Korero : Regulatory Standards Bill : First Reading - Te Ururoa Flavell
Wednesday 13 July 2011, 8:50AM
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Regulatory Standards Bill : First Reading
Te Ururoa Flavell, Waiariki
Kia ora tātau e te Whare, tātau kua hoki mai i uta, i tai, ki roto i ngā pakitara o te Whare, me te mōhio anō hoki, koinei te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Me whakanui i te āhuatanga o te reo Māori, kaua mō te wiki engari, he pai tonu kia aro atu ki tērā o ngā whakaaro i tēnei wā. Heoi anō me kōrero Māori i te roanga o te tau, kia taea ai te kī, kua tangata whenua tonu te reo Māori ki Aotearoa nei.
Ko tāku noa ake ko te kī atu, kei te kōrero tātau mō te Regulatory Standards Bill. Me pēnei rawa te kōrero, kāre te Pāti Māori i te whakaae ake ki tēnei o ngā pire. Me kī atu ko te tino tikanga o tēnei pire, he whakatikatika, he whakapai ake ko te tiketiketanga o ngā whakaritenga i Aotearoa nei. He whakapapa tōna, he whakapapa mai ai ki tētahi o ngā pire motuhake nei. Ko te ingoa o tērā pire i ngā tau kua hipa, ko te Regulatory Responsibility Bill. I tae mai tērā pire ki tēnei Whare Pāremata i te tau 2008 engari, kāre i pāhi, kāre i eke.
I tōna hōhonutanga, kei te āhua whakaae atu mātau ki te whāinga o tēnei o ngā pire, kia mārama te ture, kia tika te ture, kia pono te ture. Kia taea ai e wai rānei te whai atu i te ture ki tōna tiketiketanga, tuatahi. Tērā kōrero tērā.
Tuarua, kia kore e pā kinotia te tangata e te āhuatanga o te ture, i tōna oranga, i te rangatiratanga o tēnā, o tēnā. Ka toru, e ōrite ana te tangata, ahakoa ko wai ki raro i te korowai o te ture. Me pērā rawa te noho o te motu i raro i te korowai, tātau katoa.
Nā, he māmā noa iho tērā te kōrero engari, tōna whakatinanatanga kei reira tonu te uauatanga. Pēnei i te mema, te kaiārahi o te Rōpū ACT nei, arā te Tākuta Brash nei i roto i te Whare i te ahiahi nei. Koinā tāna e whai nei engari, koinei tāku e kī nei. Ko te kōrero mō tērā kōrero, arā anō tērā engari, ko tōna whakatinanatanga, e hoa mā, kei reira tonu te uauatanga.
Nō reira, e toru pea ētahi mea hei whakatakoto ki mua i te aroaro o te Whare Pāremata i tēnei wā. Me huri atu ki ērā o ngā kaupapa i tēnei wā. Tuatahi ka pātaia te pātai, kai hea te Tiriti o Waitangi ki roto i ngā whiriwhiringa o tēnei o ngā ture? Kei te whai mai tēnei o ngā pire, me kī, i ngā tapuwae o te pūrongo o te Taraipiunara o Waitangi, me tana pūrongo mō Wai 262, i puta i ngā rā tata kua hipa ake nei. Ki taku mōhio, i roto i tērā o ngā pūrongo e mea ana, kei reira tonu te tirohanga kia noho hoa haere, me kī, ko te Karauna rāua ko te Ao Māori, i roto i ngā whiriwhiringa ā ngā tau kei mua i te aroaro. Anā, kei reira tonu, me kī, te huarahi hei mea para mā te Karauna rāua ko te Māori ā ngā tau kai mua i te aroaro. Ko te mate kē i roto i tēnei pire, kotahi anake te wāhanga e kōrerohia ana, ko tērā e pā ana ki te Karauna. Kāre he kōrero mō te āhuatanga ki te Ao Māori, arā, pēnei i tāku e kī nei mō te āhuatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nō reira, tērā tērā, take nama tahi me kī.
