from scoop.co.nz
15 March 2011
The poll results from Maori Televisions’ Native Affairs programme last night showing a third of Maori voters would consider voting for a Hone Harawira-led political party should not be a surprise to anyone.
Neither should it be surprising that on key issues Hone Harawira is driving (jobs, the rise in GST, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the sale of state-owned enterprises), a large majority of Maori voters are in tune with what he is saying.
It’s ironic that the foreshore and seabed is no longer such a dominant Maori concern. It was the raison-d’être of the Maori Party which was formed following the 15,000 strong hikoi to parliament in 2004, led of course by Hone Harawira, but is now being left behind by the bread and butter issues of everyday struggle.
In reality the foreshore and seabed was a lightning rod for other issues, most notably huge disaffection with government policies which saw working New Zealanders and their families fall further behind in the first five years of the last Labour government.
Showing posts with label Hone Harawira. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hone Harawira. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Monday, 14 February 2011
Harawira symbolises divide between haves, have-nots
by Finlay MacDonald
from stuff.co.nz
When it comes to dealing with Hone Harawira, the options for the Maori Party aren't great. But whatever the outcome of the suspension hearing, the schism Harawira emblemises won't go away, because there is a fundamental divide opening up within what is rather simplistically referred to as "Maoridom". It's the divide between the haves and have-nots.
Harawira's problem with his party is usually portrayed as being about his dissatisfaction with their role in supporting and legitimising a National-led government. Thus the dispute can be characterised as one between pragmatism and idealism. As Pita Sharples put it, "If the Maori Party cannot establish itself as a bona fide partner in a government, then our chance is gone and probably there will never be another Maori party."
In other words, Harawira is risking the very future of co-ordinated, self-determining Maori representation in parliament with his radical rhetoric and uncompromising style. Getting a lot less attention, especially in the mainstream (dare one say Pakeha?) media, is what the Maori Party itself is risking in the process of trying to behave like a "bona fide partner in a government".
from stuff.co.nz
When it comes to dealing with Hone Harawira, the options for the Maori Party aren't great. But whatever the outcome of the suspension hearing, the schism Harawira emblemises won't go away, because there is a fundamental divide opening up within what is rather simplistically referred to as "Maoridom". It's the divide between the haves and have-nots.
Harawira's problem with his party is usually portrayed as being about his dissatisfaction with their role in supporting and legitimising a National-led government. Thus the dispute can be characterised as one between pragmatism and idealism. As Pita Sharples put it, "If the Maori Party cannot establish itself as a bona fide partner in a government, then our chance is gone and probably there will never be another Maori party."
In other words, Harawira is risking the very future of co-ordinated, self-determining Maori representation in parliament with his radical rhetoric and uncompromising style. Getting a lot less attention, especially in the mainstream (dare one say Pakeha?) media, is what the Maori Party itself is risking in the process of trying to behave like a "bona fide partner in a government".
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
On the options facing Hone Harawira
by Gordon Campbell
25 January 2011
In the immediate aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960s, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued the famous (and famously scary) verdict : “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked.” For some months, Hone Harawira and the Maori Party leadership have been locked in a similar eyeball-to-eyeball blinking contest, one with equal risks of mutual destruction.
Until mid 2010, the Te Tai Tokerau MP and his party leaders had managed a relatively sustainable level of marital bickering. Sure, there were disputes over policy and territory, but the conflict seemed manageable because there were clear advantages for both sides in not letting matters get out of hand. The Maori Party could use Harawira as a badge of integrity to constituents troubled by its co-operation with the Key government – if Hone could still wear it, the gains must be substantial, right? – while Harawira clearly enjoyed the perks of being a Maori Party MP, and owed his party a debt of gratitude on that score. It has been very reminiscent of the situation Sue Bradford faced in the Greens as the credible representative of the social justice planks of the party – at the same time as the Greens leadership were quietly dialling back those issues during the 2008 election campaign, for electoral gain.
25 January 2011
In the immediate aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960s, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued the famous (and famously scary) verdict : “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked.” For some months, Hone Harawira and the Maori Party leadership have been locked in a similar eyeball-to-eyeball blinking contest, one with equal risks of mutual destruction.
Until mid 2010, the Te Tai Tokerau MP and his party leaders had managed a relatively sustainable level of marital bickering. Sure, there were disputes over policy and territory, but the conflict seemed manageable because there were clear advantages for both sides in not letting matters get out of hand. The Maori Party could use Harawira as a badge of integrity to constituents troubled by its co-operation with the Key government – if Hone could still wear it, the gains must be substantial, right? – while Harawira clearly enjoyed the perks of being a Maori Party MP, and owed his party a debt of gratitude on that score. It has been very reminiscent of the situation Sue Bradford faced in the Greens as the credible representative of the social justice planks of the party – at the same time as the Greens leadership were quietly dialling back those issues during the 2008 election campaign, for electoral gain.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Hone Harawira: Crunch time for Maori grumbles
By Hone Harawira
Sunday Star Times
A FEW MONTHS ago my daughter said to me, “Dad, you know I’ll always vote for you, but I just can’t bring myself to vote for the Maori Party any longer. I don’t like what I see your mates doing, so I’m gonna vote for the Greens.”
That was a bit of a kick in the bum for me, having led the hikoi that gave birth to the Maori Party, but actually it wasn’t that unexpected. The rumblings of discontent have been growing for some time, and it’s election year now so we either deal with that discontent soon or we just might lose some votes come crunch time.
And we’ve been lucky really. We’re only six years old so everything about the Maori Party is still new – first Maori party in parliament, first Maori party in government, first ministers appointed to cabinet from a party voted in by Maori. And still the only independent Maori voice in parliament, although that independence is being increasingly questioned these days.
Sunday Star Times
A FEW MONTHS ago my daughter said to me, “Dad, you know I’ll always vote for you, but I just can’t bring myself to vote for the Maori Party any longer. I don’t like what I see your mates doing, so I’m gonna vote for the Greens.”
That was a bit of a kick in the bum for me, having led the hikoi that gave birth to the Maori Party, but actually it wasn’t that unexpected. The rumblings of discontent have been growing for some time, and it’s election year now so we either deal with that discontent soon or we just might lose some votes come crunch time.
And we’ve been lucky really. We’re only six years old so everything about the Maori Party is still new – first Maori party in parliament, first Maori party in government, first ministers appointed to cabinet from a party voted in by Maori. And still the only independent Maori voice in parliament, although that independence is being increasingly questioned these days.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Hone Harawira mad at GST hike - not the only one
Hone signing the GST off food petition launched by RAM in 2008
In his regular column Ae Marika! written for the Northland Age, Maori Party MP Hone Harawira gets mad, very mad, about the rise in GST (see below). And he's not going to be the only one when the GST increase comes into effect.
National's paltry income tax cuts for low-to-middle income people will be forgotten when weekly budgets get blown to bits by the GST hike, which will be compounded by these related factors:
- Retailers will undoubtedly try to increase prices a little extra on top of the 2.5% GST increase;
- The price of food is widely predicted to go through the roof this years as a result of global speculation in food commodity prices;
- Bosses citing the income tax cuts as a reason not to give decent pay increases.
CAN’T BUDGE-IT
by Hone Harawira, MP for Tai Tokerau
from Northland Age
25 May 2010
Speaking out against the increase in GST in last week’s budget wasn’t a hard call for me because the people who are going to be hurt the most by it are the people I grew up with, the people I live with, and the people I represent.
