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State of the Maori Nation Speech

Hon. Dr. Pita R Sharples

Minister of Maori Affairs
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This evening I wish to discuss the State of the Maori Nation. It seems appropriate as we gather here to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on these lands 171 years ago. To take pause on how much we have achieved – through hard work, through sacrifice, through struggle – and how much we still have to do. And – to provide an insight into the tone for the new political year from where I stand.

This speech will not follow a typical format for ‘State of the Nation speeches’. While the content I will discuss is part of the portfolio of the Minister of Maori Affairs, I would like to take the opportunity at times, to speak as Co-Leader of the Maori Party, to discuss some of the positions taken and reflect on them. Furthermore, I will not stand here before you and tell you I have the answers to some of the deepest, serious and most entrenched issues that face our people. I believe in Wananga. Today I want to plant some seeds for thought, for us, the wider community to consider solutions, and ideas for how best to approach our Maori development goals.
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So let me begin, firstly with one of the most important issues for today – Te Tiriti o Waitangi, our foundation document, which we have all gathered to celebrate.

As I stand here, I think about my tupuna Te Haapuku who signed both the 1835 Declaration of Independence and the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi on behalf of Ngati Kahungunu. And the many tupuna who signed the founding document upon which the relationship between Maori and Pakeha has been founded.

As we all know, the partnership has not always delivered on the aspirations of my (or our) tipuna. I will not retell the story of colonization, assimilitation, or marginalization. We are all well aware of our Treaty history.

I will however share some thoughts on how our resistance, and struggle to recapture our rangatiratanga has shaped our identity, as Maori today. At times it has both united, and divided our people. But ultimately it was struggle and a little bit of stubbornness that turned the tides on Maori development.

As we look back over time we can see the different components that have shaped that struggle. One is the years of protests, the land marches, the land occupations, Nga Tamatoa which raised and mobilized the consciousness of our people.

Another is the years of renaissance, the establishment of Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Maori, Iwi Runanga, Marae Trusts, and through litigation Te Taura Whiri, Te Mangai Paoho and Maori Television. A time of reclaiming back our land, our culture, our language. Each of these have, in part, contributed to the rebuilding of our identity as Maori.

I believe since 1996 another type of resurgence has been happening – the growing empowerment of Maori through parliament, government, and decision making. Maori who were once disempowered by the political system, now regularly influence the balance of power, and we participate through a means of political action. I would argue that we are more powerful in this system now, than we have ever been. This is part of our renaissance.
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In my Race Relations Speech last year, I mentioned that Maori are continually moving from a mode of protest to one of progress, and that protest is important in opening the doors for progress to follow. It is a cycle of consciousness and transformation that we are in, and that we move through, and this has played a role in the way we express our desires, exercise our rangatiratanga and influence today.

I think it is important that we acknowledge the various ways that our Maori people are engaged in this development cycle, whether through government or not – our people are not idle, we are active participants in our own development.

If I were to reflect on some of my experiences over the last 50 years, I can see how far we have come as a people. We have made small steps towards reviving our culture, our language and our people over time. Looking back now, those seem giant steps.

Take for example Iwi. Prior to the 1980’s the Governments of the day did not give Iwi and Hapu the time of day. We had Maori who were ashamed of their identity, and Maori who did not know their iwi. We now have a situation where everyone wears their iwi flag proudly, and where iwi influence can be seen across all areas of the community, on an international stage, and throughout all of Government.

We now have an Iwi Leaders Forum – where elected Iwi Chairpersons come together to progress common aspirations and issues. They have established a ‘rangatira ki te rangatira’ relationship with the Prime Minister and his senior Cabinet Ministers. This was evident today where John Key, and fellow Cabinet Ministers, including Tariana and myself met with the Forum. We as Maori imagined this many decades ago, but to stand here, to participate, and then to reflect about these achievements – just reminds me how far we have come.

While Iwi have developed, to be modern power houses, some of our people have been critical. And I would like to quickly address some of the criticisms of this forum now. Some call this Iwi Chairs Forum elitist, some think that is about pushing private agenda’s behind closed doors. I believe this is inaccurate. This forum is a collaborative tikanga Maori space where our modern rangatira, elected Chairs from around the motu, can come together to grow and advance the interests of their individual iwi, who they represent.

In the case of the Maori Party, some have also been suggested that we given way to this Forum on some critical issues. Well, let us consider the issues the Iwi Leaders Forum are working with government on – foreshore and seabed, water, aquaculture, emissions trading, forestry and resource management. It does not take much to observe that these are policies relating to natural resources – resources that belong to Iwi.

For the Maori Party, quite simply, it makes sense for us to continue to open the door for iwi so they can work and negotiate directly with the Government over their own taonga. This is one way the Maori Party works towards upholding the mana of the Iwi.

