Flavell Te Ururoa: Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:659;Page:8473] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Barker. Kia ora tatou katoa i tenei ahiahi. I do not think it would be any surprise to the House that for the Maori Party the crux of the issue in the Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill is the whole notion of the value of Maori representation on tertiary governance bodies including mana whenua and Maori student representation as well. I suppose it becomes more relevant in terms of some of the discussions that have been put before the House today on in particular the feedback from the Education and Science Committee. It amended the bill by deleting the four positions for representatives from the academic board the students and the community and for the chief executive officer. There can be no doubt that by providing for only one community member the chance of Maori representation on any polytechnic council is pretty slim. For us that is a real concern. 
The next question is why Maori representation is such a significant issue. Well it is pretty simple. Some members have already set it out. It is about a Treaty right. To give that some context the 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System said: “the Treaty of Waitangi marked the beginning of constitutional government in New Zealand. Under the terms of the Treaty the Crown formally recognised the existing rights of Maori and undertook to protect them. It is in this sense that Maori people have a special constitutional status.” That is one part of the argument—a Treaty right. Although the bill has a requirement that it is “desirable” that the council of an institution should reflect so far as is reasonably practicable the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the communities served by the institution I have to say that it is a pretty toothless provision that disregards the constitutional significance of the Crown’s relationship to Maori. 
I also have to say that the failure of successive Governments to recognise and give effect to the Treaty as a basis of constitutional Government in New Zealand does not grant consent for subsequent Governments to perpetuate the failure. I need to tell this Parliament that the Maori Party will continue to keep the notion of Treaty rights at the forefront of discussions about our nationhood which are basically reflected in the relationship between Maori and Pakeha in this land. I also have to say that the Maori Party gained a lot of confidence from our relationship agreement with the National Party which said: “Both the National Party and the Maori Party will act in accordance with te Tiriti o Waitangi the Treaty of Waitangi” That of course will be an ongoing discussion. All of that context simply tells us that Maori representation is a Treaty right that is appropriate in the context of our history and our understanding of tangata whenua rights. 
The main concern about the bill is as I said the lack of Maori or iwi Treaty partnerships reflected in the arrangements and I would expect the Minister for Tertiary Education to be working with iwi entities at least to ensure that proper representation is enabled. We spoke about this matter in the first reading. Maori representation on polytech boards stems from our status as mana whenua—the mana of the land. We have been the guardians of the land the seas and the harbours of the regions for centuries. To put it into context Maori welcomed and gave a place to the settlers expecting to live alongside them in a respectful relationship. We all need to recognise that relationship today if we want to move into a positive future based on peaceful relationships between people and the land. 
To wrap it all up the unique status of Maori also requires that our values norms and ways of doing things should be reflected in all of our key institutions. It is about giving space to Maori culture and that is what we have been asking for not only with this bill but also with the whole question about the Auckland super-city proposal. It is important because giving space to Maori culture is about our survival and about our ability to flourish in the only place in the world where that is possible: Aotearoa our home. 
Many would not be aware that last Friday a hui was called at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec in Auckland. It was attended by representatives of iwi hapu whanau marae and tangata Tiriti from throughout the whole country. At that hui known as Te Hui o te Kotahitanga the participants pledged ongoing support for dedicated seats on Auckland’s super-city council for the mana whenua. A report from that hui concluded that it had reinforced the determination of Maori to support the legitimate right of mana whenua of Tamaki to have reserved seats as recommended by the royal commission and as supported by 80 percent of the public’s submissions on the super-city. The report concluded that a genuine Treaty relationship would reflect equal fifty-fifty representation of tangata whenua and tauiwi at governance level. However as a very minimum there should be three guaranteed seats for Maori representation and more important mana whenua representation as recommended by the royal commission. In that regard this discussion is not just about polytechs; it is in fact about the bigger picture and the whole notion of Treaty rights. 
How does all this discussion relate back to a bill on polytechnics? I am proud to speak to a bicultural partnership governance model for polytechnics put together by the Waiariki Institute of Technology—Te Whare Takiura o te Waiariki. As the local member I am pleased to support the proposal. The proposal has been approved and strongly supported by the Maori Party and we have referred it to the Minister for Tertiary Education for consideration. The model proposes an equal number of council appointments for Crown and Maori with community appointments filling the balance of the required council positions. The model has a bicultural focus and proposes an active demonstration of Treaty commitments. The paper describes those commitments as the Treaty relationship of partnership the Crown’s duty of active protection and the duty to act reasonably and in good faith by meaningful participation including the obligation to consult. The special relationship would be endorsed by formal recognition of representative tertiary education iwi authorities as legislated bodies. 
We are talking about allowing iwi to have space to formalise agreements with the Crown that basically allow iwi to set up their own forums and present proposals to these sorts of bodies. I suppose in a sense they are legitimised by a rubber stamp from the Crown as well. Once the iwi authority is established by the iwi in the rohe it would elect members for appointment to the polytechnic council. If members did not know a number of polytechnics throughout the country already follow this particular model. The recommendation is that the council then would comprise a minimum of nine and a maximum of 12 members three of whom would be appointed by the Minister after council input three appointed by the representative tertiary education iwi authority and up to four appointed by the people living in the community served by the polytechnic. 
I was pretty impressed by the model as was the Minister of Maori Affairs. The Maori Party will be introducing a Supplementary Order Paper at the appropriate time and I look forward to support for it from in particular Labour and the other parties. I take on the words of Ranginui Walker who commented earlier this year: “The Waiariki Institute of Technology is a surrogate of the Crown. It has accommodated the tino rangatiratanga of Te Arawa and other tribes in the institution’s catchment area by committing to a partnership with tangata whenua.” That should set the scene. It has been operating in this way since the year 2000 and in its structure Te Mana Matauranga 
of the Waiariki trust represents the people of Te Arawa Mataatua and Tainui waka including Ngati Raukawa Ngati Awa Tuwharetoa and other iwi whose ancestral homelands lie within this area. The structure involves a joint committee of five council members and five from Te Mana Matauranga. It is a unique bicultural model in a mainstream setting—the best of both worlds. In a practical sense it aims to indigenise the curriculum and produce graduates who are culturally competent. 
So in conclusion there are other models of Maori representation such as those of Tairawhiti Polytechnic and Whitireia Community Polytechnic that reflect the quality of the relationship with local iwi relationships that are formally recognised through direct council representation. The Tairawhiti Polytechnic council for instance has four community places held by Te Runanga o Ngati Porou Te Runanga o Turanganui-a-Kiwa the Wairoa Waikaremoana Maori Trust Board and the Maori Women’s Welfare League. If the community viewpoint including mana whenua through its representatives is removed the focus of governance decision-making under this bill will quite quickly become central government based rather than regionally based. It is more important for central government to respond to community needs than it is for regions to respond to centralised requests. 
Maori representation is a Treaty right. It is critical for robust decision-making and institutional success over the long term. It is critical for our capacity as a Parliament to act in accordance with the Treaty of Waitangi. So we will at this point be supporting this bill. We will be introducing an Supplementary Order Paper and we will reassess the bill at the appropriate time in the third reading.