Harawira Hone: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10277] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker tena tatou e te Whare. I mua tata atu i te taenga mai o tenei pire ki te Whare i te tau 2005 ka tae mai tetahi imera mai i a Diva he tohunga tuhi anuanu e mahi ana i ana mahi mo nga tau e 5 i Tamaki-ki-Raro. 
E mea ana a ia: “E aroha ana matou ki nga rangatahi nga tai tamatane tai tamawahine ano hoki e noho kuare ana i Tamaki-ki-Raro. He pai ke atu kia tautoko i nga mahi e hiahia ana e te rangatahi. Ma nga mahi tuhi anuanu ka uru ki roto i a ratou kia kai ngakau ratou ki wenei tu momo mahi i te mea ka taea e ratou te torotoro atu na ratou hoki. Hakoa nga korero ta tena ta tena ka tuhi anuanu nga tamariki engari mena ka piri atu ki a ratou ka taea e matou te whakaatu i tetahi ao ahua whanui ake kia whakatututia e te kaupapa.” 
Engari he aha te whakautu a te Kaunihera o Manukau? Kua tuku pire kia whakakahoretia i te tuhi anuanu noa iho. E mara he anga whakamua tena? Kore kore rawa atu. No reira ka tirohia whanuitia e matou kia kitea mena he whakaaro pai atu i te “rakau nui”. Pera i Te Papa-i-oea na ratou i toha putea mo te hotaka Highbury Hiphop mo nga momo kanikani rangi waiata purongo whakatangi ano hoki mo nga rangatahi ko te nuinga o ratou he Poronihia. 
Ta te hiahia o nga kaitiaki toa ka puta mai tenei hotaka kia whakatika i nga mahi tuhi kokau. Kotahi rau nga tamariki i tae atu ia wiki ia wiki. Mo nga tau e wha i hipoki nga rangatahi i nga tuhinga kokau tuhinga anuanu hoki a na ratou hoki i tuhi i o ratou ake tuhinga anuanu pai. Na te pai o enei mahi ka miharo te Koro Matua o Papa-i-oea he pai te kaupapa ki te tini o nga tamariki pera i a ratou kua taka ki te he i te rohe o Highbury. 
Ta Josh Wetere tetahi o nga kaituhi anuanu ki te pepa ara ko te  
Evening Standard 
 ko tana whakahihi ki te kite i ana mahi i runga i nga patu o te taone. “Mena i konei enei tuhinga i te wa o oku tamariki he mea nui tera. Ina patai mai ratou 
 ‘ 
Matua na wai wera mahi?’. A ko taku whakautu ‘Naku.’ ”  
A tera pea me waea atu a Barry Curtis ki te Kaunihera a-Rohe o Whangarei na ratou i tautoko i te whakangahau hip-hop i Maunu i tera tau i tu ki te taha o te whakakitenga “Whakanuia a Hip Hop Aotearoa”. Kua kitea ano hoki i te kaha o te wairua Maori me te wairua Pasifika i roto i tenei whakataetae tuhi anuanu rongorau. 
He patai anao taku kia tirohia ki te rere ke o era ki nga whakaaro o Manukau: kia whaina i nga toa e hoko kene peita ki nga tamariki; kia rahi ake nga whaina ki nga tohunga tuhi anuanu—me te ahua kei a ratou te putea kia utungia; kia whakamana i te kaunihera kia uru atu ki to whenua ukui ai i te tuhi anuanu; kia whakanui ake te mana kia haere nga pirihimana me nga kaunihera te tirohia te hopu me te whaina tangata. 
Ko ta te pire nei he whakauru mai ano i tetahi atu ropu ara ko nga pirihimana. E mara—he nui tonu a ratou mahi. Na i runga i to matou tautoko i te ture pai atu i nga ture rorirori nei ka titiro matou ki nga ahua ka taea e nga pirihimana te whakapa atu ki nga kaituhi anuanu. Na i Heretaunga ka kite matou i tetahi kaupapa ara ko Te Ao Marama i timatahia e te Pirihimana a Sue Guy o te Ropu Awhi Rangatahi ki Heretaunga na tona hoha horekau he ara hei whainga ma nga tohunga tuhi anuanu. I whakaropu ai nga pirihimana o Heretaunga i wetahi rangatahi mai i nga tiriti a ka tuku atu nga taputapu papa peita hoki kia tu ai nga whakaaturanga e toru. I naianei ka whakairihia a ratou papa toi ki Poihakena ki to tatou ake Whare Paremata ano hoki. Tino harikoa te katoa nga rangatahi me nga Pirihimana a ka panuihia te Tari o Te Ture he whakaaturanga tino rawe. 
Engari me waihotia e au te korero whakamutunga ki te Pirihimana a Sue Guy me tana ki: “I te wa ka ea o ratau wawata ka manawanui ka noho pai te hinengaro e kore taea te aukati i a ratou. I wakawatea e matou i te wahi kia taea ai ratou te wero i a ratou ano kia taea e ratou te whai i tetahi ara kahore ano kia kitea i to ratou ao.” 
Ko enei nga mahi ka taea mena ka whakarewahia nga painga ka waihotia nga wherutanga a tera pea me titiro a Manukau ki a Heretaunga. Ko Manukau hoki te taone kua whakarewahia nga pirihimana mo a ratau mahi ringa kaha patu rangatahi ana hoki.  
I te pai a Tamaki-ki-Raro piki ake nga takahi i te ture a kei te noho ngoikore ngakau kore hoki te rohe. Kei Tamaki-ki-Raro taku rangatira a Takuta Pita Sharples e mahi ana a kei te whakaatu mai i nga mahi kua mahia kia rewa ake te tu o a ratou whanau a he korero papai ona mo nga mahi a nga pirihimana e ngakau nui ana ki te tautoko i nga nohonga whanau. A koia ra ano to matou whakaaro—he pai ke atu te tautoko i nga tumanako i te whiu. 
Tini ana nga mahi pai e mahia ana i nga topito katoa o te motu pera i te Whakakitenga Tuhi Anuanu a nga tohunga Maori Pasifika hoki kei Otautahi. Na wa ratou mahi ka ki tetahi: “Kua paku mai nga tikanga hip-hop ki tenei whenua. Me aro ake tatou i te mea koia nei nga hiahia o to tatou iwi a na ratou tonu i kimi. Kua tae ki te wa kia tuwherahia wa tatou hinengaro i te mea he tangi tenei kia aro ake ki a ratou.” 
Kei roto i aku korero he karanga kia titiro whanui tatou ki wetahi tikanga hou a koia ra hoki te karanga o wera atu o nga tangata i Manukau i tenei wa tonu. Kia titiro whanui kia rapu i nga painga kia titiro ki tua atu o nga otaota kia kitea i nga tino taonga kia kitea i nga tau otinga kia waihotia nga raruraru. E marama ana au ki nga hiahia o te kaunihera ki te whakapai i nga tiriti engari kahore au e whakaae ko te utu ko wa tatou tamariki me o ratou pumanawa. E mea ana au na tatou enei tamariki i te mea e mohio ana au tatou katoa hoki ko nga tamariki ka ngaua e te pire nei ko a tatou rangatahi o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.  
Tautoko ana te Pati Maori i te whakahau a te komiti kia kaua te pire nei e whai mana a tautoko ano i nga whakahau ma te wa kainga e hanga nga tikanga whakatikatika a tautoko hoki i te whakaaro kia tau totika te mahi. He pai ake tera i te mahi poka noa i te ture. Kahore matou e kite i te pai o te rakau nui a ko ta matou inoi ki a Manukau kia tau ake te piri ki nga painga kei nga tiriti o Tamaki-ki-Raro. Pai atu tenei i te hamene i te whakaiti i te whaina i te mauhere. 
Hei korero whakamutunga ki nga mema o te Whare nei kia haere ki Manukau kia kite i te tuhi anuanu e wha mita te teitei wha tekau ma rima mita te roa. I tuwheratia i tera tau I te Whare o TelstraClear a na nga tohunga tuhi anuanu na Otis Frizzell raua ko Dan Tippett me nga kaituhi e rima no Manukau i hanga. E 9 tae atu ki te 36 te pakeke o nga kaiawhina. Ko nga tangata i whakamanangia ko nga toa o Manukau pera i a Ta Edmund Hillary David Lange Hone Waaka Yvette Corlett Barbara Kendall Possum Bourne Ta Woolf Fisher me te toa nana i para te ara hip-hop ara ko Phil Fuemana ratou ano kua rere ki tua atu o te mata-hau-ariki. He whakanui i te kaha me te wairua auaha o te iwi o Manukau a he whakaatu i nga wawata o te tohunga tuhi anuanu a Diva me ana korero mo nga rangatahi o Manukau: “Mena ka taea e matou te whakapiri atu ki a ratou te whakaatu i tetahi ao ahua whanui ake ae ra ka tutuki te kaupapa.” 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker tena tatou katoa e te Whare tena koe Pita Paraone. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings Mr Assistant Speaker and to us the House. Just before this bill last came before the House back in 2005 we got an email from a professional graffiti artist known as Diva who had been doing her graffiti thing legally around South Auckland for the past 5 years. 
She said: “Our hearts are for the young people young men and women of South Auckland who truly have no positive influence no direction and no vision in life. Rather than putting down everything the youth are interested in we want to use graffiti as a tool to impart life skills responsibility and respect in a form they can relate to and be interested in. Kids are going to tag no matter what anyone says but if we can get alongside them into their lives and let them see beyond that horizon then we will achieve something.” 