Tuarua, kei roto i te hōhonutanga o te pire, kei reira tonu e noho taupatupatu nei. Nā, hei tauira ake, mēnā ka āta titiro ki te hōhonutanga o tēnei pire, arā mō tēnei mea mō te tango rawa nei, me kī, ko te taking of property. Nā kei roto i te pire nei, kei reira tonu e mea ana, ā, e kore e taea e wai rānei te tango, te pupuri mai i ngā rawa a te tangata, ki te kore taua tangata e whakaae atu, ka mutu, ki te kore he utunga e whai nei ki taua tangata. Nā reira he pai tonu tērā whakaaro, mēnā ka tangohia mai ai ō rawa, ā, tuatahi me whakaae atu, tuarua, mēnā ka pērā, me whai utu anō koe mō tērā momo mahi. Mēnā ka whai tonu tātau i tērā huarahi, ā, mēnā ka kī tātau, mēnā ka whakaae tātau kia ōrite tātau i raro i te korowai o te ture, nei au e pātai nei i te pātai - pēhea ngā āhuatanga o ngā kerēme tiriti, ngā whakataunga Tiriti o Waitangi, e kōrerohia nei, e wānangahia ana? Mēnā ka whai tātau i tērā momo āhuatanga, ē, kua whai rawa te Ao Māori nā runga i ngā mahi tinihanga a te Karauna i ngā tau kua hipa. Nō reira, he take nui tērā hei mea kōrero, hei mea wānanga. Āe, mēnā kei raro tātau i te korowai o te ture, kia ōrite te āhuatanga, ahakoa ko wai, ā-iwi Māori nei, ā-tangata i tōna kotahi nei.
Nā, ko te take tuatoru, me kī, ko te āhuatanga o tēnei mea o te āta wānanga i te tika o te ture. Nā, me kī, ki te wāhanga e kī ana good law-making, tērā wāhanga. Kei roto i tērā wāhanga e mea ana, kia āta wānangatia, kia wātea te ture, ngā ture katoa, kia āta wānangahia, kia kitea mai ai ko wai te hunga ka whiwhi hua mai i tērā ture, me te hunga ka rongo nei i te ngau o tērā ture, arā, ko te hunga kore whiwhi i ētahi painga nā tērā ture. Me pēnei rawa te kōrero, me whai wāhi te tangata whenua ki te āta titiro ki te hōhonutanga o tēnei o ngā wāhanga, arā, kia taea e te tangata whenua te wānanga i te tikanga o tēnā o ngā wāhi. I te mea, tērā pea, kei roto i ngā ture ka kitea mai ai i ngā huringa whakamuri, mei kore pea e kite i ētahi painga o roto i ngā ture i ngā tau kua hipa ahakoa, kei reira tonu ngā hē rawa o te ture. Nō reira, kei reira tonu tērā āhuatanga, arā, kua hangaia ētahi ture i ngā tau kua hipa. E hiahia anō tētahi ki te whakatika i ērā ture, ko te mate kē kua kino, kua puta mai anō ētahi kino o roto i ngā ture ka hangaia. Nō reira, tērā tērā.
Ka mutu, ko te wāhi whakamutunga ki a au, ko te wāhanga e kī ana, e āta titiro ana ki tēnei mea o te ture kia whakamātauria. Arā, kei roto i te ture ka whakamātauria, ko te āhuatanga o ngā tikanga a te tangata kotahi. Engari, karekau he paku kōrero o roto i te ture mō te āhuatanga o ngā tikanga ā-kāhui tangata. Ka titiro ki te tangata kotahi, kaua ki te kāhui-ā-tangata, arā, ki te kohikohinga o te iwi, tērā momo āhuatanga. Me titiro anō rā te Minita ki tēnei take. Nō reira, koinei ngā take e toru e hei tīmatanga kōrero. Tērā pea ka rongo ngā taringa o te Minita Hide ki ēnei take. Tērā pea, ka whakahokia mai ai ki roto i te Whare Pāremata ā te wā. Mō tēnei wā tonu nei, kāre mātau i te whakaae atu ki tōna hōhonutanga engari, ka waiho ake tērā take kia tārewa mō te wā. Tērā pea, nā te āhuatanga o te whakahokinga mai o te Minita, ka aro pai ki tēnei o ngā ture. Nō reira, kia ora tātau.
