Pillay Lynne: New Zealand Day Bill — Second Reading 
Pillay Lynne: New Zealand Day Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9335] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 It is a pleasure as the chair of the Justice and Electoral Committee to take a call on the New Zealand Day Bill and to say that I really enjoyed the Hon Peter Dunne’s speech. In effect he said he had had a change of heart about this legislation. I could say that a year or two ago this bill may have had quite a bit of support from the members on the Opposition benches because that seemed to be the way things were politically at that time. 
I would just like to acknowledge and thank Mr Finlayson for his lavish praise of my chairing of the select committee. I have sometimes felt a little sad that he tends to praise Mr Fairbrother for chairing the subcommittee and I have felt not being one of the legal fraternity that I am missing out a little so praise from Mr Finlayson is praise indeed. 
I would like to say in respect of this issue that I certainly agree with the Hon Peter Dunne and Chris Finlayson that this bill should not proceed. The committee certainly gave the bill quite a bit of thought. Although we did not ponder over it we gave it really meaningful thought. We reflected in terms of renaming Waitangi Day New Zealand Day on what Waitangi Day meant to all of us. I note that a similar bill that had the same aims was debated by this Parliament in May 2000 and it was voted down by 76 votes to 42. So we are pretty much on track in terms of the committee not supporting the bill. 
I believe that Waitangi Day is the most important day in our history because it is the day on which we celebrate that we have a Treaty—the Treaty of Waitangi. That is something that is absolutely unique to New Zealand and I know that the Labour Government feels that to denigrate that in any way would take away something that is very special and unique to New Zealand and that it is something we should feel very very proud of. 
The underlying reasons for the bill do not sit with Labour’s commitment to acknowledging our national history in its absolute fullness. We do not need a fresh start in this country. I think we have a heritage and a history to feel very proud of and I think Waitangi Day actually celebrates that. Certainly from time to time—every Waitangi Day—there is an opportunity for some debate or protest but I think that is healthy and I think that is what makes us unique as a nation. We can look at many nations throughout the world that do not have a treaty and that also do not have the ability to raise and canvas arguments and run debates. I am really proud that we are not in that situation in New Zealand and that we are in a position where we can really celebrate our history on this important day. 
I heard Peter Dunne talk about the possibility of a national day for New Zealand and that is certainly something that this Parliament may want to canvas or look at. That is a really good healthy and sensible thing to do. On this particular bill however we received 22 submissions and I note that the majority of those submissions were opposed to the bill. Although we did not hear all of the submissions we were able to look at their flavour. Thankfully—and this does not always happen in a select committee but it does happen quite frequently on the hard-working Justice and Electoral Committee—there was a meeting of minds. I note to this House that the recommendation that the bill not proceed was a unanimous recommendation from the committee and that is a very good thing. 
Submitters suggested that renaming Waitangi Day would diminish the significance of the Treaty. I agree with that and I agree that that could be quite harmful and insulting to Maori. Several submitters believed that renaming Waitangi Day would not defuse racial tensions but rather that it would create further division in New Zealand. I think that that certainly would be the case. Although I acknowledge that it was not in our party’s mind to do that nor was it in the minds of the representatives from the National Party and the Green Party on the committee. I think we saw no benefit in changing the name. 
As we have talked about before the merits of another national day similar to our neighbour’s are something that I look forward to exploring and canvassing. But I feel really proud of the Treaty and I know how significant it is for many families. I acknowledge Dr Pita Sharples who has I know for the last 3 years—if not more—opened up the marae in Waitakere to the public to talk about Waitangi Day and its significance which has made large numbers of members of the community feel very welcome. I think that is very significant. 
I have met with a number of people for whom it has been their first experience—many of them are actually Kiwis but also many are new settlers. When I think back to the last Waitangi Day at Hoani Waititi Marae I remember that there was actually a large contingent of Asian—both Chinese and Indian—people there along with some people from the UK who found the whole experience absolutely mind-blowing. I was proud as a westie to celebrate the events we have in west Auckland but also to celebrate what makes us a nation that is very proud and unique—the celebration of Waitangi Day the Treaty of Waitangi and the partnership between Maori and Pakeha in New Zealand.  
I think that there is not much more to say. I can see Chris Auchinvole waiting eagerly to take a call. He is very enthusiastic. I have to say that he was not actually on the committee at that time. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Why not? 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Well he just was not a member of the committee. But I am sure that had he been a member of the committee— 
Hon Member 
: He was a member of the committee. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Oh I am sorry. He normally has so much to say that I do not notice if he is there or he is not there. I am really sorry. He was probably not there when we gave our primary consideration to the bill in the early days because as Mr Finlayson said it had been on our workload for some time. Mr Auchinvole was not there but I know that since he has been there he has made a very large and vocal contribution to the committee and it is very much appreciated. I am sure that he will be taking a call some time—if not tonight then in the near future. But it is with great pleasure—and this may sound a little incongruous—that although I do not recommend the bill to the House I am really proud to stand and speak on it.