Source: New Zealand Labour Party
I’d like to acknowledge Ngati Whatua ki Orākei, Nicola McDonald and Ngati Manuhiri. To Helen Robinson – thank you for your words this morning, and Joanne Reedy – thank you for your mahi here at HomeGround. And to Auckland Councillors- Alf, Richard and Kerrin, welcome.
You will also see here today members of the Labour team including Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni and co-chairs of the Māori caucus.
We are here after a week in Parliament that, like all other weeks in Parliament under this Government, has seen Māori unfairly targeted.
And we’re here because enough is enough.
This week in Parliament, we witnessed the tabling of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s report on Abuse in State Care. The inquiry’s findings bring into clear daylight our shameful history of abuse towards some of our most vulnerable children.
Māori were disproportionately targeted. Cut off from their whanau, their whakapapa, their culture and identity, subjected to outright racism. Beaten, starved, raped, and abused.
We heard all parties acknowledge the findings, speak of their horror at what had occurred, and pledge that it should never be allowed to happen again.
And then quite literally minutes after the debate on the Royal Commission’s report had ended, the Government once again targeted Māori as they reversed legislation that gives Māori a seat at the table on local councils.
Councils are asking the Government to butt out and leave them be – but the Government, powered by disgraceful right wing lobby groups and the racist coalition agreement, continue to resist and override both Councils and Māori.
Let’s be clear, the law change we made in government does nothing more than ensure that the establishment of Māori wards is treated the same as establishment of other wards by local Councils. Why should a Māori ward be subject to a referendum when the establishment of a rural ward is not?
Despite their righteous outrage at the findings of the Royal Commission, the government continues with their agenda to re-introduce boot camps, even though they were found to be places where some of the worst abuse happened. This is a government committed to scrubbing references to Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi from the laws governing Oranga Tamariki, the agency tasked with caring for our most vulnerable children.
Shortly we will see their draft of their Treaty Principles Bill. It’s set to be the hallmark bill of a one term Government who in 3 years are attempting to paddle the waka backwards.
Each week they find new ways to keep Māori down – and I want to be very clear – they do not speak for all non-Māori in Aotearoa.
I think most New Zealanders want to see us come together. I think most New Zealanders want us to work on improving outcomes for Māori. I think most New Zealanders celebrate Māori culture and identity and the fact that it makes us so unique in the world.
Who doesn’t swell with pride when the All Blacks perform a haka at the start of a test match?
Last month, I was honoured to attend Sir Selwyn Tanetoa Parata’s investiture at Uepohatu Marae in his beloved Gisborne. It was great to see Sir Selwyn’s lifetime commitment to kapa haka honoured and celebrated.
So many familiar faces performing a pōwhiri with force, dignity and mana. Fitting for what was a momentous occasion for the Parata Whānau, Ngāti Porou and the East Coast.
Pōwhiri are one of the most beautiful traditions. Groups welcomed onto a marae with karanga, with haka, and with waiata. Manuhiri on one side of the marae atea, tangata whenua on the other.
Sir Selwyn’s powhiri was indeed a celebration. Humour and happiness pouring out of everyone there. We came to the gates as strangers. But through pōwhiri, and a welcoming wairua we were made to feel like whānau, like we belonged.
This day, this celebration, this welcoming, is in direct contrast to how many New Zealanders, particularly Māori, feel every day under this National-led Coalition Government.
Māori are othered by this government – not welcomed, not given a sense of belonging –just left outside the gates waiting for a karanga to acknowledge that they are even there.
I often talk about what our country will be like in 2040 – 200 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
And I wonder, when the Government of that time descends onto Waitangi, what their whaikōrero will be about, and what those sitting on the taumata will say about the legacy of this National, NZ First, and Act Party Government.
I know one thing: the politicians of 2040 will be more likely to have been taught Aotearoa NZ History in school.
They will be more likely to have a deep and rounded understanding of our own history and the importance of the Treaty.
Whaikōrero are likely to start with a reflection on the importance of commemorating Waitangi Day and look back on all that has happened over the 200 years since its signing.
They will turn first to the day itself. Where it once was a place for protest and anger, by 2040 it can be a time and a place where tens of thousands of New Zealanders come each year to celebrate the progress we have made as a nation.
Where politics is left behind in Wellington, and the North welcomes their fellow Kiwis with the kind of gusto only the North can muster.
It won’t just be Government Ministers who spend five days at Waitangi during this time—all parties will. The Prime Minister will once again fire up a BBQ and put on an apron after the dawn service to feed the masses.
