Harawira Hone: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:16993] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Independent—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tena no tatou katoa e te Whare. I begin my first formal speech in Parliament as Te Reo Motuhake o Te Tai Tokerau by extending my gratitude firstly to my immediate whanau my wider whanau and all the people of the north for their continued and unwavering support over the years. I also extend my gratitude to the tino rangatiratanga movement for always reminding me of the importance of refusing to back down on matters of principle; to all those who have contacted me over the past few weeks offering their support for the principles I stand by and for my commitment to justice and equality for Maori wherever they may be; and finally to Labour and my whanaunga Shane Jones for allowing me the opportunity to speak on the second reading of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. 
I note how right David Parker was in recognising the clear differences between me and Labour over the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act—differences that still exist in the positions we take today on this new bill to confiscate Maori rights. I have said it before and I will say it again here: whether or not I am a member of the Maori Party and whether or not I am a member of Parliament does not change the fact that when Maori rights are under threat somebody needs to speak up and challenge that threat. If the Maori Party will not speak up—indeed if the Maori Party chooses to be party to that threat to Maori rights—then be assured that I will not shirk from speaking up and challenging that threat. 
When the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations says that “Maori will have to show that they held exclusive use and occupation of the area since 1840 without substantial interruption and that the area in question was held in accordance with tikanga” he is saying that the National - Maori Party Government intends to use exactly the same test in 2011 that 50000 Maori marched against in 2004. When the Prime Minister says that customary title will not be easier to achieve but it is not the Government’s job to make the tests easier then he is spitting in the eye of the Maori Party for backing a deal that is likely to break its back at the next election. When the Maori Party actually says in its video “If we were negotiating on what is fair just and moral then we would have a very different outcome.” please let it be known to all who care to take notice that I am glad that I am no longer a member of a caucus that has finally realised that the price of its coalition with National is its support for a bill that is unfair unjust and immoral. 
When the Maori Party says that that is the choice facing Maori people and that it will be guided by them then I have to ask which people they are talking about. Is it the iwi leadership whom the Maori Party went out of its way to promote during this process and who refused to support the bill and subsequently refused to attend the first reading of this racist piece of legislation even though the Maori Party begged them to come and show their support and who are again conspicuous by their absence at this second reading because they simply do not accept that this bill will achieve anything for Maori? Or is it the people behind the thousands of emails phone calls texts Facebook messages and tautoko that I have been getting from Maori wherever I go in Aotearoa who support the same principles that I do and say they will walk away from the Maori Party if it supports this racist legislation? When the Maori Party says that saying that 95 percent of Maori are opposed to the bill is wrong and mischievous then I have to ask what about the 72 submissions that the Maori Affairs Committee received from marae hapu iwi and Maori landowners’ organisations and collectives. Of those 72 submissions only one—only one out of 72—supported the bill. Twenty submissions said it should be put aside or withdrawn 33 said it was not much different from the 2004 Act 34 said the bill needed significant amendment and 37 either did not support it or outright opposed it. 
If I can please let me quote from some of those submissions because it is important to remind the Maori Party of the issue that got us into Parliament in the first place. “The facade of saying no one owns the foreshore and seabed equates to ongoing extinguishment of our ownership rights and interests.”; “The bill is so flawed it should be withdrawn.”; “The country has not learnt from past injustices and continues to see extinguishment of Maori rights as a legitimate problem-solving process.”; “The bill knowingly breaches Crown obligations under the Treaty.”; “No real enduring resolution can occur as long as one Treaty partner continues to dictate to the other the nature and extent of their rights and the process by which those rights are recognised and upheld or not.” And the final quote: “Maori should not support an equally unjust law.” 
When the leadership of the Maori Party moved to force me out so that they could say that the Maori Party unanimously supports this racist legislation did they seriously think that the 50000 who marched against the confiscation of their rights in 2004 will accept the ongoing confiscation of those rights in 2011? Do they seriously think that all those who joined the Maori Party will stay if the party sells out its people on the very issue that gave birth to the party and that those same people are likely to vote for the Maori Party which supports the ongoing confiscation of those rights? This I know: all four Maori Party MPs who voted for this racist legislation did so without going back to ask their constituents what they thought about it. All four Maori Party MPs who voted for this racist legislation have publicly expressed grave doubts about the bill itself. All four Maori Party MPs who voted for this racist legislation have been told in no uncertain terms by their constituents that they do not support it. All four Maori Party MPs who voted for this racist legislation have been called upon by iwi in their electorates to withdraw their support for this bill. 
The analysis of the submissions makes it quite clear why Maori do not support this bill. It fails to properly recognise and provide for the mana of hapu and iwi. It continues the original confiscation by vesting in the common space. It sets the use and occupation test too high. It limits the content of customary marine title. It introduces a costly adversarial and complicated court process. It remains discriminatory to Maori. It continues to breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi tikanga Maori common law principles and international human rights standards including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 
This bill is deserving of nothing more than contempt and dismissal for it preys on the desperation of the Maori Party to be seen to be doing something about the issue from which it was born while highlighting the determination of the National Party to ensure that Maori will actually get nothing from that same piece of legislation. 
Hon Christopher Finlayson 
: Third-rate slogans. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: With all my heart and all my soul—and all quotes too I say to Mr Finlayson his included—I urge the Maori Party indeed I beg the Maori Party first to recognise the fact that it has been sold down the river by its National Party coalition partners on this bill; second to accept the reality that it occupies a cold and lonely place in the hearts and minds of its people for supporting this bill; and third to do the honourable thing by its people by withdrawing its support for this bill. Without the support of the Maori Party caucus this bill will die the death it truly deserves. 
Tu te Ao Maori tu te rangatiratanga tu motuhake; tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Long live Maoridom sovereignty and independence; greetings to us all 
.]