Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill

Third Reading: Thursday 3 May 2007

Hone Harawira, Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau

Tena tatou te Whare

The Maori Party also supports this bill.

But I too, have great reservations. Call me old-fashioned – like the last speaker said, but I don’t know whether the fight for human rights has properly taken into account the roles of women as nurturers in our whanau.

I also don’t believe that the role of Maori women in the front line has been addressed properly in this Bill.

You know, if we were on the front line, I would be more than happy to have my older sister and my younger sister beside me because they are a lot tougher than me and indeed that member sitting over there, Mahara Okeroa.

But that’s only in situations where we are pushed into that arena.

But as to a scenario when women are thrust into that circumstance, I don’t know if I would be so comfortable.

But anyway, I am delivering today, a speech on behalf of my colleague, Tariana Turia.

In May 1999, Makere Harawira ( no relation) stood at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference, to say:

“It has been said that when women regain their rightful place within the world, wars will cease.

It has also been said that women will refuse to give up their sons and daughters to war, wars will cease”.

As she points out, women have always occupied a central place in any discussion of war and indeed peace.

So it is not unusual to be considering the status of women in the context of the armed forces when we consider our histories throughout Aotearoa.

Women have served in the armed forces since 1914, but it wasn’t until 2000 that the restrictions preventing women from serving in combat roles were formally rescinded by a Defence Force Order.

Indeed, during World War Two some 10,000 women served in the armed forces.

And as of 1 July last year, some 2555 women served in our Defence Forces.

The greatest number of women of course, 42% of the total force, are employed as civilians; 24% in the army; 17.4% in the navy; and 16% in the air force.

So the reality is, this is not a question of whether or whether not, women should be allowed to be serving.

Instead, the Bill is a technicality - legislating what is now an operational practice.

This Bill amends section 33 of the Human Rights Act of 1993 to remove an exemption allowing discrimination against women; preventing them from serving in combat positions.

It is, then, in many ways, a mere formality as New Zealand no longer prevents women from serving at the front line.

But it is a formality which is important in so much as the removal of the exemption will enable us to fully ratify its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The Bill allows legislation to be updated to fit with changes in practice and it also enables compliance with international law.

Why is this so important?

Quite simply because New Zealand’s reputation has been significantly tarnished as a good international citizen.

Our exemplary human rights record was rubbished on 22 March 2005, when the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its finding over the Foreshore and Seabed Act of 2004.

The CERD committee consisted of eighteen independent experts in the area of human rights.

The Committee was petitioned by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the Treaty Tribes Coalition and Te Runanga o Te Rarawa to invoke its “early warning measures and urgent procedure” jurisdiction to require New Zealand to withdraw the Foreshore and Seabed legislation.

Just to put that into context: the early warning measures and urgent procedures aren’t often invoked.

Over recent years, it has been invoked for situations in Darfur, Israel, Guyana, Laos, the Ivory Coast and Suriname.

And now to our eternal shame, it has been invoked right here in Aotearoa.

The finding of the Committee is now on the international record. This House must recall, the Committee concluded that the foreshore and seabed legislation, and I quote:

Appears to contain discriminatory aspects against the Maori, in particular in its extinguishment of the possibility of establishing Maori customary titles over the foreshore and seabed and its failure to provide a guaranteed right of redress, notwithstanding the State party's obligations under articles 5 and 6 of the Convention.

But that wasn’t all – it was then only a matter of time before the United Nations called upon its Special Rapporteur to pay a visit Down-under and report on the situation here in Aotearoa.

That report concluded that the passage of the foreshore and seabed legislation was an important human rights issue for Maori and all New Zealanders; and indeed that it was a backward step for Maori in extinguishing all Maori rights to the foreshore and seabed.

So, Mr Speaker, the status of Aotearoa in the field of human rights, has been dramatically and adversely affected by retrograde legislation in the last few years.

The Maori Party is therefore pleased to continue to support this Human Rights Bill before the House tonight, in an attempt to somehow begin to remedy our tragic Human Rights record, which include censure from the UN's Committee Against Torture for our poor treatment of remand prisoners and particularly youth remand prisoners.

We noted also that five of the six submissions received by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee supported the Bill because of the significance of the commitment in making New Zealand a signatory to CEDAW without reservation.

What this means in practical terms, is that this Bill removes the only reservation blocking New Zealand from full participation in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. And that has to be a good thing for restoring our reputation.

In Line with Current Operations

The National Council of Women supported the Bill because it will not only achieve international compliance with legislation, but it will also be line with current practice in the Defence Force.

And we want, here, to acknowledge the good work that the Defence Force has done in addressing employment opportunities for women in its ranks.

The Defence Force has made substantial progress in gender integration over recent years, earning praise in a report of October 2005, for achieving a significant culture change.

A change that was desperately needed. The Burton Report of 1998 followed a high-profile Navy sexual harassment case taken to the Human Rights Commission which urged the need for change.

It appears that change has occurred on a wide-scale basis. Harassment has decreased dramatically from 129 complaints in 1997 to just 34 in 2005 and there are increasing numbers of women in all three branches – army, navy and air force.

The navy ranks have risen from 12.3% women to 20.9% women since 1990. Air force numbers have increased to 16.9% over the same period.

So we also take the opportunity tonight, to praise the New Zealand Defence Force, and to extend our appreciation to Lieutenant General Jeremiah Mateparae, son of Kahungunu and Tuwharetoa, country's top military post as Chief of Defence Forces.

Tangata whenua are proud of Jerry: that he is the highest ranked Maori officer in the New Zealand Defence Force, and also the youngest military chief to head the New Zealand Army.

We believe that the progress that the Defence Force has made in recent years to ensure that women can enjoy the same employment opportunities as men, is impressive.

And we look forward to that same advancement of equal employment opportunities being extended towards Maori.

It is about ensuring there are incentives and measures in place to achieve cultural, systemic and attitudinal change. It is about continuous improvement, and the journey towards institutional cultural competency.

The numbers show that Maori are strongly represented in the Army and Navy, but not in the Air Force.

Comparatively, Maori are also over-represented in the non-officer ranks, including that of Senior NCO, but strongly under-represented at the officer level.

And so we look forward to a companion Bill coming forward to the House to sustain progress in Aotearoa, that is the Human Rights (Maori in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill.

In the mean time, we in the Maori Party are happy to support this Bill, to ensure Aotearoa can improve its questionable international reputation in human rights; and to also keep up with current practice.

Tena koe Mr Speaker.

ENDS

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