I don’t like being told I have to support something I don’t agree with and I don’t like being told to keep my mouth shut either, and even though our coalition agreement with National means that we have to vote for the Budget, I was pissed off that we weren’t speaking out against the GST increase when none of us supported it.
GST is a tax that you pay on nearly everything - food, petrol, electricity, clothes, schoolbooks, everything - and when you don’t have a lot of money to start with, every little price rise hurts.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
The GST rise big story of the Budget
The GST rise is definitely the big story of the Budget, even Greenpeace’s press release focuses on it.
Although, disappointingly, they call for the “strengthening” rather than scrapping of the ETS pollution market, and offer an endorsement of the UK’s new Tory leader David Cameron, who allegedly possesses “some forward-thinking and visionary ideas.” (Which is news to me, as I was under the impression he was just another Margaret Thatcher / Tony Blair corporate clone... rather like John Key.)
The focus on this regressive tax increase, rather than the cuts in income tax is bad news for National and a another sign that the public mood is turning against the Government.
In their official statement, the Maori Party did their best to accentuate the positive, by listing all the little projects that got funding, and asking their supporters not to focus on GST:
“We know that the biggest challenge will be in encouraging our constituency to look broader at the whole picture of the budget – rather than focusing on one measure in isolation.”
But such a focus is unavoidable. As Maori Party MP Hone Harawira put’s it:
“GST hits poor people the hardest because nearly all of their money is spent on things that you pay GST on – food, petrol, electricity – so any increase is going to really hurt them.”
That extra 2.5% will be increasing the impact of every peak oil petrol price hike, and every world commodity market induced rise in cheese or bread.
Harawira’s personal statement against the GST rise, and his request to party leaders for permission to vote against the increase, have earned both praise and criticism.
Marty G at The Standard urged Harawira to “have the courage of his convictions” and cross the floor to vote against the Budget even with out his party’s permission. In the event, Harawira’s vote, along with those of the five other Maori Party MPs went for the Budget.
Comments on the post have suggested that voting for the Budget makes Harawira a wimp, a sell-out or a blowhard. But while I would have applauded Harawira had he crossed the floor, I think it would have been a tactical error for him to go against the wishes of his party leaders, at this time.
The right wing of the Maori Party have already tried to force him out, for the trivial offence of using offensive language when pointing out the crimes of Pakeha parliamentarians in a private email. To break ranks over this issue would only given them another excuse.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia had the support of (and was under pressure from) a hikoi of tens of thousands before she broke with Labour over the foreshore and seabed act. Who does Hone Harawira have? How many people took to the streets against the GST rise?
The only thing coming close is the few dozen of us who went out today to launch the Socialist Worker – Alliance petition calling for GST to be removed from food and financial speculation to be taxed.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Waitangi Day discussion: Hone Harawira
Hone Harawira,
Maori Party MP for Tai Tokerau
1) After almost three decades of Treaty of Waitangi settlements, of “biculturalism” and “partnership” between Maori and the Crown, Maori remain at the bottom of all social statistics, such as income, employment and life expectancy.
Why is this? And what can be done about it?
A few reasons why government(s) continue to triumph in the war against TINO RANGATIRATANGA are (1) they co-opt the phraseology and water it down or (2) they make out like they accept the idea, they include it in their “thinking”, and then they drown it in their bureaucratic cesspit and (3) they co-opt the people.
A few reasons why we are losing the battle are (1) because it’s hard to fight a big government when you don’t have genuine unity (2) because Maori have become sooooo educated that we think the pakeha way is the only way and that when the pakeha government says something should be done a certain way we think a victory is when we’ve changed a few of their words and (3) all this IWI business has got too many Maori running around looking after only their own little patch, and forgetting the basic tenet that “no-one is free until everyone is free.”
2) A huge amount of land stolen from Maori is now in private hands, but Treaty settlements only involve Crown land. Despite this, both National and Labour MPs have condemned the on-going occupation of privately owned land by members of Ngati Kahu in Taipa, Northland.
What are your views on this protest? Should privately owned land be part of Treaty settlements?
I support the protest because justice isn’t served by simply returning one wheel of a stolen car (and to date, settlements are running at about 5% of the value of the claims). Where land was taken improperly and is now in private hands, government(s) should take steps to ensure either that land is returned, or suitable compensation is arranged.
See the answers above for why we don’t get justice.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Dear Hone, ‘I would feel proud that such people disliked me’
Dear Hone,
We have never met, but I wish to write to offer you my support at this time. I was watching One News tonight when Jessica Mutch did her best to “Draw out the Maori MP’s saga.” (for as long as possible)
Meanwhile, we were forced to endure the disgusting Rodney Hide’s grovelling public apology. Apart from Rodney’s puerile tastes in travel destinations (Universal Studios - strange choice for a man over 50?) they lavished air time on this mouthpiece of the rich, no doubt keen to “rehabilitate” him in the public’s eyes, so he can get on with stealing public assets and attacking Maori and the poor.
I feel it is extremely unfair that you should be targeted for taking time out for a visit to Paris when such bought-and-paid-for mouthpieces of the rich as Rodney Hide, his boss Roger Douglas, and all the rest of them have been doing exactly the same thing for decades. To me it is hypocrisy. Every day plane loads of rich people take off on “business trips”; “sabbaticals”; “intern-ships” etc, all paid for by the taxpayer directly, or the public indirectly via the everyday price gouging that the monopoly corporations use to steal from the New Zealand people.
They label you a racist for calling the owners of the country “white mother-fuckers raping the country.” Sounds quite true, if you ask me. My only problem with this statement is it’s not quite technically correct, because these days there are a tiny number of yellow and brown mother-fuckers raping the country too. But you are quite right, most of these capitalist exploiters are white. As you know, these people’s forebears came here and stole the land, fair and square, and they are not about to give any of it back. Well, maybe a tiny bit.
I recall a conversation with a senior official of Internal Affairs in 1993 when I remarked about what a good thing the Treaty Settlement Process was for Maori. Mr Wallace responded: “Yes, but it’s our system and we will get ALL of that money back. The Maori will end up like the Canadian Indians, no claim, no money and no redress.” Spoken like a true land thief.
Of course where the colonial government couldn’t steal the land, they refused to develop it. The poor roading in the Far North and the Ureweras is legendary, the lack of investment in regional development is an unspoken rule.
And you can bet that the key reason the right wing and their mouthpieces in the media object so strongly to your presence in Parliament is that they have a lot more raping and pillaging of the country on their agenda. People like John Key are charged with maintaining a political environment that allows the constant flow of money and resources out of New Zealand to the multinational corporations who own everything. Predominant amongst these are the multinational banks. A Parliamentarian’s role is to act as a safety valve so that outrage at this rapine and pillage can be safely vented, whilst not forgetting to manage the populations expectations for quality of life, downwards.
The political landscape has been dominated forever by two neo-conservative parties. Both parties, Labour and National, are practically identical in their stands on about 99% of issues. You only have to look at Labour’s record during their last nine years of office to see this. For example:
• They passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
• Refused to restore the right to strike with the ERA.
• Refused to reverse National’s benefit cuts of 1991.
