Sharples Pita: Electoral Finance Bill — First Reading 
Sharples Pita: Electoral Finance Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10787] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
Tena koe e te Kaihautu. I nga marama 18 i heke te ngakau tapatahi o te Paremata na te whakapono o te iwi tera pea me kore ratau e whakapono ko tatau o tenei Whare he tangata totika. Na te aha? Na nga mahi o nga pati tawhito e rua i nga mahi utu papaho a Nahinara me te kari ki taurangi a Reipa. E hika ma! Ko te mutunga mai o te he ko te wa i uru mai tetahi pire i ro Whare nei hei whakatika i nga mahi i mahia i waho i te ture ara te whakapaunga he o te $1.17 miriona. Ka taea e tatau te kite ka pehea to tatau tu i te rangahau a te  
Readers Digest 
 i ta ratau rangahautanga i waenganui i te 600 tangata i Aotearoa nei. Ko te patai “Ko wai o enei momo tangata ka whakapono koe?”. E 26 nga momo tangata i whakararangihia a ko tatau kei raro noa atu i nga kaihoko whenua nga kaituhi niu pepa nga kaihoko motoka hoki.  
He maha noa atu nga take kare te tangata e whakapono ana ki a tatau nga kaiwhakaara ture penei i enei: nga kaupapa Mahi mo nga Whanau e whakaparahako ana i nga tamariki ko o ratau matua kei runga penihana; te Hanganga Ture Ika i puta mai ahakoa kare i hui i te taha o ratau kei te hi kei te hoko ika ranei; nga mahi whakaiti i a tatau ano i ro i teneki Whare; te takahi i nga ingoa pai o nga kaimahi a-Kawanatanga ahakoa ko nga Minita ke kei te he; he mahi ngawari noa iho te whakaae kia haina tetahi o tatau i te Tikanga Whanonga.  
Na tenei ahuatanga o te noho ka hiahia te Kawanatanga kia whakapono te iwi ka marama ake te titiro whakatau tika i nga nekeneketanga a nga kaitono nga pati me era atu kei te kimi poti. Ko taku kare pea e ea enei wawata.  
Ko nga tikanga whakatau tika kia mahi pono a kia kite marama kia huraina nga mahi koi nei nga tohu e hiahia ana e te Maori hei kaupapa whai. Ko nga kaupapa e pa ana ki te pire ko nga kaupapa e ki ana kare e taea e era na te nuinga i whakatau hei kaiwhakahaere mena he mahi he a-ture he mahi tukino he mahi pirau ranei. Ko te kaupapa o te kaitiakitanga he kaupapa kia mohio marama tatau me mahi nga mahi i runga i te whakaaro pai ki te ao me te whenua a me manaaki hoki i te iwi. Me manaaki i nga rawa a te iwi. Na te ahua o te kaitiakitanga ka tono matau kia kaua te moni e whakaritea ko wai ka wikitoria i nga wa poti. 
Koi nei te ahua o te New York City i whakatauirahia e Michael Bloomberg. Nana i toha te $140 miriona o ana ake moni kia wikitoria a ia i nga poti e rua mo te tunga koro matua o Te Aporo Nui. A kati ka taea pea te ki ko te $140000 i riro i a Nahinara mai i nga ropu tiaki moni he koha kore noa iho te iti hoki mena ka whakatakotohia i te taha o tera a Bloomberg engari ko te kaupapa ke te korero. Ko te kaupapa “korero ai te moni” nga kaupapa ranei kia marama ake te titiro whakatau tika kia mahi tika i raro i te ture koi ra ke nga kaupapa. Ko ta te Pati Maori kia kore nga torangapu e nanakia ki te hanga ahuatanga a-roia nei kia kore e mohiotia ko wai nga kaituku moni ki a ratau.  
Na te pire nei ka taea kia riro e nga torangapu nga koha piki atu ki te $10000 te rahi a ka taea hoki te huna ko wai te kaikoha. I te mutunga ka riro e nga torangapu etahi koha kaita mai i era he nui o ratau rawa a ko te waka hei kawe mai he waka kare tatau i te mohio no hea a ko nga kaikoha kare tatau e mohio ana ko wai. E hangai pu ana nga tikanga a te koha ki tenei take kia mohiotia whanuitia ko wai kei te koha torangapu. I mua o te taenga mai o te “tikanga puhera moni” ka whakatakotohia nga koha i runga marae kia kite te katoa tino marama rawa ana hoki.  
He pera tonu te ahua o o tatau whanaunga o Te Puku o Te Wheke me a ratau takapau rauiti hakaru tapa hoki ka whakatakotohia hei koha i a ratau hui whakahirahira. Ka taea pea e tatau te whakarite mena kare te kaikoha e hiahia ana kia mohiotia ko wai ia tera pea me kore ia e whakatakoto koha. 
Kei te mohio matau o te Pati Maori ehara ma te moni anake ka wikitoria. Ko ta nga kaipoti he kaingakau i nga mahi a te kaikimi poti a mena ka tu motuhake taua tangata mo nga kaupapa i whakaritea e nga kaipoti. Ahakoa he awhina ta te moni kare e taea e ia mena he koretake te kaitono. Engari ka hoki ano ki te waiwai o tenei ara te traumata paparua. Mehemea ko te whakaaro kei muri i te pire nei kia nui ake a ngai tatau kia whai wahi te uru ki nga ahuatanga poti. 
Na te mea kare he aukatinga i nga koha huna nga koha ranei kei te haramai i nga ara kare tatau i te mohio no hea ka puta te korero o te Ropu Huaki Mahi Kawanatanga kare i ea te ki taurangi a te Kawanatanga kia whakatuwheratia kia kore ai e uru mai te pirau ki nga tikanga poti.  
Ko tetahi ake o o matau tino take ka pa ki nga tikanga whakamohio whakapiri atu ki te katoa. Ka tautoko rawa matau i te tono kia tirohia nga kaupapa poti e tetahi ropu wehe ke a ka tirohia ano te ahua o nga putea mo tena mo tena o nga torangapu. Engari ko ta matau he whakatu ropu a-iwi whanui wehe ke hei titiro i te ahua o nga putea ka riro e nga ropu torangapu. Ko ta matau whakapono ehara ma tatau nga mema Paremata e hanga i enei ture i runga i te ahua kua wehe atu tatau i te iwi. Ko te korero a te kotahitanga me kimi tatau i nga whakaaro whanui a-iwi kia taea e ratau te ki ae na matau ka mana te kawanatanga a-iwi. 
Mena he mana kei nga korero a tenei Paremata kia pumau te iwi ki nga mahi o ro Paremata me timata mai i o tatau rangatahi. I kitea e nga rangahau i tera tau e 51 paiheneti o te Maori kare i te poti i taka i waenganui i te tau 20 ki te 30. He orite te ahua o te poti a te Maori ahakoa he poti whanui o Aotearoa he poti whaiti o te rohe. Na i a tatau e kimi huarahi ana kia ngakau pai te iwi whanui i te kawanatanga a-iwi me ako tatau me pewhea te mirimiri i te rangatahi i te tuatahi. 
Mena kei te pono tatau me te ahua mo apopo me uru pono ki nga korero whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro kare matau e whai i nga tikanga whakamohio a Reipa. Kare matau i te ki me hui hei wananga whakaaro ahakoa i tu te hui i nga haoro e rua i muri mai o te panuitanga o te kaupapa mo te hui i ro nupepa ara te  
Dominion Post 
 i taua ata. 
He mana rangatira kei muri i nga kaupapa o tenei pire he korero mo te tika te pono mo te kore huna. Ko te raruraru “Kei runga te korero kei raro te rahurahu.” Ka hunaia tonu no hea nga koha kare e rere ke ki era tikanga kei te mau i tenei wa. Mena ka noho tonu nga mahi huna ka taea e etahi te whakapirau i te tangata. Kei te pa pouri matau kare i te tu tetahi hui i waenganui i te iwi na te mea ko ta matau wawata kia whai wahi te iwi whanui ki te whakatakoto i o ratau whakaaro. Kia taea hoki e ratau te ki a na matau tenei kawanatanga a-iwi. 
Kare matau mo te poti mo tenei pire. Kare hoki he kiko i roto a ko nga korero kei nga ngutu noa iho e titi ana. Ahakoa te korero kare te korukoru e poti mo te Kirihimete ko nga korukoru kei roto i tenei Whare kei te poti mo to ratau Kirihimete na te mea ko te mea pouri ki a matau kei ratau te mana i tenei wa. Tena koe 
. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings Mr Assistant Speaker. Over the last 18 months the integrity of Parliament has been thrown into disrepute to such an extent that people’s belief that politicians can be trusted has been badly eroded. The degenerating political environment arose out of the actions of both of the older parties with their interpretation of rules over broadcasting spending and the pledge-card fiasco. Gracious me! Events sank to an all-time low when a bill was pushed through the House to validate unlawful spending—$1.17 million of misspending to be precise. How low can be gauged by the Reader’s Digest annual “Who do you trust?” survey of 600 New Zealanders in which politicians ranked at the bottom of 26 professions scooping the barrel below real-estate agents journalists and car salesmen. 
