Flavell: Christ’s College (Cant'y) Amendment Bill

Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill
First Reading17 March 2010

TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki):
Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker, kia ora tātau katoa. Ko tāku i te tuatahi, he whaiwhai haere i te kōrero a tēnei nā mō tērā kua riro ki tua o te pae. Ko Bevan Tīpene-Matua tērā, ā, he uri o ngā waka o ngā iwi e kōrerohia ake nei; a Ngāti Kahungunu, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Rangitāne, Ngāti Raukawa. He tangata ngākaunui ki te āhuatanga o te mātauranga o te tangata i noho tahi ia i roto o Te Wai Pounamu, i Ōtautahi tonu. Nō reira, e aroha atu ana ki a ia mō tōna whānau e rongo nei i te āhuatanga o mokemoke, o pani. No reira ko ia tērā.

Kāti, ka hoki mai ki te pūtake o tēnei o ngā pire kia whakatakotohia ki mua i te aroaro o te Whare Pāremata mō tōna pānuitanga tuatahi. Ko tāku, ko te kī atu ki te Whare Pāremata kei te tautoko ake te Pāti Māori ki tēnei āhuatanga i tōna tuatahitanga. Pēnei i te kura i haere nei māua ko te Shane Jones mātou ko Hone Harawira, he kura ē hia kē nei ngā tau e noho nei i te mata o te whenua. I a au e rongo ana i te kōrero a te mema nei a Nicky Wagner, āhua ōrite me kī te kaupapa o te kura ki tā te Kura o Tīpene, i te wā i a ia e ora ana, ko te whakapono ka mutu, ko te mātauranga, otirā ngā āhuatanga o te mātauranga. Nō reira, kai te waia, kai te mōhio tonu au ki te āhuatanga o ēnei momo kura.

Engari, tērā pea ko te nuinga o te Whare Pāremata ka mutu o te motu, ka pōhēhē nei kāre he paku wāhanga o te Ao Māori i roto i tēnei momo kura, engari he whakaaro hē tēnā. I a au e rangahau ana i ngā kōrero mō tēnei o ngā pire, i puta te kōrero, ē, kua puta mai tētahi mema o te Whare Pāremata i tērā kura tonu. Nā, ko te nuinga pea, kāre i te tino mōhio ko tētahi o ngā mema Pāremata mō te, me kī, mō te takiwā o te tūru Māori ki te Rāwhiti, ko Jack Ormond tērā, ā, ko ia tērā i haere ki te kura o Christ’s College. Ko ia tērā i haere ki tāwāhi ki te pakanga tuatahi o te ao, i roto i te, me kī, a Tūmatauenga. Ka mutu, i haere ki roto o Rātana, ā, ka mutu, ka hara mai ia ki roto i te Whare Pāremata nei i te tau 1946. Ka noho mai ki konei mō ngā tau e rua tekau. I muri mai, ā, ko ia tētahi he tangata toa mō te whutupōro. Ka haere ia ki tāwāhi, ki Wīwī, ki Ingarangi i muri mai o te pakanga tuatahi o te ao, i raro i te marumaru o Aotearoa. Me kī, i noho ia hei mema o te tīma o Aotearoa i te tau 1923.

Nō reira, arā noa atu ngā hītori o tēnei kura, he kura me kī matua, he kura tuakana o te motu. He kura motuhake nei i Aotearoa roa nei, ā, ka mutu, i pūta mai ki taku mōhio, tekau tau pea i muri mai o te hainatanga mai o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Pēnei tāku e kōrero nei, ko ētahi ka pōhēhē kāre kau he paku mea o te Ao Māori i roto i tērā kura engari, i puta te kōrero kua whakaaetia, kua whakamanahia tā rātau tono, kia tuku me kī, i ngā tikanga Māori, arā, Māori performance ki te taumata tuatoru i raro i te āhuatanga o te New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Nō reira, tērā pea he kōrero ohorere tērā ki a tātau katoa.

