn about this bill the Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill. I support absolutely and totally the thoughts the words and the emotion of what my colleague has put before the House. Unfortunately the whipping system says that I cannot vote for his bill. I want to say— 
Denis O’Rourke 
: We don’t need to hear from you then. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well actually you might not want to hear from me but I tell you what. You had better listen and it is for this reason. We had an opportunity to say to the world that we were different from every other nation in the world. By not doing what my colleague has suggested even by putting it into the select committee that says to the rest of the world one thing and only one thing—that we are just the same as Canada that we are just the same as Australia that we are just the same as the United Kingdom and all the other colonial conquering nations around the world. 
I do not want to go over the old history of who fought whom and who won and who lost. But at the end of the day this country had an opportunity this House of Representatives had an opportunity to say to the world: “Yes there are different cultures. Yes there are different people in our nation.” We could have said to the world that if you wanted to—not that we are going to make you but if you wanted to—you could have sworn your allegiance on the Treaty of Waitangi. 
It is a bit more personal to me than some of my colleagues across the House think it is. It was 70-odd 80-odd years ago that my great-grandfather stood in this House and espoused the same sorts of issues that my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell has spoken about tonight. So it is with a heavy heart that I have to inform my brother taku tuakana that I will be voting against this bill. I will be voting against a bill that I think is non-violent it does not threaten anybody and it does not tell anybody what to do. I will be voting against a bill that gives the opportunity for New Zealanders to be able to feel unique in the world. 
Dr Kennedy Graham 
: Cross the floor. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Yeah I would like to cross the floor. But if we have that sort of scenario going on all the time then you do not get stable government unfortunately. Like I said it is with a heavy heart that I inform my mate that I will not be voting for this bill. 
Two weeks ago I was in front of some other members of Parliament from around the world up in Quebec where I spoke about indigenous peoples’ rights and indigenous people and their culture and their language. If this country does not have a shared vision does not have a shared goal then none of us none of our mokopuna none of our kids yet to come can share in the spoils of that shared vision. We are always going to be on one side of the fence and somebody else is going to be on the other side of the fence and we are always going to be arguing about what our vision what our shared vision should be. We should at least have taken the opportunity tonight to send this bill to a select committee where we could have heard some of the arguments. In fact I will be out there and say that sometimes I think all members’ bills should go directly to a select committee but that would be a bit of a hard call. It would be a bit messy. 
I will be voting against this bill for one reason and one reason only and that is the system that we have. I know my colleagues across the House and especially in the Labour Party if they were in our shoes and they were voting against a bill it would work out the same. This is not about me having more morals or principles than the other side. It is actually just a matter of following what the process is. People get whipped and people follow their whip. 
Kris Faafoi 
: Good on you for owning up. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Absolutely! I own up to it. I do not like it but I signed up for the National Party knowing full well that I might have to vote for something that I did not like. I think a lot of people around this House have that conundrum as well. 
Kris Faafoi 
: You more often than not. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Oh no not really; not really. When it comes to matters of this magnitude when we are talking about the soul and the humanity of our nation then not really. I am yet to meet a member of Parliament who does not feel like me when we are discussing issues of this nature. I want to say sorry to my colleague my erstwhile colleague on the Maori Affairs Committee and to the Maori Party as well. 
This bill is not some sort of procedural motion that we are talking about. We are not talking about some minor procedural motion. We are talking about something that goes to the heart of the identification of this country. Walk the streets of any other country in the world and ask other people: “Where do you think I come from?”. They might say England they might say Australia they might say Canada or they might say the best parts of America. But I bet you my last dollar that without too much thinking they would not be able to say New Zealand. Why? Because we do not have an identifier. We do not have an identifier that puts the nation out there. I am not talking about only Maori. I love the fact that my ancestors fought each other for this land and both of them won. I love the fact that this country should be patting itself on the back in terms of its treatment of indigenous people. OK we have got a long way to go. You shrug your shoulders but look around the world and see how far we have come as a nation. And we have come far—we have come far. I do not mind getting up and patting myself on the back and patting this nation on the back. Of course we have got issues—every nation has got issues—but boy I feel glad that I live in this country where I can send my kids to a total immersion school and where I can get up and speak my own language in the House of Representatives. There are three languages in the House of Representatives. What a great democracy. What a great place. And we could have gone just that little bit further tonight by saying that if you want to you could swear allegiance not only to the Queen not only to the nation but also to the founding document of our nation the Treaty of Waitangi. Kia ora.