Mahuta Nanaia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Mahuta Nanaia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:615;Page:10976] 
NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Tainui) 
: 
 A tuatahi tenei te mihi atu ki a koe ki nga mema katoa o tenei Whare Paremata a tena koutou katoa. That was just a brief mihi to you Mr Speaker and to all members of this House given that this is my first speech of the year. In making this contribution to the debate I just want to say that I am proud to be a New Zealander to be Maori to be Waikato Maniapoto Ngapuhi and be a young Maori woman in 2004. But we have to ask ourselves each and every one of us what that means for us here today in New Zealand. I do not think it means we should polarise the views that exist within our society. I do not think that is helpful. I do not think it means that we should set one person against the other on the basis of slogans and not understanding. I do not think it means that we as a Parliament should purport to represent views without trying to peel away some of the underlying issues that create a negative perception that is not based on fact. 
In making this contribution today I want to highlight the positive things that this Government has done and to put on the record that at least this Government is not afraid of having the debate. At least this Government is not afraid of putting the hard issues right out there in front of every New Zealander and of arguing constructively in a way that creates understanding and generates more questions and debate but also in a way that seeks to genuinely pose the question to all New Zealanders of what it means to be New Zealanders. It is not a lump in the throat but a feeling that all members in this House get in their gut no matter whether they are Maori Pakeha Asian Samoan Tongan Cook Island Niuean Tuvaluan or whatever. I ask this question: does New Zealand celebrate my diversity? Does New Zealand celebrate the fact that I am different? Does being a New Zealander mean that I have a place to be? If we cannot provide that kind of vision for all members of our society then we should not be here. That is why I am concerned about the way in which the Opposition has raised the temperature and seeks to polarise opinions and not to have a genuine debate about the issues of diversity within our country as they exist today not as they existed in the 1950s. 
In the 1950s the grandparents in my heritage were prevented from speaking their own language in the schools. That was race-based legislation that worked against them. In the 1960s when Maori sought to assert themselves as Maori they were discriminated against in areas of labour—of work and of employment opportunities. That was not helpful and it worked against them. In the 1970s when Maori sought to assert themselves through education—and we had a few of them coming through tertiary education at that time—they were confronted with very very strong views about why Maori should be only in labour-intensive industries not excelling in the path of tertiary education. That was in the 1970s. What did we have in the 1980s? We had people asserting that it was important for people of culture to know and learn their language. What did we see? We saw the start of the kohanga reo movement. In the 1990s those kids have grown up with a positive affirmation of whom they are where they belong and what culture means—not so that they can differentiate in order to exclude others but so that they can identify what their culture means to them and can embrace and accept other cultures. That is the New Zealand that I will work towards. It is the kind of New Zealand that I think most people want and it is the type of discussion we should be having. 
 Many points have been raised in this House about special preference for certain groups. I think we just need to take a breath and if we look back long and hard at our history we will see that race-based legislation—in its earliest form it probably was not legislation but the right of pre-emption in the treaty for example—worked to the favour of a minority group coming into the country even though the majority interests could very well have not benefited. People choose to have a short memory when it suits them. 
The barometer of Maori opinion in 2004 is a very positive one. The barometer of Maori opinion today is looking forward and focusing on growth and opportunity. Why is that? It is because Maori want to be positive contributors to this society. What does that mean? It means that we see Maori engaging and wanting to engage more proactively in areas of entrepreneurship and the delivery of social services in a relevant way that provides good positive outcomes and in areas that improve our health and well-being. That cannot be bad can it? I do not think so. I looked at the Bartercard New Zealand Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2002 and what did that report state? It stated that Maori have an 11.9 percent rate of total entrepreneurial activity. In fact if Maori were ranked as an individual country Maori in New Zealand would be the world’s seventh most entrepreneurial country. That is quite a strong statement in terms of the spirit of entrepreneurialism that exists within Maoridom. That report goes on to state that Maori entrepreneurs are younger than other entrepreneurs and that they are able to identify opportunity. When we look at the positive aspect of that statement from that report—a study of entrepreneurship in this country—we see we can be quite optimistic about the contribution young Maori will make to this country. That is a good thing for us all. 
I reiterate that Maori want to be positive contributors to this society creating employment opportunities and becoming upskilled. They do not just want to be labourers—as people would have condemned us to be in the 1950s; they also want to help to be the responsible employers of the future generation. That cannot be bad can it? No it is positive. That is the way forward and that is where this Government is trying to take our people. 
In looking at areas specifically within my constituency in the Waikato I note that we are one of three regions to have received the roll-out of Project Probe. I am quite a fan of broadband Internet access. What does it mean? Certainly for the Tainui electorate it means that it will go to rural communities like the Coromandel—and I went to the launch of broadband access there. It will enable schools in rural areas to be able to receive learning through video conferencing—for all students not just for Maori. But in particular the students in those communities will have access to learning subjects that they never had access to before. That is great. Why is that? Because the window for opportunity for those students will be opened so much further because they have access to that learning in the first instance and they can dare to think that they can have a career outside of Hahei. 
When I talk about some of the things that are of concern I want to make one comment before I end my speech. It relates to the position of the Maori seats. I find it quite amusing that when people want to have a slang at Maori they have a slang at the Maori seats. In reference to the Tainui electorate I say anyone can ask me whether I turn anyone away when he or she comes to my office no matter what race the person is. I do not. When people come into my office I know they come in because they need help. I think that to create the perception that the members representing the Maori electorates do not have the opportunity to help all peoples is a mistruth. 
In ending my speech I say the barometer of Maori opinion is not on the things that divide us; it is on the things that will help Maori to grow positively. So the things that will be positive for Maori will be the creation of the Maori Television Service and the allocation of Maori fisheries in order to help Maori to participate in that industry and to actually get their people out doing the fishing. Maybe the one thing that challenges us all is the issue of the foreshore and seabed and there will be a lot of debate in the House when it is time to debate that matter. However I want to say that this Government is not afraid to have the debate in a real and meaningful way that deconstructs all the myths and that deals with the facts and the real issues affecting our people. Every New Zealander who is listening to this debate today will know that hard though it is and has been this Government is prepared to take a step forward in a genuine way towards trying to understand where we all belong within this country what a sense of nationhood will mean under a Labour-led Government and also in the long term what citizenship means for all of us. No reira tena koutou katoa.