Fox MaramaOATHS AND DECLARATIONS (ENDORSING THE PRINCIPLES OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): I move That the Oaths and Declarations (Endorsing the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Māori Affairs Committee. It is with somewhat of a heavy heart that I stand in the House of Representatives tonight to speak to this bill knowing full well that it does not have the numbers to succeed beyond its first reading. It is with a sense of bewilderment and extreme sadness that I speak to the simple yet powerful provisions encapsulated in the 16 words of the text that I seek to have added to the Oaths and Declarations Act. Tonight I speak to the collective conscience of this House and do so as many of my predecessors have done and compel that conscience to act in the interest of our nation and vote in support of this bill to swear a commitment of faith to our beloved Treaty of Waitangi. Tonight I ask us to put aside our philosophical positions our polls and our party spin and replace them with honour to maintain affirm defend and give support to the notion that in fulfilling our public duty we act in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. And if you cannot do this if you cannot bring yourselves to vote in favour of this then vote for others who seek it in their hearts to do so and allow us the choice. This bill follows on from the Māori Party's previous efforts in 2012 to have the Treaty honoured during the taking of an oath—nothing more nothing less than simple acknowledgment that if you so desired you could add seven simple words at the time saying I will uphold the Treaty of Waitangi" when you pledged your oath of office. At that time when the bill was heard the Hon Tau Henare cautioned us with this statement in this House: "This bill is not some sort of procedural motion that we are talking about. We are not talking about some minor procedural motion. We are talking about something that goes to the heart of the identification of this country." I feel glad that I live in this country where I can send my kids to a total immersion school and where I can get up and speak my own language in the House of Representatives. There are three languages in the House of Representatives—what a great democracy. What a great place. And we could have gone just that little bit further tonight by saying that if you want to—if you want to—you could swear allegiance not only to the Queen not only to the nation but also to the founding document of our nation the Treaty of Waitangi. At that time there were calls to have more discussion about our constitutional arrangements and to await the outcome of a constitutional review. There were fears—irrational fears I would call them—and concerns that there was not enough certainty about what was actually meant if you gave an oath to support our Treaty and someone else did not. There were other concerns raised about how consistent the bill was with other Acts such as the Citizenship Act. There were even comments made that the bill is not the right platform as the status of the Treaty is still evolving and that a wider discussion should involve all New Zealanders. I consider it entirely inappropriate to enslave the debate for this bill to the confines of half-baked arguments that offering this choice for those who accept to take up the option will result in some sort of binding contract between the Treaty and the giver of the oath. Our founding document deserves more and we deserve more. To suggest that because some do not know what the principles of the Treaty are they should not be included at all ever—I ask this House to remove the shackles of politics and to emancipate itself from the rhetoric that the Treaty has no place in this House and instead to consider it an honour to be afforded the opportunity to swear an oath of faith in all that it means to be a representative of our people through the premise and the promise of our Treaty relationship. To be truly representative of our people we must be representative of our founding history. Burying our heads in the sand and relegating the Treaty to the too-hard basket is just not an option. Worse relegating constitutional discussions about the Treaty to being only about Treaty settlements is unfortunate. We cannot rewrite history and nor should we try. We know that change and enduring change is a lengthy process. History tells us that it is with small sure incremental steps that a vision for unity in diversity can be realised. We are not there yet by any means and this bill is an example of how far we have to travel before our potential for partnership is actually achieved. And what are we if we are not a House of Representatives? So many times I have sat as an observer in this House and have wondered at the courage that it will take to bring these fundamental issues to the forefront of our debates. What is so wrong with supporting this bill to its first reading so that it can be sent off to select committee for the debate to be heard so that it can receive submissions from the New Zealand public? And that is why we have brought this bill back to the House. In fact I have brought this bill back to the House with the changes that I believe allay any concerns that have been expressed earlier. I have for example awaited the constitutional review which is now complete. I have offered to work to ensure consistency with other Acts and that the additional oath given will be for parliamentary purposes only. I have agreed to maintain section 4 of the Oaths and Declarations Act which allows for alternative affirmations in place of the oath. I find it quite remarkable that you can choose to take an oath and omit God but not the Queen but yet here it is and yet we choose to omit the Treaty. And yet despite all of this I cannot get the agreement of the House to get the bill to a select committee. The Māori Party will not resile from the challenge of this or any other issue that advances the interest of tangata whenua in the interest of our nation. The irony is not lost on me that today we have one of the most significant days of our history. Today in the Māori Affairs Committee we got to discuss the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill. That bill will recognise the awa in its own entity and today we got to discuss that in the select committee. It is partnership in true action and yet here we are—here we are—about to turn down this bill which simply seeks to allow every person who takes an oath in addition to repeating the words of the oath to elect to state that they will perform their duties in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. That means that any person who elects to state that they will perform their duties in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi may do so by making the following statement either before the words of the oath or at the end of the affirmation: "I will perform my duties in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi." or "E ai ki ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi ka whakatutuki ahau i ōku mahi." And what can be so hard as to agree to give people the choice as to whether they wish to act in accordance with the principles of the Treaty? Some might ask what that means in reality. Well in reality it simply means giving expression to partnership being cognisant of our duality of nationhood and being understanding of our diverse cultures as we discharge our obligations as servants of our people. I want to finish with the prophetic words of our founding Māori Party co-leader Dame Tariana Turia from a speech that she gave in Dunedin in 2004: "The Māori Party is committed to ensuring all New Zealanders have an understanding of and respect for the status of tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Treaty is the ultimate key to an effective relationship between our peoples. It should not be used to defy or destroy us. Our tipuna—those of the Crown and those of tangata whenua—embraced it as a strategy to live together peacefully in this nation." We should honour their intention and I recommend this bill to the House."