Turia Tariana: General Debate 
Turia Tariana: General Debate 
[Volume:643;Page:13107] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. Last Thursday Dr David Collins the Solicitor-General brought to an end the most bizarre act of political theatre this nation has seen since July 1984 when Rob Muldoon famously called a snap election after a late-night drinking session. However Dr Collins was stone-cold sober as he announced: “I am unable to authorise any prosecutions under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002.” In that one sentence Dr Collins brought an end to a sequence of events that had been unfolding in Aotearoa over a lifespan of 18 months. It was a sequence of events that amongst other never-to-be-forgotten moments included detaining people without charge for many hours including young children; taking people into custody at gunpoint; herding people into a shed and keeping them under guard for several hours; children hungry and crying and a girl as young as 15 being subjected to an intimate body search; searching and photographing innocent citizens while they were stopped at roadblocks; smashing into homes; and so it goes on. 
For the Tuhoe nation Black Monday will be forever etched in their memory as the day that police sought to blockade and lock down an entire community for the arrest of two people. The principal person whom they targeted lives in Whakatane and the police knew that—they had 18 months’ worth of evidence. On this day our armed police moved en masse into the peaceful valley of Ruatoki dressed in armed garb and masked. The fact that the late Sir John Turei a significant kaumatua of Tuhoe was Howard Broad’s adviser counted for nothing when Howard Broad sent his police storming into this community. Police iwi liaison officers who do a great job and are trusted by our people were not even considered. My colleagues have sat with these people and heard their stories and we will not forget. We will not forget the story of children being separated for 4 to 5 hours from their mother who was barricaded in another room. We will not forget the story of a young mother who was forcibly spread-eagled on the ground while her two teenaged daughters watched on. Clad only in bare nightwear they were motioned out on to the road and made to put their hands above their heads. 
Many New Zealanders watching  
Native Affairs 
 on the telly on Sunday nights would have heard the Minister of Police describe the people of Tuhoe as “collateral damage”—collateral subordinate secondary or additional. That is the language of death and these concepts are more commonly used to describe the aftermath of bombings in Iraq the costs of war against innocent civilians or damage that has occurred as a result of these actions. Was there compassion understanding or respect for the people of Tuhoe? No way. Tuhoe is the casualty that even the Commissioner of Police acknowledges it will take decades to heal and to repair. 
The atrocities that have occurred in the midst of our communities under the name of anti-terrorism have brought out the worst prejudice fear and political name-calling that this House has witnessed for some time. There are some people in this House who should remember their own history before they start putting labels on others. Perhaps one of the most shocking performances last week was the abuse that was laid into the Anglican Church which was accused of “bleating on” and of “using divisive victim-mentality thinking” for daring to call for a review or repeal of the anti-terrorism legislation. 
What we have seen in this last month is a division into power and powerlessness—a sense of false righteousness used to intimidate and cast doubt on those who dare to challenge the terror raids. But the question we are left with is who will hold Parliament to account for faulty flawed legislation? Who will hold the New Zealand Police and Police Commissioner Broad to account for an overly heavy all-powerful assault on the people of Tuhoe? There has never been any doubt that if laws have been broken crimes committed or regulations breached then the individual parties must be answerable to the law of the land and to the police with their 18 months of evidence some of which we have seen in the  
Dominion Post  
this morning that has been selectively chosen in the so-called interest of the public. But those upholding the law must never be above the law and that is why the Maori Party has called for Howard Broad to do the honourable thing and resign. Perhaps he must also be part of the collateral damage of Operation Eight. Kia ora. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.