Sharples Pita: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: General Debate[Sitting date: 19 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16073. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs): I moveThat the House take note of miscellaneous business.Tēnā koe Mr Speaker.Tēnātātau. Kei tepīrangi au ki tekōrero epāana kitōtātau Reo Māorikōreroitōtātau Reonā temeanō Aotearoatonutēnei Reonātātau katoa e nohoanai Aotearoanā reiratēnei au etū atu ki tekōrero epāana kitōtātou Reo Māori.Nākuaputa mai tepūrongo Wai 262 o TeTaraipiunarai rotoitērāpūrongo kakiia kei tengaro haeretōtātou Reo. Ānākuiwhakatūtētahikomitingā tohungamatatau ki tekōrero Māori ki tewhakaakoi Te Reo Māori kia haere ki rotoingā iwi ki tekimii ōrātouwhakaaro me ahatātau ki tewhakaoraitōtātau Reo Māori.Anākuaārahinatēneirōpū eTāTāmati Reedy. Hekomititokowaru kei rotoitēnārōpū. I haererātau kingā iwi ki tekimii ōrātouwhakaaromōtōtātau Reo mepēhea kataea etātau tewhakarauoraitōtātau Reo.Ahakoatōtātau kaha ki tewhakatūkōhanga reopuna reo kura kaupapa kura ā-iwiwhārewānanga whare kuraātaarangi kura reo āPanekiretanga.Ahakoatōtātau kaha ki tewhakatūiēneiāhuatangangaro haeretonutōtātau Reo. Ka matetōtātau Reoneiitēneiwā.Nā reira katipu tepātai me ahatātau me ahatātau?Nā reira kei rotoitaku mahiMinitamōngā take Māoritukuna atutēneirōpū Te Paepae Motuhake ki tekimiingāwhakaaro ongā iwi o te motunei.Kua hoki mairātaukuawhakatakotoaiitārātaupūrongoTe ReoMauriora teingoa. Kei rotoitēnāpūrongoētahikōrero kiawhakatūtētahirautaki kiawhakaoraaitōtātau Reo Māori.Ēngarii temutungaakemehemeakāremātautātaurānei ekōrero Māoriingā whareingākāingatamaiti ki te koroua koroua ki tetamaiti kangaro hokitōtātau Reo.Nā reiratēneiahau etūnei ki tekōreropēnei ki atātau me tepātai kiawhakarau oraitōtātau Reo kei rotoitēneiwā.Nātēneipūrongo kakōrerorātau kiawhakatūtētahi waka hou ko TeMātāwai teingoa maiingā mema ongā rohe Reo. Kiawhakatūtēneirōpū kiariro te mahi o teMinita Māorimōtōtātau Reo ki arātau kiawhakahokia te manairungaakeitōtātau Reo ki te iwi Māorinā temeanō waitōtātau Reotōtātau Reo Māori?Nōngā iwinōngāhapū. Kaheke ihoingātīpuna Māorimātuaēhara nokoneiitēneiwāēngarinōngātīpunamātuaheke iho; he taongatēnei.Nā reiranākui haere ki rotoingā iwiitēneiwiki ki Te Tai Tokerau Te TaiRāwhiti Te Wai Pounamu Taranaki Parihaka ā Te Arawa.Āpōpō ki Te Tai Tokerauanō āTāmaki-makau-rau ā teParaire kia tuku atuakuwhakaarongāwhakaaro o Te Paepae Motuhake hoki ki te iwi ki te kitemēnā e tautokoanarātauitēneirautaki Māori.Ēharamāku ewhakaroatiangākōrero epāana ki terautakiheoianō kei tekōrero aumō te pai o tewhakahoki ki te iwi Māori tekīmōtōtātau Reo. Te mana kapupuritia e teMinita Māoriahakoa ko wai teMinita he Māori hePākehā heHainamana he aharānei kei a ia te manairungaakemō tewhakahaerei Te Reomō teKāwanatangaarā Te TauraWhirii Te Reo TeMāngaiPāho TePouakaWhakaata Māori meērā atu.Nā reiraākuanei kawhakahokiatēnā mana ki te iwimārātau ekawetēnei.Nā reira hetīmatangatēneikōreroi rotoitēnei Wharemōtēneiwā ātēnā koetēnātātau ewhakarongoana ki aahau.[Greetings to you and to us. I want to speak about our Māori language our language because this language actually belongs to New Zealand to all of us living here. So this is why I rise to talk about our Māori language.The Wai 262 report of the Waitangi Tribunal has been released and in that report it states that our language is on the decline. So I set up a panel of experts fluent in the language and skilled at teaching the Māori language to go out amongst the Māori people and seek out their views on how the revitalisation of our Māori language might be addressed. SirTāmati Reedy leads this panel which is made up of eight members. They went out amongst the tribes and sought out their opinions about our language and how we might rejuvenate it. Despite our efforts to establish language nurseries language pools Māori-medium schools tribal schools Cuisenaire methodology learning schools language schools and Excellence in Māori Language Institutes these kinds of institutions our language continues to decline. In time and at this rate our language will become extinct.And so emerged the question of what we should do how we address it. So in my role as Minister of Māori Affairs I empowered this panel Te Paepae Motuhake to seek out the views of Māori tribes from this nation. They have come back and presented their report calledTe ReoMauriora. In that report are some recommendations about establishing a strategic plan to restore our Māori language but ultimately if we or all of us do not speak Māori in homes and houses a child does not speak Māori to grandad and grandad to the child our language will disappear. So this is the reason why I am standing here and addressing you in this manner with the request to have some input in reviving our language at this point in time.As a consequence of this report they talked about establishing a new governance body with the name TeMātāwai comprised of members of language regions. Thisgovernance body would take over the role that the Minister of Māori Affairs has in terms of our language and returning the mandate over it to the Māori people because who does our language our Māori language belong to? It belongs to the tribes and subtribes. It was passed down to us—it is not from here and now but was handed down from ancestral fathers. This indeed is a treasure. Therefore I have personally gone amongst tribes this week to Northland East Coast the South Island Taranaki Parihaka and Te Arawa. Tomorrow I am going back again to Northland and then to Auckland on Friday to impart my views and those of Te Paepae Motuhake as well to the people and to ascertain whether they support this Māori language strategy.In regard to the strategy I will not labour on about that and instead I will talk about the positive effect of returning the mandate over our Māori language to the Māori people. That control is held by the Minister of Māori Affairs regardless of who is the Minister—be it a Māori a New Zealander of European descent a Chinese person or whatever—they have the mandate to administer the Māori language in Government entities such as the Māori Language Commission the Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency the Māori Television Service and so on. Therefore that mandate will soon be returned to the tribe for them to administer. And so this address to this House at this point in time is just the beginning. Thank you Mr Speaker and to us all for listening to me.]