Okeroa Mahara: General Debate 
Okeroa Mahara: General Debate 
[Volume:648;Page:16908] 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA (Minister of State) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Ki aku rahi Tainui Te Arawa Mataatua he rarau he rarau. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker. To my esteemed greatness Tainui Te Arawa and Mataatua a plume a plume 
.]  
I take as my starting point a quotation from the Deputy Prime Minister’s speech this morning because I think it actually encompasses what the deed signing was about. He said: “The parties to the Treaty had an opportunity to show that with good will it was possible for new settlers and indigenous people to gain and learn from each other. But almost immediately that opportunity slipped away. In the end our colonial experience was classic not unique; the mistakes of other nations that we had the chance to avoid we instead repeated. … We failed to deliver on our obligations of partnership and respect. We failed to deliver full equality for Maori and we failed to protect the rights of Maori—both their basic human rights and their rights of property.” But the events at the hui of yesterday today and apopo mean that all is not lost. 
However I am going to tell the people that on the horizon storm clouds are forming once again. Kai reira he ngarara e noho ana. 
[ 
There is a monster sitting over there 
.] 
What has become increasingly apparent is that this ngarara is taking form—hideous in fact. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Hideous? 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA 
: Hideous. The only policy that National seems to actually hold without flip-flop and fly is the policy on the abolition of Maori seats. I cannot understand when National has a history of Maori members—icons in New Zealand and Maori history who occupied Tory seats. We have Ngata we have Pomare we have Carroll we have Te Rangi Hiroa and we have others. Yet that party is hell-bent on abolishing Maori seats abolishing our right to make choices and abolishing our right to have options as tangata whenua. It is almost the same as a Treaty breach because what that does for you people is that if National wins the next election—and I will certainly win the Te Tai Tonga seat ahead of Bill English—that is the reality that will confront you as a people. Today we were absolutely proud ka tu mana mai i runga i te kaupapa tuku iho a koro a kui ma kua waihongia 
[ 
standing proudly upon the proposal handed down by the elderly men and women 
] 
and then we have this ngarara sitting there if National members should assume the Treasury benches. I have some sympathy with the Maori Party because what will happen is e te hoa kua ngaro koutou i te iwi kua ngaro pera etahi o matou. 
[ 
friend you have lost the people like some of us 
.]  
I cannot see how talks of coalition can actually go hand in hand with a party that bases its opinion on some research done in a remote university in Canterbury led by a professor of law by the name of Philip Joseph who says— 
Dail Jones 
: Business Roundtable. 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA 
: Oh Business Roundtable. Yes they are mates. I forgot them; put them in. He said separate seats are “a symbol of racial separatism.” and “an insidious form of reverse discrimination” that “sideline Maori … issues”. Like hell they do! That is why you are here today. I have news for Professor Philip Joseph. I tell him to stop living in Ostrich Avenue with his head buried somewhere subterranean. The abolition of Maori seats is not just about the individuals who occupy them at this point in time. He tunga tohunga tena he reo mo nga iwi katoa o te motu. 
[ 
That is an important role being an advocate for all the people of the land. 
] 
What it says is you will not have an electorate MP at all in any of those seven seats to represent your specific Maori issues but they will. 
Eric Roy 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am reluctant to interrupt the member but you have already admonished the gallery for taking part by applause today yet we have a member—and Speaker’s rulings 45/4 and 45/5 state that a member must not address the gallery—continually using the word “you”. Is he referring to you Mr Assistant Speaker or to the gallery? I think if we are going to maintain some level of order then there needs to be some determination on that. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Can I remind the member that the debate is within the Chamber so he has to address the Chamber through the Speaker or to the members. 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA 
: Ahakoa kua mohio au ka noho mai i runga ra ko te ture o te Whare me korero mai i runga i te papa o te Whare. 
[ 
I know that if you sit up there the rule of the House is that you must speak from the floor 
.] 
I thought that was a rather technical issue because we have forms of respect that you do not understand. I am referring to that member not to the Speaker. I am saying here that the dreams of assimilation are the nightmares of our people. Tena tatou katoa.