Napier Pilot City Trust: Unity Lecture; 10th Annual Pilot Awards

Napier City Council Chambers; Tuesday 24 April 2007; 3pm

Tariana Turia, Co-leader, Maori Party

My grandmother and my aunt raised me for the first eight years. When they passed on, I went to live at Putiki Pa. And it was our home at Putiki that I was thinking of today, as I thought about the strong links between our people of Whanganui and Kahungunu.

The original name of the pa was Putiki-wharanui-a-Tamatea-pokaiwhenua. Its name is sourced back to Tamatea Pōkai Whenua Pōkai Moana, who visited the rohe of Whanganui in the 14th century, accompanied by his son, Kahungunu.

It was at Putiki also, that the Putiki Youth Club formed in May 1952. The objects of the club were to preserve our reo, haka, waiata, poi but also to bind together in love – Putikitia te Aroha.

And so here I am, half a century later, recalling that Club motto, Putikitia te Aroha, in respect of the concept we honour today: the desire to attain unity of heart and spirit through a focus on Napier as a bicultural community.

I am so pleased to be here, to honour Pat Magill for his staunch commitment to the Napier Pilot City Trust. I see in the work of Pat the investment in community spirit that we would wish to see manifold in every community.

And I am delighted to be able to focus the 2007 Robson Lecture on ‘creating community connections’, in recognition of the important work that we celebrate today, through the awards that will be given to nine very distinguished, and dedicated individuals.

These nine individuals, from across various fields of social work and youth work, are being recognised for the incredible efforts they have made, in moving minds, in shaping support, in transforming communities.

I have been told that the youth workers are ‘awesome’ – that they are always available any time of day or night; that they each give enormous effort to the challenges and issues facing their communities.

In many ways they are bound by the same kaupapa that united the Putiki Youth Club – knotted together in love.

Now some of you may wonder, why it is that I am referring to Putiki marae– rather than say to Hamuera Moteo marae, to Te Haroto Marae, or to Waiohiki marae, to think of just a few.

Firstly, the people of Ngati Hinepare, Ngati Hineuru or Ngati Paarau would probably have a thing or two to say about Tariana Turia becoming the tribal authority on their tupuna knowledge.

But my intention in referring to Tamatea Pōkai Whenua Pōkai Moana; to Kahungunu; and to Putiki was also deliberate; in my genuine interest in being able to initiate connections that may encourage conversations and confidence to develop.

In many ways, it is about generating interest in the almost forgotten art of small talk. I have a passionate belief in the importance of focusing on what it is that unites us as peoples.

What will be the small talk that paves the way to bigger and greater possibilities?

What are the tentative conversations that enlarge our horizons, build opportunities for allegiances, relationships to be forged?

What doors will we choose to open, what lives will we be prepared to inhabit, in order to create a sense of community?

For a community to be healthy, to be whole, to be dynamic, it must be based on a foundation of shared interests, Putikitia te Aroha.

I was thinking about these ideas when recently, I attended the historic start of the upgrading of the Whanganui River Road.

The Whanganui River Road travels through the Ruapehu and Whanganui Districts; connecting those who live along the valley. Life alongside the awa has endured generations of our people, who have in turn been nurtured by the life-giving, renewing properties of the river. Whanganui iwi have always seen waiora as fundamental to our sustenance, our histories, our identity.

Yet the river road has become unsafe, yielding many accidents, and frequently cutting off the inhabitants from vital infrastructure. During winter, families will be isolated, abandoned. The local DHB has classified the valley as having the highest decile of socio-economic deprivation, as well as being remote, with the unsealed road greatly restricting accessibility. Life has not been easy.

And so for the last eighteen years, the people along the river valley have been lobbying for upgrades and relentlessly, the bureaucracy repeatedly ignored their call.

Members of the iwi and river community simply asked to be heard.

But it wasn’t until local woman, Annette Main, took up the call, and put forward a case to advance the economic, social and cultural development of the region, that finally progress was achieved.

Annette, who lives at the Flying Fox at Koriniti, was able to speak from the perspective of someone who had ‘listened’ as well as also experiencing the hardships that affected all.

As we all know, rain does not fall on one roof alone, and when the floods came, as they did with a vengeance in 2004, the community shared the collective challenge of being cut off from the outside world. Annette drew on that collective experience, and made the City Council listen. Not an easy feat – for too many local councils the opportunity to invest in communities to create their own solutions, is overlooked while councils opt for their own plans.

Coming fresh from that special ceremony on Friday, to this one today, made me think about that comment from playwright, Henrik Ibsen, “a community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm”.

In the case of the river road, it was Annette Main at the helm.

In the case of the Napier Pilot City; it is Pat McGill.

In the case of the 1993 Walk for Unity it was Jim Morunga.

In the case of the historic advocacy to abolish the death penalty, it was the late Dr John Robson – after whom the specialist Robson Collection on restorative justice is named – an invaluable collection in your library.

And in communities right throughout this region, it is Pauline Tangiora, Keith Sellar, Sally Rye, Mary Johnson, Pat McIvor, Karl Foreman, Anne Wilson, Kawa Northover and Mabel Fatialofa who have taken up the helm.

