Delahunty Catherine: Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Delahunty Catherine: Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 05 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7252. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
Tena koutou e te Whare. The Green Party is really happy to be supporting this Cultural Property (Protection in Armed Conflict) Bill. I have just read Keith Locke’s second reading speech from 2008 which shows you how long ago it was that this bill was first brought into this House. 
I do not see it as a minor piece of legislation. I think it is actually quite significant and plays an important part in the international body of jurisprudence around dealing with an issue that is by no means going away. It is a big international issue it is an important issue and this is a very very good bill. Obviously the ability to stop the theft and trade of the spoils of war is complicated but at least we are starting with something coherent for our own country and that is a very good thing. We are laying out clearly what it is that we can do to be part of the positive commitment to the Hague convention which is also a very positive thing. 
Interestingly enough in Keith Locke’s speech he talks about the way in which what happens to the spoils of war is not something that happens at random but is actually often part of a deliberate destruction of significant cultural property of people in order to have a huge effect on the national psyche. I think that is a really important point when we are considering the importance of this bill. If you look at the national psyche of Iraq or other countries in the Middle East and what has happened to much of their taonga how significant that has been and how those many artefacts have been hocked off around the world by people it is important to criminalise this because of that effect—not only the loss of those taonga to those nations but also the psychological effect of nations who have been subjected to war losing their taonga. 
I guess we are also keen to bring this point back home. I agree with the Hon Maryan Street’s comments about moko mokai but also if you look at the history of this country the spoils of war have been very much part of the history of this country and in a way that we would no longer countenance. But it is good to remember that the spoils of war have included women and the spoils of war have included taonga. All of those things have been used to destroy the psyche of nations and should be criminalised as well as the taking of life. It is not good enough to say that bad things happen in war which is why I support this bill because it is saying no that we can be accountable that we can track what goes on and that we can prosecute people who are perpetuating these illegal and immoral acts. 
Take for example the experience of Bell Block in Taranaki. The archaeologists there when they carried out the extensive works in Taranaki found that the original ancient marae in Bell Block had been destroyed by the British occupying forces as part of the spoils of war if you like by literally building their camp on top of the ancient pa site at Bell Block. That did huge damage to what could have been a fantastic taonga for the local people and also for the history of this country. Those things cannot happen so easily today as we have Heritage New Zealand but it is still interesting to consider the spoils of war in our own context when considering this bill which has a strong international focus. 
If we consider the wharenui that is in Te Papa Te Hau ki Turanga the Rongowhakaata wharenui was a spoil of war and the settlement bill that came before this House not long ago was part of acknowledging that. It is very important for us in taking the moral high ground as we should in this bill to acknowledge that the spoils of war have had a huge psychic effect on tangata whenua of this country in our own history of colonisation. 
So it is excellent that we move forward on all these fronts in terms of the idea that these iconic buildings in some cases taonga and others are acknowledged as being central to the peace and well-being of nations to their identity and psyche and to the rule of law. 
The Green Party is very pleased to be supporting this bill. We are very aware that there is a lot to be done internationally to make it happen and that it is very very complex. We are aware that the problem affects many nations other than our own but at least we are making a start in saying what we can do in this country. 
We are not limiting it just to soldiers. The flow chart that was referred to also covers perhaps mercenaries and perhaps people involved in war and they can also be found to be criminals if they participate in this destruction. This destruction has affected many many peoples all around the world including the Sri Lankan people—the Tamils when they lost the Jaffna library which was burnt in the 1980s. A library is more than just a building; it is a repository of culture. So this bill is very much acknowledging that culture is broad culture is deep and culture is people’s identity and if we steal it and destroy it as conquerors then we need to be held to account. 
So it is going to be interesting to see how various military actions of the 21st century are viewed in terms of the spoils of war and in terms of how we are going to hold them to account. This bill is very timely. We need to follow up on our obligations. We have signed meaningful protocols and we need to make sure that we make this real. 
I think a lot of work was done at the Government Administration Committee which I was not part of in 2008. Now at last we are coming to the point where we are saying we can sign it off. I do not think that anyone in this House would be in disagreement. It is not always clear whether we would be able to cover every theft that takes place in war but I think it is clear that we will do our best. 
The Green Party is very interested in history and in our own history and our own accountability and also the issue of moko mokai which was raised which is ongoing. I can think of a mountain Kikitangiao in Tai Tokerau where an Austrian so-called explorer—his name was Andreas Reischek—stole from urupa some taonga that are still in Europe. So there is still a lot of work to be done around this. I am not sure whether this bill applies directly to moko mokai—those initiatives are ongoing—but there is a lot of unfinished business on the planet around this issue. 
We are pleased to support this bill because we believe it helps to finish that business and it helps to provide legal instruments hopefully as a deterrent to some of the appalling destruction that has taken place in the name of the rights of the conqueror to take the spoils of war. Thank you.