Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board offices, Wellington

Tuesday 27 September 2011

It is my pleasure tonight, to announce the first Maori Party policy to be launched for 2011 Election is our Cultural Competency policy.

We want cultural competency to be a core requirement for all departments and agents of the state; to ensure that all groups receive quality services, equitable access and improved outcomes.

If there was anyone in any doubt that culture counts, these last few weeks would have persuaded even the most cynical.

For what we have witnessed in the wake of Rugby World Cup festivities is an explosion of cultural pride and identity being expressed with a myriad of flags flying from every second car; faces painted in the national colours; and the patriotic passion being played out on the field as spectators and teams join together in the singing of their respective national anthems.

It has been just so fantastic to see the sheer delight within the Tongan community as they welcomed their team to Aotearoa – and the exhilaration of the Irish after their victory over Australia was second to none.

Culture counts – and not just on the sportsfield. It counts in life. According to Professor Sir Mason Durie,

‘Cultural competence is about the acquisition of skills to achieve a better understanding of members of other cultures’.

It sounds so simple – and yet it is just so important.

Throughout my childhood I suffered the misfortune of hearing people struggle to pronounce ‘Rahui’; only to marry into a name which some people found even harder to pronounce – Kateeeeny – Kateen; Katenay ……

And I might just beg to differ with one William Shakespeare who had his Juliet profess to Romeo, “what’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”.

The Maori Party knows that with our names comes our whakapapa; comes our ancestry; comes our genealogical heritage over decades and generations. Our names matter, our culture matters.

And so, we want our names to be pronounced correctly; our values and principles acknowledged; our cultural practices recognised.

Cultural competency is all about understanding how our values impact on practice, it assists effective communication, it is about enhancing relationships to ensure the best possible outcomes.

And I want to acknowledge the influence of my co-leaders for the inspiration and example they have shown in advancing the notion that culture counts, in the health and education sectors.

It is just over seven years since the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act was passed. This Act established cultural competence as a core professional expectation - setting in place the policies, attitudes and behaviours that facilitate effective cross-cultural health care.

And just less than a month ago, Pita introduced into the education sector - Tataiako – a cultural competency framework. Tataiako is based on the principle that being culturally competent will enable teachers to engage better with Maori students and their whanau and communities, to make their teaching more effective.

What is so exciting about the basic framework of cultural competency is that it has a universal application for learners and teachers from all cultures.

Tonight then, we say culture counts. Our policy consists of three main drivers

· Our intention is that all agencies will be monitored for cultural competency to ensure the quality of services, access and outcomes are achieved to bring out well-being.

· Chief executives will be required to report six monthly on how they are progressing positive outcomes for whānau.

· Cultural competence will be an employment standard in justice, health, education, and social services.

In fact, cultural competency is not only about social wellbeing – it is also integrally linked to economic prosperity.

We see cultural competency being modelled effectively when iwi and business enter into joint venture arrangements predicated on a desire to build constructive relationships.

Cultural competency is about attributing respect attributed to the culture, customs, language, beliefs – and most of he tangata, he tangata, he tangata – the people.

The Maori Party is proud to head off our journey in Election 2011 driven by the simple truth of two words : Culture Counts.

Authorised by Rahui Katene, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

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