Flavell Te Ururoa: Waka Umanga (Maori Corporations) Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Waka Umanga (Maori Corporations) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:644;Page:13867] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker; tena tatou katoa; tena koe Gerry Brownlee. There is a whakatauaki that I will refer to as we consider this bill to provide for the formation and registration of new statutory governance entities—waka umanga—by tribal groups and Maori associations. It goes like this: “Me matau ki te whetu i mua i te kokiri o te haere—before you set forth on a journey be sure you know the stars.” You see our tupuna were celestial navigators and astronomers referring to the stars as a key navigational beacon for ocean voyages calculating time and the seasons and attributing names to each of the periods in the lunar cycle— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member but on all sides there is just far too much chatter. If members want to chatter they should just go outside to the lobbies please. The speaker is not getting a fair go. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Do I start my time again Madam Assistant Speaker? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: No. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: I am just joking; it is all right. I was talking about the cycles and about how our people attributed names to various periods of the lunar cycle such as Whiro Tirea Ohoata Orongonui Maurea Mutu and so on. Names were also given to the individual stars or whetu—Te Ikaroa Te Mangoroa Te Paeroa o Whanui Whiti-kaupeka Nga Patari and many many more. The legwork was done negotiation with key stakeholders was thorough and complex and no journey would be embarked upon until every last factor was accounted for. 
As we launch this waka umanga project which is basically a tailor-made legal structure to cater for the governance needs of Maori collectives we in the Maori Party ask ourselves whether the same desire for certainty has been followed. 
I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I appreciated very much the intervention that you took before and now that I have finished the sorts of funny things at the start I am trying to move to be a little bit serious. I would appreciate it if those members who are interrupting my flow would move outside please if that is OK. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: The member is quite right. It is just chatter chatter coming in all the time and it really is rude. If members want to talk then they should just go outside. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Where was I? 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Oh I don’t know. Where were you? 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: I will tell Mr Henare right now. A key selling point that that member happened to miss when he was talking about this proposal is that a registration as a waka umanga is optional. That is OK; choice is good we say. That is of course depending on whether the choice is a real one because it would appear from the outset that a powerful incentive exists for iwi which is that if they gain a legitimate status under the eyes of the Crown then they are all the more likely to be in a safe position to receive Treaty settlement funds and assets. 
The problem is inevitably how we define the very nature of the problem in the first place. Let me put it like this: is it a problem as defined by whanau hapu and iwi? Or is the nature of the problem envisaged in this bill really just a solution to address a problem for the Crown? Is the solution one that has been dreamt up by the agents of the Crown to solve problems that the bureaucracy has in itself created by imposing inadequate legal structures on hapu and iwi during settlements? These are the sorts of questions we are asking. 
We come to this bill knowing of course that the governance needs of Maori collectives are not being properly catered for in the existing legal structures such as trusts companies and incorporated societies. So hey presto this bill specifies that corporate governance arrangements and standards be included in the charter of every waka umanga including procedures for internal dispute resolution. With true legalese attention to detail a waka umanga must meet certain standards of accountability before it can be registered. This includes the election and duties of governors planning financial management the role of the chief executive officer and other specifics. 
Although the motive to address the problems of trusts companies and incorporated societies was a positive one the proposed legal entity closes down the possibility of developing Maori models of governance consistent with tradition tikanga Maori and tino rangatiratanga. I think that is the major point. The upshot of it all is that although we all see that there are some issues with Maori governance that require a response—there is no doubt about that—the one-stop shop standard one-size-fits-all corporate model approved by the Crown is not we say and never will be the only answer. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: So yes or no? 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: This was alluded to a little bit by the Hon Tau Henare when he did talk with some clarity. As our whakatauaki tell us before we set forth on any journey we must be sure we know the full pattern of the stars before us. 
