Sharples Pita: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Sharples Pita: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:643;Page:13072] 
7.  
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
 to the  
Minister of Maori Affairs 
: He aha te mahi mana tetahi atu hoki a ma tana Tari ranei ki te whakautu i nga ngaukino i tau ki runga i a Ngai Tuhoe ake i whakaputaina ra e te kaikorero mo Tuhoe a Tamati Kruger i ki ra: “Ki ahau nei ahakoa ko wai te tangata he tika tonu kia riri a ia—penei hoki i a matau. Me kaua rawa e warewaretia e tatau.”? 
[ 
What action if any will he or his ministry be taking to respond to the trauma specifically experienced by the iwi of Tuhoe as expressed by Tuhoe spokesperson Tamati Kruger and I quote: “I think any normal regular person would feel anger—and we do feel angry about what has happened. We must not forget it.”? 
] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
I raro i taku turanga Minita mo nga Take Maori kei ahau te mahi kaitiaki mo ngai Maori katoa. Kei te mahi kaha tonu ahau me taku Manatu ki roto i nga taumata hapori ki te whakawhiwhi huarahi ahu whakamua mo te hapori nga tikanga nga ohanga mo ratou o ngai Tuhoe. 
[ 
As Minister of Maori Affairs I have a duty to care for all Maori. I and my ministry continue to work constructively at the community level to provide social cultural and economic pathways forward for the people of Tuhoe. 
] 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: Has the Minister been advised that the Minister of Police justified the over-the-top reactions of the police towards the people of Ruatoki and their subsequent effect on innocent people as being merely “collateral damage” and what advice will he be giving the Minister about such a statement? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I rongo au ki nga korero me nga pirihimana e puta ana pera tonu na te mea i roto i aku me nga pirihimana te Kawanatanga me ngai Tuhoe e whiriwhiri i nga take kei waenga i a ratou. 
[ 
I have heard statements of that nature that have emerged about the police but that is something for the police the Government and Tuhoe to work through collectively. 
] 
Dave Hereora 
: What support has Te Puni Kokiri provided in the Tuhoe area? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Ko te tuku putea mo te Hui Ahurei o Tuhoe me nga hui whakanui o Matariki enei hui rongonui e tautoko ana i te Tuhoetanga. Ko te tuku putea hei tautoko i te whanaketanga whanau ki roto o Tuhoe te tuku putea ki nga kaupapa pera i a Mauri Ora e pa ana ki te whakakore tukino katoa ki roto i nga hapori. 
[ 
It has invested in the Tuhoe Festival and Matariki celebrations. These well-known events support Tuhoe culture. It has invested in supporting family development in Tuhoe and in projects such as Mauri Ora which is about moving towards zero tolerance in communities. 
] 
Pita Paraone 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker. Would the Minister agree that a number of people and organisations have contributed to portraying this issue as one about Tuhoe when it is clearly not purely a Tuhoe issue and that those people and organisations should be apologising for their part in needlessly singling out and alienating the Tuhoe people? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is very clear that some people have gone out with zealot-type behaviour in blaming everybody else. But clearly there are three Tuhoe there are three Maori and there are a whole lot of Pakeha. I say it again: mad Pakeha and overexcited Maori do not make a good mix. 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: Is the Minister aware that the recent Marae Digi-Poll confirmed that 75 percent of the Maori polled from the Maori roll considered the armed police raids in Ruatoki to be an unnecessary overreaction and what work will his ministry be doing to improve the all-time low relationship between his Government and Maori? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I have read and studied the Marae Digi-Poll well and I understand the small catchment that it cuts. There is only one poll that matters and that is on election day and we will see each other there. There is a clear factor in this issue in relation to the struggle for Maori rights in this country which has been strong and enduring. It should never never involve arms and violence. Some parties and people in this House have stirred it up to be something else and they should wake up. 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: Will the Minister be visiting the Tuhoe people to support them in this time of their trauma? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Absolutely! I was in Murupara in the weekend and I went past Opotiki the weekend before that. I will be there. 
Ron Mark 
: Would he agree that the Tuhoe people have been besmirched by a very small number of extremists in their midst who along with 13 others 10 of whom were Pakeha planned to commit acts of terrorism and murder and that if any fault does lie with Tuhoe it is with those who knew that these activities were being conducted and that training camps were running and who chose to do nothing about that? 
Keith Locke 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I think that question prejudices the court cases by referring to numbers of people and assuming guilt. Is that not against your instructions? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I listened to it and I think that it was close to the edge in the language it used. But I do not think that it actually referred to the cases that are before the court at the moment. I ask the Minister in responding to take that into account. 
Keith Locke 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. There was a specific reference to a number—13—and obviously it gets— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: If we are talking here about the number of people charged under the firearms legislation of course that is a matter of public record. Indeed I think that the number of those who were involved in potential charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act was also in the public arena. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No I am satisfied that it does not actually step over the line. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I am aware of those matters and the reason why police took action in the first place needs to be kept at the forefront of our minds. It is not about the performance on the day but it is certainly about why they went there. 
Ron Mark 
: Has the Minister received or seen any reports from other iwi who are upset at the alleged actions and plans of these suspected terrorists and at their negative effect on the portrayal of Maoridom as a whole and who understand that the police have a job to do and must act against people who would plan murder and mayhem? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Yes I have from Timi te Heuheu who was concerned that certain factions were trying to drag the arikinui into this episode of happenings of the moment. I have also heard from Naida Glavish a principal spokesperson who did not agree with the performance of the police on the first day but who certainly voiced caution in relation to people continuing to work with the police in an amicable way and urged the police to do better in the sense of working with Maori. 
Ron Mark 
: Can the Minister tell the House what credibility he can give to those people who would advocate that Maori who have been exposed to seeing men wearing masks and Maori who have now been exposed to seeing men carrying guns have been so traumatised that they need Government and State assistance to overcome that trauma when daily we read in the newspaper of masked protesters masked Maori gang members and Maori gang members using firearms regularly in drive-by shootings and having firearms in their homes on a day-to-day basis—what credibility can those people possibly have? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: To the tail end of that member’s question—none whatsoever. But I remind that member that there are issues that Tuhoe have to sort out with Tuhoe and there are issues between the police and Tuhoe that they have to sort out. This Labour-led Government is quite clear and keen on supporting the Tuhoe people coming out of that incident. 
Keith Locke 
: I seek leave to table an article by Moana Jackson that criticises the sidelining of the iwi-police— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that article. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I think I might well have used the supplementary questions allocated to me so I seek leave of the House to ask one final supplementary question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No you have one more so you can use your last supplementary question for your party on this question. 
Ron Mark 
: No Madam Speaker I do not wish to use that one; that is for one of my colleagues. I am seeking leave for an extra supplementary question to ask a final question on this question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection.