Roche Denise: Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 09 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9575. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green):Kia tau te rangimārie o Te Rangi ki runga i tēnei a Papatuānuku e takoto nei me te taiao e awhi nei i runga i a tātou; tīhei mauri ora! E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe huri noa ki a koutou katoa i Te Whare tēnā koutou. He hōnore nui mōku ki te kōrero i te pānuitanga tuarua o Te Pire Reo Māori mō ngā Kākāriki tēnā koutou katoa.[May the peace of the Sky Father alight upon Mother Earth lying here and upon the environment that embraces us; behold the breath of life. I acknowledge you Mr Deputy Speaker; and to you all throughout the House greetings. It is a great honour for me to speak in the second reading of the Māori Language Bill on behalf of the Greens; my appreciation to you all.]It is an honour indeed to speak on this the second reading of the bill. It was my honour to speak for the Greens in the first reading but the lead on that has now been taken by our Māori affairs spokesperson Marama Davidson.We initially voted against the bill and our objections to some extent have been addressed through the select committee process but I want to just go through what they were because they have been raised by others in this House. They were concerns about the limited scope of the consultation before the bill was introduced—and there were particular concerns from hapū up north—concerns about loss of the independent Crown entity status for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Te Māngai Pāho and concerns about methods of funding and how it is not tied to need or based on what the research suggests but based on negotiation. We were very concerned about that.The reason though that we are changing our position and will be voting for the bill in the second reading is that there has been a more robust consultation that the Minister for Māori Development has undertaken it is being led by experts in the field and there is more willingness on the behalf of the Minister to work with the community and that has also been the result of the Māori Affairs Committee pressuring for that. We are now aware that there will be two revitalisation strategies one led by the Government and the other led by Te Mātāwai on behalf of Māori. This is of course in addition to the work that iwi katoa are already doing. Te Taura Whiri and Te Māngai Pāho will no longer lose independent Crown entity status and will remain autonomous and that was of major concern. These changes help ensure that the Crown does not abdicate its responsibilities to protect Te Reo as a taonga.Te Mātāwai’s representation has also been changed slightly to include one extra Te Reo Tukutuku member to represent urban Māori and this was a direct result of the select committee submissions that came from that group. We do remain concerned about the sidelining of some hapū and iwi voices due to Te Mātāwai’s iwi representation consisting of only one member from each of the seven geographical areas but we know that what they have come up with so far does sort of reflect the different dialects.This is the second dual language bill in modern politics. Te Reo Māori and English texts will hold equal status and if there is an issue then it is the Te Reo version that will take precedence. And we all know what happens when you get stuck with translations—it happened in 1840. The revitalisation of the language is essential to improve the health and well-being and the standing and the mana of Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand and the strategies are crucial to this.I want to acknowledge like others before me the passing of the many kaumātua who have gone beyond the veil. I am particularly thinking about Dr Ranginui Walker whose tangihanga I was at on Friday. I took my daughter to that and the reason I took her to that was not only to honour this wonderful man and his amazing achievements but also so she could hear her Reo around her. My daughter is the only student in year 13 at her high school learning Te Reo Māori—the only senior student.Hon Te Ururoa Flavell: Which school?DENISE ROCHE: At Waiheke High School. She has 1 hour of face-to-face contact per week.I also want to acknowledge that Metiria Turei spoke for the second time in Te Reo in public in a speech and I was so proud of her. She said the words “Too many of us have grown up and still live in the crack—the crack between Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pāhekā. It is hard and it is confusing never quite being anything enough in a racist society” and she thanked Dr Ranginui Walker for giving Māori the language to speak truth to power.I want to finish with a whakataukī: “Ko taku reo taku ohooho ko taku reo taku māpihi maurea.” Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[“My language is my awakening; my language is the object of my affection.”Greetings salutations and acknowledgments to you all.]