Iwi are an emerging power in the political landscape, and both Maori and Pakeha need to recognize this. Government needs to work harder to recognize this.

They represent Maori as a Treaty partner – as do the Maori Party in this coalition government. They have led discussions on major issues. This of course does not mean that they are the answer to all solutions and negotiations for Maori – Maori are many things: hapu, committee, marae, service providers, urban authorities, incorporations, whanau, and individuals. And we as government must acknowledge and understand all of the things that Maori are.

A part of the move from protest to progress involves a shift in post-settlement relationships between Maori and the Crown. As more and more iwi move out beyond their claims, and into settlement, they encounter new issues, new challenges, and new opportunities.

So again, the cycle of development and progress begins – and we start to see more engagement by Iwi and Maori in other areas of interest, and Iwi have the job, of taking an entire tribe of people with them on that journey. No mean feat, and I just want to say, that as the Minister of Maori Affairs, and the Co-Leader of the Maori Party – we are here to support you in that endeavor.
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I would like to now make some comments on the progress of Treaty Article 3. It is my view that the government must take responsibility to meeting not just Article 2 obligations under the Treaty which provides for the protection of Maori rights to our lands, forests, fisheries and other taonga, as I have just discussed, but also Article 3 which provides for our rights as Maori to be participating as equal citizens of Aotearoa.
Many people have not understood this aspect of the Treaty – which I interpret as meaning that we as Maori are entitled to equality of health, education, political participation, well-being and engagement in all areas of life that affect us. As you see in reports such as those produced by the Human Rights Commission, and the Social Report produced by the Ministry of Social Development – we have not yet achieved an equal standard of living as our non-Maori counterparts in New Zealand.

The issues that affect our people such as poverty, poor health, social issues, domestic violence, crime, and imprisonment paint a grim picture. The issues are varied, complex and intertwined. I believe, therefore, that the solutions to these issues are just as complex, and require integrated, co-ordinated responses that recognize our collective societal structures and associations.

This is why we have introduced Whanau Ora. Whanau Ora is not just about providing support to our whanau who are most in need, but a programme which addresses the way that governments and their departments work with our people.

For too long, Maori have been marginalized from contributing the solutions for problems that exist within our whanau, and our communities. Past governments, have also failed to recognize our collective organizations and relationship, and have instead isolated this problem from that, this person from that – failing to look at the larger picture for our whanau. For some of our people, the sheer number or agencies involved in their lives, makes it a full time job – just to meet the departments individual objectives, and requirements. In itself, it becomes just another barrier for our Maori people to overcome.

Whanau Ora is about addressing those issues, but also recognizing the strength within each whanau, and empowering them to be their own solution. I look forward to seeing Whanau Ora take shape throughout this year, and the next.

From my own humble budget within Vote Maori Affairs we have also implemented a number of social support programmes to assist Maori whanau now. We have over 70 Kaitoko – who have been in the community for a year, working alongside whanau to ensure that their needs are met, navigating them through the sea of providers and services, and advocating for them when they need it most.

We have Oranga Whanau, who provide valuable support and mentoring to our young and new parents, so that our babies can grow up healthy and happy.

We have invested into Maara Kai all across Aotearoa. These community kai gardens, are not only about providing a source of food, they are an initiative that we hope will rekindle community connections and relationships, encourage the sharing of traditional and new knowledge, as well as provide our people with basic survival skills, at a time which we all know has been tough.

Which brings me to one of the most pressing issues for our people. One, which I believe, lies as a root cause for what has manifested into a plethora of social and health issues for Maori. That is poverty.

Poverty is an issue for many people in New Zealand, but particularly for Maori. New Zealand may have been in a recession for the last 2 or 3 years, but many Maori feel that they have been in a recession for over 100 years.

The basic cost of food, petrol, power and other necessities of life have increased, as has the rise in GST. This has put further pressure on our whanau who were already struggling with the cost of living.

We are well aware of these issues, and we have been working quietly in the background on projects that create training and employment opportunities. Last year alone Te Puni Kokiri supported 10 programmes that created over 1500 training opportunities and over 250 jobs. This year we will continue to prioritise this area, and ensure that Maori people have access to these opportunities. This is part of the solution that we have.

However, the Maori Party also believes, another part of our solution, is to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. We believe this is a vital step to moving people off welfare dependency, and lifting us out of poverty. We have gone to Cabinet a number of times on this issue, but without success, nonetheless we will continue to push this kaupapa.

Many people have blamed us, as the Maori Party in a National-led Government – for further entrenching the poverty of our people. This is not the case – we have lobbied for other policies such as removing GST off health food – this again was not successful; we did however successfully prevent an increase in petrol and electricity prices. These are the things we have been working on as government partners I understand the frustration of the people, and we will continue to work with the government towards ensuring our people are supported out of poverty, and our children have a brighter future than we did.

