Harawira Hone: Inquiries — Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry in Aotearoa and the Consequences of Tobacco Use for Maori —Report of Maori Affairs Committee 
Harawira Hone: Inquiries — Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry in Aotearoa and the Consequences of Tobacco Use for Maori —Report of Maori Affairs Committee 
[Volume:669;Page:15955] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. I will dedicate this short speech to some very special people: Huhana Mihinui who filed the Waitangi Tribunal claim to eliminate smoking amongst Maori; to Maori Marsden Ngai Takoto elder rangatira tohunga mentor and orator whose death from smoking made me so angry that I gave up on the day he died; and to my father John Puriri Harawira a good man and a very good father who was also killed by the tobacco industry and who even though he was hooked up to an oxygen tank was unable to shake free from the addiction that has tortured Maoridom for generations. They have all passed on of course but their lives their energy and their loss to us have all been a constant spur to me in this crusade against the death and destruction inflicted upon this wonderful country of ours by those murdering pokokohua we call the tobacco industry. 
But today I also take this opportunity to thank many people for their help during the inquiry into the impacts of tobacco on Maori and all those good people in the tobacco control sector for their commitment to a smoke-free nation for all their support during the hearings and for their ongoing work to address the impact of tobacco in communities across Aotearoa. In particular I thank this small group: Ben Youdan Prudence Stone and most especially Mary Wilson and Shane Bradbrook who were always on hand with the statistics the arguments the energy and the passion during the nights when I felt like giving up. 
To my colleagues on the Maori Affairs Committee—Simon Bridges Paul Quinn Kelvin Davis Parekura Horomia Mita Ririnui the occasional Iain Lees-Galloway the more occasional but always controversial and positive Metiria Turei and of course our esteemed chairman the Hon Tau Henare—I offer my thanks for a memorable journey and for a report that is already being cited in health ministries around the world. 
I thank my caucus colleagues Rahui Katene and Te Ururoa Flavell for covering for me during the months our committee was out on the road and for always being positive and supportive of the work we were doing. I thank my co-leaders Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples who thought I was a bit wacky for turning a health issue into a Maori initiative so that we could get traction on something that health select committees had refused to deal with for decades and for bothering to take up the proposal with the National Government. 
I also thank the Prime Minister John Key and his deputy Bill English for agreeing to have this inquiry go to the Maori Affairs Committee when many seasoned politicians thought that it did not stand a Maori’s chance in Parliament of going anywhere. I offer my thanks to you all but the job ain’t done yet not by a long shot. Tariana Turia the “Minister for Tobacco Control” caught everyone on the hop with her bill to raise taxes on cigarettes but the debate in the House showed that 95 percent of all MPs from all parties supported the elimination of smoking in Aotearoa. The response from smokers shows that every effort we take in this House to reduce this carnage will be met with a positive reaction from the wider public. Tariana’s courage in driving that bill through the House is a measure of her strength and commitment to this task. Now following on from the report of the Maori Affairs Committee inquiry into the impacts of tobacco on Maori Tariana has stepped up again with her next bill to ban the display of tobacco in shops across the country which I understand is coming before this House tomorrow. 
I call on us all—MPs and the general public—to keep up the enthusiasm to keep the letters coming in to keep the pressure on and to keep the support pumping for what will be an even harder road ahead because there are battles that we must fight in this war and war it is. Indeed if any country killed 5000 Kiwis in any one year then we would be at war with it before I could finish this speech but that is how many people are killed by this industry every single year. Given the billions of dollars that it takes out of this country annually I guarantee members that it is girding for war itself. 
To the Maori Party for having the vision to take up this challenge I am most especially grateful. This inquiry the tax bill the bill to ban displays and other measures that I know are being worked on but which I am not at liberty to disclose are all specifically down to the passion the desire the commitment and the determination of the Maori Party to take the first steps along the road to making this country truly smoke-free and to administer with the courage to walk the talk by putting up the legislation to make that a reality. Happy are those who dream dreams and who are prepared to pay the price to make those dreams come true. Kia ora tatou katoa.