• Only a very partial reversal of Bill Birch’s attacks on the disabled from the 1992 and 1998 ACC acts - rights to rehabilitation not restored.
• Refused to restore universal access to free tertiary education, they sold those places to fee paying foreign students instead.
• Failed to restore standard apprenticeships for trade training resulting in national shortages in every skill category.
• Refused to repeal pro-market building regulations National introduced that allow greedy developers and untrained builders to construct leaky houses. Also failed to pass legislation to enable these crooks to be brought to justice or leaky homeowners to be compensated.
• Failed to enact legislation to reduce the effects of climate change.
What laws did Labour pass?
• Draconian Anti-Terror laws, which because of the lack of terrorism in New Zealand were used to racially target and oppress Maori.
• Free Trade Acts with various police states, such as market-Stalinist China and marshal-law Singapore.
• Ended the moratorium on GE food testing and production.
• Passed laws guaranteeing the profits of the big four Aussie banks in New Zealand with taxpayers funds. A truly frightening liability! They continue to allow this cabal to “loan money into existence” via the fractional reserve banking system, where money is only advanced as credit to be paid with usurious interest. This pyramid scheme requires continuous “growth” to avoid collapse, putting un-sustainable pressure on New Zealand’s people and environment and pricing young people out of the housing market.
On top of this is Labour’s support for the 2003 war in Iraq by allowing our Navy to patrol in locations that released US warships for aggressive actions, the activities of the SIS locally (e.g. the Zaoui affair, targeting of local Muslims) and NZ military intelligence personnel directly involved in operations on the ground in Iraq. Persistent rumours of SAS activities in Iraq also circulate amongst military family members. Afghanistan also involved the direct participation of the Army in the projection of lethal force against the peoples of the region.
This is only a very partial list, but the picture that emerges is of a pro-business, anti-democratic, racist, state-terrorist gang completely as one with the agendas of the most reactionary neo-conservative forces on the planet.
I would feel proud that such people disliked me, and I hope you do as well.
Regards,
Peter de Waal
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Hone Harawira on the FTA with China
Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau 24 July 2008
I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.
Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.
E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.
“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.
I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.
Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.
E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.
“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Hone Harawira on Maori health
Below are the notes for a formal speech Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau, was to give at the Public Health Association Conference Tapu Noa: Environmental, Physical or Both? in Waitangi, 1 July. As the meeting was held on a marae Hone spoke without notes, though covering many of the points made here.
Kia ora koutou katoa
On this day in 1842, the governor's newspaper Te Karere o Niu Tireni, made the following comment:
"...e hoa ma, kua wareware pea koutou ki te pukapuka i tuhituhia ki Waitangi, i roto i taua pukapuka ka waiho nga kauri katoa, nga awa, nga aha katoa ma te tangata Maori hei aha noa atu ki a ia."
[Translation] "...friends, perhaps you have forgotten that document written at Waitangi where in that document all the kauri, the rivers, everything is left to the Maori to do with as he wishes."
Three years later, the British launched a full-blown assault on Kawiti's pa at Ohaeawai, with cannon and troops outnumbering Kawiti's followers by six to one.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Tax cuts and the Budget - Hone Harawira
"I am surprised that the so-called Labour Party - the so-called party of the working class, the party that is supposed to represent the interests of those in need - could talk about an issue as important as reducing the price of food, and say that the Government is not going to take GST off food simply because it will be an administrative nightmare."
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira speaks his mind in parliament on the Budget and tax cuts. Thursday 22 May.
Kia ora tatou e te Whare.
I do not often support the Employers and Manufacturers Association in this House, but when it comes up with the comment "Was that it?" about these tax cuts, I absolutely support that comment.
The difference is that I am talking on behalf of the poorer people in this country. I am talking on behalf of organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group. I am talking on behalf of the Salvation Army. I am talking on behalf of all of those social service agencies that have been calling for some real, basic relief for people in need.
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Tax cuts and the Budget - Hone Harawira
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira speaks his mind in parliament on the Budget and tax cuts. Thursday 22 May.
Kia ora tatou e te Whare.
I do not often support the Employers and Manufacturers Association in this House, but when it comes up with the comment "Was that it?" about these tax cuts, I absolutely support that comment.
The difference is that I am talking on behalf of the poorer people in this country. I am talking on behalf of organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group. I am talking on behalf of the Salvation Army. I am talking on behalf of all of those social service agencies that have been calling for some real, basic relief for people in need.
The fact that both ends of the scale can be screaming out for assistance and getting nothing suggests that this Budget is going nowhere for anyone.
I am talking about food, for example, and the call for GST to be taken off food. The response of the Prime Minister is that it would be an administrative nightmare. Hello - an administrative nightmare? We would be happier to have people starve than to bother to do the paperwork to take GST off food. That is insulting to the population of this country.
I am surprised that the so-called Labour Party - the so-called party of the working class, the party that is supposed to represent the interests of those in need - could talk about an issue as important as reducing the price of food, and say that the Government is not going to take GST off food simply because it will be an administrative nightmare.
Then on top of that we find out that Australia has done it - it is not too hard for Australia. Canada has done it - it is not too hard for Canada. Why can we not do it? At a time when this Government admits that there is not a lot else that it can do for the poor, a simple step would have been to take GST off food. Sure, there are all kinds of arguments that we should be looking at non-processed food etc., etc., but let us get there eventually. But the simple call to take GST off food would have lifted a weight off the families in greatest need in this country.
This Government had the opportunity to do it in this Budget, and it chose not to because it would have meant more paperwork. For anybody to assume we cannot do it because of too much paperwork is an insult to the people who have voted Labour for so long, an insult to the people most in need in this country, and an insult to the intelligence of New Zealanders.
I am not a great fan of Labour, but I saw something from John Tamihere, a former Minister, apparently. He made a comment in the paper that if the Government wanted to connect with the voter, it could start with something as simple as saying that people's first $5,000 would be tax-free. The Maori Party thinks it should actually be $10,000, but $5,000 is a start - the first $10,000 tax-free would be great.
That does not mean anything to people in Parliament. I am probably the lowest-paid guy in Parliament and I am getting $125,000. That is bucket loads of money where I come from. That is more money than I could ever contemplate making; it is more than twice as much money as I ever made before. Taking the tax off the first $10,000 is kind of meaningless to me. But to a family whose total income is $15,000 it is a hell of a change. It is a huge change.
It is an opportunity for them to actually do things for their kids at school, to buy their children a pair of pants instead of having their children come to the school - I have seen this - wearing pants that they must have had handed down to them from their granddad. It is really saddening when that child stops coming to school. When we track down that child's parents we find out that the reason the child cannot come is that he or she loves doing kapa haka but cannot afford to go away on the kapa haka trip, and the parents are embarrassed about it so they do not let their child go to school.
It is simple stuff; it is not rocket science. If we take tax off the first $10,000 earned by every New Zealander we will create the opportunity for everybody to benefit, and most of all those in most need - those at the bottom of the ladder. At the moment those at the bottom of the ladder are in desperate need, not because I am saying so or because the Maori Party is saying so but because everybody is saying so.
Every economic commentator in the country is talking about how dear the basics of life are, and, for example, how costly milk is. I do the shopping in my family, and I have watched it rocket up. When I came into Parliament, milk cost $2.05 at our local Pak 'N Save; now it is $4.15. It has gone up by more than 100 percent.
