Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6427] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 Like many Aucklanders of my generation I first became aware of the tangata whenua of Auckland in 1978 when Ngati Whatua o Orakei occupied Bastion Point in protest at the plans of the then National Government under Robert Muldoon to turn Bastion Point into a bastion of high-income housing. I felt shock and horror as an Aucklander of the tender age of 15 or 16 at seeing the National Government of the day bring in the troops to evict protesters from Bastion Point. 
During this speech I will draw on some comments made by Merata Kawharu of Auckland and of Ngati Whatua who wrote a very good op-ed piece in the  
New Zealand Herald  
a little while ago. She made the comment that the challenges facing Ngati Whatua in 1840 were very similar to the challenges they face now which are about recognition of their place in the community and acknowledgment of their roles and responsibilities. It is the mana whenua concept—the idea of authority over the traditional lands of the tribe and the exercising of rights and responsibilities. It is that recognition that looms very large for Ngati Whatua in the debate over the super-city. 
It is worth remembering that in 1840 Ngati Whatua sent a delegation to Waitangi. Apihai Te Kawau sent a delegation to Waitangi because Ngati Whatua were very concerned about the impact of the changing political and population situation at the time. Their response was to donate 3500 acres of the best land—land that is now home to the people of Mount Eden the central business district Ponsonby Herne Bay and Newmarket. In 1841 a further 8000 acres of land were transferred. Ngati Whatua’s history since that founding act which provided the land for the city of Auckland to be established has really been one of a struggle to be recognised. In 1907 the Provincial Council made the decision to discharge raw sewage directly into the sea at Okahu Bay. In the early 1950s the papakainga at Okahu Bay was forcibly removed and demolished and the families who lived there—the community who lived at Okahu Bay—were resettled against their will up on the hill. The turning point was the decision made by Joe Hawke and his family to occupy Bastion Point in protest at this history. From then on we have seen some happier days. I urge members who have not read the Waitangi Tribunal report on Ngati Whatua o Orakei to do so. In the wake of the Waitangi Tribunal report we saw Ngati Whatua generously allowing publicly accessible land at Bastion Point to be jointly managed by them and the Auckland City Council. Some years later they gave a 50 percent discount on ground rent to allow the building of the Vector Arena. 
I make these comments simply to make the point that Maori have made Tamaki-makau-rau home since before the city was even thought of. They generously provided the land for the establishment of the city but until the 1990s they were excluded from the governance of the city. New Zealand in the 21st century is a very different place. We know that our city needs to be inclusive and that within a generation 40 to 50 percent of the people of Auckland will be of Maori or Pacific descent. We know that if Ngati Whatua Tainui and all the hapu and iwi who live in Tamaki-makau-rau are not included fully in the civic life of our city then Auckland will be a poorer place. The history is very clear: very few Maori have been elected to general seats in local government. We know that over 138 years in Auckland only eight councillors have ever been elected to general seats. The reality is that voters tend to vote for people like themselves. We need Maori at the top table. We know that as a minority group it is extraordinarily difficult for them to be elected. We know that Maori seats elected from the Maori roll have been an effective mechanism in this House.