Turia Tariana: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Turia Tariana: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:633;Page:5254] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. I could not help but agree with Judith Collins and Ron Mark on the issues they have raised in terms of Nancy Wake. It kind of makes the Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill look hypocritical in that here we are talking about women being at the front line yet we are not prepared to honour the woman who stood at the front line and who is somebody of Maori and New Zealand descent. I feel quite ashamed about that actually. 
When it comes to discussion of the armed services this is one area where Maori people can be proud of their statistics. The numbers of Maori who serve in the area of combat are huge and I am really proud of them. In the excellent publication of 1984  
The 
Maori Battalion Remembers 
 Sister Pare Kopou-Saxby describes her experiences as part of the New Zealand Army which included sailing up the Suez Canal to Port Said arriving in Tripoli and eventually transferring to 3G.H in Bari. 
Memories of very heavy air raids bombed buildings and dust storms are casually described alongside stories of leave in London and sightseeing. Indeed the ordinariness of women taking up leadership in defence and peacekeeping roles is well known in Te Ao Maori. In a 1994 paper Ani Mikaere described Maori women from all iwi performing leadership roles in all spheres. She described Waitohi the sister of Te Rauparaha as a leader and an accomplished military strategist. She referred to Heni Pore of Te Arawa who fought against the British troops in support of the Kingitanga in the 1860s and who also fought in the battle of Gate Pa at Tauranga in 1864. Other tribal accounts honour the voice of women who would make the call to lead the warriors who recognised the clarity of their karanga. 
This glorious background of strength valour and leadership provides a useful context for understanding the attraction of the armed forces for many Maori women. It also provides the context that makes it easy for the Maori Party to support a bill that removes all impediments from women being able to serve at the front line if they so choose. However the Maori Party supports the bill with some reservations for our preference is that armed forces would be deployed only under the auspices of supporting a peacekeeping role in the world. 
We see this bill as a formality. It allows legislation to be updated to fit with the changes in practice as well as being consistent with international conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The bill also gives us an opportunity to promote the fact that the New Zealand Defence Force has made significant progress in improving the representation and distribution of women throughout the services. 
Although the intent of the bill is to repeal section 33 of the Human Rights Act 1993 to remove the exemption allowing discrimination against women it is possible only because the armed forces have made changes to the culture to accept and value women alongside men. Importantly a recent review has concluded that the armed forces have made much-needed improvements in the way in which harassment issues are dealt with as well. 
 The review in progress of what is called gender integration came in response to a report instigated by the Human Rights Commission the Burton report. That report in turn responded to complaints about the way in which the Defence Force was managing allegations of harassment and mistreatment. Flight Sergeant Viti Flanagan the first female engine runner in the Air Force talked about the challenge of facing sexist attitudes. Of Maori Fijian and European whakapapa Viti was from a highly matriarchal family where women were expected to achieve along with the best of the men. 
She reflected on some of her experiences: “Anyone in a position of power could make it difficult. You could either fight every battle and lose the war or choose your battles and ignore the rest. That’s what I did. But it was quite a lonely existence.” Laura Gillan the Human Resources Manager for the New Zealand Defence Force described the enormity of the change: “We are talking about cultural systemic and attitudinal change. … It is up to Defence Force leaders to consider these and decide whether some of the systems within the services reflect modern arrangement and the expectations of society as a whole.” I say that as we progress this bill we should honour all our women and particularly Nancy Wake one of our most honourable women in combat. Na reira tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker.