Flavell Te Ururoa: Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:643;Page:13179] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 I appreciate very much being given the opportunity to speak to Part 1 of the Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill particularly because the Maori Party has some proposed amendments. I thank you very much Mr Chairperson and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak to them—and I am sorry for being a little late to do it. 
During the last big reshuffle of the tertiary education sector which saw the establishment of the Tertiary Education Commission and the introduction of charters and profiles the Ministry of Education released a document entitled the 
 Report of the Working Party on Charters and Profiles 
. Arising out of that report institutional charters were expected to outline and describe institutions’ approaches to fulfilling Treaty of Waitangi obligations towards Maori by identifying how they would give effect to relationships with Maori. That directive was reiterated in the Tertiary Education Commission’s document  
Charter Guidelines 
. With regard to profiles the situation was similar. The 
 Report of the Working Party on Charters and Profiles 
 stated that one of two fundamental expectations of profiles was that they would identify how an organisation planned to work with Maori. That report was significant in that it underscored the need for a Treaty-based relationship between tertiary education providers and Maori and in relation to the issue at hand it highlighted the need for the institutions to develop their charter profile system in consultation with Maori. 
But with this bill before us the requirement to consult Maori and the acknowledgment of consultation as central to the Treaty relationship has for some reason been written out. So what has happened since that report was released in 2001? Just to take us back a little I say Maori scholarships and references to the Treaty in policy documents have been scrapped in the face of accusations of race-based privilege made by the previous leader of the National Party Don Brash— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: That’s right. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: —the Foreshore and Seabed Act which denies Maori both land rights and legal rights has been passed—that is right—Treaty settlement legislation has continued to be passed amidst criticism of poor process including inadequate consultation; the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 has been amended by specifying a closing date for submitting historical claims to the Waitangi Tribunal without prior discussion with or agreement from hapu and iwi Maori; a member’s bill to delete the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi from all legislation has been supported to go to a select committee; the Treaty of Waitangi was removed from the school curriculum by deleting references to it in the Ministry of Education’s 2006 draft curriculum document; direct references to the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles have been deleted from the new health policy action plans and contracts; land subject to Treaty claims has continued to be put up for sale without any prior communication with claimant iwi; and the list could go on and on. 
But to come back full circle to the field of tertiary education we are now considering a bill that allows tertiary education providers to prepare a proposed plan in consultation with those who they consider ought to be consulted. The key words are “ought to be consulted”. We know from experience that unless a requirement to consult is spelt out in black and white it does not happen despite the planning and despite the good will. We also know from experience that those who do consult who take the time to build the relationships from which robust consultation and productive decisions can emerge come to value it a great deal. And that is not to mention the economic benefits that often follow as a result of consultation. 
The Maori Party’s amendment to clause 10 of the bill is to rectify that omission by adding subsection 10(3)(e)(iii) to new section 159ABA which would require tertiary organisations to consult with Maori—with hapu iwi and Maori staff and students—in preparing their proposed plans. It is important that the gains developed out of the tertiary reform process of the late 1990s and early 2000s are not cast aside. 
In yesterday’s speech at the second reading of this bill I talked of the Treaty being about relationships: a commitment to a constructive and mutually reached respectful relationship by both Maori and the Crown. I reiterate also from yesterday’s speech that the lack of commitment this bill makes to the Treaty by failing to match up the ministerial requirements to set a long-term strategic direction for Maori development aspirations to a Treaty-based context makes the Treaty meaningless invisible and invalid. 
Although the issue of consultation with Maori has been the focus of the recent period of tertiary education reform one issue that was not resolved was that the same care for the Treaty in terms of constructive mutually respectful relationships be asked of the Tertiary Education Commission in the performance of its functions as is asked of institutional councils in the performance of theirs. The idea shared in the select committee by Te Tauihu o Nga Wananga which is basically the collective of the three whare wananga is that for a Treaty relationship to be meaningful it needs to exist at all levels of the tertiary education system whether at Government level or at the level of the tertiary institutions. 
The amendments to the Education Act 1989 that established the Tertiary Education Commission failed to include an acknowledgment of the Treaty and its principles and that was despite the presence of a tailor-made section for doing so—namely section 159G “Principles guiding how Commission operates”. The amendment that we are talking about today from the Maori Party to add a new clause 11A to the bill proposes that the statutory requirement of tertiary institutional councils to acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in their governance role be reciprocated and reflected also by the Tertiary Education Commission in its planning and monitoring role on behalf of the Government. That would mean that the Tertiary Education Commission would have a statutory requirement to make good on the Treaty and get past the frustrating ad hoc and absent processes that have been reported to us over the last couple of years. 
In closing I say the purpose of the amendments is to make the Treaty meaningful real and visible. We hope that members of the Committee will be able to give serious consideration to our proposed amendments and will vote accordingly. Kia ora tatou.