They do this instead of the historical practice of only feeding the few at a PM’s breakfast for those deemed to be on the A list. The government will no longer view regular Kiwis as C listers.
Of course, many will speak of the struggles. How their whānau fought to have the Treaty honoured and upheld, how they marched for rights over land and taonga, and how they revitalised Te Reo Māori to a place in 2040 where being bilingualism is celebrated and growing.
They will speak of the Treaty settlement process of Ngai Tahu and Waikato Tainui, the first to sign their deeds with the then-National government with a very different outlook to the current one.
Of the Waitangi Tribunal and the work they did to hold the Government to account.
I hope they will speak of a time when the final historical grievance was settled and how we have all entered a new era where the promise of the Treaty is realised. When government departments work hand in hand with Māori to come up with solutions to any issues the country faces.
They will likely speak of the kohanga reo movement, of kura kaupapa Māori and wānanga, and their hard-fought battle to build an education system that finally delivered the educational outcomes many Māori felt were out of reach since the signing of the Treaty.
18 Matariki public holidays would have been celebrated by 2040. The whole nation coming together on a day that celebrates the Māori new year – and I hope one or two might mention it was a Labour Government that did that.
The Māori economy is thriving – partnering across the country to deliver better economic outcomes for all New Zealanders.
It will be Māori ability to balance economic prosperity, with environmental protection that will have made them global leaders in climate change and economic growth because Māori organisations have demonstrated that you can deliver economic growth without compromising our environment.
In 2040, the success of the Treaty Partnership will have delivered better housing outcomes, better health outcomes, and a sense of community, where Māori wards on local councils have enabled the Treaty Partnership to thrive even in the most remote towns in New Zealand.
And they are likely to reluctantly take the time to reflect on Christopher Luxon’s Coalition Government.
The one term government who in three years paddled the waka backwards.
How they repealed legislation that helped vulnerable Māori children and their whānau.
How they abolished the Māori Health Authority and told Government departments to change their names because they didn’t like them in Te Reo.
They will talk about the threat of the Treaty Principles bill, and how Christopher Luxon allowed his party and our government to be baited by a small minority that deliberately misrepresent our nation’s founding document.
Some will talk about being children during this time – and how it felt when they read the social media posts, listened to the rhetoric and witnessed race baiting well beyond election campaigns and throughout that term of government.
They will speak about the marches and protests, painting signs and banners calling for the Government to stop its anti-Māori policies.
They will recall how it all felt—like they were a problem to be dealt with, a voice to be overpowered, a people to be put back in their place.
How, in 2024, they felt othered by a National-led Coalition Government.
Let me be clear – the speeches at Waitangi day in 2040 will not praise Christopher Luxon, nor will they honour Winston Peters or David Seymour.
Their time will be mentioned as a cautionary lesson we all learnt from, a time to never be repeated, a Government that did more harm than good to the fabric of our country.
Their time will be remembered not for how they governed but for the way we all rallied in response to leaders who tried to create a New Zealand none of us wanted.
As I stand here now, part of an Opposition committed to ensuring this National-led coalition Government is resigned to our history books after a single term – I am hopeful for our future, and the future leaders of this country.
But our direction of travel can not be left to chance – we need to take deliberate action – so we give our leaders of tomorrow a fighting chance to push the waka forward again.
Māori may feel othered today, but tomorrow belongs to all of us.
Let’s act like our actions will be judged 16 years from now by our children, who will inherit our places.
Let’s speak like our words will be repeated in whaikōrero during future Waitangi day commemorations.
Let’s lead – like today will be a history spoken of in decades to come.
Let us be who future generations of New Zealanders need us to be – because in 2040, politicians will no longer speak of Māori as a problem, a challenge, something to rein in and fear.
The politicians of 2040, the New Zealand of 2040, will celebrate all that is Māori because they will know that when we honour Te Tiriti, when we lift and support Māori – when we let go of the anger and the fear – all of us, every single New Zealander is better off.
Those who will lead New Zealand in 2040 will hold to the same things we know to be true here today in 2024.
This is Aotearoa.
We have nothing to fear from Māori doing well – and we have everything to gain.
Race-baiting and anti-Māori policies should be left in the past.
Our future belongs to everyone, and everyone deserves to be a part of it.
No one should be othered.
Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
Let’s make future generations proud. Let’s take deliberate action. Let’s honour Ti Tiriti. Let’s do it together.
No reira,
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēna tatou katoa.
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