Okeroa Mahara: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — First Reading 
Okeroa Mahara: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:617;Page:12741] 
MAHARA OKEROA (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. Tena koutou katoa i haere mai nei ki te rongo au. Ko te whanuitia o ngakorero ko au he uri no Te Raukura. Tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai tatau katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings to all who came here to listen to me. The sum total about me is that I am a descendant of Te Raukura. So greetings to you greetings to you and greetings indeed to us all 
.] 
I listened with some amazement to an interpretation of the treaty by the Opposition’s shadow Minister of Maori Affairs. I was simply appalled by the level of misunderstanding and by that analysis. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Don’t apologise! 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: I am not—I am just appalled. That member should apologise. He gave an analysis of the treaty that shows very clearly that he knows nothing about it. He is the shadow Minister of Maori Affairs. 
Let me now divert a wee bit to the previous mention of Delaware Bay. In fact that bay is known as Whakapuaki. On that bay—and I know it—the people from Ngati Tama have title. They have title that meets the test. That shutting of the gate was about tiakitanga and respect and looking after the access according to the tikanga that has been proposed in this bill. People must respect tikanga Maori. That is what the issue is about with regard to this bill. Then we have another Opposition member a former Minister of Conservation who despite the ownership of that bay despite the certificate of ownership and despite the fact that it has been awarded by the Maori Land Court took a case about the validity of that title held by Maori. That is what this bill is about. It is about as the Hon John Tamihere said the protection of our rights. 
The Opposition says that Maori are getting too much. They say that Maori are getting privileges over and above those of other New Zealanders. In any situation we have to meet the test and the test and the bar are high. That is always how it has been when Maori have contested their cases be they land claims or whatever in a court of law. There is a poison here the poison that was referred to by the Leader of the Opposition. Let us be very very clear about where that poison is. It does not rest with us. Mita Ririnui was magnanimous in giving his 5 minutes to Tariana Turia and that is right—that is tikanga. That is the way it should be in this House even though Tariana Turia is expressing a real heartfelt view ka tika mai. I in view and perception am looking at this bill as a way forward not backward—never backward. What National is proposing is to take our people back in history to where we were sitting very uncomfortably and that is why the people are here at Parliament today. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: That’s why they don’t want you to vote for it. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: I wish that member of the Opposition would pay me more respect because he objected mightily when he was interrupted. Now he is not giving the same freedom of speech to another member in this House. 
I need to say this: certain people whom I have great respect for have asked me to cross the floor of the House. That is a total anathema to me. As the member for Te Tai Tonga I will not take the mana of the Te Tai Tonga electorate and its diversity of people and give it to National because crossing the floor is about voting for the Opposition. That is the tikanga in this House. On that basis there is no way that I as a Labour Party member would ever even consider doing that.