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UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Celebration luncheon
Hon Dr Pita R Sharples, Minister of Maori Affairs
Banquet Hall, Parliament House, Wellington 10 May 2010

E ōku rangatira, tēnā koutou. Tēnei rā tā koutou kaitono kua hari i tā koutou kaupapa ki mua i te Whakakotahitanga o te Ao, ā, kua hoki mai ki te whakamihi ki tō koutou whakaaro nui. Tēnā koutou e noho mai nei hei urupā ora mō ngā kaumātua i pikau i tēnei kaupapa ki roto i ngā tau. Kua ngaro rātau i te kitenga kanohi, engari kua whai tinana tō rātau moemoeā. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātau.

E hoa mā, I am delighted to host you here today to acknowledge your contribution to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

I would like to acknowledge my colleague, Hon Simon Power, who read the statement of support in Parliament on the same day as I made the statement in New York. We considered it important to present our position to our indigenous counterparts at the United Nations and to ourselves. The statement in Parliament has been recorded in Hansard, and will provide guidance for future generations about our intentions in supporting the Declaration. This is a small but significant step towards building better relationships between Māori and the Crown.

I want to report that, wherever I went in New York, people wanted me to know how important was the contribution that Maori had made to the drafting of the Declaration.

Names were mentioned, and I think all of you are here today. But above and beyond the individual efforts of the many, there was a sense that Maori as a people had helped to establish a sound kaupapa for the negotiations.

I felt very proud of all those who had gone before me.

I cannot honestly say that I got the same feeling from what was said at home in Aotearoa about the Declaration.

Some commentators seem to think the Declaration creates different classes of people, and signals the beginning of the end of the world as we know it. Others say it is nothing more than lofty words, with no meaning or value.

My own view is that Maori people, led by many representatives who travelled to New York and Geneva over 22 years of drafting and negotiating the Declaration, have done our tipuna proud.

I believe you have taken the vision of our ancestors, who signed the Treaty of Waitangi, and shared it with the world.

Our tipuna foresaw a future in which tangata whenua and settlers would work together in a partnership based on mutual respect and understanding, co-operation and the utmost good faith

They made a solemn commitment by signing the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty is a bold statement of their faith in themselves, faith in their partners, and faith in the future– which remains a foundation of our nationhood.

There are many other indigenous peoples who have never had the benefit of a treaty during the process of colonisation. They never had the chance to establish a partnership with the colonisers, and they are struggling to recover from the impact.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples offers hope for mana to be restored - to everyone.

The Declaration acknowledges the distinctive and important status of indigenous peoples. The nations who support the Declaration simply acknowledge that indigenous peoples have human, cultural and property rights; and they have rights of self-determination, and to be consulted on matters that affect them.

The Declaration is not part of New Zealand law – but it is now part of our tikanga. As part of the values we have publicly espoused, the Declaration will gradually inform the laws we make, and influence the way our courts interpret legislation - just as the Treaty of Waitangi has become part of our common law.

There was great disappointment among Māori when New Zealand did not support the Declaration when it was considered by the United Nations.

Many people felt that our standing in the international community was diminished, which is unfortunate because indigenous people do tend to look to New Zealand for exemplars and guidance in indigenous development.

The statement of support restores New Zealand’s mana and our moral authority to speak in international fora on issues of justice and rights for indigenous peoples. As a country, we can hold our head high.

At this point I can announce that the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples has accepted the Government’s invitation to visit New Zealand.

I spoke to Dr James Anaya while I was in New York, and I’m pleased to be able to say that he will visit us here in July this year.

He will no doubt review the issues reported on by his predecessor, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, when he visited in 2005. I look forward to showing Dr Anaya the advances we have made since then.

Professor Stavenhagen arrived in the aftermath of the Foreshore and Seabed debacle. He recommended that the Act be repealed, and that Maori and Crown should engage in negotiation to recognise the inherent rights of Maori and provide for public access to beaches without discrimination of any kind. This process is now well under way.

Dr Stavenhagen also recommended a constitutional review, to recognise Maori rights of self-determination based on the Treaty of Waitangi and international law. That is on the drawing board too.

He called on the New Zealand Government to continue to support efforts to achieve a UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We finally got there, as well!

Recommendations for more resources for education and cultural protection, for tailored and targeted social services for Maori, and more resources to the Waitangi Tribunal are being progressed. Other issues remain, of course. Critical debate is healthy, and I am confident Dr Anaya will see good progress under this Government.

In closing, I would like to reiterate my thanks to you all, Maori and Government together, for your efforts in supporting the development and affirmation of the Declaration.

Today, it is our Declaration.

Kia ora tātau.

ENDS

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