Of course declining trust in politicians is also caused by things such as Working for Families proposals which fail to highlight their discriminatory impacts on the children of beneficiary parents; Fisheries Act legislation which emerged without the key industry sector groups having been first consulted; personal character assassinations of members across the House; besmirching the reputation of public servants for the faults of Ministers; or even as simple a thing as failing to grant leave for an MP to sign up to a code of conduct. 
It is against this sort of setting that the Government seriously wants the New Zealand public to believe that this bill will bring about greater transparency and accountability on the part of candidates parties and others engaged in election activities. 
I do not think so somehow. 
For the people of the land the concepts of accountability transparency and integrity are central to the trust that iwi Maori place in others. 
And particularly relevant to this bill are policies that highlight the fact that democracy cannot run when there are illegalities abuse of power or corruption. 
Kaitiakitanga leads us towards an active sense of responsibilities in a manner that is beneficial to resources and the welfare of the people.  
Public moneys should be treated with respect. 
It is in respect of kaitiakitanga that we would seek to prevent the undue influence of wealth on electoral outcomes. 
That is the New York City factor—epitomised by Michael Bloomberg who spent more than $140 million of his own money to win his two mayoral elections in New York. 
One could say that the $140000 that National received from trusts pales by comparison—roughly 0.1 percent of the New York factor—but it is all about principle. 
The principle of “money talks” or the principles of transparency honesty and integrity: that is the question. The Maori Party believes that political parties must desist from the devious use of trusts or lawyers’ accounts to obscure the identity of donors. 
The Electoral Finance Bill enables political parties to accept donations of up to $10000 without the donor revealing his or her identity. In essence parties are able to receive huge donations from wealthy donors funnelled through secret trusts and anonymous donors with no one being the wiser. The concept of koha is I think relevant to this issue of declaring the identity of the source in political donations. Prior to the invention of the “money in the envelope” ritual gifts were often laid on marae for all to see—and it was indeed extremely transparent.  
We see amongst our Pasifika whanaunga too the very public nature of the gifting process—finely woven mats or tapa cloth being laid down as a contribution to a significant ceremony. One could perhaps conclude that if the sources did not want to be identified then perhaps they should not gift. 
We in the Maori Party recognise of course that money does not guarantee victory. What attracts the voters is the experience of candidates and whether they are prepared to stand up for the issues the constituency expects of them. While money helps it cannot rescue a poor candidate. But it does get back to this essential double standard if the aim of the bill is to restore confidence and increase public participation in the electoral process.  
The fact that there is no specific ban on donations from trusts or ones made anonymously prompted the Coalition for Open Government to say that it falls far short of the Government’s promise to create a more open and incorruptible election system. 
The other major issue the Maori Party has with this bill is around the process of consultation and public engagement. We absolutely support the proposal for an independent review of the structure and organisation of electoralagencies which will also address how political parties are funded. 
 But we would go further and establish a publicly appointed independent body to inquire into campaign finance reform. We believe that election finance laws must not be designed and determined by politicians and parties in isolation from the people. The expression of kotahitanga would encourage all citizens to have a say to make a contribution towards the realisation of democracy. 
We believe that if this Parliament is really serious about creating public and political confidence and participation in parliamentary democracy then the place to start is with the hope of our future—young people. Research released last year by the Electoral Commission found that 51 percent of Maori non-voters were in the 20 to 30-year-old age-group.  
Maori non-voters did not appear to be especially dissatisfied with national and regional politics but are simply disengaged from it.  
So we are looking to create public confidence in the democracy; learning how to engage young people could be a good place to start. 
If we are really committed to tomorrow we need to be committed to engaging and truly involving ourselves in the debate. We do not mean consultation as Labour sees it—which in our case was a briefing a couple of hours after the Dominion Post had already told us everything we needed to know.  
The intentions of this bill are honourable mouthing commitments to democracy transparency and integrity. The problem is that the fine print does not match the platitudes; the fact that donations are still anonymous in effect endorses the status quo wherein political influence and corruption can occur through secret means. We are also greatly disappointed that consultation amounted to nothing. That is a particular concern because we do have such a huge interest in ensuring that the Parliament is connected responsive and accountable to the people of the land; being able to have discussions together around that is what we would think could happen in a democracy. 
We cannot vote for a bill that has so much rhetoric attached to it and lacks real substance. While it is said that turkeys never vote for Christmas it appears that the turkeys in this House will be voting for their Christmas as they have the numbers at this time. Thank you. 
]