Harawira Hone: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Harawira Hone: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7438] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tenatatou te Whare. E Shane kaua koe e wareware ki te pakipaki mai a te mutunga o takukorero. 
[ 
Do not forget to clap at the end of my speech Shane. 
] 
The Prime Minister flagged a number of good ideas in her speech the other day but in allowing her Government to support Transit’s mind-numbing decision to refuse to allow the Maori flag to be flown on the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day she also flagged her Government’s support for petty bureaucracy small-mindedness and blockheaded racism. I say this because Transit and the Government have allowed us to be shown up by no less a country than Australia for heaven’s sake—Australia which we like to look down our noses at in respect of its horrendous treatment of indigenous people and which treat their tangata whenua as either sports heroes artists or drunks. 
 Shame on us then when a former Australian Commissioner for Indigenous Affairs can say at Waitangi that he is surprised Maori are not afforded the same rights as Aboriginals. I say this because his views echoed those of thousands of others stunned at Transit saying that only national flags could fly on the bridge when we can all remember the Loyal flag flying proudly from the bridge during the America’s Cup campaign. I had to laugh when I saw Brian Rudman’s article in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 when he stated: “If it’s acceptable to fly the flags of such remote and democratically challenged countries as Albania and Lebanon atop the bridge to mark their national days then how can flying the de facto Maori flag alongside the New Zealand ensign on Waitangi Day be deemed inappropriate?”. He said: “If I were in charge I’d go further. I’d hijack that Maori tino rangatiratanga flag as our new national flag and fly it over the bridge—and elsewhere—permanently posting the borrowed British naval ensign we’ve made do with for too long back to the admirals in Whitehall.” 
When the hikoi crossed the bridge in 2004 amid the howling protests of the rednecks the fools the foul-mouths and the bigots there were no problems no injuries no traffic jams no hassles and no arrests. For all the foul weather the day went off like a dream. So flying the flag on Waitangi Day should have been a no-brainer a measure of our maturity as a nation and a recognition of the partnership of which Waitangi Day speaks so eloquently. In the end it flew with pride all over the country except from the harbour bridge. Next year hopefully it will also fly with pride from the bridge that joins the nation’s finest electorate Te Tai Tokerau to the nation’s most boisterous TamakiMakaurau. 
In truth the flag was not the only thing being ignored by the Crown on Waitangi Day. Indeed I can recall a comment from a Minister of this very Government who said: “The omission of any reference to the Treaty would be interpreted by Maori as indicative of a less than whole-hearted commitment to the principle of partnership …”. My my my how those words have come home to roost for here we are in 2007 and what do we see? We see that same Government now voting to delete Treaty references taking the Treaty out of the school curriculum dropping Maori appointments to Government bodies and denying Maori the right to the due process that all other Kiwis enjoy. 
Denying Maori the right to fly their flag on Waitangi Day is symbolic of this Government’s flagrant denial of Maori rights and refusal to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. It was with that background of heavily politicised debate around the Treaty that I floated the idea of a Treaty Commissioner at Waitangi on 6 February 2007—an idea supported by Mr Shane Jones of the Labour Party. As a guide for that role I looked to the late Laurie O’Reilly Commissioner for Children from 1994 to 1998 a man who vigorously defined the role of protecting and promoting children’s rights. That is the role I see for a Treaty Commissioner: to protect and promote the rights of the Treaty and to encourage us all to uphold the Treaty as the very foundation of our nation—and I quote the Prime Minister herself who said: “The basis of constitutional Government in this country is to be found in its founding document the Treaty of Waitangi.”—to honour the vision of those who signed the Treaty to promote the Treaty’s commitment to partnership to support Maori rights to control all authority over their treasures to ensure that Waitangi Day is meaningful to all citizens to review any decision made in respect of the Treaty to raise awareness and understanding of the Treaty to be an advocate for the Treaty and to promote the proper application of the Treaty in legislation. 
The Treaty of Waitangi is this nation’s most revered and treasured document—indeed our most important constitutional manuscript. Given the intensity of the debate that continues to rage around its validity I would humbly suggest that a commissioner to protect and promote its interests is an idea whose time has well and truly arrived. Kia ora.