Those are the basics of life that we should have been trying to address in this Budget, but they have been completely ignored. What happens to the people at the bottom? They will get $12 in their hands. Well, that is two litres of milk, a little tub of butter, and one loaf of bread. That will make a difference at the end of the week - not!
This Government had the opportunity to signal that even in times of genuine stress for the whole country it would make a genuine commitment to those at the bottom, but it has chosen not to do so. I congratulate the Green Party on winning that fifty million dollar retrofit for all of the State houses. I know that heaps and heaps of my whanau will benefit from that, and I congratulate the Greens on pushing that and on the fact that it has come up in the Budget. I also thank Labour for going ahead with that. That is a really cool one.
I would also like to thank Labour for putting up that twelve million dollars for the Maori nurses. I think that is amazing. That is awesome. That is fantastic. I was also going to congratulate Labour on putting seventeen million dollars into Maori wardens, until I did a bit of a check and found out that it stole seven million dollars from Te Puni Kokiri to pay for it. The other ten million ain't coming next year; it is spread out over the next four years.
Folks, Budgets should be based only on one year. We can have a projection, but let us be honest: will this Government be around to spend the rest of it? No, it will not. It is $2.5 million, and that is all it will be - that is all that the Maori wardens will get.
When I talk about kohanga, I am talking about Maori-specific money here. How much will kohanga get? Nothing. How much will kura kaupapa get? Nothing. How much will wharekura get? Nothing. How much will wananga get? Nothing.
I am a member of the Maori Party. It is our role to defend Maori rights and advance Maori interests for the benefit of the whole nation. This Budget destroys all of the things that we have wanted to achieve over a period of I do not know how many years. There is not a heck of a lot going on.
We support absolutely a bottom-line philosophy of ending child poverty. We had the opportunity here to do it. This Labour Government had the opportunity here to do it. It chose not to do so, and at a time when it has been running surpluses of more than $6 billion for the last five or so years. The total tax cut is $1.5 billion. We could have done a lot better than that. This Labour Government has chosen not to do so, and I think this will rebound on it in the polls, when Maori people start looking at those issues. Maori wardens received only 2.5 million, nurses received three million, kura kaupapa received nothing, kohanga received nothing, wharekura received nothing, wananga received nothing - Maori have received nothing.
We are disgusted with what is being presented here, and we will be taking this back to our people, because we do not accept that this Government, at any time - neither this Government nor the next one - should ever again be allowed to treat Maori so badly. Tena koe.
Hone Harawira on Maori health
Below are the notes for a formal speech Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau, was to give at the Public Health Association Conference Tapu Noa: Environmental, Physical or Both? in Waitangi, 1 July. As the meeting was held on a marae Hone spoke without notes, though covering many of the points made here.
Kia ora koutou katoa
On this day in 1842, the governor's newspaper Te Karere o Niu Tireni, made the following comment:
"...e hoa ma, kua wareware pea koutou ki te pukapuka i tuhituhia ki Waitangi, i roto i taua pukapuka ka waiho nga kauri katoa, nga awa, nga aha katoa ma te tangata Maori hei aha noa atu ki a ia."
[Translation] "...friends, perhaps you have forgotten that document written at Waitangi where in that document all the kauri, the rivers, everything is left to the Maori to do with as he wishes."
Three years later, the British launched a full-blown assault on Kawiti's pa at Ohaeawai, with cannon and troops outnumbering Kawiti's followers by six to one.
Thirty years later, troops were rampaging through the central North Island, looting, pillaging, stealing and killing, and they were so successful in their campaign of death and destruction that by 1 July 1900, a memorial was erected in Auckland to "the dying Maori race".
We tried retreating to our papakainga to survive, we tried new religions, we tried our own parliament, we created our own monarchy, we tried living like white folks, we tried hiding our culture, we accepted having our language thrashed out of us, we adopted Pakeha names, we gave our lives in every overseas conflict this country has ever been involved in, hell, for the last 120 years we even taught ourselves to vote for Pakeha political parties and to deny our own right to self determination all in the name of survival.
So when I hear Michael Cullen and John Key say that war never happened in Aotearoa, all I know is that if it wasn't war that killed off generations of my people and deprived us of millions of acres of our own land, then it¹s been a pretty rat-shit peace we've had to live with for the last one hundred years.
And when I hear Michael Cullen and John Key say that war never happened in Aotearoa, I would dearly love to offer them some of the peace my people have had to suffer.
And yet, I know that here, at this conference, I'm talking to the converted.
I know that people at this conference will understand me when I condemn this nation's decision to pursue corporate profit at the expense of an ever-increasing population of the poor.
And I know you'll understand me when I tell you how angry I get when I realise that in this era of multi-billion dollar surpluses:
Kia ora koutou katoa
On this day in 1842, the governor's newspaper Te Karere o Niu Tireni, made the following comment:
"...e hoa ma, kua wareware pea koutou ki te pukapuka i tuhituhia ki Waitangi, i roto i taua pukapuka ka waiho nga kauri katoa, nga awa, nga aha katoa ma te tangata Maori hei aha noa atu ki a ia."
[Translation] "...friends, perhaps you have forgotten that document written at Waitangi where in that document all the kauri, the rivers, everything is left to the Maori to do with as he wishes."
Three years later, the British launched a full-blown assault on Kawiti's pa at Ohaeawai, with cannon and troops outnumbering Kawiti's followers by six to one.
Thirty years later, troops were rampaging through the central North Island, looting, pillaging, stealing and killing, and they were so successful in their campaign of death and destruction that by 1 July 1900, a memorial was erected in Auckland to "the dying Maori race".
We tried retreating to our papakainga to survive, we tried new religions, we tried our own parliament, we created our own monarchy, we tried living like white folks, we tried hiding our culture, we accepted having our language thrashed out of us, we adopted Pakeha names, we gave our lives in every overseas conflict this country has ever been involved in, hell, for the last 120 years we even taught ourselves to vote for Pakeha political parties and to deny our own right to self determination all in the name of survival.
So when I hear Michael Cullen and John Key say that war never happened in Aotearoa, all I know is that if it wasn't war that killed off generations of my people and deprived us of millions of acres of our own land, then it¹s been a pretty rat-shit peace we've had to live with for the last one hundred years.
And when I hear Michael Cullen and John Key say that war never happened in Aotearoa, I would dearly love to offer them some of the peace my people have had to suffer.
And yet, I know that here, at this conference, I'm talking to the converted.
I know that people at this conference will understand me when I condemn this nation's decision to pursue corporate profit at the expense of an ever-increasing population of the poor.
And I know you'll understand me when I tell you how angry I get when I realise that in this era of multi-billion dollar surpluses:
- we still have kids being hospitalised and dying from the symptoms of poverty;
- we still have families forced to live in damp, mouldy and unheated houses, making illnesses like asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis worse; and
- we still have too many families forced to live in cowsheds, caravans, garages, vans, and even car crates.
And I know you'll also understand how angry I get at power companies charging exorbitant rates, and cutting off power to poor families, and I know too that you know that when the power gets cut off:
- the fridge turns off, food spoils, milk curdles, and people get sick trying to eat kai they should have chucked out;
- families turn to dangerous ways of heating, cooking and lighting starting fires in old cracked chimneys, bringing old gas-fired BBQ¹s inside to cook, and putting candles in unsafe places for lighting;
- and people die.
