Fox Marama: AdjournmentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFox Marama: Adjournment[Sitting date: 10 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:1354. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party):I am just struggling to get some composure after that comedic effort. At 11 a.m. on Monday 20 October the 51st Parliament introduced a new convention—a karakia taunaki to gather us together under the mantle of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It was a really special occasion—an occasion of kotahitanga in this House of Representatives a place to place our faith and respect in Te Tiriti as a founding document of this country. I was proud that the Māori Party was able to contribute to the evolving sense of traditions in this place. I look forward to our ongoing discussions about our maturing nationhood—perhaps a new flag; discussions about perhaps a new national anthem which might go a long way; discussions around relationships between the rangatiratanga flag and other symbols of national identity and shared priorities that reflect the relationship between tino rangatiratanga on one hand and kāwanatanga on the other.It was a good start to the year and there have been other signs that create reason for optimism about our future as a nation. The Māori Party was so pleased to sign up to a relationship accord with the National Government called Te Tatau ki te Paerangi—a doorway to our horizons. The relationship signalled the momentum of moving forward the promise of ongoing investment in Whānau Ora the ongoing mahi of the ministerial committee on poverty our focus on Māori economic and regional development and encouraging greater participation in the electoral process and an engagement strategy with whānau hapū iwi and Māori organisations and businesses.A famous writer Wīremu Shakespeare once said that action is eloquence. We heard last night one of our own—our whanaunga—the late Parekura Horomia who although he liked to play with words was also very concerned about action. My esteemed colleague Te Ururoa Flavell and I are determined to be elegant in our eloquence active in our advocacy and passionate for our people. In the 2 months since that relationship accord was signed we have initiated two nationwide consultation exercises. The first is to return to the people to gauge their views on how best to take up this political opportunity. The second led by Te Ururoa is to listen learn and familiarise himself with the people and priorities of his ministerial portfolios. We take engagement seriously. We have thrown open our doors and we have invited our colleagues and friends in so that we might find kotahitanga in this place that symbolises our new nationhood.Tracey Martin: You haven’t invited me Marama.MARAMA FOX: Hey I sat down and had a long conversation with you Tracey. You can come to my office any time you like. That is why it is a matter of great pride for me at the start of this week to be able to promote the amazing leadership demonstrated by Andrew Judd in recommending that under the Treaty mana whenua have a claim to 50 percent of the seats on council tables. Oh my goodness! There were cries around the country of injustice and one rule for all—something that my friends over here do not like to talk about too much. So I was absolutely delighted to take up—Tracey Martin: Who’s your young man sitting next to you?MARAMA FOX: This is Rāwiri he is my friend. This is our opportunity to look at leadership. It was a matter of such despair last week to see the retrograde step taken by the Wanganui City Council in overturning the Minister’s decision to spell Wanganui with an “h”. The iwi have told us that the correct interpretation of the name Whanganui is “the long wait”—whanga meaning “wait” nui meaning “large” or “long”—but surely the long wait for justice to correct a typo should not take 166 years. We must be vigilant in continuing to work together on these matters to ensure synergy between local and central government an open relationship between iwi and the Crown and a dialogue within communities.Nowhere is that dialogue and leadership needed more than in the area of violence and I am proud that Te Ururoa a White Ribbon ambassador and I are totally determined that the elimination of harm is our top priority. We want to see all our whānau supported to be the best they can be to live without fear to be courageous in their ambition and to live their own dream. Last week we stood on the steps of Parliament and unveiled the Māori men’s stopping violence handbook using kaupapa Māori practice as a framework for ensuring Māori is value added in this country. That is where Whānau Ora is and always will be the opportunity for our greatest transformation to occur.As we approach the season of goodwill we must ensure that our whānau are encouraged to take back control of their lives and live in a way that enables them to truly realise their potential. We want all our children to feel the gift of love to know the world awaits them and to be excited by that possibility. We want our parents our aunts our uncles our kuia and our koroua to always know how important their strength is to our pā harakeke. We want our whānau to stand up for their own to enable our whānau hauā to determine their own lives our whāngai to know their whakapapa and experience the joy of connection and the diversity of whānau to be supported and know that their greatest opportunity is to create the sense of belonging that makes us all strong.We are resolute in our drive to eliminate poverty and ensure that debt and deprivation do not define the limits of our world. We will continue to place a premium on housing. Homelessness must not be a part of our present or our future and I pause at this time to think of all those who this year for Christmas will be experiencing that in a car on somebody else’s couch or not anywhere at all. We are absolutely committed to creating real jobs to enable the Māori economy to thrive and to take due care and action in protecting our beautiful natural world from exploitation or abuse. We will do all that we can to sing our songs let our language live and enable all of our whānau hapū and iwi to know their tribal richness. We will ensure that all children understand the history of this nation—not just Māori children but all children—and to create an expectation that all public servants must be culturally intelligent. We will continue to place priority on whānau doing for themselves tending their māra kai taking responsibility for educational outcomes and investing in health and well-being as their greatest asset of hope. In doing all of these tasks we know that we have the greatest privilege and responsibility in answering the call from our constituency to bring the strong and independent voice of Māori into every debate.Although this 51st Parliament has really only just begun already we have been overwhelmed by the incredible dedication and commitment of the team within the parliamentary precincts: the Office of the Clerk Mary Harris the Deputy Clerk the Table Office the library team who help us to pull magic out of the hat through its extensive support the efficiency of Hansard the interpreters of course—tēnā koe Matua Wīremu—the fantastic security team who keep us safe with a smile the hard-working and wonderful cleaning staff the staff of Copperfields and Bellamy’s the IT team who have helped me keep in touch with the world out there and remind my children what I look like the building staff who look after our offices the finance staff the human resources team the VIP drivers the people with the white gloves the messengers the telephonists the parliamentary and ministerial staff the travel team and of course our very own Māori Party team—our advisers our electorate infrastructure our president vice-presidents and national council. Here I make special mention of our very own Helen Leahy.I look around all of our parliamentary colleagues and for some of us we share whakapapa. Ron—Ron Mark: Hey cuz.MARAMA FOX: —I meant to vote for you when you were put up for the Speaker because I thought that might be only vote you will ever get. But that is OK—that is OK—you are still my cousin. We thank you Mr Speaker for your team. We acknowledge the Prime Minister my new-found friend; Mr Brownlee the Leader of the House; the new Leader of the Opposition Mr Little; fellow party leaders; and all the elected representatives. In the spirit of the season we wish you all goodwill. My colleague and I would like to finish with a little Yuletide waiata.On the twelfth day of Christmas Māori Party gave to meTwelve tweeters tweetingEleven sizzling fried breadTen fattened pāuaNine Fox-y childrenEight juicy kinasSeven seats awaitingSix pois a-twirlingFive Whānau Ora navigatorsFour burning questionsThree Iron MāoriTwo smart co-leadersAnd a Meri Kirihimete ki a koe.