Flavell Te Ururoa: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6317] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa. Like other members of the House today I look forward as an elected member of Parliament to times when progress will be achieved and when we know members of our constituency will benefit directly from some of the legislation we put through. This is one of those times. 
It is also a time when my colleague the MP for Rotorua Steve Chadwick and I and perhaps some others who may choose to declare their status today may be in the unique position of having a special privilege in respect of this bill. As I declared at the first reading our family are cardholders. We are members of the Rotorua Public Library with a status that clearly places us at an advantage in terms of this bill. 
If members go into the philosophy section of the Rotorua Public Library and look for the sections headed “Political Analysis and Cultural Criticism” they might come across books by the distinguished professor bell hooks. The unconventional lower casing is in the words of hooks to symbolise “… that what is most important in my works is the substance of the books not who I am.” This is from a person who also said: “Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.” 
So how did this girl from Kentucky growing up poor black and marginalised turn out to be a leading African-American intellectual who has contributed greatly to library shelves around the world? What were the life-transforming ideas that made that possible? Hooks would say that the key lies in communication and literacy and the capacity to read write and think critically. It is about education as a practice of freedom and it is because of education for liberation that the Maori Party is pleased today to support the local member from Rotorua Steve Chadwick in her initiative on this bill. 
We are delighted that the Government Administration committee has supported this bill without amendment and we look forward to the smooth passage of the legislation to enable the council to get on with the job. The job I am talking about is that of accessing the capital of the endowment fund bequeathed by Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson in order to extend the Rotorua Public Library. The substance of books is where things are at. This bill will ensure that the substance of books will be available across the Rotorua community. Having a larger facility more space and more resources will both honour the intention of the bequest and serve as a fine legacy for future generations. 
But as other speakers have said the bill has been a long time coming. Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson bequeathed the residue of her estate as per the terms of her will in 1932 and Mr Tisch talked about probate being granted in September 1936. So here we are 70 years later finally able to see her wishes come to pass and supporting legislation to expand the library and enable the building of a new wing. We congratulate the benefactor and the Rotorua Public Library on keeping the vision alive. Although it has taken 70 years to get to this point it should be noted that the interest from the capital investment of the endowment has been used usefully in library maintenance and upkeep including the purchase of more books. 
Finally I make mention of the advice received from Jane Gilbert of the Rotorua Public Library and Richard Price a lawyer for the Rotorua District Council. Both the librarian and the lawyer spoke of the considerable benefits that would flow through to the whole community in Rotorua through the passing of this legislation. They made special mention of the fact that the amendment will enable an expansion of the Rotorua history section including the history of Te Arawa. 
So I return again to bell hooks and her statement that life-transforming ideas have always come to her through books and the question I ask is what life-transforming ideas will be in the books of Te Arawa from the last year of political history. Will they include a discussion of the confiscation by stealth through the new invention of the Crown stratum? Will the library shelves include any volumes that reveal Government commitment to the lakes protection and restoration action programme or will there be an empty space? Will our histories reveal the damage done to the Te Arawa lakes which had been in a pristine state when leased to the Crown in 1922? 
In 1922 in an honourable gesture our elders signed an agreement between Te Arawa and the Crown. It was thought that benefits would flow through to Te Arawa following that agreement. My hope is that this honourable gesture made by Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson does not suffer the same fate as the agreement for Te Arawa some 10 years earlier. The Maori Party will support this bill as we support any attempts to encourage life-transforming ideas. We will be looking to the Rotorua District Council and the Rotorua Public Library to do their best to honour the original intentions of the benefactor to invest in the business of ideas and to do that truly for the benefit of all the community. Kia ora tatou. 
Bill read a second time. 
Bill read a third time.