Sharples Pita: Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Sharples Pita: Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:644;Page:13682] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. It is timely indeed to be thinking of tertiary reforms the day after the University of Auckland confirmed its decision to eliminate open entry into the university from 2009. From the communication we have had with tangata whenua associated with the university consultation has been at a bare minimum if at all. We learnt from the University Students Association that the proposal was rammed through in 3 short weeks without due regard either for the consultative process or for consideration of the possible impacts such a decision might have. So the decision of that university to restrict entry to core disciplines leads us to ask how in this bill the Government through the Tertiary Education Commission actively recognises its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi to protect Maori language ways of being and traditional and contemporary knowledge. 
What mechanisms are in place in this bill to give honour to a central premise of the Treaty of Waitangi that Maori could continue to live as Maori? In Ka Hikitia the draft Maori education strategy Wally Penetito gives life to this aspiration eloquently stating: “If there is an emerging educational vision among Maori it is the desire for an education that enhances what it means to be Maori: so simple and yet so profound.” 
The Maori Party brings to the Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill a knowledge of the simple and profound and an understanding of the aspirations and concepts that establish a very clear foundation for both ensuring Maori student engagement and enabling Maori student success. The ultimate question however is whether there is sufficient provision in this bill to ensure that both the Crown and the institutions uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi through the planning the funding and the monitoring functions of the tertiary education system. Our analysis of the bill found it seriously lacking on two fronts. One related to the consultation and the other to the guidance for the Tertiary Education Commission. 
What we learnt from the select committee process was absolutely fundamental to our concerns around Treaty justice in this bill. The Association of University Staff of New Zealand advised us that the Government had received over 400 submissions relating to the omission of the Treaty from the tertiary education strategy and the statement of tertiary education priorities. We learnt from reading over 23 submissions received on this bill that numerous concerns were raised around consultation. Specifically there is no requirement for the Minister the Tertiary Education Commission or the tertiary education organisations to consult with Maori in the development and monitoring of a proposed new institutional plan document. One has to wonder then whether there should be any surprise about the fact that Auckland University chose the lighter end of the consultation continuum. 
As a party always willing to put forward new ideas and solutions we in the Maori Party came to the Committee stage of the bill with two useful recommendations. We as Maori Party MPs are not limited by the constraints of abiding by the party line or being subdued into silence when we identify an issue of Treaty injustice. We are proud to be a strong and independent Maori voice and to be able to raise our concerns without fear or favour. We bring the House back to section 181 of the Education Act 1989 in which institutional councils are required to acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the performance of their functions and exercise of their powers. Councils are therefore required to acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
How is that done? Well it is not as difficult as some of our parliamentary colleagues think it is. The system needs to support Maori aspirations and achievements including the revitalisation of te reo Maori nga tikanga and Maori knowledge. The education system needs to work in partnership with whanau hapu iwi and Maori communities. The education system needs to provide opportunities for educational success which will enable Maori to live as Maori to have the authority over Maori knowledge and to validate Maori ways of being and seeing the world—indeed to enhance what it means to be Maori. So simple yet so profound. 
Yet what does this amended bill say? It states that the mandate for the Minister of Education to address the development aspirations of Maori is tied neither to the Treaty relationship nor to a requirement to consult. It is for this reason that at the Committee stage of this bill my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell introduced two amendments to sort this out once and for all. The first amendment specified consultation with local hapu iwi Maori staff and students by tertiary institutions in the preparation of proposed plans. Under the bill’s current provisions an organisation can choose not to consult with Maori in the preparation of a proposed plan. We in the Maori Party therefore proposed an amendment to specify that in the preparation of a proposed plan tertiary education organisations would be required to consult with Maori. 
The other amendment sought to insert the phrase “acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” into section 159G of the Education Act which determines the principles guiding how the Tertiary Education Commission operates. The Education Act 1989 requires in section 181(b) that a council of a tertiary education institution acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the performance of its function and in the exercise of its powers. However there is no corresponding requirement on the Tertiary Education Commission to also acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the performance of its functions. Our amendment required the commission to do so. It is all very straightforward—indeed so simple yet so profound. 
A significant number of submissions to the select committee told us that for a Treaty relationship to be meaningful it needs to be at all levels of the tertiary education system. Our two amendments were exactly that proposing ways of making the Treaty and the Treaty relationship visible. Instead Labour along with National New Zealand First United Future and the Independents chose to act in ways that clearly reflect the lack of value they place in Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation document for Aotearoa. 
Seventy-five years ago the very first successful Ratana candidate ErueraTirikatene tabled a petition here in Parliament known simply as the Ratana petition. It was a very weighty petition literally so; it contained some 45000 signatures and weighed 16 pounds which is 7.25 kilograms. The petition requested that the Treaty of Waitangi be entered into the statute book in an effort to “preserve the ties of brotherhood between Maori and Pakeha for all time”. 
Twenty years ago in 1987 the Court of Appeal described the Treaty as “part of the fabric of New Zealand society” and as “the country’s founding constitutional instrument”. This is our history: Maori and Pakeha tangata whenua and tangata Te Tiriti peoples united in the promise of partnership. At its very heart the Treaty is an exchange of promises between sovereign peoples giving rise to obligations for each party. As with any partnership the Treaty partnership is forever evolving. This bill the Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill provided us with an excellent opportunity to honour those aspirations of our ancestors throughout our history. It offered up a chance to make right the expectations of TahupotikiWiremuRatana ErueraTirakatene Matiu Rata the New Zealand Maori Council the Court of Appeal and the more than 500 rangatira who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi back in 1840. 
It provided a means by which Maori could continue to exercise rangatiratanga over nga taonga which in the context of education may include te reo Maori tikanga Maori and Maori knowledge. It gave us all a moment in time in which legislation could be consistent with the statutory requirement of institutions to acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by which the Treaty could truly flourish. 
For some unknown reason the members of this House other than those in the Green and Maori Parties chose not to have the courage to let the Treaty talk. They chose not to support our amendments and in doing so chose to deny shut down and limit any practical ways of actually letting the Treaty guide this nation forward in a meaningful direction. 
We in the Maori Party are profoundly disappointed that such a golden opportunity for Treaty justice was overlooked and that the bill will proceed without allowing our practical pragmatic proposals to be considered of value. Our vote against this bill is therefore a vote that registers our consistent opposition to any bill that fails to acknowledge and recognise the impact of the Treaty in its deliberations. Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker.