Samuels Dover: General Debate 
Samuels Dover: General Debate 
[Volume:630;Page:2705] 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS (Minister of State) 
: 
 “To be or not to be”—that indeed is the question. It is a famous line from that well-known English writer William Shakespeare—from Act III Scene I of the famous play  
Hamlet 
. In the last few weeks this country has witnessed a modern version of that play starring and directed by Gerry Brownlee and Don Brash. To be or not to be? That is the question the public is asking. There is mass confusion out there amongst the people who saw Don Brash at Orewa. He made that wonderful speech about how he would abolish the Maori seats and everything Maori. The speech in Orewa catapulted his popularity in the polls—and led to mass confusion over who really was the leader of the National Party. 
The co-leader of the Maori Party Tariana Turia said yesterday: “Of course he did not behave like that after the election. He did not care that our seats were won through the Maori seats.” She went on to say: “I cannot quite read the National Party leader.” I say to Tariana Turia that I support her 100 percent. So probably do 99 percent of the people of this country and the public who are listening to this debate. What is sadder I believe is that 90 percent of those who supported Don Brash in his Orewa speech are also confused right now as to who the leader of the National Party is. 
I will outline for members the script of a new play. This then is Act I of “ 
To Be or Not to Be 
” a play about National and the Maori seats. National members want one thing; Don Brash wants another. People can imagine the stage. The curtain rises; enter Don Brash. His first line is: “I think having any Maori representation at any level of Government is a fundamental mistake dangerous for New Zealand’s future.” He goes on to say: “We have already said we are not in favour of separate Maori electorates. We propose to scrap them if we become Government.”—God help us!—“The issue is therefore do we contest them because they still exist or do we not contest them on the grounds that we do not think that they should exist?”. The play goes on with his next line: “We do not see the logic of retaining the Maori seats themselves. We think the whole logic for those seats has long gone.” 
Enter Gerry Brownlee. In response to this question from a reporter: “Would you be prepared to move away from your policy of abolishing the Maori seats?” Gerry Brownlee says: “Well that is a question that I think we need to ask and that is why I am raising it.” Now enter the king of the waka jumpers Tau Henare whose line is: “We will not get rid of them in the next 3 years so they are around for the next election cycle and most probably the one after that as well. I mean it is all about what we put on the table and whom you negotiate with after the election.” The star Dr Brash then says: “Well I am making it clear to you that the National Party remains committed to the abolition of the Maori seats.” Georgina te Heuheu’s line is: “I have always thought that one day the seats would not be needed and that Maori should make that choice. I question whether the time has come.” 
 I can imagine Georgina te Heuheu a very respected wahine from Ngati Tuwharetoa climbing on the volcano of Tongariro and wondering what was happening to the National Party. Tony Ryall has said: “The National Party’s policy has always been that the Maori seats will go when the Maori people chose for them to go.” and Bill English has said: “The new voters will be young and brown and if we’re not getting their vote we’re not going to get into Parliament at all.” That is the party that the Maori Party wants to dance with on the political stage. I wonder what the voters of Te Tai Tokerau Tamaki Makaurau Waiariki and Te Tai Hauauru think about all that.