Harawira Hone: Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:647;Page:16711] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. Tena tatou katoa e te Whare. I am sorry but I find no humour in having to speak to this bill. This New Zealand First bill which is promoted by Pita Paraone and is denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from throughout the country plans to end the careers of some of our best Maori judges of the Maori Land Court the High Court and the Waitangi Tribunal and to stop them from serving their own people. 
This bill is exactly the same as that other anti-Maori bill put forward by New Zealand First represented at the Justice and Electoral Committee by Pita Paraone voted for by all of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones and denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from throughout the country. That bill was called the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill and it proposed taking the Treaty of Waitangi out of all New Zealand legislation. Thankfully the rest of the House voted with the Maori Party at the second reading and threw the bill out but not before all of Labour’s Maori MPs had actually voted to delete the Treaty of Waitangi from all New Zealand legislation. And vote for it they did. It was not just a couple of them but the whole lot of them: Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones. 
In fact so horrified was Angeline Greensill the Maori Party candidate for Hauraki-Waikato that she rang me to ask whether I was sure about that. She asked me to confirm that every one of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones actually did something as dumb as to vote to delete the Treaty of Waitangi from all New Zealand legislation. Being a fully paid-up member of the Maori Party I had no option but to tell her the truth: that in fact yes they had—all of Labour’s Maori MPs had voted to delete the Treaty of Waitangi from all legislation. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. On the matter that was raised clearly on the first reading of the bill Labour members voted for it to be sent to the select committee. But if the member wants to establish the facts in the House and go through the  
Hansard 
 at that time he will find the bill was sent to the select committee and on the second reading it was voted against by Maori members in the Labour Government—in fact by the Labour Government. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Marian Hobbs) 
: I appreciate the point but you are making a debating point. 
Dail Jones 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. There must be some degree of relevance in what the member is saying. He is debating a bill that has long gone. Can he at least get to the point—that is if he knows what the point of this bill is? So far he has indicated a total absence of relevance to this bill. Could he be relevant? Madam Assistant Speaker it is your responsibility to require him to be relevant. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Marian Hobbs) 
: Thank you. I do not need to be reminded of my responsibility. Yes I ask the member to confine his comments to this particular bill. He was taking off on to past legislation. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: This bill the Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill is the same in many ways as the earlier bill I have referred to. This bill has also been put forward by New Zealand First. This bill was also represented at the Justice and Electoral Committee by Pita Paraone. This bill was also supported by all of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones. This bill has also been denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from throughout the country. I am happy to say for all of those reasons and more the Maori Party will not be supporting this bill. 
The Maori Party will not be supporting this anti-Maori bill put forward by New Zealand First represented at the select committee by Pita Paraone supported by all of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones and denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from throughout the country because we know as does the select committee that sitting on both the Maori Land Court and the Waitangi Tribunal requires people to have an understanding of tribal structure Maori land history custom and tradition. Given that 80 percent of those people are likely to be Maori we know that this bill would effectively dump all of those Maori who had dedicated their lives to law school court work and tribunal work before taking up an appointment to either the Maori Land Court or the Waitangi Tribunal and would dismiss 95 percent of the greatest legal minds within Maoridom. How dumb is that? How mind-numbingly nonsensically foolishly downright dumb is that? 
Another reason the Maori Party will not be supporting this anti-Maori bill put forward by New Zealand First represented at the select committee by Pita Paraone supported by all of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones and denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from all around the country is that it continues the assault against some of our top jurists. People like Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias Maori Land Court Judge Caren Fox and Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court Joe Williams have all been dragged into the political spotlight and attacked by overzealous and intellectually challenged Ministers of the Crown who want to impose their prejudices on the judiciary. There is probably not another party that wants to change the appointment process for judges in Aotearoa as much as the Maori Party does but even we recognise the importance of keeping the judiciary separate from politicians who come and go at the whim of the electorate. 
Another reason the Maori Party will not be supporting this anti-Maori bill put forward by New Zealand First represented at the select committee by Pita Paraone supported by all of Labour’s Maori MPs including Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones and denounced as being anti-Maori by Maori from throughout the country is that it plans to muzzle the voices of judges who demonstrate every day high levels of judicial competence and knowledge of Maori land matters and to replace them with retired judges who already have heaps on their plate. I was happy to be the Maori Party representative on the select committee that considered this bill and I was equally happy to hear the recommendation of the select committee that there was no inherent conflict of interest and that therefore this bill could be thrown out on the same scrap heap as the last one. 
Finally let me ask this most obvious of questions—the question on the lips of Maori people all around the country. If it is a conflict of interest that Pita Paraone Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones are really concerned about then what about the conflict of interest that arises from the thieving buggers who actually stole our land being the same critters who then set up the Waitangi Tribunal to decide the case pick who the judges will be decide what can be returned and what will not be returned pick who can speak for the poor bloody victims and then say how much the victims will have to pay to get their own land back? That is a conflict of interest I say to Mr Paraone if the member wants to talk about a conflict of interest. Well that is what we call a conflict of interest I say to Mr Paraone. That is the real deal that no one here seems to want to talk about. 
I ask Mr Horomia why the thieves who stole his tupuna’s land should also get to pick the judges for the court case. How about that for a conflict of interest? And I ask Ms Mahuta why the thieves who stole her tupuna’s land should also get to say which lands she can have back. How is that for a conflict of interest? Why should the thieves who stole Mr Okeroa’s tupuna’s land get to say who his negotiators can be? How is that for a conflict of interest? I ask all of the rest of the Maori MPs in Labour how they dare to support legislation that would delete the Treaty and deny Maori the right to sit on our own land courts. 
This bill which is supported by Pita Paraone Parekura Horomia Nanaia Mahuta Mahara Okeroa Mita Ririnui Dover Samuels Dave Hereora and Shane Jones in spite of overwhelming opposition from Maori right around the country and which is intended to strip the Waitangi Tribunal and the Maori Land Court of some of the best legal minds in Maoridom is nothing but a pathetic attempt to deny Maori equal access to all levels of the judiciary. The Maori Party stands proudly alongside the rest of Maoridom in denouncing this anti-Maori bill and we call on this House to consign it to the same trash bin as the last piece of legislative prejudice put forward by New Zealand First. Tena koutou katoa.