Turia Tariana: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Turia Tariana: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:645;Page:14179] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
Tena koe. Twenty years ago on 13 February 1988 1000 people gathered at Raglan for a day of thanksgiving. It was a celebration of the day 10 years prior on which 17 Maori protestors were arrested for trespass at the Raglan golf course. That was the day on which Eva Rickard stood strong arguing for the return of their whenua as the people of Tainui Awhiro. Eva had a vision; not just a picture of what could be but a call to us all to become something much more than we were. It was a challenge to better ourselves daring us to have faith to believe in ourselves. It is that call that I have returned to as we herald the start of a very significant year in the lives of tangata whenua. The call for justice for resolution and for prosperity has been a call that we as tangata whenua have known mai raano. 
We in the Maori Party know first and foremost that our presence here in Parliament is just another part of the huge journey that tangata whenua have been on. It is a journey that will ensure our survival as a people here in Aotearoa for there is nowhere else on this planet that we as tangata whenua can ever call home. It is a home we have cared for for over a millennium; a home we have shared for nearly 200 years with others. Our journey is about our survival—the survival of our language the survival of our customs and the survival of our world view which we will happily share with others. It is a view of the world that we will invite others to share with us as we always have despite history showing that from time to time it has been to our cost. In that journey we celebrate the growing confidence that we as tangata whenua have now in ourselves. The greatest goal for our party is to promote the survival of our people. 
The Maori Party is a movement that will not settle for second best. We believe that if transformation is required then we must pick up the wero the challenge and deliver. And we do indeed believe that transformation is required to ensure that we invest in exactly those families who are feeling stretched and who are overburdened with the challenge of each day. Although we applaud the commitment to funding two community organisations to support families and children we would also like to see clear policy investment in uplifting incomes for those who are the most vulnerable in our community te pani me te rawa kore. 
The Maori Party believes that true leadership recognises the necessity of change and looks for a common vision that makes changes possible. The greatest challenge facing our future must be to pick up on the priorities and preferences of the people rather than simply pandering to the pet projects of politicians. I say to us all that the greatest opportunity we have is now to truly act as a Treaty partner in politics. We must not talk partnership then treat tangata whenua as the advisers—a mere stakeholder group on the margins. Let us look to the innovation of the indigenous mind for solutions. 
Last week an Otago University study described the rich and enthusiastic way in which Maori mothers appeared to talk to their children as being a significant cultural difference in establishing a strong foundation for child development. It made me think about other cultural strengths that are too frequently overlooked—the commitment to the revival and renaissance of tangata whenuatanga which has given life to kohanga reo kura kaupapa kura-a-iwi whare kura whare wananga kapahaka Maori entertainers in all fields and tangata whenua artists writers and craftspeople. This all keeps alive our cultural heritage. 
The sense of collective care and responsibility is demonstrated daily by tangata whenua health services and social service providers. The entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in tangata whenua broadcasting businesses farmers fisheries and organic growers all of which contributes hugely to the economy. Our right to be to survive and thrive as tangata whenua means that we necessarily have the mandate to support all our people—our young our rangatahi the dispossessed and alienated and those whose views find disfavour with some. We are the voice of the voiceless and we are always firmly focused on the pounding heartbeat of our nation—the young and the old. So too as part of the journey for self-determination we take on the battle against hunger disease homelessness and illiteracy for the collective good of all. 
We seek to push past the pragmatic or the probable and search also for a vision of what is possible. In doing so I want to share one or two ideas that people have shared with us that may just make the difference. What is possible is the creation of a simpler indirect tax system that addresses double taxation such as existing excised taxed items. If tax was removed from food—the GST—it would have both immediate nutritional and economic impact for low-income families. It might also be an idea to look at the removal of tax from savings. Meagre though those savings might be for our people why should their earnings and savings have the interest earned taxed again? 
Other possibilities to enhance healthy living might include trialling bariatric surgery—also known as lap-band surgery—to reduce weight while at the same time addressing the challenges of diabetes hypertension sleep apnoea and other conditions. The long-term health benefits are huge plus there are long-term savings to the taxpayer. This House does not have the premium on good ideas. The ideas I have talked of are but a few of a huge pool of opportunities available to us if we would only listen and care. 
It is time to call on a vision for change—the power of the people. Eva Rickard lived by a vision for change which was about the restoration of their land being directly related to the restoration of their people. We know from our own experience in the Treaty settlement business that an apology with inadequate compensation is merely an exercise in pragmatism rather than nation-building or justice. 
Nation-building must be our theme for our future. As a nation we have never heard any Government in this country say sorry to all of the tangata whenua for past atrocities and past injustices. It is a lot easier to say sorry to the Chinese and to say sorry to the Samoans but we cannot say sorry to the nations of this country the tangata whenua. We realise that past administrations the legacy of Executive Councils since 1840 have failed to achieve the unity anticipated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Justice delayed is justice denied. The impact of decades of disconnection and dislocation have scarred the soul of our people. We in the Maori Party remain confident that at some point the unity we are seeking will be achieved and we will never allow those rifts and dissensions between peoples to occur again because most of it is caused by political actions and behaviour. 
What we know from looking at the way in which our people are leading many organisations—the ones I referred to earlier—is that many of these organisations are also inclusive of others who also call this country home. Common unity can happen it will happen and it is time it happened.