Mark Ron: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
Mark Ron: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
[Volume:614;Page:10558] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to put firmly on the record that New Zealand First will be voting against this Government motion. I also want to put firmly on the record that New Zealand First will not be participating in this committee. We say that because there is one very simple question that we have for this Government and one simple question that we have for Mr Donald who wants to chip in on the sidelines here and that is: what is wrong with the Maori Affairs Committee? I ask that again: what is wrong with the Maori Affairs Committee? 
Rod Donald 
: It does not have every party represented on it. 
RON MARK 
: Well whose choice was that? Which party did not want to be involved in Maori affairs? Was it the Greens? Well how surprising! 
Rod Donald 
: We are on it. 
RON MARK 
: Oh they are on it. Then what is his problem? He is there. We have established procedures whereby any party that wishes to participate in a standing committee has a means by which it can do so. 
Rod Donald 
: But no votes. 
RON MARK 
: Well I am sure that if a motion were put at the Business Committee that might be addressed. So I come back to the question: what is wrong with Mahara Okeroa as the chairman of the Maori Affairs Committee? Tell me Mr Donald what do the Greens have against him? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will address the Chair. 
RON MARK 
: I am answering the member’s questions. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No no the member will address the Chair. 
RON MARK 
: Well I will ask you Mr Speaker what is wrong with Mahara Okeroa? Pray tell me. Why will Mr Donald not allow Mr Mahara Okeroa to chair this committee? I am waiting for an answer to that question and I think the whole of Maoridom deserves an answer. What was it that was said by the one man who championed out there in the courts of this land and gave excuses to a murderer or a paedophile? He said that that man was excused for his offence because he had been colonised. Well what is this act where Mr Fairbrother is now going to supersede the authority of Mr Mahara Okeroa and lead and chair this wonderful ad hoc committee on an issue so fundamentally important to many Maori people—the foreshore and seabed issue? What is the problem? 
Some would say that fundamentally the Labour Party does not trust Maori. Some would say that it is all right for the Labour Government to enjoy the privilege of seven seats and a massive list vote but one does not want to give those Maoris any say eh! Margaret Wilson does not want to let those Maoris get in does she? Look at this point. Not only does Maoridom entrust Labour with its seven seats but it also gives them a massive list vote and who comes sliding in on that? Well there is the great irony. Michael Cullen and Margaret Wilson came sliding in on a massive Maori list vote—to do what? To put up this sort of rubbish—to stand in this House and tell Maori MPs and the whole of Maoridom that Mahara Okeroa is not up to it they will not let him be involved in this and are going to sideline him. That is the message out there. 
I have a message for this Labour Government. The days are numbered. Maori might well give this Government another seven seats in the next election but that will probably be because no one else is contesting them. But the list vote from Maori will not stay with Labour because they are seeing the deceit right now. They are seeing the rejection they are seeing the humiliation and they are seeing their mana being trampled on with the dirt of the boots of Michael Cullen Helen Clark and Margaret Wilson. That is what they are seeing. 
But it is nothing new is it? Because Labour has been doing this for years. Look at the local government elections. Look at the number of safe seats that Labour holds that represent constituencies—[ 
Interruption 
] I tell Mr Barker that it hurts. He comes whistling out when he gets hurt. I ask Mr Barker how many safe Labour seats that have predominantly Maori and Pacific Island constituents are held by Labour Maori general MPs? Hello! None. Not one—[ 
Interruption 
] Name for me—[ 
Interruption 
] That change occurred in the last election with Winnie Laban— 
Hon Chris Carter 
: Wairarapa. 
RON MARK 
: Is Wairarapa a safe Labour seat? I do not think so. That is Keith Holyoake territory and when they put confidence in the conservative vote it will disappear again. The point is trust. Consistently Labour has abused the Maori vote. Let those little Maoris go off and sit in a committee of their own but do not give them any important work to do! Let those little Maoris stand in the Maori seats but do not let them stand in a safe Labour seat! 
Take Christchurch East. Who should be in that seat? Not Lianne Dalziel! It should have been a Maori or a Pacific Island representative because that is what the make-up is. But here we are seeing once again classic paternalism classic insult to Maoridom classic abuse of the vote and classic rejection of Maori as competent. Is this what this Government is saying: that Mahara Okeroa is not competent; that Labour’s own Maori MPs are not competent? Or is it saying that they cannot be trusted because there are some controversial issues in here that Mr Michael Cullen and Ms Margaret Wilson want to keep their fingers firmly around? They do not want their Labour Maori MPs having any say whatsoever. 
Why is it that they are so sensitive about this? Well look at the minutes that came out of that meeting with Mr Cullen on Thursday from the Te Ope Mana a Tai representation. Look at what is in here. They are saying that the Government has already made up its mind. They are saying that it is a deal signed and done. They are saying that all of the consultation in the select committee will be a waste of time and it is predetermined and preordained by Helen Clark herself and that is why it has been put in the hands of Mr Fairbrother—the man who will do Helen Clark’s bidding and Margaret Wilson’s bidding. Margaret Wilson will be satisfied alongside Mr Cullen all at the expense of the mana of the Maori MPs on the Labour benches. 
I have a question for the Labour MPs. How much more humiliation are they going to take? How many more maraes are they going to go to to hear the chant: “Hi ho hi ho it’s off to do Helen’s bidding we go.”? They are the people whose mana is being trampled. They are the people who have been told they cannot be trusted to deal with an important issue that faces this country. They are the people who have been sidelined. The question has to be: for how much longer will they tolerate this paternalism? For how much longer will they tolerate having their iwi so grossly insulted in this way? New Zealand First will be voting against the establishment of this committee and will not be adding to the insult that Labour offers to Maori through this motion.