The Enduring Power of Whanau

Kia ora tatou

Mr Speaker, when I rose to talk on this Bill at its second reading, I shared with the House, the deeply personal experience and that of our whanau as we had been through the care and welfare of my late sister, Hine.

And I talked about the responsibility to make decisions for someone who has entrusted their faith in you, to act on their behalf.

I believe that the concept of an enduring power of attorney fits well with values and principles which express a Maori worldview.

These values - these things that we reflect on in our commitment to kaupapa such as manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, kaitiakitanga, whakapapa, rangatiratanga –these are all an essential means of protecting and preserving personal care and welfare.

They are values which we in the Maori Party consider to have universal application.

They are values which, if respected and applied, will lead to spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical well-being.

And so it is against all of this background that I must talk of two concerns that have arisen, about these values during the life of this Bill.

The first is the revelation of the incidence of financial abuse and social neglect which Age Concern has identified that many older people are being subjected to.

What we are talking about here are our elders, our kuia, our kaumatua – who establish the foundation upon which hope can be built.

These are the koeke who we turn to for guidance, who maintain our tikanga and dignify the ceremonial protocols, they are the keepers of culture.

These are the elderly leaders who support to protect and nurture our young, who identify potential, who sustain and give life to our hauora, our spiritual health.

Well it’s not on from my perspective that our koeke should suffer from abuse or neglect at a time in their life when they should be cared for.

The second shocking statement that arose through the course of this Bill was a comment made by the Member for Rotorua, Stevie Chadwick, in response to my korero last week.

That Member suggested that Parliament can not legislate for manaakitanga or kaitiakitanga; and that what was needed instead is trust.

Okay- well that’s a view

But Mr Speaker, I believe that this Bill, in drawing upon the strengths of whanau, in making explicit the obligations of the attorney to act in the donor’s best interests, in motivating attorneys to encourage donors to exercise their own competence regarding their personal care, welfare and financial affairs, is all about manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga and trust.

The concepts are not mutually exclusive. One can follow kaupapa and tikanga Maori and recognition of western values without conflict.

It should not be a case of either / or.

This Bill, Mr Speaker, provides us with an opportunity to put into the statute, what Pakeha academic, Jane Kelsey described as her vision for the nation, in an address on Waitangi Day 2006. In her speech at Te Tii marae, Professor Kelsey said, and I quote:

Ani Mikaere has argued that tikanga Maori, with its ethical foundations in whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga, should provide the basis for law in this land. That makes perfect sense.

As Pakeha, we need to take responsibility for tilling that ground in our families, communities and institutions where we have power.

Despite the Maori-baiting of the major political parties, there is an enormous amount of goodwill and a shared commitment to building a Tiriti-based future in this land. End of quote.

Mr Speaker, building a Tiriti based future in Aotearoa may very well come about by the type of legislation we see here in protecting personal and property rights through the enduring powers of attorney provisions.

The central issue, surely, is how do we put legislation in place which better protects vulnerable people?

Those vulnerable people may be differently abled, they may be Maori, they may be elderly, and they may be unwell.

What will be common to all is that their state of general health and wellbeing leads them to being incapable of making or communicating decisions.

The impact of abuse and neglect, which is both hurtful and hidden, can occur to anyone of any ethnicity, any age, any social grouping.

Against all these variables then, the protection and promotion of the rights of people who are not able to manage their own affairs must surely be our united priority.

Whether we consider the quality of care we are seeking to encourage as manaakitanga or whether we consider it as trust, is not really relevant.

What is relevant, surely, is that we commit to doing something, to making explicit the desirable standards and relationships that put quality care in place.

Mr Speaker, a value basis to the decisions we make in this House has never been more apparent than that following the recent killings across this country.

Wayne Moore, the Acting Headmaster for Auckland Grammar School, told the 1000 strong congregation who gathered to mourn the death of Augustine Borrell, and I quote:

"Our government and politicians, they seem to lack the collective moral strength to be effective, to bring about changes…..moral fibre is judged on how well society upholds the dignity of life in the womb, in the home and on the streets".

What I say is that the concept of an enduring power of attorney if operating according to tikanga Maori, is all about demonstrating the collective moral strength, the collective moral fibre, to put into practice policy and procedures which give dignity to human life.

Mr Speaker, there were two other events of recent occurrence which I think have some relevance to the debate we are having around the Protection of Personal and Property Rights for those who may be compromised or vulnerable through health and personal conditions.

The first was the announcement of a stab-resistant, flame-resistant fabric being modelled at this year’s Fashion Week. In describing the Ag Research initiative, the selling point was that the fabric is able to resist penetration by a knife and is, and I quote:

"developed to protect the wearer from the ever changing and sometimes hostile world we live in".

The second event, Mr Speaker, of relevance was the release yesterday, from the national Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in issuing a new draft code of welfare for dogs, which outlines the minimum standards of welfare and best practices for anyone responsible for dogs.

So, if I am reading it right, in the last twenty four hours, the nation has responded to the crisis emergency of recent stabbings, shootings, gang and street violence with the news of stab-proof vest and a Code of Welfare for dogs.

Mr Speaker, I’m not criticising either of these two initiatives, but I am repeating what Wayne Moore has challenged us, to make the commitment towards creating the quality of moral fibre which upholds the dignity of life in the womb, in the home and on the streets.

Manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, rangatiratanga are all elements along the journey towards achieving that moral strength we require as a nation, to know we are committed towards making the changes necessary to bring back the concept of collective caring - tiakitanga.

The Maori Party suggests that the amendments made in this Bill strengthen the legislation on paper so that the personal welfare and rights of vulnerable people are better protected.

But what we need to see in person, is the support and promotion to enable proper protection of the personal and property rights of persons who are not fully able to manage their own affairs.

Mr Speaker, we in the Maori Party fully support the provisions articulated in this Bill. The provisions address all of the five types of misuse identified by the Law Commission and in doing so, make clear the obligation of the attorney to act in the donor’s best interests.

The key challenge addressing us all is to ensure that whanau and family relationships are sufficiently strong enough for the task we are setting, to be effective, to make the change and difference.

It is a task which we in the Maori Party truly believe Maori and Pakeha alike are up to – that we can draw on our cultural values, our unique concepts of care, and our traditions, to ensure that we give priority to the wellbeing of all.