Worth Richard: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Worth Richard: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:608;Page:5827] 
9.  
RICHARD WORTH (NZ National—Epsom) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Justice 
: What is her response to the New Zealand Bar Association’s comment in relation to the proposed convention that at least one member of the Supreme Court is well versed in tikanga Maori that such a convention would be “dangerous”? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Associate Minister of Justice) 
 on behalf of the 
 Associate Minister of Justice Hon Margaret Wilson 
: I have noted that the proposal for this convention was made by the expert ministerial advisory group which included the Bar Association. 
Richard Worth 
: Is the Minister saying that the convention will be maintained or be abandoned? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The convention is a proposal from the ministerial advisory group. 
Russell Fairbrother 
: What else did the expert ministerial advisory group say about Supreme Court appointments? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The expert ministerial advisory group said that the starting point for appointment was legal qualifications and experience and that individual judicial appointments to the Supreme Court should be based on excellent legal skills legal acumen and personal integrity. 
Dail Jones 
: In view of the fact that tikanga Maori is something that is particular to Maori and various parts of Maoridom in New Zealand what discussions has she had with the seven Labour Maori members of Parliament regarding their attitudes to the inclusion of tikanga Maori in the Supreme Court Bill bearing in mind that the Maori submitters to the bill say that that is incapable of being given effect to because of the various differing types of tikanga Maori; or have the views of those seven Labour Maori members changed as a result of their appointments to various ministerial and other positions giving them houses LTDs credit cards and select committee chairmanship? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The question was too long. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I am not aware of any conversations between the Minister and individual members of the Government Maori caucus. The point that has to be made is that the recommendation that came through from the advisory group was there should be a convention that at least one member of the court was well versed in tikanga Maori making it likely that at least one member of the court would be of Maori ancestry. It does not propose that there be a Maori member of the Supreme Court. 
Stephen Franks 
: Is the Minister aware of the Law Society’s concern that the other four judges might feel that they are supposed to kowtow to the chosen one’s version of tikanga Maori; if that view is wrong why did the Minister support the recommendation for one specialised appointment in the first place when the Minister did not support other recommendations of the advisory committee? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Having looked at the submissions of the Law Society and the Bar Association where those issues were raised I see they put it somewhat more eloquently than having to kowtow. In fact they suggested that the most important thing in respect of the Supreme Court was that the court as a whole had a knowledge and understanding of tikanga Maori. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: Does the Minister agree it is particularly important that at least one judge has some expertise in tikanga Maori given that that is one of the grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court in the bill? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: It is important to realise that the recommendation came through and has been supported with regard to the submissions that have been made thus far in the sense that there is a desire to have a wider knowledge within the whole of the Supreme Court on issues relating to tikanga Maori. 
Murray Smith 
: Given the Government’s budgetary commitment of $6.5 million towards education on the treaty and given the Minister’s last answer will the Government commit itself to ensuring that all judges are provided with ongoing education with a goal to them all being well versed in tikanga Maori; if so what active steps will the Government take to achieve that? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That is wide of the original question. The Minister may comment briefly. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I think the member has mistaken the role of the Associate Minister of Justice with regard to the Supreme Court Bill and her role as the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. 
Richard Worth 
: How does the Associate Minister define tikanga Maori for the purposes of her proposed appointment convention when there is no authoritative pan-Maori view on what constitutes tikanga Maori? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I think I should quote from the document to which the member is referring. This is what the Bar Association actually stated and it did not state that there should be any appointment based on race as was reported in the paper: “Recognition of the importance of tikanga Maori would be better achieved if it were depersonalised so that the attributes of the court in the collective sense are required to reflect a sufficient understanding of tikanga Maori to enable the court to deal expertly with all such issues. It may well be that expertise is from time to time personified in one particular member of the court.” 
Richard Worth 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That is a wholly non-responsive answer to the question. The Minister was asked how she defines tikanga Maori for various purposes. That was not an answer to that question on any basis. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister might care to comment on that particular matter. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: It is not my position or my role to define tikanga Maori in response to that particular matter. The point I have made is that under the Supreme Court proposals there is a bill before the Justice and Electoral Committee at the moment—the member is a member of that select committee and has presumably explored those issues with the people who have made submissions on it—and there is also a series of proposals relating to some suggested conventions.