Sharples Pita: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Third Reading 
Sharples Pita: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:671;Page:17637] 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakahaere o to tatou Whare. Mihi au ki nga mema Paremata i koneki tae noa ki a koutou nga mana nga reo kua tae mai ki te whakanui i to tatou ra. Tena koutou nau mai whakapiri mai. E tika ana hoki kia mihi atu ki a ratou nga mate kua ngaro atu ratou i pupuri ai i te mana o nga whenua o nga takutai moana o nga roto o nga maunga i nga wa mai ra ano. I tipu ngatahi tatou me te whenua nei. He Maori tatou he iwi he hapu he whanau. Na reira nga mate kua pa ki a tatou ratou i kaha ki te pupuri i te mana i runga ake i nga whenua mai i te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi tae noa ki tenei ra. Na reira nga mate koutou haere okioki pai mai. 
Na kia hoki ki te kaupapa o te rangi nei. Tena tatou katoa. I te tau 2003 i te Kirihimete i hui matou o Ngati Kahungunu i ta matou hui whakamutunga mo te tau. I reira ka puta mai te korero a te mahi o te Kawanatanga ki te whakatu i tenei Ture Takutai Moana mo te 2004. I reira ka puta te korero a matou ka tau te taunaki kia hikoi ki te Paremata nei. Na matou i tono atu ki nga iwi katoa ki Te Tai Tokerau ki Te Arawa ki hea ranei kia hikoi tahi tatou ki konei i te tau 2004 ki te porotehi ki te tu pakari ki te korero e whakahe ana ki tenei ture e tango nei i te takutai moana. Na kua oti ke te mohio e 30000 tangata i hikoi mai mai i nga pito katoa—nga tamariki nga kaumatua. Mo etahi o ratou kua ngaro atu kua mate. Na reira i tae mai matou i korero matou ki te Paremata o taua wa ki te Kawanatanga kare matou e whakaae ana kua tangohia tenei ara ki te koti. 
I timata mai i Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka i a Ngati Apa ma. I haere ratou ki te koti ki te kimi i to ratou turanga i runga ake i te whenua i te takutai moana i roto i a ratou. Na i mahi tino tere te Kawanatanga kia aukatingia te haere o nga Maori ki te koti ki te kimi mana i runga ake o te takutai moana. Kahore tera Kawanatanga i korero ki te iwi Maori. Kahore ratou i korero ki nga mema o Reipa nga mema Maori. Kei te mohio au kare nga mema i taua wa e tino tautoko ana i tena ture engari koina te mahi o te Paremata nei. Ko te nuinga ka poti ka wikitoria etahi ka ngaro tetahi. Na reira kua pahi tena ture. 
Na reira ko te hikoi mai i tera tau he hikoi o te ngakau na reira tenei kua tae mai ki tenei wa te ra i whakatau i pahi ai tenei ture takutai moana mo tenei wa. Na ma tenei ture e mukua tera pire o te tau 2004 e whakawatea ana i te huarahi kia hoki nga iwi ki te koti atu ki tena ka ahei te korero kia haere tonu nga korero kia taea e nga hapu me nga iwi ki te tono atu ki te Kawanatanga me te koti a i runga i tenei kaupapa. Ki ahau nei ko tenei ture he utu mo tera kua whakaturetia i te tau e 2004. Na reira koina taku i tu nei i runga i te mana o oku tipuna matua ki te ki ki a tatou te iwi Maori ana kua tae ki tenei wa kia tu pakari tatou ahakoa pehea te taumahatanga i runga i o tatou pokohiwi. Na reira anei ra kua tae mai ki tenei rangi. 
Na reira maku i tenei wa e whakamarama atu ko wai matou te Pati Maori. Ko matou he ringaringa o te Paremata. Kahore matou e kawe te mana te rangatiratanga o nga iwi o nga hapu o tangata ma. Kai a ratou tena. Ko te Ao Maori tena te rangatiratanga. Ko tenei he Whare Paremata he kaupapa mai i Westminster kua whakatokia kei roto i tenei whenua ka haere katoa nga kaupapa i raro i tena kaupapa o te Whare Paremata. Ko te kaupapa i konei ka korero tena taha tenei taha ka mutu ka poti. Ma te nuinga o nga poti e wikitoria. Mehemea he torutoru nga poti ka hinga. He kaupapa Pakeha tenei ehara i te kaupapa Maori. Kia mohio mai. Kei konei matou kua uru atu ki roto i tenei kaupapa te kaupapa o te Whare Paremata. Na reira anei matou he ringaringa mo te iwi he ringaringa mo koutou nga iwi nga hapu. Tukua mai o koutou korero o koutou kaupapa. Mehemea ka whakamanatia i roto i tenei Whare Paremata anei ra matou ki te tautoko i o koutou tono. Kia mohio mai. Na reira tena koutou. 
