Wednesday, 23 March, 2011

Tena koe, Mr Assistant Speaker; kia ora tātou i tēnei pō. Ēhara i te mea he nui wāku kōrero mō te pire nei hoi anō, kai te whaiwhai haere i te āhuatanga o te kōrero ā wētahi atu. Mēnā he pono taku kōrero, ēhara i te mea he tino mōhio au ki ngā hōhonutanga o te Royal Society o Aotearoa, kāo. Kāre anō au kia rongo mō tērā rōpū i ngā tau kua hipa ake ahakoa, kai roto au i te ao o te mātauranga. Hoi anō i puta te ingoa nei i roto i ngā whiriwhiringa i ngā wiki kua hipa ake, nā runga i tērā i tū te Pāti Māori i tōna pānuitanga tuatahi ki te tautoko i te mōtini, kia whakatāpirihia atu tēnei mea te humanities ki roto i ngā whāinga me ngā whakahaere o te society.

I tēnei wā e rua pea waku kōrero ki a tātou o te Whare. Tuatahi, ko te wāhanga tuarima he take nui kai reira e pā ana ki ngā whakamārama. I titiro te Education and Science Committee ki tēnei o ngā pire, anā, hei tāna me whakaae ka tika, tukuna kia haere. Ēhara i te mea he nui ngā rerekētanga ki te whakamārama i tēnei mea te humanities. Hei tā tērā komiti, he whakaae kia paku rerekē te wāhi 5(2), ki te āta titiro i te hōhonutanga o ngā whakamārama o tēnei mea te humanities. Me ki kia ūkui i ngā kōrero mō te reo Pākehā me ngā whakaakoranga o Amerika, me pērā rawa te kōrero. I roto i te reo Pākehā, ko te reo English me te American studies. E ai ki tērā komiti, he moumou tāima noa iho te kōrero mō te reo Pākehā i te mea kai roto tērā i te whakamārama whānui mō ngā momo reo. He pērā anō hoki mō te American studies i te mea, kai reira tonu te cultural studies. Nō reira, e ai ki tā te komiti i roto i tērā whiriwhiringa, moumou tāima noa iho te tīni haere i tērā wāhanga.

Hoi anō ko tāku, ko te titiro ki ngā kōrero a te tangata nei, a Hōri Jones. Ko ia tētahi tangata ki taku mōhio, he matatau te tangata nei mō ngā whakahaere o te rōpū nei i te mea, ko ia tētahi mema o te peka o Pōneke i ngā tau e whā tekau pea kua hipa ake. Ko tētahi wāhanga, me kī, tata ki te tekau tau, ko ia tērā te perehitini o tērā rōpū. Nō reira, he tangata mōhio nei ki ngā whakahaere o te rōpū. Hei tāna, ahakoa kua pā mai ngā tikanga o Amerika ki a tātou o Aotearoa, nui noa ake te pānga o ngā tikanga Māori ki a Aotearoa nō reira, hei tāna me tāpiri tēnei mea te whakaako o ngā mea Māori ki roto i tēnei mea te cultural studies. Nō reira, kai te tino whakaae atu te Pāti Māori ki tērā momo whakaaro, me te akiaki i te Minita ki te āta titiro ki tērā take.

Me te kī anō hoki me titiro pea tātou ki te whiti tuarua o te wāhanga tuarima, arā, te wāhi whakamārama. Kei wareware i a tātōu, ko te reo Māori he reo tūturu ā-ture nei ki Aotearoa. Kei wareware i a tātou, ko te Māori Language Act o te tau 1987 i a ia e whakatau ana nō hoki, ko te reo Māori, he reo tūturu ake o Aotearoa, he mea motuhake o Aotearoa tata ki te 25 o ngā tau kua hipa ake. Nō reira, ko tā mātou ko te kī atu, ko te reo Māori he reo tūturu ake ki Aotearoa, he reo o te tangata whenua, he taonga tonu e korowaitia ana i raro i te āhuatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kāore te reo Māori e rangona ana i wāhi kē, iwi kē i tua atu o Aotearoa, pūtake mai ki konei, kōrerotia ana i konei, kei konei anake te reo Māori e kōrerotia ana. Ēngari, ka eke ki te Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997, he ture tērā i muri mai o te Māori Language Act ēngari, kāre he paku kōrero o roto mō te āhuatanga o te reo Māori. Nā reira, ko tā mātou ko te whakatakoto i tētahi Supplementary Order Paper i te wā o te Komiti ki te kōkiri i tērā take. Nō reira, tērā take tērā.

Tuarua, kai te pīrangi au ki te whakatakoto i tetahi whakaaro e hāngai tonu ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ahakoa ngā tūtohutanga i te pānuitanga tuatahi, nāku tonu i kauhau ki roto i tēnei Whare, kāre he paku kōrero o roto mō te Tiriti o Waitangi i roto i ngā akiakinga, i ngā whakanuinga o ngā take taiao, me ngā take hangarau i Aotearoa nei. Karekau. Kua kaha tohe nei mātou o te Pāti Māori me whakauru i te Tiriti o Waitangi hai whakanui i te āhuatanga o ngā mea Māori ki roto i te ao pūtaiao, ki roto i ngā mahi hangarau kia taea ai e te motu te āta titiro i ngā mea e rua e kōrerohia ake nei, nā runga i te tirohanga Māori.