And here, in these lush surroundings, here at the birthplace of the nation, right up the Waitangi river, I can also tell you that we have our own horror stories:
- of kaimoana beds draped in condoms, tampons, faeces and toilet paper because the local authority wouldn't fix the breaks in the sewage lines;
- of people being so poor that in spite of the pollution, they eat kaimoana because they have no other food, and their kids end up in hospital with a sore stomach;
- of water-quality so poor that you wouldn't let your dog drink it;
- and of pollution of kai moana in Northland caused by farm run-off, septic tanks, boaties, and failed sewerage systems, being so bad that the Northland Medical Officer of Health has actually described it as "crapping in our own food basket".
The challenge for the PHA is how to improve the health of all New Zealanders, and the challenge for Maori is how to improve the health of our own people.
How do we show leadership in public health?
How do we promote wellbeing instead of just fighting sickness?
How do we support research that will have a positive impact on public health?
Well, if I might be so bold as to say so, let me first give credit to the Maori renaissance of the 70s and the 80s for much of the turnaround in Maori thinking.
Let me also credit the Maori Protest Movement for providing us with much of the medicine we needed to ease the pain of past suffering, and let me pay homage to heroes like Syd Jackson, Whina Cooper and Eva Rickard for reigniting that fighting spirit within Maoridom, and challenging us to overcome all adversity, and to be proud, to be positive, and to be winners.
Because prior to those times, too many of us were happy to let our lives be determined by somebody else.
Nga Tamatoa changed all that in the seventies by refusing to nod, and by refusing to accept our status as second-class citizens, good for playing guitars, driving bulldozers, and for being happy with nothing. They woke us up.
The Maori Language petition in 1972, led by people who could hardly speak the language, but which led to the Maori Broadcasting Act, Maori Radio and Maori Television they normalised Maori language, and created the avenue for the whole world to appreciate beautiful Maori music.
The 1975 Land March not one acre more forced Maori to realise how much we had lost and how much we were still losing, and forced the government to establish the Waitangi Tribunal to consider the massive land alienations.
The marches to Waitangi challenged the nation to recognise the importance of the Treaty to our whole society, and challenged Maoridom to make the Treaty a central plank in our lives.
The Kohanga Reo Movement which gave the language back to our mokopuna, and gave birth to Kura Kaupapa, Wharekura and Wananga in the 80s and the 90s.
Sure there were blips.
In 2003, Don Brash confirmed what we always knew that National had no time for Maori, and I'll remind everybody here tonight, that for all of John Key's charisma and smiles, not one of the anti-Maori proposals put forward by Don Brash have been dropped, not one.
And the Takutaimoana Hikoi in 2004 made us realise that in the fight to hang desperately onto the Pakeha vote, Labour would follow the same path by seeking to limit the role of the Treaty, downsize government commitment to Maori people, take Maori language out of schools, take the Treaty out of the curriculum, and vote to take the Treaty out of all legislation.
But what the Foreshore and Seabed March did do though, was give birth to the Maori Party an opportunity for a strong and independent Maori voice in parliament, and believe me when I tell you that if it hadn't been for Tariana Turia pushing it, I guarantee that in the current climate, the TREATY CLAUSE would not have seen the light of day in the revised Public Health Bill issued last week.
So I see hope in our future.
I see hope in my tuahine Paparangi Reid, Te Rarawa by heritage, Tumuaki of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland by profession, Public Health Champion of 2007, and foundation member of the Kawariki by choice correctly calling this government's attempts to remove Treaty clauses, as being part of the movement against equity set in chain by Don Brash, and continuing through to this day in all spheres of government endeavor.
I see hope in the Maori caucus of Healthcare Aotearoa protesting against the decision to remove Treaty clauses from health plans.
I see hope in Peace Movement Aotearoa taking Treaty issues to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
I see hope in the Public Health Association telling the Select Committee that a Public Health Bill without the Treaty clause, would not only result in a clouded and confused approach to Maori involvement in health, but also be seen as institutional racism, enshrined in government legislation.
I see hope in the Child Poverty Action Group legally challenging the government to end discrimination against those 150,000 kids living in poverty and denied support through the Working for Families package.
I see hope in the fight to cut back on pokie machines and alcohol outlets in our poorer communities, and I see hope in the efforts of the smoke-free groups to battle the tobacco giants, and free our people from an addiction that kills 4,700 Kiwis every year.
And I see hope in gatherings like this, accepting the challenges, setting aside our fears, and having the courage to set a course that leads to good health, good attitude, good decision-making, and the opportunity to realise our dreams.
"Happy are those who dream dreams, and a re prepared to pay the price to make those dreams come true."
Hone Harawira on the FTA with China
Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau24 July 2008
I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.
Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.
E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.
“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.
E toru ra ki muri, he tirohanga rereke mo tënei ‘marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu’ – na Tatauranga Aotearoa.
Three days later, Statistics New Zealand gave another view about this very important long-term Chinese market.
I te marama o Pipiri, ko heke nga manuhiri no Haina i te 24% i temarama o Pipiri o tera tau, 1600 nga tangata.
Short term visitor arrivals from China in June 2008 were a massive 24 percent down- some 1600 people less than recorded in June 2007.
E rua marama atu i te hainatanga o te Kawenata Hokohoko Noa, kua kite tätou, kaore pea nga huamoni e rite ana ki nga tümanako.
Just two months after the Free Trade Agreement had been signed it appears the economic benefits of the FTA may not be as secure as first envisaged.
Ka matakite te pukapuka a ‘Tü Mai’, a ngä tau tekau e tu mai nei, 61 miriona nga turuhi no Haina, ka haere ki whenua ke. Ko te marea hokohoko whai rawa o Haina tënei, e whakaarohia ana e te Minita Tapoi.
Tü Mai Magazine estimated that in the next ten years, there is a possible 61 million Chinese outbound tourists heading off to distant places. This is the lucrative Chinese Market the Tourism Minister is thinking about.
Engari ko te pätai nui ki a tatou, me pehea te marea hokohoko nei e patari ai ki tenei whenua? He hinaki ranei e mau ai tatou?
But the big question that hangs over all of our heads is – what will it take, to lure this market to our shores? Or will it all be a one-way street?
Ko ngä kaimahi utu-iti, hei maunu ma ngä pakihi o Aotearoa, e raruraru ana i te kainga.
The lure of labour at cheap rates will be an irresistible pull factor for many New Zealand businesses who are struggling to hold it together at home.
Kia penei rawa a Aotearoa nei? Hei kura pae mo Haina?
Is that the type of Aotearoa we want? Just another link in the Made in China brand?
Kua tohutohu mai te ropu Rongomau me te Tika o te Ao, ko te utu ki a tatou, ko ngä turanga mahi rua tekau mano ka ngaro, ko te nuinga he mahi wheketere, i te mutunga o ngä taake hoko mai.
Global Peace and Justice have pointed out that the costs at home may extend up to more than twenty thousand jobs being lost – mostly in manufacturing – as tariffs are phased out and removed.
E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki ngä tau waru tekau – he parekura te whakawateatanga kia hokohoko noa, i pa kino nei ki ngä kaimahi, ara, ngä kaimahi Maori i ngä wheketere.
We all remember the reforms of the 1980s; the savage impact that trade liberalization had for workers, particularly Maori in manufacturing jobs.
E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki te MAI, me tona tahuhu, kia taetae noa mai ngä kamupene nunui o te ao, ki te hoko haere i a tatou rawa.
We remember the Multilateral Agreement on Investment which aimed to allow multi-billion dollar corporates open season on assets in Aotearoa.
A, e möhio anoki tatou, he aitua ki ngä kaimahi o konei, i te wa e whiwhi nui ana ngä kamupene nui o Haina, me ngä taniwha, penei i a Fonterra.
And we know that New Zealand workers will become collateral damage, while Chinese companies and international corporations such as Fonterra will score big time.
Ko ngä hua, e kore e eke ki te utu – engari, ehara te utu i te moni anake.
The stated return is simply not worth the risk – and the costs are not only in monetary terms.
I te wa e ngaro ana te waihanga taputapu ki Haina, ka heke to tatou mana, i etahi atu ahuatanga o tenei piringa, ki to tatou hoa hokohoko hou.
While our manufacturing needs will be outsourced to China, our international reputation will inevitably be tarnished by the other impacts of our relationships with our new trading partner.
I te timatanga o te whakatata haere ki Beijing, e titiro ana te ao ki Haina, kia kitea mena e hiahia ana te kawanatanga ki te whakatika i ana takahanga mana tangata, penei i te whakapai, i te paru ki te one.
As the buildup to Beijing starts cranking up, the international community is looking to China, to see evidence of any political will to clean up its human rights violations as comprehensively as it has got rid of the algae on its beaches.
Engari, aue taukuri e, e ai ki ngä korero a Amnesty International, ka whakawhiu tonu atu te käwanatanga, i ngä kaiwawao, mana tangata.
But sadly the reports from Amnesty International indicate that far from it the official persecution of human rights activists continues.
Kino atu i tera, kei te mauhere tonu ngä kaiwawao, ratou e tohu ana i ngä hara a te kawanatanga, kia tika katoa ai i mua o te timatanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic.
I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.
Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.
E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.
“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.
E toru ra ki muri, he tirohanga rereke mo tënei ‘marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu’ – na Tatauranga Aotearoa.
Three days later, Statistics New Zealand gave another view about this very important long-term Chinese market.
I te marama o Pipiri, ko heke nga manuhiri no Haina i te 24% i temarama o Pipiri o tera tau, 1600 nga tangata.
Short term visitor arrivals from China in June 2008 were a massive 24 percent down- some 1600 people less than recorded in June 2007.
E rua marama atu i te hainatanga o te Kawenata Hokohoko Noa, kua kite tätou, kaore pea nga huamoni e rite ana ki nga tümanako.
Just two months after the Free Trade Agreement had been signed it appears the economic benefits of the FTA may not be as secure as first envisaged.
Ka matakite te pukapuka a ‘Tü Mai’, a ngä tau tekau e tu mai nei, 61 miriona nga turuhi no Haina, ka haere ki whenua ke. Ko te marea hokohoko whai rawa o Haina tënei, e whakaarohia ana e te Minita Tapoi.
Tü Mai Magazine estimated that in the next ten years, there is a possible 61 million Chinese outbound tourists heading off to distant places. This is the lucrative Chinese Market the Tourism Minister is thinking about.
Engari ko te pätai nui ki a tatou, me pehea te marea hokohoko nei e patari ai ki tenei whenua? He hinaki ranei e mau ai tatou?
But the big question that hangs over all of our heads is – what will it take, to lure this market to our shores? Or will it all be a one-way street?
Ko ngä kaimahi utu-iti, hei maunu ma ngä pakihi o Aotearoa, e raruraru ana i te kainga.
The lure of labour at cheap rates will be an irresistible pull factor for many New Zealand businesses who are struggling to hold it together at home.
Kia penei rawa a Aotearoa nei? Hei kura pae mo Haina?
Is that the type of Aotearoa we want? Just another link in the Made in China brand?
Kua tohutohu mai te ropu Rongomau me te Tika o te Ao, ko te utu ki a tatou, ko ngä turanga mahi rua tekau mano ka ngaro, ko te nuinga he mahi wheketere, i te mutunga o ngä taake hoko mai.
Global Peace and Justice have pointed out that the costs at home may extend up to more than twenty thousand jobs being lost – mostly in manufacturing – as tariffs are phased out and removed.
E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki ngä tau waru tekau – he parekura te whakawateatanga kia hokohoko noa, i pa kino nei ki ngä kaimahi, ara, ngä kaimahi Maori i ngä wheketere.
We all remember the reforms of the 1980s; the savage impact that trade liberalization had for workers, particularly Maori in manufacturing jobs.
E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki te MAI, me tona tahuhu, kia taetae noa mai ngä kamupene nunui o te ao, ki te hoko haere i a tatou rawa.
We remember the Multilateral Agreement on Investment which aimed to allow multi-billion dollar corporates open season on assets in Aotearoa.
A, e möhio anoki tatou, he aitua ki ngä kaimahi o konei, i te wa e whiwhi nui ana ngä kamupene nui o Haina, me ngä taniwha, penei i a Fonterra.
And we know that New Zealand workers will become collateral damage, while Chinese companies and international corporations such as Fonterra will score big time.
Ko ngä hua, e kore e eke ki te utu – engari, ehara te utu i te moni anake.
The stated return is simply not worth the risk – and the costs are not only in monetary terms.
I te wa e ngaro ana te waihanga taputapu ki Haina, ka heke to tatou mana, i etahi atu ahuatanga o tenei piringa, ki to tatou hoa hokohoko hou.
While our manufacturing needs will be outsourced to China, our international reputation will inevitably be tarnished by the other impacts of our relationships with our new trading partner.
I te timatanga o te whakatata haere ki Beijing, e titiro ana te ao ki Haina, kia kitea mena e hiahia ana te kawanatanga ki te whakatika i ana takahanga mana tangata, penei i te whakapai, i te paru ki te one.
As the buildup to Beijing starts cranking up, the international community is looking to China, to see evidence of any political will to clean up its human rights violations as comprehensively as it has got rid of the algae on its beaches.
Engari, aue taukuri e, e ai ki ngä korero a Amnesty International, ka whakawhiu tonu atu te käwanatanga, i ngä kaiwawao, mana tangata.
But sadly the reports from Amnesty International indicate that far from it the official persecution of human rights activists continues.
Kino atu i tera, kei te mauhere tonu ngä kaiwawao, ratou e tohu ana i ngä hara a te kawanatanga, kia tika katoa ai i mua o te timatanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic.
Worse yet, human rights defenders who are speaking out about violations are being detained, imprisoned as part of the pre-Olympics clean-up.
E maumahara ana au ki tetahi kauhau a te Pirimia i te Akoranga Rongomau i te Whare Wananga o Tamaki Makaurau, ka penei ia: “Kei te tino maharahara au, ina whakawaireka te kawanatanga Nahinara ki a ratou o Ahia, e kore e taea, ta ratou whakamaru mana tangata, te kite.”
I am reminded of a speech the Prime Minister once made to the Auckland University Centre for Peace Studies, in which she said, and I quote: “I am very concerned that the National government has chosen a path of ingratiation with those in Asia whose human rights record is poor”.
Kia marama ai tatou, na te tino kino te takahi mana tangata o Haina, ka tuhi atu a Amnesty International i tetahi reta, i runga i ngä aue a te tini mano, huri noa i te ao, e karanga ana kia Haina, kia whakatikangia ngä mana tangata, kua roa ke, e taamia ana.
