Flavell Te Ururoa: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:647;Page:15889] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou e hoa ma i tenei po. Nau mai hoki mai ki te Whare ki te taupatupatu i nga take o te wa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us fellow members of Parliament tonight. Welcome back to the House to debate current business 
.] 
The importance of correct pronunciation and respect for a region or territory is centuries old. My colleague Mr Hone Harawira referred me to the Bible to Judges 12:6. We all know that Hone Harawira is a fine upstanding citizen of St Stephen’s School. I listened to him and I took down this quote. [ 
Interruption 
] I ask members to listen to this because it is very important. 
“Then said they unto him Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the passes of Jordan”.  
How awesome that quote is! They slew him at the passes of Jordan. In the days of the Old Testament mispronunciation bore a price obviously.  
This bill the New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill made me return to the wisdom of times gone by and wonder whether the lazy or downright careless mispronunciation of geographic names should also carry a price. Death? Maybe not. Flogging? No that is a little bit tough. Sitting next to Hone Harawira? Now that could be good.  
We in the Maori Party can I say have been appreciative of the way in which this particular legislation has stimulated such a wide-ranging and thought-provoking debate about the importance of nomenclature—the selection of names. During the course of this bill we were duly advised by Darien Fenton Sandra Goudie Tau Henare and others of the correct pronunciation of their names—and the House should be suitably equipped now to pronounce the names of Tariana Turia Te Ururoa Flavell Pita Sharples and Hone Harawira with due respect and regard to the tupuna names that we carry. I am also impressed by the way in which my offer of help was taken up by some members of the House and it has been very pleasing throughout the debate to observe the efforts that some members have made to take care with the pronunciation of the geographic place names under consideration.  
There is just one more development that is needed and that is the correct pronunciation of Maori names outside of the discussion on this bill—even the word “Maori” and probably “Taranaki” I would suspect. I have a quick pronunciation sheet available here for all members of the House. I have prepared it as a follow-up so that in the future members can get it right.  
The debate has also provoked a lot of interest in the outside world. I have received emails informing me of the meaning of the names of such places as Te Urewera Panekaka and Kaikiore; advising me that Putauaki is not Mount Edgecumbe and never will be; and reminding me that Ranana is not London and that it is best that we all learn to tell the difference between those names. Naming rights are the way in which we demonstrate our respect for the origins and heritage of the place belonging to the name or more particularly for the name that belongs to the place. The bill will establish the development of rules protocols and guidelines to enable a systematic and standardised approach to the official naming of geographic features. We would hope that this systematic and standardised approach will benefit from the pearls of wisdom shared in the debating chamber over these last couple of weeks.  
Last year as part of the Speaker’s delegation to Europe I was made aware of the protocols that have been adopted in Sweden which require that all new names must have a linguistic form that is compatible with the Swedish language. The Swedish Names Act recommends that any names whose composition pronunciation or spelling are such that their linguistic form is not appropriate as surnames in Sweden will not be accepted by the Swedish Patent and Registration Office. As we debated in this House the standing of the two official languages of Aotearoa—te reo Maori and New Zealand Sign Language—and the de facto language of common use English I have wondered indeed about which language would inform the naming of geographic features and of the Crown protected areas. Would te reo Maori for example be the standard against which all geographic names would be approved? Which histories are honoured; whose ancestors are recognised?  
In her 2001 doctorate thesis  
Tihei Mauri Ora: Honouring our Voices 
 Dr Leonie Pihama describes the possibility of renaming of the places around her home town Waitara because those streets commemorate for example the chief Crown purchasing agent a guy called Donald MacLean; the Governor Gore Browne the Hon Alfred Domett Colonial Secretary at the outbreak of the Maori war; Robert Parris the civil commissioner of Taranaki who was intimately connected to the conflict at Waitara; Lieutenant Blake of HMS  
Niger 
; Governor Sir George Grey; and so on. We can imagine how the iwi of Te Atiawa feel every day travelling down MacLean Browne Domett Parris Blake and Grey Streets and recognising the history that comes with those names. We can imagine also how they would feel travelling down streets that recognise the special histories and people of Ngati Rahiri Otaraua Pukerangiora Puketapu Ngati Tawhirikura Manukorihi Ngati Tuparikino Ngati Te Whiti and Hamua.  
I would suggest that we need a new approach. Can I say that the open-minded approach of most members of this House in considering the significance of geographical names is the type of approach that we would seek at both the national and territorial level regarding naming decisions. I say that because we noted that there was a clear consensus throughout the submissions on whether the board naming decisions should be made binding or advisory only. There was some support for retaining the status quo: what could be considered to be a mix of both binding and advisory powers. Currently most board decisions are final and binding but the board is also able to act in an advisory capacity when it receives objections to a name proposal. In those circumstances a board recommendation is sent to the Minister for a final decision. 
This latter example was the situation that confronted the Minister in March 2005 when the Geographic Board sought to correct the spelling of Mount Parahaki in Whangarei to Mount Parihaka. Mount Parihaka for those who are not aware was the site of a very substantial pa in pre-European times and comes under the care of the Te Parawhau hapu as tangata whenua in the Whangarei region. Now the Minister was required to make a decision under section 13 of the Act on whether to confirm modify or reverse the board’s recommendation. One matter that was indeed of crucial importance to both the board and the Minister was whether an original Maori place name existed. In coming to the point of decision making there was unanimous agreement between the various Maori groups represented at the meeting on 14 June 2005 that Parihaka was the name that had always been used in their oratory on marae. As the case developed it became apparent that although the Native Land Court had sometimes got Maori names wrong the oral record by chant and repetition keeps the correct pronunciation coming through in its original form. The board was assured that Parihaka was the name that Maori were using in the 19th century and earlier. Accordingly the Minister confirmed the correction of the name back to Parihaka. 
I wanted to share that case study in some depth as it represents to me an excellent and robust process. It is important that we remember there are processes that work that there are people who believe in consultation and that there are local government authorities that do respect mana whenua. Sometimes when some of our more media-hungry mayors hit the airwaves yet again with their pet hate we can overlook the positives that do happen. 
I was thinking about that yesterday when Wanganui mayor Michael Laws instructed residents that any move to add an “h” to the name of Wanganui “will be fiercely resisted”. Yes here he is—“Mr Mohio”; “Mr Knowledgable” of Maori names pronunciation history and culture. You see Te Runanga o Tupoho a local iwi committee has petitioned the New Zealand Geographic Board to put the “h” in Wanganui so as to spell the city “Whanganui”. The Maori Party says it is a fundamental human right to ensure that the integrity of local language is upheld. Whanganui was the name given to the area by an ancestor over 600 years ago. It acknowledges the existence identity and status of tangata whenua. It was tangata whenua who originally named the geographic features of the district and retaining their tribal spelling is all about respecting that special relationship. Yet the local authority the Wanganui District Council slaps them in the face by describing their decision to retain the traditional spelling of the name “Whanganui” as a “needlessly provocative gesture”. Well give me a break! 
In closing I say that in that issue there could not be a more dramatic departure from the precedent established by the people of Whangarei. We will support this bill in the optimistic hope that the legislation we are debating today will enable a benchmark for best practice to assist wayward councils back into processes that serve not to undermine and belittle but to honour and respect the relationship they have with tangata whenua.