Speaking notes: Recognition of a national Maori flag

HE WHAKAMANA HE HAKI MAORI A MOTU:
RECOGNITION OF A NATIONAL MAORI FLAG

HON DR PITA SHARPLES, MINISTER OF MAORI AFFAIRS

TUESDAY 14 JULY 2009; TE PUEA MARAE, AUCKLAND

 The symbolism of the flag is unmistakeable across the globe.

One week ago, President Evo Morales raised the Bolivian flag during the start of celebrations commemorating the anniversary of the Bolivian war of independence against Spanish Rule in 1809.

Fifteen years ago, Cathy Freeman wrapped herself in the Aboriginal flag as she made her gold medal victory lap at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

And in 2007 Barack Obama made headlines by refusing to wear the American flag pin on his lapel, at least in part because of the Iraq War.

The flag is much more than a piece of cloth, a banner to wave. Flags represent our strongest expressions of identity – they are a unique manifestation of the essence of who we are.

Today throughout Aotearoa, there will be marae flying their own flags at half-mast, as they grieve for a loved one mourned in the process of the tangihanga.

At other marae, the flags may be flying at full height, as the hapu powhiri to manuhiri, gathered together in hui.

Flags are like a beacon of hope; a signature flying high, telling the world who we are. There is probably no stronger picture of this in my mind than that incredible sight of the flags proceeding down Lambton Quay in the hikoi of 5 May 2004.

The question we are launching today, therefore, cuts to the heart of nationhood, of identity, of tangata whenuatanga. What flag best encapsulates the spirit of kaupapa and tikanga Maori, the spirit of the people?

Where-ever we go throughout the motu, we know there are flags which represent us as whanau, hapu and iwi.

There are the flags of the Kingitanga at Turangawaewae; the Pai Marere flags of Te Ua Haumene; the flag, Te Wepu, of Te Kooti; the flags of Te Haahi Ratana; the flags of T+tokowaru and Phi Tkroa, and of course flags which distinguish our marae up and down the country. These flags are part of our history and will continue to represent us as mana whenua, as haahi, as marae.

But the question we are taking on the road today, is which is the best flag to represent our history, our aspirations for the future?

This is a critical stage in the evolution of our nationhood. And I want to bring us back to where this debate began in the first place.

It started on Waitangi Day, with Maori sovereignty groups such as Te Ata Tino Toa putting forward a request to fly the Maori flag alongside the Union Jack as a representation of the partnership anticipated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Their call was supported by church organisations, peace groups, Maori and non-Maori alike; who saw the flying of both flags as a promise of hope for our future; a future where the unique status of our indigenous peoples could be celebrated; a symbol of the strength of the Treaty partnership.

And I want to draw the attention of the nation to one brave Council in Dunedin, in which Mayor Peter Chin has proudly flown the Maori flag on the balcony outside his Civic Centre office on Waitangi Day over the last two years.

If it can happen in Dunedin, then we want to see it in Waitakere; in Te Teko; in Taranaki; in Takapau.

We want to see that same sense of pride expressed in every Council, in every rohe throughout the land.

And so today is an important step forward, a symbolic gesture of good will and good faith, as this Government seeks to strengthen the Crown-Maori relationship established through Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Prime Minister asked me in my capacity as the Minister of Maori Affairs, to oversee the consultation process.

And in turn, I have asked Hone Harawira, with support from Te Puni Kokiri, to lead this consultation process with Maori.

And as I turn to the North, the birthplace of the Treaty, I think also of Hone Heke who cut down the British flag four times to express the passionate opposition of the people to British sovereignty.

And so it is a very humbling moment in our histories, as we think of the journey we have all been through, to now be walking alongside of the Crown, in considering the flag which best represents the expression of our history and our identity.

We have been through the periods where protest was ignored and trivialised; when the passion of the people was dismissed.

This is a day which has been long awaited – a day in which the aspirations of tangata whenua are listened to and respected.

This day signals a new climate of hope – an environment in which the time will be taken to allow the korero to be heard.

And when we come to the end of the consultation process, let us all fly our flags to let the world know, we are proud of the unique Treaty partnership; proud of tangata whenua, proud of Aotearoa.