The interesting thing of course, is that I am sure if you asked any one of these individuals, they would be uncomfortable about the recognition that they are receiving today, preferring not to be singled out - but instead acknowledging the initiatives and innovations of their communities.

Pauline Tangiora is a classic example of the humility that characterises these unsung heroes. Indeed, she has frequently referred to herself as a ‘listener’; a ‘cog in the wheel’ – attributing all honour to the many people who have supported her work.

Cherished as a kuia of her beloved Mahia, Pauline has been as at ease working throughout the community as she has in campaigning in Palestine, in Guatemala; or working alongside the victims of war in Iraq.

And yet, her achievements are phenomenal:

- an executive member of the World Council of Indigenous peoples Women’s Committee

- member of the Rigoberta Menchu Committee – an indigenous Initiative for Peace;

- nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003;

- representative of the NZ Maori Council on the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom;

- representative of the Rongomaiwahine Tribal Group at Kari Oca International conference of indigenous people;

- a lifetime member of the Maori Women’s Welfare League

- former president of the Aotearoa Section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

And inbetween all of her international journeying, Pauline has made the time to support the rehabilitation of youth, support groups for the unemployed; spent many voluntary hours providing tautoko to those in prison, or making the effort to save the Wairoa Public library. I look at Pauline with the utmost admiration.

And in thinking about inspiration, I want to return to Pat McGill and the work of the Napier Pilot City Trust. A man who initiated Treaty seminars throughout this region long before the State took up the responsibility (lasting three years before the pilot funding ran out).

A man who established Unity Week – complete with the Unity lecture; the Unity Forum, the Unity Dinner – all designed to recognise the contribution to community development and bicultural partnership.

A Trust which was instrumental in the creation of a large mural in the Napier Court House – designed and painted by Maori youth and promoting the concept of restorative justice.

An initiative which emerged from a similar initiative a few years back, when the Napier Pilot City Trust, with the leadership of Jan Marie Cook, commissioned a talented group of taggers to cover the wall alongside the Napier Police Station.

Last September, the Napier City Council honoured Pat McGill for his commitment and his dedication towards improving relations between different sectors of society.

For some people, that Civic Award might have capped off a lifetime’s commitment, and led them to quietly sit back and bask in their well deserved honour.

But not so Pat. Just three months later, he was advocating to the Local Government Commission that the city should be divided into wards to ensure fairer representation for its different groups.

For some on the Council, they probably recalled a similar submission made by Pat, some eight years earlier, when he argued that there was no social advantage in merging the Napier and Hastings local bodies into one council, and thereby running the risk of blending and confusing the distinct and separate entities of the various communities.

I really wanted to pay tribute to Pat – to the commitment and the vision of the Napier Pilot City Trust - and all involved in it – for your ongoing and persistent advocacy of difference. You have stood up for the distinctive nature of your communities, and have valued that diversity as the essential basis of the concept of community.

Over twenty years ago, in January 1986, Hon Anne Hercus nominated Napier to be a pilot city for the study and implementation of positive alternatives to violence.

And so I congratulate Napier today as well, for maintaining and advancing what must be one of the longest pilot programmes in this country. I congratulate you all, for making the effort to engage in conversation.

I congratulate the leaders of yesteryear; today’s successes, and the leaders of the future who have courageously taken up the helm on behalf of your community.

You have worked hard to create connections that will give space for your dreams and visions to be heard.

You have been prepared to look for the unity that binds us together, to search for the stories – whether in large-scale murals, in books, in hui, in lectures, in counselling, in visits – stories which resonate with one another.

Many of these stories are no doubt recorded in the Robson Collection where they become a powerful archive for social change.

And so finally, in thinking of that collection, I want to leave three different statements, from three different eras, to reflect upon as we embark on Anzac Day 2007.

The first is a quotation exactly fifty years ago in 1957 from the then 34th President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower. In his second inaugural address, The Price of Peace, he said:

“May we know unity – without uniformity”.

A comment which the Napier Pilot City Trust lives by, in respecting the importance of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi – and enabling the partnership of both Treaty partners to be evident in all you do.

And then I turn to 24 April 1971, exactly thirty-six years ago, when 500, 000 demonstrated against the Viet Nam War in Washington DC. This was the largest ever demonstration opposing US War – and it speaks to me of the collective force, the international commitment to peace and justice, whether it be in Napier or across the world.

And finally in this lead-up to Anzac Day, I think about Tuhoe leader Rua Kenana, probably one of the most renown Maori objectors. He was arrested at Maungapohatu and charged for sedition, for daring to issue the call that Maori should not be called for fight for a Pakeha King and Country, when it was a Pakeha Government that had ruthlessly confiscated tupuna lands in Taranaki, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

Tomorrow, as many of us gather at dawn ceremonies throughout the land, let us remember all those who have fought on our behalf; who have fought for our survival and our independence, who have fought for justice.

And let us choose to remember, that in honouring and celebrating community courage, we can attain unity without conformity, we must commend and encourage all those who take up the helm of leadership, and our solutions lie, in the connections that bind us together, Putikitia te Aroha.

ENDS

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