Just to make it quite clear – the human rights record in the People’s Republic of China is so poor that Amnesty International has sent a letter, inspired by what they describe as hundreds of thousands of voices from around the world, echoing the call to address the longstanding human rights concerns.
Tera ka mate ano te matauranga tuku iho a ngä tupuna, i ngä mahi whakawaireka a te kawanatanga.
Another likely victim of this political path of ingratiation is the risks inherent to intellectual and cultural heritage.
Kua tohu mai tera pukenga pakihi a Aroha Mead, kei totohu ngä toi Maori i te waipuke mai, o ngä taputapu noa.
Maori business senior lecturer, Aroha Mead, has warned about the likely threat that Maori art will become swamped by mass production.
Nana ano te whakatupato, kei waimeha te tohu mana o Toi Iho, i te nui o ngä taputapu tinihanga, e hokona ana.
She has also suggested that the toi iho trademark which protects quality Maori arts and crafts may well be devalued as the market becomes flooded with cheap, gaudy products.
I te wa o te Komiti Tirohanga, ka penei tonu ngä karanga a te Ropu Tapoi Maori o Aotearoa, a Toi Maori Aotearoa, a Ngä Aho Whakaari, ratou ko Kia Kaha (clothing), ko Huia (publishers) e tautoko ana.
During the select committee process, these same concerns came through loud and clear from the New Zealand Maori Tourism Society, Toi Maori Aotearoa, Nga Aho Whakaari (Maori in film, video and TV), supported by Kia Kaha clothing and Huia Publishers.
Ehara enei i te ihu hupe.
These are not lightweights by any means.
He umanga ta pukapuka a Huia kua whiwhi tohu, otira nana ano to matou mana o Aotearoa i whakapumau, na te whakamatau, na te whiriwhiri, na te whakaputa i taua mana motuhake ki te ao.
Huia is not only an award winning publisher but their works have made a significant contribution our identity as a nation - defining, creating and expressing our distinctive edge on the world stage.
Kei a Kia Kaha te tikanga o nga kakahu mo to tatou toa hauporo mo Cambo, mo nga kakahu hoki mo o tatou kapa ki nga tauwhainga o te ao, otira ka hokona atu a ratou kakahu ki Poihakena, ki Amerika, ki Uropi hoki.
Kia Kaha not only has the clothing contract for our top golfer Cambo, and previous Commonwealth Games uniforms, but boasts wholesale and retail customers in Australia, the UK, US and Europe.
Ko Nga Aho Whakaari te ropu o nga kaimahi Maori whakaata, nga kaiwhakatu whakaari, nga ringa tohu, nga kaimahi hangarau, nga kaituhi hoki, puta noa te ao.
Ngā Aho Whakaari is the national representative body for Māori working in film, video and television in New Zealand so includes internationally acclaimed actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers across its reach.
Tena, i te hui tahi ngä ropu nei, ki te tiaki i te rangatiratanga, me mataara te ao, me ki, to tatou ao Maori.
So when these groups get together, out of concern for the protection of rangatiratanga, the world needs to sit up and listen – well at least our world anyway.
I mea atu ratou ki te Komiti, me whakau ngä ture i te tikanga, kia tautoko te Karauna i te rangatiratanga Maori o ngä taonga katoa, tae atu ki te matauranga.
They told the select committee that the legislation needs to reflect the Crown’s active duty to protect Maori authority and control over taonga and matauranga.
E whakaae ana matou ki te take, i kokiritia e te Uru Kahikatea (FOMA), me tupu te ohanga whanui, kia ora ai ngä pakihi Maori.
While we acknowledge the points made by the Federation of Maori Authority, that economic growth is essential for Maori businesses to succeed, we cannot turn a blind eye to the risks and responsibilities we hold to argue for ethical investment.
Engari, e kore matou e whakaae, ki te whakaaro kuware o te Komiti, ma te whai rawa haere o Haina, ma te whakawhanaunga haere ki te ao whanui, e kaha ake ai ta ratou arai i ngä mana tangata.
We simply cannot accept the rather naïve excuse put up by the select committee, that growing prosperity and engagement with the outside world is likely to be linked with better human rights in China.
E kore matou e whakapono, ma te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me to tatou whenua iti nei, ka kitea a Haina i te maramatanga, kia huri ai rätou, ki te ara tika.
It simply doesn’t wash with us that the Free Trade Agreement China has signed up to with our little country, will make the mighty superpower see the light and change their ways.
Hei whakakapinga korero; i a tatou e whakatata ana ki te waru o ngä ra o Hereturikoka, e mohio ana tatou, kei te whakaaro ngä rangatira nunui o te ao, tera me huri tuara ratou ki te ra whakatuwheratanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic, hei tohu whakahe i te takahanga a Haina i ngä mana tangata, i te mana motuhake o Tibet.
Finally, as we count-down to August 8, we know that international leaders from across the globe are considering whether they might boycott the Olympics Opening ceremonies as a powerful criticism over China’s human rights record and security crackdown in Tibet.
Ka pera ano to tatou whakahe? – ka huri ranei tatou ki te whakawaireka i a Hori Puihi, i a ia e whakawaireka ana ki a Haina?
Will we be prepared to also show our concern - or will we instead be sidling up to President Bush as he in turn sidles up to China?
E kore matou o te Paati Maori e piupiu i te haki whakapono, ki te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa.
We in the Maori Party will not be waving the flag of faith in the FTA.
Tuturu, e tautoko ana matou i te ohanga Maori, e kite ana matou i ngä painga ki ngä iwi e puta mai ana i te hokohoko kaimoana, mahi täpoi ki a Haina.
Of course we want every opportunity to support Maori economic advancement, and we recognize the opportunities that iwi see in China, particularly in the area of seafood exports and tourism.
Engari me pehea mätou, e huri ke i te taamitanga taikaha o ngä reo motuhake o Tibet, he takahanga tera i te tangata whenua?
But how can we with any conscience, overlook the brutal repression of dissent in Tibet which represents a callous disregard for the rights of indigenous peoples.
E mataara ana matou ki ngä tara koi i roto i te hokohoko pokanoa, pai ke ati ki a mätou, te hokohoko tika.
We remain concerned about the fish-hooks in free trade rather than the justice of fair trade.
E rapu ana matou i ngä huarahi e tiakina ai te taiao, ngä mana tangata, me ngä tikanga mahi.
We seek strategies which are about protection of the environment, human rights and worker rights.
I te tonga o te ra, he taumaha rawa te utu o ngä turanga mahi, ngä utu mahi, ngä matauranga mahi, te mana motuhake, e ngari katoa ai. E kore matou e tautoko i te Ture mo te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me Haina.
And in the long run, we calculate the costs of lost employment, lost wages, lost expertise, lost independence, as a cost too big to bear. We do not support the New Zealand China Free Trade legislation.
E maumahara ana au ki tetahi kauhau a te Pirimia i te Akoranga Rongomau i te Whare Wananga o Tamaki Makaurau, ka penei ia: “Kei te tino maharahara au, ina whakawaireka te kawanatanga Nahinara ki a ratou o Ahia, e kore e taea, ta ratou whakamaru mana tangata, te kite.”
