Harawira Hone: Communications Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Communications Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5451] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena tatou te Whare. We have before us another urgent bill another omnibus bill. This one is to amend the Telecommunications Act 2001 and the Radio Communications Act 1989. It is a matter of urgency apparently because of the need to sort things out before the registration of telecommunications services expires at the end of the year. Yet despite the pressure of time it seems clearly that consultation was not a priority for the Government. This is an urgent matter yet only five submissions to the Commerce Committee were received. This is supposed to be an urgent matter yet the Radio Frequency Users Association of New Zealand told the committee that it was not even consulted in the drafting of the bill. This is supposed to be an urgent matter but the Government neglected to consult the group whose members collectively hold more radio licences than any other group in the country. 
This oversight—this slip-up in consultation—seems uncannily like that which has occurred in another matter before the House whereby a bill supposedly representing the interests of Te Arawa iwi and hapu seems not to have taken full regard of the interests of Ngati Makino Ngati Rangitihi Ngati Rangiwewehi Tapuika Waitaha certain Ngati Whakaue hapu and most recently Ngati Rangiteaorere. The Government seems quick to demand that Maori have a mandate for their decisions—which the Government then promptly ignores—but it is clear in this piece of legislation as in others that the Government does not feel an urgency to get one itself. 
The Communications Legislation Bill is supposed to make it easier for competitors to get into the game and to make things cheaper for customs but at the first reading we noted that the bill regulates everything except price which is quite absurd. One does not have to be a communications expert to realise how the big boys will react. They will say: “Sure there’s no problem about us putting in place your regulated services but for those of you who want to compete against us here’s the cost of that service and we hope you choke on it.” The Radio Frequency Users Association said that rushing this bill through without proper consultation would raise questions about the quality of the decisions and throw into doubt the Government’s commitment to making the best use of industry expertise. 
Another key issue for the Maori Party is whether legislative change should be piecemeal making small or frequent changes or whether it should be less frequent and more substantial—whether we should leave the small stuff and go for a level playing field for everyone. For example the Radio Frequency Users Association suggested we amend the provisions for mobile frequencies as well. The Government acknowledged that point but left such provisions out of the bill meaning that the issue will still have to be dealt with later. 
Another issue is the concern of TelstraClear about the allocation of radio licences by methods other than competitive tender or auction. Whatever the final process it is important that the industry can see that the process will be transparent. 
 I note though that the Government is right to keep aside spectrum and licences for purposes other than commercial profit and we support the right for licensing to be held for allocation to Maori and community purposes. 
One has only to walk down the street these days to know that the world of telecommunications and communications generally has moved a long way since the 1970s and 1980s when women like Naida Pou Titewhai Harawira and a host of other bolshie Maori women upset their bosses by greeting people with the simple phrase “Kia ora” whenever people rang in to make toll calls. I take this opportunity to honour Naida and Co. for continuing to welcome people in Maori when all the world seemed to be going bananas about it. Her supervisors of the day pulled her off the toll board but they eventually had to give her back her job after public pressure forced them into the 20th century. The furore over those two words went so far as to be referred to the Prime Minister of the day the late Rob Muldoon who said: “I’ve been overseas deciding the economic development of the country and while I’ve been away some girl wants to say ‘Kia ora’. As far as I’m concerned she can say ‘Kia ora’ just so long as she doesn’t say ‘gidday blue’.” In an interview later Naida said: “For me Kia ora is a salutation that’s indigenous to this country it’s a Tangata Whenua right. Our reo is a Taonga because of all it captures. It’s not just reo it’s a dimension which is expressed in tone. Tone is part of our connectedness to universe energies.” 
So change happens and we are generally supportive of the amendments and clarifications behind the Communications Legislation Bill. But in this debate we also need to mention that Maori have an issue with lumping all of the spectrum rights together. In June 1990 the New Zealand Maori Council lodged Wai150 seeking a ruling that Maori had a claim to radio frequencies and that in the absence of an agreement with Maori the sale of frequency management licences would breach the Treaty and be prejudicial to the interests of Maori. The Waitangi Tribunal report noted: “The spectrum is a taonga to be shared by the tribes and by all mankind. Neither of the Treaty partners can have monopoly rights to this resource.” 
The Maori Party wishes to draw a parallel with the current Treaty breach which was created by the Crown introducing a brand new concept whereby it assumed total ownership of the water stratum of Te Arawa’s lakes including the airspace supposedly on behalf of all New Zealanders and simply took what it wanted through the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Bill. Here in the Communications Legislation Bill we see the Crown trying to assume ownership of the spectrum although the tribunal has already ruled that neither Treaty partner shall have a monopoly on that resource. The Wai150 ruling also stated: “Tribal rangatiratanga gives Maori a greater right of access to the newly discovered spectrum. In any scheme of spectrum management it has rights greater than the general public and especially when it is being used for the protection of the taonga …”. In the development of new spectrums Maori must not be shut out by commercial interests or by the other Treaty partner. 
The Maori Party says “Kia ora” to the telecommunications sector. We do not want Maori to have to wait in line behind “Gidday Blue” “Yankee Doodle Dandy” or any other bugger for that matter. We do not want to be put on hold on call waiting or to be hanging on to a busy line. The Maori Party is pleased to hear that there will be consultation before any regulations are made on allocation and on that basis we support the second reading of this bill. We look forward to Maori being included in that loop so as to ensure that we stay involved in the nation’s transition to having a world-class telecommunications system. It is about rangatiratanga—our right to be part of the effective and efficient operation of the telecommunications sector our right to be key players in the communications industry and our right as Manhattan Transfer so sweetly puts it to hear the words: “Operator information. Give me freedom on the line.” Kia ora tatou.