Nō reira, koi nei tā mātou e āki nei. Ki a mātou he pai kē me titiro pērā rawa nā runga i te mea, i te nuinga o te wā kāore ērā take e kōrerohia ana; arā, te tirohanga o te Ao Māori ki a ia anō ki tōna ao, ka mutu, te tirohanga o te motu ki taua Ao Māori. E hia kē nei ngā momo huarahi kai mua i te aroaro kia taea e tēnei pire te whakawhānui i tōna titiro. Kia titiro whānui tēnei pire ki te āhuatanga o te mātauranga Māori, otirā, ki te whakanui i tērā momo āhuatanga. Nō reira, ko tāku tērā pea, nā runga i te āhuatanga o te kōrero mō te rangatiratanga o roto i ngā mahi pūtaiao, o roto i ngā mahi rangahau, o roto i ngā mahi pāngarau, he ao anō tērā. Nō reira, ko tā mātou ko te kī atu kāti, me titiro ki te wāhanga o te tangata whenua, me titiro ki te wāhanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i roto i tēnei momo whiriwhiringa.

Ka mutu, he nui ngā pātai hai whakatakoto ki mua i te aroaro o te Whare i tēnei wā ēngari ko te āki tuatahi, arā, kia hoki rā anō ki taku kōrero i te tuatahi, me titiro ki te āhuatanga o te reo Māori nā runga i tōna pūtaketanga mai i Aotearoa nei. Me titiro anō rā ki te Tiriti o Waitangi hei whakawhānui tonu i te titiro ki tēnei pire. Koi nei tā mātou e āki nei. Kei reira tonu ētahi whāinga matua o roto i te Ao Māori, arā, ko te mana whenua, ko te mana tupuna, ko te whakapapa, ēnei kōrero katoa, ko te kaitiakitanga, ka taea e wai rānei te titiro ki te hōhonutanga o ēnei kaupapa. Nō reira, kāre e nui ngā kōrero i tua atu o tērā, hoi nō ko te kī atu, āe, ā te wā o te Komiti ka whakatakotohia ētahi tāpiringa kōrero hai mea wānanga mā te Whare katoa kia taea e tātou te wetewete i ēnei take hai taua wā. Nō reira, kia ora tātou.

Greetings to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to us this evening. It is not as though I have much to contribute to the debate on this bill, but I merely want to follow up aspects that others before me have commented on. To be honest, I do not have an in-depth knowledge of the Royal Society of New Zealand—none at all. In years past, I had not heard about that organisation, even though I was involved in the education sector. But the name of this society has emerged in the discussions during the past weeks, and as a consequence the Māori Party got up at the first reading of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill to support the notion of incorporating the humanities into the objectives and functions of the society.

At this stage, I have two points, perhaps, to make in my address to us of the House. The first one relates to clause 5. It contains an important matter relating to definitions. The Education and Science Committee examined this bill and agreed emphatically that it be passed and be allowed to proceed. It is not as though many changes are required to define this thing called the humanities. The committee recommended that a minor change be made to clause 5(2), in respect of examining the depth of the definition of the humanities, and to omit references to English and American studies, or words of that effect in the English language. In the view of that committee, it is a waste of time to specify English, because it is already in the broad statement about language types. The same can be said about American studies, because it is already there in cultural studies. So, according to the committee in that discussion, it is a sheer waste of time to make those changes in that clause.

But I want to pick up on the advice from George Jones. He is a person who, to my knowledge, is reliably informed about the work of the society, having been a member of the Wellington branch for 45 years, including nearly a decade as the president of that organisation. Mr Jones noted that although America has had some influence on New Zealand culture, there has certainly been far more influence from Māori, and he suggested that Māori studies could therefore be added, in addition to cultural studies. The Māori Party fully endorses that kind of thinking, and urges the Minister to examine it more closely.

Perhaps we should look at subclause (2) of clause 5, the interpretation clause. We must not forget that the Māori Language Act 1987 declared te reo Māori as an official language—almost a quarter of a century ago. We advocate that te reo Māori is the foundation language of New Zealand, the ancestral language of the indigenous people, and one of the heirlooms guaranteed protection under the Treaty of Waitangi. It also provides this country with a unique language identity in the rest of the world, as this is the only place where Māori is spoken widely. Yet the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997—introduced some 10 years after the Māori Language Act—has not included this major development in its text. So we will be introducing a Supplementary Order Paper at the Committee stage to have it debated there. So that is that point, which I leave there.

Secondly, I want to put a thought before us that relates specifically to the Treaty of Waitangi. Despite recommendations in the first reading that were the focus of my address in this House, there is still no reference made to the critical role of the Treaty of Waitangi in the advancement and promotion of science and technology in New Zealand—not one mention. We of the Māori Party argued strongly that the Treaty of Waitangi be included to enhance things Māori in the domain of science and technology, enabling the nation to look critically at these two things being referred to, based on a Māori perspective.

So these are our urgings. We think that it is better to look at things that way, because most times those matters are never aired—the way Māoridom views the world, compared with his or her view of the world; and, eventually, the nation’s view compared with that of Māori. There are so many ways in which this bill could stretch its view. It could have taken a wider view towards aspects of Māori knowledge in terms of broadening that aspect. Perhaps that is just my take on things, based on the kind of talk about self-determination in relation to activities concerning science, research, and technology. That is another sphere. What we are saying is enough. Give due consideration to that which pertains to the indigenous people of the land and the Treaty of Waitangi in this part of the deliberations.

Further to that, we have many questions to put before the House at this time, but first I go all the way back to my first address and urge that the situation as it relates to the Māori language be considered, because it is the founding language of New Zealand. Consider the Treaty of Waitangi again as a means of broadening the outlook towards this bill. These, then, are our urgings. But there are so many other major things that Māoridom is striving for. Land control, ancestral control, genealogy, all these talks, guardianship—who can examine the depth of these matters? So there is not much more to add further, except to say, yes, at Committee stage we will be putting forward Supplementary Order Papers for the House as a whole to debate and unravel in the future. Greetings to us.

ENDS

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