This is part of a solution to poverty. But it takes more than the Minister of Maori Affairs – to achieve long lasting change. It takes more than the 5 members of the Maori party to create a difference. It takes all of us, as political parties, as governments, as communities, and as whanau to create significant change and come up with real solutions that we all implement together.

So tonight I pose this question to you, how do we as a collective peoples, who sit in different spheres of influence address inter-generational poverty, and trauma?

It is not a simple answer, and as the Minister of Maori Affairs, I have always welcomed community solutions to community issues. I am part of that community, and I hope to be part of the solution. Politicking is not going to address these issues – real collaborative and long term strategies are needed, and that takes all of us.

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Now I would like to reflect on my role as the first Maori Party Minister of Maori Affairs and to discuss our coalition with the National Government. The emergence of Maori as a political force offered another rupture in the political power-relationships in New Zealand. We are the independent voice of Maori in parliament. Our voice, our deeds, our policies are guided by kaupapa Maori and tikanga tuku iho. We use our position in parliament, and through our Ministerial roles, to promote and support direct Treaty-based relationships and development between the Maori and the Crown.

We have achieved much in our first term of Government, which I will discuss soon, but there have been very testing times, it has challenged us as a party, and the losses have been felt both politically and personally - the Auckland Seats, Tuhoe, the rise in GST, the 3 Strikes Law to name a few. Each time Tariana and I went to Cabinet, and fought hard against these policies. And each time we were unsuccessful. But that’s politics. You lose some; you win some – while at the same time being mindful on the bigger picture. But when we lose, what distinguishes us from the other party’s, is our independent voice. When we lose, we all hear about it, we hear about how it will impact on Maori, putting it firmly on the radar of political discourse. Never again will Maori issues, whether won or lost in parliament, remain suppressed and covered up within the caucus’ of the major party’s.

I would like to take some time to talk about the Foreshore and Seabed issue. The Maori Party supports the Takutaimoana Bill.

Obviously, is not all that we hoped for. We support the Bill because it is simply better than the current law – it abolishes Crown title and it restores the right of Maori to take their claims to court. This was our promise to the people. But it also provides for more awards under customary title and customary rights orders as well as providing universal mana tuku iho recognition.

We agree that the tests are still too high. And, the Maori Party caucus has not stopped negotiating with the government to come up with innovative ways to change them. I’ll be frank: this is proving difficult. But I want to point out very clearly that the tests are not as high as they are in the current bill. The exclusivity threshold has been modified, to allow for circumstances surrounding fishing, transfer of rights and raupatu. The burden of proof has also been shifted to the Crown in proving otherwise. Again, the tests in general are too high, but these are other reasons that make the Takutaimoana Bill better than the previous one.

We have been challenged over our support for the new bill. We have been urged to oppose it. To me, the decision is a matter of tactics – there are only two choices: the Takutaimoana Bill or the Foreshore and Seabed Bill? Do we take a small step forward, given the improvements I have just outlined, knowing that any resolution will be ongoing. Or should we retreat from the battlefield, leaving the current Foreshore and Seabed Bill in place, hoping that some Government in the future would want to possibly pick this up?

I was interested to see that many of our people are also in a similar position to ours on this Bill. With the release of the Digipoll Survey results by Te Karere, we see that Maori are split on this issue. 23% of us are in favour of it, 38% are against it. However, when asked if they thought that we the Maori Party should vote for it 30% said yes we should, and a close 32% said no we shouldn’t. It is such a tight margin – so we need to be considered, and careful on our approach to this Bill.

I say: Ko te pae tawhiti, whaia kia tata. Ko te pae tata, whakamaua kia tina. As the proverb says: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Take things step by step. In advancing rangatiratanga, our tipuna, our people have made significance chances through incremental transformation. This is no different.

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Let us celebrate our achievements. We have our Maori Economic Taskforce, which has been exploring opportunities for Maori business growth and the further development of the Maori economy Next month, the taskforce will be holding an economic summit to report back on some of the initiatives they have been working on – which will be exciting developments. And at this time, I will discuss the possible direction of the Maori Economy in more detail. But the wider strategy that underpinned the Taskforce, which I said at the Summit in 2009, was always about Maori economic self-determination. Collaborating, sowing the seeds, to take control of our own destiny.

We have developed a Maori Youth Council, which I am pleased to hear participated in the Waitangi events of today at the political tent. I have charged them with a task of developing a strategy towards engaging rangatahi to participate in range of areas; and to let me know directly what their issues and concerns are; and to come up with solutions to help address those issues.

Half of the entire Maori population is aged under 22 years old, an age group that are the most marginalized, the most vulnerable. And yet the most connected, creative, and beautiful of all in our society. Our success as a people, and our development, depends on them – they are our future, and we must support them, by walking alongside them, and giving action to their voice and their issues.

Our culture and our language are still in a critical condition. We must revive our language, we must speak our language. Kei ngaro. This is why we established Te Paepae Motuhake – the Maori Language Review Panel led by the recently knighted tohunga o Te Reo, Sir Tamati Reedy. His panel has been tasked with reviewing our Maori language strategy because after years of language initiatives our language is not yet safe from extinction. Initiatives and programmes seem to be fragmented and bureaucratized, the organic community movement – that underpinned Kohanga – has been marginalised.

We must do better for the sake of our kids, to revive our language – and allow Maori to take control of the sovereignty of the language. So I look forward to their findings, and recommendations which will come out later this year. Since this involves funding well in excess of $200 million this has the chance of being on par with the revolutionary impact of Whanau Ora.

In Corrections, just last month, we started building two new Whare Oranga Ake units – kaupapa Maori units attached to prisons. They will help prisoners repatriate to their whanau and communities through tikanga Maori. They allow iwi, hapu and whanau to work with the prisoners while on the last leg of their sentence, to build bridges and reconnect with the community.

While this seems a natural progression to the Maori Focus Units that we designed in the 1970s, this still marks a radical approach for Government, as it is distinctively a kaupapa Maori based approach to rehabilitation.

Another achievement was working with Government to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Shifting the Governments long-held position was no easy task, and the to restore the mana of Maori in the eyes of the international indigenous community, particularly on behalf of all those that had worked on it in the 22 years prior, was a proud moment.

I am also proud of the fact that this Declaration was adopted unqualified, the original text as adopted in the United Nations. I have no doubt that our change in position triggered the United States and Canadian governments to follow our lead in signing up to the agreement as well.

There have been some critics that have said it is only symbolic, and qualified being subject to New Zealand domestic law and so forth. However, this taniwha will develop over time – as have all the most enduring changes for our people happened, in small steps. Nonetheless, as customary and tikanga jurisprudence develops over time the Declaration will provide another tool for Maori to assert their rights. Our rights as tangata whenua, and first peoples of this land.

The final point I want to raise tonight, returns us back into the heart of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. And that is the upcoming Constitutional Review.

The review is intended to establish a tika foundation, with the Treaty of Waitangi as a cornerstone, on which the nation of Aotearoa can build political, legal, social and cultural institutions to protect our plural, multi-cultural future. In the near future, the Government will announce the members of the Constitutional Advisory Panel, who will design, manage and implement the two year programme of education and public participation in the review.

This review is critically important. But a constitution is not an easy thing to understand. It will require effort to prepare and engage. For so long we have said ‘whakamanatia te Tiriti!’, ‘honour the Treaty’ – but what does this look like in practice? Is it equal to other laws of this country? Does it sit above domestic law? How do we give effect to rangatiratanga. These are the questions that sit at the heart of this review for Maori.

I just want to encourage you all to take this opportunity to put your ideas forward. No considered idea is a bad one. But as Maori, and a minority in Aotearoa, it is vital that we participate, and it is vital that we come up with solutions – not just focus on problems – provide solutions. How do we honour the Treaty? If we had rangatiratanga, what would it look like? How do we incorporate Tikanga into our legal and constitutional framework? This is the considered advice I ask you to input into this review.

Of course, we are talking about a constitution for the nation – Maori and Pakeha. Maori values and tikanga have a huge contribution to make. But there also needs to be a discussion among all New Zealanders. Just as a tikanga-based process will achieve a tikanga based outcome, I believe that a constitutional review process that is based on mutual recognition and respect, co-operation and the utmost good faith can create a society based on those same principles - principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

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This evening I have attempted to lay out where we are today – the state of the Maori Nation. It has also given a brief overview of some of the Maori development initiatives that we have undertaken in our last 2 years in parliament. The Maori Party has always said we are a grass roots party; we take our lead from the community, and our people. As Minister of Maori Affairs, that has also been the approach I have taken in developing the direction of the portfolio.

I suppose the key point I would like you to take away tonight is that it is up to all of us, as Maori, as government, iwi, whanau, people, marae, community and agencies to find the solutions together – now is the time for community designed, developed and delivered responses. And I am here to listen to those ideas and solutions, and give them voice in parliament, and in government.

All Maori have, and continue to, advance rangatiratanga in their own way, in their own spheres of influence, in their own time, collectively contributing to the wider kaupapa, the wider struggle. As Minister of Maori Affairs, and as a member of the Maori Party, we are proud to contribute to advancing rangatiratanga in parliament – the parliamentary arm of the kaupapa.

If you were looking for a grand election statement, aroha mai! That speech will be delivered by both Tariana and myself as Co-Leaders of the Maori Party during Matariki – Maori New Year 2011.

Tena Tatou Katoa.

ENDS

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