I am reminded of a speech the Prime Minister once made to the Auckland University Centre for Peace Studies, in which she said, and I quote: “I am very concerned that the National government has chosen a path of ingratiation with those in Asia whose human rights record is poor”.
Kia marama ai tatou, na te tino kino te takahi mana tangata o Haina, ka tuhi atu a Amnesty International i tetahi reta, i runga i ngä aue a te tini mano, huri noa i te ao, e karanga ana kia Haina, kia whakatikangia ngä mana tangata, kua roa ke, e taamia ana.
Just to make it quite clear – the human rights record in the People’s Republic of China is so poor that Amnesty International has sent a letter, inspired by what they describe as hundreds of thousands of voices from around the world, echoing the call to address the longstanding human rights concerns.
Tera ka mate ano te matauranga tuku iho a ngä tupuna, i ngä mahi whakawaireka a te kawanatanga.
Another likely victim of this political path of ingratiation is the risks inherent to intellectual and cultural heritage.
Kua tohu mai tera pukenga pakihi a Aroha Mead, kei totohu ngä toi Maori i te waipuke mai, o ngä taputapu noa.
Maori business senior lecturer, Aroha Mead, has warned about the likely threat that Maori art will become swamped by mass production.
Nana ano te whakatupato, kei waimeha te tohu mana o Toi Iho, i te nui o ngä taputapu tinihanga, e hokona ana.
She has also suggested that the toi iho trademark which protects quality Maori arts and crafts may well be devalued as the market becomes flooded with cheap, gaudy products.
I te wa o te Komiti Tirohanga, ka penei tonu ngä karanga a te Ropu Tapoi Maori o Aotearoa, a Toi Maori Aotearoa, a Ngä Aho Whakaari, ratou ko Kia Kaha (clothing), ko Huia (publishers) e tautoko ana.
During the select committee process, these same concerns came through loud and clear from the New Zealand Maori Tourism Society, Toi Maori Aotearoa, Nga Aho Whakaari (Maori in film, video and TV), supported by Kia Kaha clothing and Huia Publishers.
Ehara enei i te ihu hupe.
These are not lightweights by any means.
He umanga ta pukapuka a Huia kua whiwhi tohu, otira nana ano to matou mana o Aotearoa i whakapumau, na te whakamatau, na te whiriwhiri, na te whakaputa i taua mana motuhake ki te ao.
Huia is not only an award winning publisher but their works have made a significant contribution our identity as a nation - defining, creating and expressing our distinctive edge on the world stage.
Kei a Kia Kaha te tikanga o nga kakahu mo to tatou toa hauporo mo Cambo, mo nga kakahu hoki mo o tatou kapa ki nga tauwhainga o te ao, otira ka hokona atu a ratou kakahu ki Poihakena, ki Amerika, ki Uropi hoki.
Kia Kaha not only has the clothing contract for our top golfer Cambo, and previous Commonwealth Games uniforms, but boasts wholesale and retail customers in Australia, the UK, US and Europe.
Ko Nga Aho Whakaari te ropu o nga kaimahi Maori whakaata, nga kaiwhakatu whakaari, nga ringa tohu, nga kaimahi hangarau, nga kaituhi hoki, puta noa te ao.
Ngā Aho Whakaari is the national representative body for Māori working in film, video and television in New Zealand so includes internationally acclaimed actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers across its reach.
Tena, i te hui tahi ngä ropu nei, ki te tiaki i te rangatiratanga, me mataara te ao, me ki, to tatou ao Maori.
So when these groups get together, out of concern for the protection of rangatiratanga, the world needs to sit up and listen – well at least our world anyway.
I mea atu ratou ki te Komiti, me whakau ngä ture i te tikanga, kia tautoko te Karauna i te rangatiratanga Maori o ngä taonga katoa, tae atu ki te matauranga.
They told the select committee that the legislation needs to reflect the Crown’s active duty to protect Maori authority and control over taonga and matauranga.
E whakaae ana matou ki te take, i kokiritia e te Uru Kahikatea (FOMA), me tupu te ohanga whanui, kia ora ai ngä pakihi Maori.
While we acknowledge the points made by the Federation of Maori Authority, that economic growth is essential for Maori businesses to succeed, we cannot turn a blind eye to the risks and responsibilities we hold to argue for ethical investment.
Engari, e kore matou e whakaae, ki te whakaaro kuware o te Komiti, ma te whai rawa haere o Haina, ma te whakawhanaunga haere ki te ao whanui, e kaha ake ai ta ratou arai i ngä mana tangata.
We simply cannot accept the rather naïve excuse put up by the select committee, that growing prosperity and engagement with the outside world is likely to be linked with better human rights in China.
E kore matou e whakapono, ma te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me to tatou whenua iti nei, ka kitea a Haina i te maramatanga, kia huri ai rätou, ki te ara tika.
It simply doesn’t wash with us that the Free Trade Agreement China has signed up to with our little country, will make the mighty superpower see the light and change their ways.
Hei whakakapinga korero; i a tatou e whakatata ana ki te waru o ngä ra o Hereturikoka, e mohio ana tatou, kei te whakaaro ngä rangatira nunui o te ao, tera me huri tuara ratou ki te ra whakatuwheratanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic, hei tohu whakahe i te takahanga a Haina i ngä mana tangata, i te mana motuhake o Tibet.
Finally, as we count-down to August 8, we know that international leaders from across the globe are considering whether they might boycott the Olympics Opening ceremonies as a powerful criticism over China’s human rights record and security crackdown in Tibet.
Ka pera ano to tatou whakahe? – ka huri ranei tatou ki te whakawaireka i a Hori Puihi, i a ia e whakawaireka ana ki a Haina?
Will we be prepared to also show our concern - or will we instead be sidling up to President Bush as he in turn sidles up to China?
E kore matou o te Paati Maori e piupiu i te haki whakapono, ki te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa.
We in the Maori Party will not be waving the flag of faith in the FTA.
Tuturu, e tautoko ana matou i te ohanga Maori, e kite ana matou i ngä painga ki ngä iwi e puta mai ana i te hokohoko kaimoana, mahi täpoi ki a Haina.
Of course we want every opportunity to support Maori economic advancement, and we recognize the opportunities that iwi see in China, particularly in the area of seafood exports and tourism.
Engari me pehea mätou, e huri ke i te taamitanga taikaha o ngä reo motuhake o Tibet, he takahanga tera i te tangata whenua?
But how can we with any conscience, overlook the brutal repression of dissent in Tibet which represents a callous disregard for the rights of indigenous peoples.
E mataara ana matou ki ngä tara koi i roto i te hokohoko pokanoa, pai ke ati ki a mätou, te hokohoko tika.
We remain concerned about the fish-hooks in free trade rather than the justice of fair trade.
E rapu ana matou i ngä huarahi e tiakina ai te taiao, ngä mana tangata, me ngä tikanga mahi.
We seek strategies which are about protection of the environment, human rights and worker rights.
I te tonga o te ra, he taumaha rawa te utu o ngä turanga mahi, ngä utu mahi, ngä matauranga mahi, te mana motuhake, e ngari katoa ai. E kore matou e tautoko i te Ture mo te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me Haina.
And in the long run, we calculate the costs of lost employment, lost wages, lost expertise, lost independence, as a cost too big to bear. We do not support the New Zealand China Free Trade legislation.
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