Greetings to us, the House, we who have returned from near and far to be within the walls of the Chamber, knowing full well that this is *Māori Language Week. Aspects of the Māori language should be celebrated, but not just for a week. That thought merits further consideration. Māori should be spoken at greater length during the year so we can say that it has become firmly embedded here in New Zealand.
We are debating the Regulatory Standards Bill, and we of the Māori Party oppose it. The main purpose of the bill is to improve the quality of regulation in New Zealand. It has a genealogy. It came out of a member’s bill called the *Regulatory Responsibility Bill. That bill came before this Parliament in 2008, but was not passed and did not make it.
In essence, we agree with the general principles of the bill, that the law should be clear, apt, and honest. But who can pursue the law to its conclusion? That is the first point. I leave that there.
Secondly, aspects of law should not adversely affect an individual in terms of their well-being and autonomy. Thirdly, every person, regardless of who they are, is equal before the law, and under its cloak. The nation, all of us, should exist like that, under the cloak and protection of the law.
Talking about it is the easy part. Implementing it is the hard part. It is a bit like the leader of the ACT Party, Dr Brash, who is in the House this afternoon. That is what he is after, and that is what I am referring to. Talking about it is one thing, but putting it into action is where the real difficulty is.
Therefore, there are perhaps three things to put before the House at this point. Let us turn to those matters now. Firstly, the question has to be posed about where the Treaty of Waitangi was during the negotiations undertaken for this bill. The bill comes hot on the heels of the Waitangi Tribunal Wai 262 report, just released in recent days. According to what I know, that report states that the Treaty envisages the Crown-Māori relationship as a partnership, in future negotiations. The way ahead for a Crown-Māori relationship in the future is still there. Yet the problem is that in this bill only one side is referred to, and that is the Crown. There is nothing about the state of Māoridom. It is like what I have been talking about in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi perspective. So that is issue No. 1, perhaps.
Secondly, there are still debatable issues in the details of the bill. There is an interesting irony, for example, in the detail of measures in this bill around the taking of property. The bill suggests that property can be taken, or authorised to be taken, without the consent of the owner, if full compensation for the taking or impairment is provided to that person. That idea is a good one if someone’s property is taken, but first they must be consulted. If that happens, they must be compensated for such an action taken against them. If we continue to go down that road, and agree that every person is equal under the cloak of the law, then I must ask the question: “What about circumstances relating to Treaty claims and Treaty settlements currently being addressed and debated?”. If the same regulatory standards applied, if we followed that kind of reasoning, Māoridom would be resourced to the hilt as a consequence of the Crown’s deceitful actions in years past. So that is a huge point to talk about and debate. Yes, if we were indeed under the cloak of the law, everyone would be equal before the law, regardless of who they might be, Māori people or others.
The third issue is the matter of carefully debating the appropriateness of the law—let us say, the provisions relating to good law-making. Those provisions suggest that every piece of legislation must contain a careful evaluation about who is likely to benefit and who is likely to suffer a detriment from the legislation, and all the potential adverse consequences of the legislation. We urge that local Māori be involved in examining the detail of those provisions carefully to see whether any retrospective steps will be taken to address past issues that clearly fall into the category of bad law-making. That situation still exists, in terms of bad laws still being made. One would like to amend those laws, but the trouble is that tainted laws have led to other faults appearing in the laws being drafted. So that is that matter.
Furthermore, my conclusion concerns the provisions that look carefully at the aspect of the law to be tested. The bill makes an issue of testing legislation against the concept of individual liberty. Absent from that discussion is any notion of collective rights. The Minister must look at these issues again. These three points are just a starting point for further discussion. Perhaps Minister Hide will pay attention to these issues, and in time bring this bill back to the House. For the moment, we do not agree with its details, and leave it hanging there. Depending on how the Minister brings the bill back, we might favour it then. So greetings to us.