Me kī, ko te pūtake o tēnei pire, he whakatikatika i te āhuatanga o te pire Christ’s College (Canterbury) Act 1910 me kī, kia whakawātea mai ngā uauatanga mō te whakahaere i ngā whenua, i ngā rawa kua tukuna ki roto i ngā ringaringa o te kura. Ka mutu, ko te pūtake o tēnei pire, me kī, he tuku i te mana whakahaere ki te poari ki te tuku kaupapa kē, kia kaua rātou e herea e ngā tikanga o tērā pire matua.

Nō reira, ehara i te mea he nui ngā kōrero mō tēnei pire, hoi anō, ko tā mātau ko te whai i wā mātau whāinga matua i roto i te kōrero, “He aha te mea nui”, arā, tā mātau kaupapa kōrero, arā, ko te tautoko i ngā hapori ki te whakahaere i ngā rawa kai roto i ō rātou ringaringa. He āhua rite tēnei āhuatanga ki tērā pire o ngā wātene Māori, nā te roanga o te wā, ā, kua rerekē te ao, kua rerekē ngā whakahaere, kua rerekē me kī ngā whakaaro o tēnei wā ki tērā i te wā me kī, i puta tētahi kaupapa i mua noa atu i ngā tau ē hia kē nei kua hipa. Nō reira, āhua pēnei tonu tēnei pire. Ehara i te mea he nui ngā āwangawanga, kei te kī atu te Pāti Māori tukuna ki tōna pānuitanga tuatahi ka mutu, waiho ake mā te komiti whāiti e whakatikatika ngā kōrero a te Minita, ā, ka hoki mai ki te Whare.

[Greetings to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to us all. The first thing for me is to follow on from the previous speaker, who paid a tribute to that person who has passed beyond the veil, namely Bevan Tīpene-Matua, a descendant of the canoes of the aforementioned tribes, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne, and Ngāti Raukawa. He was a person committed to the education of people, and lived in communities throughout the South Island, particularly Christchurch. So my sympathy goes out to him, and his family, left lonely and bereft. That, then, is Bevan Tīpene.

So I return to the focus of this bill that has come before the House of Parliament for its first reading. The Māori Party supports the bill emphatically at this stage of the process. The college is very much like the one that we and the Hon Shane Jones and Hone Harawira attended. It is an institution that has been around for quite a long time. As I listened to the address by the member Nicky Wagner, the college’s philosophy appeared to be very much like that of *St Stephen’s College, when that school existed. Religion and education, and all aspects of it, were paramount. Therefore, I am familiar with and aware of the circumstances relating to these kinds of schools.

Most of Parliament, and indeed the country, may mistakenly consider that there is not a shred of Māori association in this kind of school, but that is not true. As I researched material for this bill, it came to light that a member of Parliament had attended that college. Many may not be aware that he held the seat of Eastern Māori. That was Jack Ormond, who went to *Christ’s College. He went overseas to the First World War with the Māori Battalion. He joined the Rātana movement and came to Parliament in 1946. He remained here as a member of Parliament for 20 years. He was a former champion rugby player. He toured France and England after the First World War as a New Zealand representative.
So this college has a long history. It is the oldest independent school in the country. To my knowledge, it was founded just 10 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. As I stated earlier, some have mistakenly thought that there is not a shred to do with Māoridom in that college, but it should be noted that it has an accreditation to level 3 in Māori performance. Now, that might startle us all.

The focus of this bill is to amend the Christ’s College (Canterbury) Act 1910 and remove any difficulty in administering property invested in the college. Basically it provides the governing body with the power to apply property vested in the college for some other purpose for the benefit of the college and not be tied by any agreement in that primary Act

It is not as though I have a great deal to say about this bill, but suffice to say that it is consistent with the main aim in our policy, “He aha te mea nui”, in that we support communities by trusting in their own locally developed solutions. This is similar in context to the legislation for Māori wardens, where changes occur over the passage of time in the fabric of society, the world, and present thinking. Therefore, legislation governing functions is now redundant. This bill is like that. Because there are not many concerns, we, the Māori Party, endorse this bill through its first reading. Any amendments by the Minister should be considered by the select committee and then reported back to the House.]

ENDS