This bill proposes a legal entity that is both more easily subject to Crown control we say and less expressive of tino rangatiratanga. It is great for the Crown but it is not so great for the Treaty partner. We believe the solution lies in rephrasing the problem in terms of how to make the Crown recognise Maori governance entities as formulated by Maori. A different starting framework could have come up with something quite different. We have to wonder if whanau hapu and iwi had been given the opportunity to create their own governance model to determine their own governance entities what would that have looked like? 
It comes down to rangatiratanga. It could have been quite different. The bill could have reflected the korero that was laid down at Te Wananga o Raukawa in November at a hui held specifically to explore a kaupapa Maori organisational framework. The hui was stimulated by the Ngati Kahungunu pepeha “Ma te rango te waka ka rere” which refers to the importance of having the foundation correctly prepared in order for a project to be launched successfully. Literally the rango are the rollers used in the launching of a waka. So when an important waka was built the trees for the rango were taken at the same time that the tree for the waka was taken. They had their own karakia and had to be treated with the same degree of care and respect as the waka itself. If the preparations with respect to the rango were not properly carried out then the waka would not be properly launched and therefore it would not glide speedily into the water. 
Through this line of thought a paper was provided by Ani Mikaere at the hui and it demonstrates the importance of having a strong contextual footing before any project is established. She stated: “How should we view the Waka Umanga Bill? It may well incorporate aspects of tikanga thereby modelling the cultural sensitivity that the Crown proclaims to be in accord with its Treaty obligations but clearly the accommodation of tikanga values within a Western legal framework is a totally different prospect to the acknowledgement of tikanga as the supreme law of the land.” 
In the same hui Annette Sykes argued that tikanga Maori with its ethical foundations in whanaungatanga manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga should provide the basis for law in this land. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Don’t be misled by Annette Sykes. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Well that is all very well for Dr Mapp to say but she actually tried to make a positive contribution. Her response to the waka umanga proposal was that in seeking to define authority within Western imperatives Western frameworks and processes of kawanatanga the waka umanga proposal was in itself a further denial of the fundamental right of tino rangatiratanga affirmed into Te Tiriti o Waitangi. And this is the key issue. The Waka Umanga (Maori Corporations) Bill may well incorporate aspects of tikanga but clearly the accommodation of tikanga values within a Western legal framework is a totally different prospect from the acknowledgment of tikanga as the supreme law of the land. 
The overriding recommendation of the hui held in November was in recognition that any such governance model needs to be developed by Maori. We in the Maori Party recognise that even though the Law Commission did seek to consult Maori it was consultation with a restricted agenda so the possibility for wide-ranging options to be considered was similarly limited. If the Law Commission had undertaken a different process then it may well have come up with something quite different. Tangata whenua attending the hui at Te Wananga o Raukawa opted for that difference. They suggested that hapu and iwi should be given the time and space to come up with their own governance models and that the Law Commission assist in that project. 
Of course we are fully aware of the risks of opposing a proposal such as the one addressed in this bill. We know the argument that the proposed law will be an improvement on what we currently have. Well in formulating the waka umanga concept the commission has striven to create a mechanism that is “specifically shaped to meet the organisational needs of Maori tribes and other groups that manage communal Maori assets”. And yes of course that is an improvement on the status quo and we look positively on that but at the end of the day it is still a Crown measure that accommodates tikanga in some way. In this way it is but another subordination of tikanga Maori to the laws and philosophical foundations of other world views and Western frameworks. Ani Mikaere in her paper  
How Will Future Generations Judge Us 
 asked the people at the hui to consider that as tangata whenua their cultural survival demanded that they look to tikanga Maori for solutions and encouraged them never to lose their ability to imagine. 
So in summary we remember the message of the pepeha: “Ma te rango te waka ka rere” and the importance of ensuring the foundation is correctly prepared in order for a project to be launched successfully. The questions raised at the hui and by some of our leading analysts and thinkers throughout Maoridom make us all the more aware that the foundation for this waka is not yet on steady ground. We will support the Waka Umanga (Maori Corporations) Bill at this first reading to ensure the voices of Te Ao Maori are brought to the table. But we will be alert to the question that haunted the hui: how will the future generations judge us?