Harawira Hone: Walking Access Bill — In Committee; Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Harawira Hone: Walking Access Bill — In Committee; Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18581. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe. Kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. On behalf of the Maori Party I rise to make a very short statement on this Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill which defines cultural property as the cultural heritage of all people. That includes monuments archaeological sites historic buildings works of art manuscripts books scientific collections archives museums libraries and refuges. And that is it. There is nothing Maori in here at all. That is kind of surprising when we are talking about cultural property and even more surprising when we are talking about protection in armed conflict given the efforts of Maori involved in armed conflict on behalf of this country and given also the number of Maori MPs in Labour who allowed this to go through completely de-knackered of any Maori content. 
Maori of course refer to the claim for Wai 262 when they talk of cultural property—a claim lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal to protect and preserve indigenous flora and fauna and associated cultural and intellectual heritage. It was filed in 1991 on behalf of six claimant iwi by Dell Wihongi of Ngapuhi Saana Murray of Ngati Kuri Te Witi McMath of Ngati Wai John Hippolite of Ngati Koata Tama Poata from Te Whanau a Rua in Ngati Porou and Katarina Rimene of Ngati Kahungunu. The tragedy of Wai 262 is that only one of the claimants is still living today. And still we wait and we wait and we wait for a finding. 
Wai 262 is code for the exclusive and comprehensive rights to flora and fauna cultural knowledge and property as taonga that is protected by article 2 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Wai 262 is also a claim that says that the Crown has failed to actively protect the exercise of tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga over indigenous flora and fauna and other taonga and also over matauranga Maori; that the Crown has failed to protect the taonga itself; that the Crown has usurped tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga of Maori in respect of flora and fauna and other taonga through the development of policy and the enactment of legislation; and that the Crown has breached the Treaty of Waitangi by agreeing to various international agreements and obligations that affect indigenous flora and fauna intellectual property rights and rights to other taonga. 
I will not speak for much longer but I will say that I was also interested to hear the reference made to constitutional significance earlier in this debate. Yet again unsurprisingly there was no mention of the foundation of our constitution Te Tiriti o Waitangi which gives rise to the thought that perhaps the Maori Party might recommend the inclusion of a Treaty of Waitangi clause in this bill in order to give Labour’s Maori members the opportunity at least once in the last 3 years to vote to support the Treaty of Waitangi. 
The Maori Party will support this bill going to the select committee but only because we know that there are a lot of people out there who will want to challenge the racist basis of this bill and the very exclusive way in which cultural property has been defined and valued. Tena koe.