But what does the Manukau City Council do? Put in a bill to ban graffiti! Yeah man forward thinking! Not! So we thought we would look around ourselves to see whether there were better ideas than the “big stick”—like in Palmerston North for instance which funded the Highbury Hiphop programme combining break-dancing music rapping and graffiti art for mainly Polynesian youth. 
The programme grew out of a meeting with local owners to deal with tagging and attracted nearly 100 kids every week. Over the next 4 weeks a team of young people painted over random tagging and graffiti and created murals with their graffiti art. The programme was so successful that even the mayor was moved to say that the programme had been extremely popular and helped heaps of at-risk kids in Highbury. 
One budding graffiti artist Josh Wetere told the Evening Standard of his pride in seeing his work on the walls of the town: “It’d be great if it was still here when my kids are around. They’d say ‘Who did that dad?’. And I’d say: ‘I did.’ ” 
Or maybe Barry Curtis could call the Whangarei District Council which sponsored a hip-hop festival last year in Maunu. The festival combined with a travelling exhibition called “Respect Aotearoa: HipHop” again had a really strong Maori and Pasifika influence and a multimedia graffiti art competition. 
Again I ask members to contrast these with Manukau’s intentions: fining shopkeepers for selling spray-cans to kids; massive fines for graffiti artists—like they would have the money to pay; giving council the power to enter private property and remove graffiti; and increased police and council intrusion surveillance arrests and fines. 
This bill also introduces another group to the mix: the police. Man have they not got enough to do already? So because our aim is to try to always promote positive alternatives to what is often seriously dumb legislation we decided to look around for positive ways in which police can engage with graffiti artists. And down Hastings way we came across Te Ao Marama an initiative pioneered by Constable Sue Guy of Hastings Police Youth Aid who was frustrated that there was nothing for young talented graffiti artists. Hastings police and some community youth workers got together a group of street kids got the necessary gear let them loose with paints and boards did three big exhibitions and now some of that artwork is hanging up in Sydney and in our House of Parliament as well. The kids were stoked the police were chuffed and the Ministry of Justice promoted it as a successful youth aid initiative. 
But I leave the final word to Constable Sue Guy who said: “Once the young people realize their potential gain confidence and self esteem there is no stopping them. We provide a place for young people to challenge themselves and give young people a chance to do things that they would not normally experience.” 
This is what is possible if you accentuate the positive instead of always trying to eliminate the negative and in a city like Manukau where over-zealous policing has led to an inquiry into the excessive use of force bringing to light many other cases of police assault on young people the Hastings experience is certainly worthy of consideration. 
Things in South Auckland do not look good with rising crime despair and despondency pervading the community. My leader Dr Pita Sharples has been working behind the scenes in South Auckland and keeps us updated about the incredible commitment that people are making to improve things for their families. He speaks highly too of those officers dedicated to community support. And again that is what we want to focus on—restoring hope rather than inflicting penalty. 
There are heaps of good things going on all round the country like the Urbanised Generation Graffiti Art Exhibition in Christchurch featuring celebrated Maori and Pacific Island artists and their work about which one person said: “The hip-hop culture has exploded in this country. We must take notice. It’s where our people are at—by choice. It’s time for us to open our minds to it and accept that the exhibition is a cry for attention.” 
The various examples I have talked about highlight the motivation provided by fresh eyes and that is what the people of Manukau are calling out for right now—fresh eyes to look past the pain and search out the potential gaze past the litter and see the treasure and see the solutions rather than the problems. I understand the impulse of the city council to want to clean up the streets but it should not be at the expense of our kids and their talent and I say “our” kids because I know we all know that it will be Maori and Pasifika youth who will get banged by this bill. 
The Maori Party supports the recommendation from the select committee not to pass this bill. We support the recommendation for local solutions and urge a more positive approach rather than ad hoc legislation. We see no value in using the big stick and we urge Manukau City to engage positively with the terrific array of talent in the streets of South Auckland rather than penalise them with labels fines and lock-ups. 
Finally I would encourage all members of this House to go and have a look at Manukau City’s awesome 3-metre-high and 45-metre-long graffiti mural launched last year in the TelestraClear Pacific Centre designed by graffiti legends Otis Frizzell and Dan Tippet and painted in collaboration with five local artists aged from 9 to 36. It features the champions of Manukau like Sir Edmund Hillary David Lange John Walker Yvette Corlett Barbara Kendall Possum Bourne Sir Woolf Fisher and hip-hop pioneer Phil Fuemana— those who soared beyond the horizon. It is a celebration of the talent and creativity of the people of Manukau and represents the aspirations of Diva the graffiti artist who says of the youth of Manukau City: “If we can get alongside them into their lives and let them see beyond that horizon then we will achieve something”. 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker to all of us of the House and to you Pita Paraone. 
].