Sharples Pita: General Debate 
Sharples Pita: General Debate 
[Volume:634;Page:5440] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 From the Wharerata Ranges south of Gisborne to Cape Palliser in south Wairarapa from Paritu in the north to Turakirae in the south there is a tribal nation called Ngati Kahungunu. Over the last fortnight Ngati Kahungunu has launched a host of key strategies that it hopes will move it forward towards the promotion of self-determination for Maori tino rangatiratanga. The 25-year grand plan comprises the te reo and tikanga strategy the housing strategy the establishment of a Maori relationship board with Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and the creation of the Kahungunu asset holding company an investment strategy. The iwi commemorated the Kahungunu fisheries Treaty settlement allocation and in true Kahungunu style the celebrations were capped off with a performance by Kahurangi of the journey of te waka tapu o Takitimu. 
I come to this debate today honouring the capacity for self-determination—the freedom for indigenous peoples to live well to live according to their own values and beliefs and to be respected by their non-indigenous neighbours. It is a capacity that the nation of Aotearoa has observed in abundance as we have marked the passing of two legendary monarchs. It is a concept that I believe it is now timely to examine and to ask some questions about of ourselves and of others. 
Self-determination is as the indigenous Premier of Greenland Lars Emil Johansen described: “The right to take responsibility. Self-determination is hard work.” So it seems an appropriate time as we pay our last respects to Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and in the last few days to King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV to sit and reflect on the unique experiences of the people of Tainui and the people of Tonga in taking responsibility for their own destinies. 
Mr Johansen put forward some critical insights to the 1994 Cape York Land Council in Cairns which I believe have relevance for the indigenous policy for our own development as tangata whenua. The view put was that basically if we are claiming the right to tino rangatiratanga then we are claiming the right to take responsibility. In turn Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson asked as we must also ask: “Do we really want to take responsibility? Do we want to do the hard work of self-determination? Are we properly unified to fulfil our responsibility? Are we prepared to show leadership and build consensus and overcome division? Or are we so divided that if we took on the responsibilities we would do just as bad a job as the bureaucracy and the white fellas?”. 
As Maori our rangatiratanga is expressed in our rights to determine our own economic social and cultural development. As part of our journey we have resisted the process by which our indigenous language tribal values and cultural identities were to be pounded out of shape. Through it all we must retain the ability to ask questions of ourselves. How do we pay regard to the freely expressed will of the peoples? 
We have watched the resurgence of the Tongan people to hold tight to their unique value of rangatiratanga. One aspect of this has been the official report of the Kingdom of Tonga National Committee for Political Reform which His Majesty the King was presented with just 10 days before he died. Originally chaired by the late Prince Tu’ipelehake and endorsed by the Tongan Government the work of the committee was shared in a nationwide consultation process of talanoa—seeking the people’s views about political changes in Tonga as well as consultation with Tongans living here in Aotearoa in Australia and in the United States. The people themselves are embracing a new period of political and constitutional reform. The challenge ahead will be how the monarchy responds to the call for the right to self-determination. 
It is a matter of some concern that our own Government is seriously compromising our international reputation in the way in which it misrepresented New Zealand’s position on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 3 of that declaration adopted by the Human Rights Council on 29 June this year states: “Indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic social and cultural development.” The Maori Party celebrates the right of self-determination. Thank you. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.