Harawira Hone: Address in Reply 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Harawira Hone: Address in Reply 
[Sitting date: 21 December 2011. Volume:677;Page:58. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Leader—Mana) 
: 
 Just to clarify a point made by the previous speaker Te Ururoa Flavell it is true that the relationship the Maori Party has with the National Government is that it will vote for every single Budget that destroys Maori people in health in education in welfare and in every other activity. If this Government decides again to raise GST the Maori Party will vote for it again because it is part of the Budget. The Maori Party should be very very clear: you do not get to be at the table and then sneak off when you cannot stomach what is happening there. You are either at the table or you are not and you are at the table. Do not forget that.  
The elephant in the room seems to have been forgotten about. I think that the next 3 years is likely to be dominated by the collapse of the financial markets all around the world as the banks and big business struggle to maintain their selfish and rapacious grip on the world’s economies in the face of massive protest from students workers and the poor. I say that because it seems that those in power and those who aspire to power lack the courage to stop the corporate bus turn it round and go back to pick up those in need. They then get all upset when the people actually throw them off the bus.  
Today I begin my speech by saluting those who have led the protests against the dictatorships of the super-wealthy all around the world. Today I join with them in saying: “To hell with being sensible with playing the game and with being polite.” Today I call for a new world for those who struggle against the oppression of big money those who have occupied the streets and the parks of the Western World in a direct challenge to the 1 percent those who rail against racist overlords throughout the world those who want to be rid of the curse of “Big Oil” despoiling their lands and killing their people those who watch their children die of starvation in a world of obscene wealth and of course those who simply want a simpler more equal world where children get at least one decent meal a day and where society cares more for its citizens than it does for its bankers.  
Today I call on all New Zealanders to ignore the expectations of a civilised society and to take action to show their disappointment with and their anger at the way in which our world is being destroyed. I call on all of those watching whose children are hungry not to sit back and wait for people with more money than brains to tell you that you are poor because that is the way the world meant you to be but to take whatever action is required to put food on your children’s table be it work beg steal or borrow. Do not take the abuse that polite society heaps upon the poor; take action to protect your children.  
I call on those who are reduced to tears by an uncaring bureaucracy that boxes up your problems and refers them to nowhere to demand action. You pay taxes for bureaucrats to listen and to do what they are told. Demand action. I call on Maori parents not to meekly accept being told that your child is probably better off doing trade training and to demand the best education that their school can offer. I call on young mums who are sidelined by doctors to demand quality medical attention for your child and not be shuffled off with excuses and an aspirin.  
I call on those of you whose waterways are being destroyed by big business and bad legislation to ignore the letter writing and the BS submission process and to take whatever action you deem necessary to protect those waterways. I call on those Maori whose lands are being rated out of their control and into the hands of greedy local bodies to take whatever action you deem necessary to protect your lands. I call on those workers who watch while companies scale down operations before moving offshore to take action to protect your jobs. Strike blockade take whatever action you deem necessary because once your job is gone then you have no job. None of the legislation workplace agreements or anything else is going to get your job back. Take action and take it now.  
Most important I call on all Mana branches around the country to start gearing up to help feed the kids because the call we made during the election was not about votes; it was about children. I call on all MPs in this House to give their latest pay rise to food banks because it gives us all something concrete to do while we pontificate our way into doing nothing in Parliament.  
I thank those agencies that do the thankless task of providing food to the poor every day of every week of every year. I call on the Child Poverty Action Group to keep challenging us to never forget that the greatest poverty is that which we visit upon our own children. I thank the Maori Party for its call for a committee on poverty and I call on the Government to match that call with money and with action because no Government is a decent Government if it does not first protect and defend its most vulnerable. I thank Fonterra—it is hard to say that but I thank Fonterra—for its offer to provide free milk to Te Tai Tokerau schools. I call on cereal companies to match that bid so that kids get more than just free milk; they get a free meal.  
Most important I call on all of those watching those who feel so desperately poor and powerless not to give up but to take heart because you are not alone. Those of you who suffer in poverty in this land of plenty are a people whose tribe grows ever-larger every day for you are te pani me te rawa kore and the day that you truly feel the collective power that you can bring to any endeavour is the day your world will change for the better.  
I know that some of my words may not be accepted by some in this House but the truth is that I just do not care what they think. I do not care if what I am saying is not what might be expected of an MP nor do I care for the words of caution from those who would have me abandon the energy of protest for the diplomacy of Parliament. Our world our Maori world our Pakeha world our Pacific world is in desperate straits and only desperate action will turn that round. We in Parliament have a responsibility to provide the lead to protect all of our children and to ensure that they are well fed properly cared for and offered a quality education; to provide decent housing for all of our citizens regardless of their circumstances; and to provide meaningful employment for all New Zealanders—and to do so under the authority of Te Tiriti o Waitangi the constitutional foundation of this country.  
I urge the new Minister of Education Hekia Parata to consider the plight of Moerewa School not in terms of its unwillingness to participate in a hazy national education programme but in terms of pure academic achievement and to celebrate the startling success of a wonderful decile 1 school in one of the country’s most impoverished areas. I urge you to look to use their success as a template for others rather than deny them the right to seek higher standards for their children. I suspect that the families of Kawerau would ask for no more. Hekia I know that you entered into this job under huge expectation but I recommend that you step outside the box and challenge yourself to put forward a philosophy that celebrates excellence rather than mandated mediocrity. I look forward to your likely clashes with Nanaia Mahuta with much relish.  
Tena koe e te whaea Tariana. I wish you well with Whanau Ora. It began life with much fanfare and great expectation even though the Government did not see fit to give it the budget it requires to be a success. We may be at odds with one another on many levels but I stand with you and all other MPs in the drive for greater support for those less fortunate than ourselves.  
To Paula Bennett I say that the Ministry of Social Development is one with the potential to bring great relief but also one that carries a grave threat to those in need. You know that life because you have come from there but your record over the past 3 years suggests that you have been a greater danger than you have been a saviour. Where you go from here is part policy part personality. Like Hekia you too have the budget and the capacity to redefine the focus of a portfolio that few of your colleagues understand. I wish you well.  
Metiria e te tuahine tena koe. My congratulations on your award of politician of the year—the real politician of the year. You have opened Maori eyes to new possibilities and along with your colleagues have brought the Greens from a time when many others in this House often laughed at your party’s ways to a position of genuine authority and respectability. I look forward to working with you and the Greens over the next few years.  
David Shearer congratulations. May your next 3 years be fruitful may your arm be strong may your team be productive and may you be ever-watchful of those who aspire to your throne.  
We face uncertain times times that require strong and positive action if we are to come through with our lands and our assets secure and our resources intact. There are many in this House who believe that all we need to do is tweak a few budgets and adjust a few policies. I do not. Mana calls for massive change a reordering of our world and a restructuring of our society. I have tried to focus most of my speech— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! The member’s time has expired.