Flavell Te Ururoa: General DebateText is subject to correctionFlavell Te Ururoa: General Debate[Sitting date: 23 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14198. Text is subject to correction.]TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou. Mr O’Rourke talked about a lot of suffering. The four bills that came before this House this morning followed pretty much the same theme. We have been fortunate—or unfortunate—today to have traversed a lot of history for the people of Tūhoe Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Koroki Kahukura and of course the descendants of Mokomoko. Their legacies are relived; their experiences arrived here in Parliament today. It is in the spirit of that sort of sorrow that I wanted to focus this contribution this afternoon on our tamariki and our mokopuna and indeed the mokopuna of Tūhoe.In this morning’s paper under the heading “Child abuse is rising in NZ” the Children’s Commissioner Russell Wills revealed that the public’s tolerance for violence against children still had a way to go. I got asked the question of how we as a nation can hold our heads high when our child abuse statistics are such an indictment on our reputation. Our focus as members of Parliament should rightly and properly be on what we are doing as agents of the State. As such I would implore all members of this House to read the statement released just 3 days ago onMarae Investigates by a leading paediatric specialist Professor Innes Asher. I referred to that in a speech this morning. Professor Asher—a clinician at the Starship hospital a paediatrician for over 30 years and the head of the paediatrics department at Auckland University—has spent her life investing in the well-being of children. So when she described the treatment of children during the Tūhoe raids 6 years ago as “one of the worst cases of child abuse by the State in recent years” one would think that this House would listen.Of course it is not the first time that the children of Ruātoki have been raised in public attention. A mere 5 months ago a report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority recommended that changes to policy and practice needed to be introduced that would reflect better planning for children and vulnerable people. Aside from that I am still waiting for the Human Rights Commission report to come out and hopefully that will be soon.At the time of this recent release the local schoolteacher Gaylene Collier reflected that her pupils had already been frightened when they were detained in their homes during the operation. Her conclusions were pretty clear: “It was tough on the families and it should never ever have happened.” I have relentlessly brought the issues of these families to this House but we are still a far way away from seeing any resolution to the lasting trauma that Professor Asher speaks of. On public television on Sunday she told New Zealand that “if these children had been held by armed offenders in the same way the state would have immediately rescued those children and given them some help and assistance. And the children would have been on the front page of the papers and onyour lead news item”. So why is it that we cannot face up to the wrongs done to the innocent children caught up in Operation Eight? Why are we so reluctant to admit that the events of that day represent as Professor Asher states the most profound abuse of power in our memory?In a letter written to former Commissioner of Police Howard Broad Peter Williams QC described the extent of the terror raids as being “a great show of force by the police who have been accompanied by military-type vehicles helicopters fire arms dogs and various other adjuncts. Most of these police officers were dressed in military battle uniform consisting of black clothing balaclavas and carrying what appears to be loaded weapons—in particular rifles and revolvers.” One of the interviewees said that he counted 43 police officers surrounding the house where he lived with his partner his four young children his father and his father’s partner. All of these police had guns trained on this house. These prisoners mainly women and children were kept under armed guard and detained for varying periods between 3 and 6 hours. The children particularly were terrified he said.I do not understand how we can receive that sort of information and how we can hear the horrific experiences our State forced upon children and not feel motivated to change or to act. We could go to the Ruātoki valley. We could sit with the people of Tūhoe. We could share with the whānau our acknowledgment of what happened on 15 October 2007 and that it had truly traumatic effects on the children that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Our job as a Parliament is to represent the best interests of our people. This is beyond party politics. It is beyond bureaucracy. This is about our children.