Tino pirangi au ki te whakamarama atu i tena. Ki nga mema i tera taha e korero mai mo te koretake o tenei Pati Maori. E tino he koutou. Tino he koutou. Kua riro ki a matou etahi o nga hotaka nga kaupapa penei i te Whanau Ora; 
nga Whare Oranga Ake kia whakahokia nga mauhere Maori ki roto i te iwi e rua nga whare ka tu i tenei tau; te arotake i to tatou reo Maori ki mai te Wai 262 ngaro haere to tatou reo kaore ano kia whakapakaritia; ana na te Pati Maori e tu tetahi arotakenga i te mana o to tatou reo. 
Kei a au tetahi ropu ohanga whakapakari ai i te ohanga Maori; nga Maori e mahi ana nga manukura o nga iwi e mahitahi ana matou ki te whakapakari i te putea mo o tatou iwi a mo te mana o to tatou iwi. Ko tetahi ko te kawenata matua kia arotakengia tenei kawenata. Ka hia tau ka korero tatou mo te mana o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka hia tau i tae atu matou ki Waitangi ki te porotehi kua tango te mana o te Tiriti o Waitangi kei hea tena i roto i nga ture o te ao nei o tenei whenua? Na kua whakaae te Kawanatanga nei kia arotakengia tenei kaupapa nui. He wa tenei mo tatou ki te haramai ki nga hui korero ai kaua e noho wahangu. Mehemea kei te pirangi koutou kia whakamanahia to tatou Tiriti o Waitangi anei kua huakina mai te tatau. Na reira haramai koutou ki era momo hui ki te mahi i tena. 
A matou mahi i tenei korero au mo te mahi o te Pati Maori. Te panui pukapuka i nga kura na matou i tuku atu ki roto i nga kura kura Maori kura Pakeha katoa mo nga mea nohinohi kia ahei ai ratou ki te panui pukapuka. Era mahi katoa. Na matou i whakaiti te take i runga i te penehini me te hikohiko i raro i te kaupapa Government Electronic Tenders Service 
i tetahi wa na tenei; me te utu mo te tangata ia haora na matou i werohia to tatou Kawanatanga. 
Na reira koina ahau e tu nei ki te ki anei ra matou o koutou ringaringa. Anei ta matou mahi kei roto i te Whare Paremata nei ki te kawe mai i o koutou hiahia ki te mahi i nga mahi kia tuku atu i mua o nga pati e rua toru wha i konei; ki te kimi huarahi mo to tatou iwi. Kei te mahi penei ai etahi o nga mema Paremata i konei. Ko te katoa o nga Maori i konei e tino tautoko ana i te iwi Maori nga hapu nga iwi. Kaore he Maori i konei kare e tautoko ana i te iwi Maori. Engari na te kaupapa o tenei wahi ka noho tatou wero tatou i a tatou kei roto i tenei Whare. Engari i te mutunga ake anei te Pati Maori. Kaore he matua kei runga i a matou kaore he pati e ki nei ki a Maori me penei me pena. Ko matou te ropu motuhake mo koutou. Na reira kei te mihi au ki te Pirimia otira ki nga Minita tena koutou tena tatou katoa kei raro. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Deputy Speaker of our House. I acknowledge the members of Parliament present here today including you the authorities and languages who have arrived here to celebrate our day. Greetings welcome come closer. It is fitting as well that I acknowledge those who are no longer with us the ones who held in their hands the power over the lands foreshore lakes and mountains since time immemorial. We and this land evolved together. We are Maori—tribal subtribal and family. So the ones who died and affect us strove to maintain control over the lands in their time from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi right down to this day. So I say to you the dead: depart farewell and rest there.  
Let me come back to the matter relating to this day. Greetings to you all. In the year 2003 at Christmas we of Ngati Kahungunu were at a meeting—our final meeting of the year in fact. It was there that word came that the Government was planning to draft the Foreshore and Seabed Act for the year 2004. And it was there that the recommendation was made to march upon this Parliament. We asked all tribes from the far north Te Arawa and wherever to march here together with us in 2004 to protest to stand strong and to voice our opposition to the law that would take our foreshore and seabed away from us. Now it is well known that 30000 people young and old marched from all over the country. Some of them have died. So we came engaged with Parliament and the Government of the day and said we did not agree to access to the courts being denied.  
It began among the tribes of the northern South Island with Ngati Apa and others at Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka —the Bow of the Canoe. They went to court to have their rights over the foreshore and seabed determined amongst them. The Government then moved quickly to deny access to the courts by Maori tribes to determine ownership over the foreshore. That Government did not consult the Maori people. It did not consult Labour members and the Maori members of that party. I know for a fact that members at that time did not really support that law but that is how this Parliament works. It is a majority vote—you win some and you lose some. So that legislation was passed into law.  
The march at that time was one of the heart. We have arrived here now at this moment the day this Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill is settled and passed for the moment. This bill will repeal that legislation of the year 2004. It clears the way and enables tribes to go back to the courts again. Beyond that it enables discussions to continue so that subtribes and tribes can apply to the Government and the courts about this matter. To me personally this legislation is payment for the legislation enacted in 2004. So that is why I stand before you on the power of my ancestors to say to us the Maori people that the time has come for us to stand staunch regardless of the hardships upon our shoulders. So here we are; we have arrived at this day.  
At this point I shall outline who we of the Maori Party are. We are servants of Parliament. We do not carry the authority and right of authority of the tribes subtribes and the people at all. They have that —Maoridom has it. This is a House of Parliament that originates from Westminster. Its procedures are well and truly embedded in this country. All matters here are conducted under that parliamentary procedure. Each party here speaks and at the end a vote is cast. The majority vote cast determines an outcome. If there are fewer votes cast the matter is deemed lost. This is a Pakeha system not a Maori one. You the Maori people have got to understand this. We are here we have entered into this procedure of Parliament. Therefore we are your servants in this House servants for you the tribes and subtribes. Send us your talk and policies. If you want them enacted here in this House that is what we are here for—to support your demands. Make a note of it. So thank you collectively.  
I really wanted to explain that about us and to make it clear. To those members on that side of the House who are telling us that this Maori Party is useless you collectively are so wrong—absolutely incorrect. We have secured programmes and initiatives like Whanau Ora; and nga Whare Oranga Ake units to be established to house Maori prisoners so they can be reintegrated into the tribe—two have been built this year. There is a review of our Maori language. Wai 262 states that our language is disappearing—it has not been rejuvenated. Well as a consequence a review of the status of our language has been implemented by the Maori Party.  
I have an economic taskforce that is tasked to strengthen the economic situation of our tribes. There is another one that relates to the constitution—a major one. How many years have we talked about the status of the Treaty of Waitangi? How many years have we arrived at Waitangi to protest that the status of the Treaty has been removed; where is it in world laws and in our own? The Government has now agreed to review this important issue. It is an opportunity now for us to come to the forums—but do not sit back in silence. If you collectively want our Treaty of Waitangi enshrined in legislation the door has been opened up. So come to those sorts of forums to work at that.  
In relation to how we deal with this I will talk about what the Maori Party has done. Reading books in schools: we promoted that in the schools including Maori schools and all mainstream schools—for preschoolers as well to enable them to read—all those kinds of initiatives. We have reduced the tax on petrol and in time electronics under the Government Electronic Tenders Service scheme; we also challenged the Government about the personal hourly rate.  
So that is why I stand here and say to you the collective here we are your servants. Our responsibility in this House is to bring your needs here to do what has to be done to them before putting them before the parties here be it two three or four to find ways for our people. Some members work like this here. All Maori members here really support the Maori people subtribes and tribes. There is not one who does not. But because of what this place is about we are forced to poke and prod each other in this House. But at the end of it all here is the Maori Party—there is no one in charge above us no party telling Maori that you should do it this or that way. We are the independent party for you. So I acknowledge the Prime Minister and indeed the Ministers; greetings to you collectively and to us all. I end here 
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