Saturday 9th November 2013

United Future AGM; Wellington

Saturday 9 November 2013

Te Ururoa Flavell, Co-leader of the Māori Party
 
I want to thank Alan Simmons for the invitation to speak at your annual general meeting. Can I also extend my acknowledgments to your party president, Robin Gunston, for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you today.
 
The party that New Zealand knows as United Future is intimately associated with one person in particular – and I speak on behalf of the Māori Party in recognising your party leader, Peter Dunne, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1984.
 
In our minds, the most salient feature of close to three decades of service to this nation, is Peter’s determination to work positively and constructively with allies who share mutual concerns and aspirations for this wonderful land we call home. I acknowledge his dedication commitment and passion.
 
We have always appreciated the respectful way in which Peter has worked with us, and I take this opportunity today, to thank him for his commitment to mana-enhancing relationships.
 
The Code of Conduct that the Māori Party signed up to with United Future; the Greens and Act in 2007 represented a common commitment to politics of principle rather than politics of personal attack.
 
Signing up to that Declaration was a recognition that it is in our individual and collective interest to foster public confidence and trust in our integrity as individuals and in Parliament as an institution.  
 
As we reflect on public perceptions of politicians in 2013, I think there is room for regret that there is still far too much behaviour in the Chamber which diminishes the mana of the House – and it might well be timely to revisit the Code we created six years ago.

I think it was Winston Churchill that had some advice on this matter: By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach.  It might well be a recipe we could share with some of our colleagues on both Government and opposition benches.

The collaboration demonstrated in the crafting of the Code, is closely aligned with our founding principles in the Māori Party, principles based on kaupapa me ona tikanga. 
 
The Māori view of the world is represented through kaupapa such as manaakitanga, rangatiratanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, wairuatanga, mana whenua, kaitiakitanga, mana tupuna and te reo.
 
In the time available to me today, I thought I might focus on just three of these as a basis for a conversation with United Future. They are kotahitanga; mana whenua; and kaitiakitanga.
 
Kotahitanga is a central driver in our approach to politics.  Kotahi means one, oneness.
 
We also define it as the principle of unity of purpose and direction – revealed in a society where diversity is celebrated and all citizens are valued as having a common stake in New Zealand’s prosperity.
 
And with that, I want to draw your attention to a five letter word at the centre of our logo – maori.
 
In our logo, the name of the indigenous people of Aotearoa, Māori – in lower case letters  - means natural. 
 
Our name then is both an affirmation of tangata whenua as people – and significantly, it is also about the philosophies, practices and worldviews that shape our natural world, our home.
 
If we look further into this word, maori in our logo, we highlight the two letter word – ao – meaning literally the world.
 
The a and the o in Ao; are linked with a koru – emphasizing the importance of working together and protecting our shared heritage, our home.   The koru – that spiral shape symbolic of a fern – represents the unfolding of new life; a time of renewal and hope for the future.
 
Kotahitanga is what we ask all New Zealanders to aspire to.
 
The second founding principle I want to talk about, is mana whenua.  
 
A couple of years ago, Prime Minister John Key made a statement in the context of the pending sale of the Crafar farms, that he didn’t want to see New Zealanders being tenants in our own land.
 
The Māori Party has always been an advocate for retaining land in New Zealand ownership – and so we have no argument with any approach which sets strict criteria around overseas investment policies.
 
But the irony is, that for tangata whenua, we have been in the position of our land being alienated, confiscated, legislated out of our hands for well over 170 years since the first land acquisitions started taking place.
 
Mana whenua is the principle by which we are defined by the places where we belong – tūrangawaewae and ukaipo – the land we have occupied by right of ancestral claim.
 
In my case, for instance, the tribal boundaries of Ngäti Rangiwewehi extend from the Waimihia stream which feeds into te Rotorua nui a Kahu with the Ngäti Ngararanui to the south of this boundary to Puaruarewa a lake edge boundary point with Ngäti Parua to the east .
 
These boundaries extend from Tarimano Marae on the banks of the Te Awahou River to Haraki Marae at Waioeka near Te Puke to Rangiwewehi ki Tai.
 
These are not just axis points on a grid line; markings of geographical or geological interest.  These places are where I find my strength; my energy; my connections.
 
Moving on from that then, to kaitiakitanga – this is commonly understood as the spiritual and cultural guardianship of our world.  
 
In essence, our responsibilities derived from kaitiakitanga, urge us towards the protection, restoration and enhancement of our natural environments.
 
It encourages us to think broadly about sustainable management and growth; to work collectively on putting in place the measures to provide a stable and secure environment for future generations. I believe you may know what I am talking about.
 
Now I have shared some thoughts around these three concepts – kotahitanga; mana whenua and kaitiakitanga – not as a crash course in Maori Party Kaupapa 101; but more because I think it signals three possible points of conversation with your party, in a MMP environment.
 
I believe that for far too long political commentary has neglected or diminished the vital opportunity provided by proportional representation as the basis for electing members of parliament.
 
Every election season, New Zealanders become spectators in the battle between red and blue.  We are consistently bombarded with the views of Helen vs Don; or more recently, Phil, David or David vs John.   Leader debates are frequently reserved for just two players despite the call for diversity evident in the mixed member proportional representation electoral system.
 
Yet the reality is, that when the results of the electoral system referendum were released in November 2011, the great majority - 56 of the seventy electorates – voted to keep MMP.
 
For our constituency, the support was even more pronounced.   There was a staggering average vote of 83% in each of the seven Māori seats in favour of keeping MMP.
 
Clearly then, New Zealanders are in support of a more representative parliament – a parliament which represents multiple interests – and a governing arrangement which embraces and promotes diversity.
 
This is where our shared conversations are so critical.
 
The Māori Party has always operated on the basis that we are open to working with any party on a kaupapa by kaupapa basis – that is whatever priorities and gains we can agree to, to advance gains for our constituencies.
 
In the current term we have shown this in a number of ways.
 
We have worked with the Labour Party, Mana Party and the Greens in promoting the vital need to support and invest in Māori electoral participation.
 
We have worked with the Act Party in supporting the call from many Māori and Pasifika organisations for alternative schooling structures – the Kura Hourua model.
 
We have negotiated a significant pathway of policy priorities through our Relationship Accord with National.
 
And of course our partnership with United Future has been seen through our mutual opposition to the proposed changes in the Resource Management Act.
 
Looking at this last issue in a bit more detail – I would say that our two parties have been clear from the onset that we have a duty and an obligation to ensure that our lands and waters remain for future generations.
 
Our opposition to the merger and dilution of key concepts in sections 6 and 7 of Part Two of the Act, have the effect of adversely changing the whole purpose of the legislation.
 
The meaning and effect of the Act is based on precedents established in the Court.   By changing the fundamental principles all those precedents are lost, creating uncertainty and needless, endless legal conflict.
 
We have a shared concern that the proposed change put at risk our ability to maintain and sustain our resources for future generations. Our parties are the key to this legislation, we have hung together on principle despite some pressure, and bounced off each other as we present the case to the Ministers. Cooperation works when you make it happen.
 
So I come back to the dominance of two key parties and the fate and fortune of smaller parties such as ours.
 
Painting the political map as red or blue fails to recognise the rich configuration of opportunities available through MMP and articulated in multi-tiered coalition arrangements.
 
For the Māori Party, our mantra has always been that regardless of which party is in power, our responsibility to those who place their faith in us, is that we will do what it takes to negotiate the best future for our people, for this country.
 
We firmly believe that a distinctive kaupapa driven approach to the broader political conversation, is ultimately not just good for Māori, but great for New Zealand as a whole.
 
And I want to finish with returning to the focus of our logo and our unique colours – the white, the black and the red.
 
These colours are taken from a proverb uttered by King Potataui Te Wherowhero at his coronation in 1858 – “kotahi te kohao o te ngira, e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango me te miro whero”.
 
There is a single eye of the needle through which the white, black and read threads all must pass.
 
Using the richness of this proverb, our colours represent the many paths and the many peoples that come together to make New Zealand our home.
 
Each of you here – like every member of the Māori Party  - appreciate the wisdom that we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.
 
One of the greatest features of the Relationship Accord the Māori Party negotiated with National is the Agree to disagree provisions.  Our provisions have a particular strength in stating explicitly the circumstances by which we may disagree with the Government.
 
In addition, we had written into our agreement that we would not support partial asset sales and as a result National agreed not to put it in confidence and supply measures.
 
But equally important, is the substantial detail of agreement that we were able to achieve in areas right across the policy range – including economic development, enviro-schools, jobs, skills and trade training; healthy homes; alleviating poverty and our flagship policy – Whānau Ora.
 
Our respective memberships are acutely aware that smaller parties in coalitions tend to bear, disproportionately the electoral impact of a coalition arrangement.   Political commentators regularly issue warnings that smaller parties are less likely to be noticed; and far more likely to suffer at subsequent elections.
 
Despite this – we in the Māori Party are determined that we will not lose hope.   We have been written off so many times; our electoral death warrants signed in too many elections to count – but we are also extremely proud that next year marks a decade of the Māori Party movement – and we are already planning to have one almighty celebration.
 
I hope that the conversation we are having today, is one of many that will continue to characterise the debate over the next year.
 
The political pundits have already started picking winners and losers.  Our approach, as a people, as a party, as a movement – is to say, let us remember the rich opportunity that MMP provides the nation – and let us paint a broader outlook in which many points of views can come together.
 
Whether we call that a Maori Future; United Greens, or an Act of Mana is yet to be determined – the challenge and the potential for diverse political partnerships is too good to ignore – and the Māori Party is open to every opportunity for dialogue and debate.
 
Thank you again for the invitation. I wish your conference well.
 
ENDS

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