Speech : Address in Reply - Te Ururoa Flavell

Tēnā koe, Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora tātou katoa.

Ten days ago the Māori Party entered into an arrangement—a relationship accord—with the National Government that represents in its widest sense a solid commitment to whānau, hapū, and iwi to make tangible steps forward in achieving progress towards a successful and prosperous future.

We know it is going to be hard work. It was a decision, however, that our supporters came to; in fact, they encouraged us to make that decision based on over thirty hui throughout the whole of the country. Their view was that all of the promises and the pledges made throughout the election campaign amount to nothing if we choose to throw away the best opportunity to make a difference.

So we have secured an agreement that focuses on addressing the things that matter: building warm homes, improving educational achievement, eliminating diseases of poverty, investing in our rangatahi through the provision of jobs and skills training, and giving due attention to lifting water quality.

One of our greatest achievements has been to gain renewed support for the evolving focus and implementation of Whānau Ora. The relationship accord states a commitment to three key goals in advancing Whānau Ora, and they have been spoken about today.

Firstly, a specific annual Whānau Ora appropriation will be developed to improve the reach, capability, and effectiveness of Whānau Ora; secondly, a stand-alone commissioning agency will be established over the next twelve months; and, thirdly, Whānau Ora will be increasingly bringing focus to addressing the issues of unemployment, housing, and educational achievement, and of supporting our most vulnerable members, including those on low incomes. I would have thought that was the sort of philosophy and background members of this House would support fully. But, unfortunately, some do not.

The Speech from the Throne described the importance of better and more effective public services in order to ensure real results are achieved. It is on the results that the Māori Party will be focusing in this term. We say to all members of this chamber - this is the time to move past placards; past platitudes. We must keep our eyes fixed fairly and squarely on outcomes—outcomes that show we are making a difference, and, of course, after that for years we will be measured against that.

Whānau Ora in its purest form, to help the Rt Hon Winston Peters, is about restoring the memory of our people that they can be self-determining: that we can take responsibility for ourselves, working together to embed our own growth. That is what tino rangatiratanga is all about, aside from the flag and aside from a slogan.

I want to borrow three words from a gentleman by the name of Haami Chapman, who was last year awarded the local hero award in the New Zealander of the Year honours. Sam is based in Ōtara in Auckland. He has over forty years’ experience in transforming communities, particularly engaging with people who have been alienated, marginalised, and have lost hope along the way. Sam talks about the triple A approach: Awareness, Attitude, Action.

The Māori Party knows that so much of the success of local communities comes when we can grow the awareness that we can manage our own affairs: that we can break the cycles of reliance and dependence on others. I suppose that is what Mr Alfred Ngaro was talking about today. It is about starting off with the attitude that demonstrates we know that we are capable of miracles. Attitude comes from a context, and the impacts of colonisation, assimilation, global recessions, and paternalistic policies of the State have led down a pathway that sets some people up, unfortunately, to fail. We choose not to rely on the State as the option of first resort—no way. So our actions must model the shifting of thinking that lifts our sights to our own solutions. We must move away from lowering our gaze to what the State can provide to, instead, building our own vision.

But we accept also that there are those who are struggling, and it is our collective responsibility to provide the buffer of support to ensure everyone has a decent basis of life. That is why we are so pleased that the relationship accord gives priority to alleviating the effects of poverty in Aotearoa. The creation of a ministerial committee on poverty and the initiatives to urgently invest in the prevention of rheumatic fever and in home insulation, Māori education, trade training, and homeownership are huge for us for creating a better world for generations to come.

I am pleased that in the Māori Affairs Committee parties from across the House will be able to contribute to this work through the inquiry into the determinants of well-being for Māori children. One of the key goals of that inquiry is that there will be an investigation into the extent of public investment in Māori children across the health, education, social services, and justice sectors, and whether this investment is adequate and equitable.

The relationship accord builds on the momentum we have already established over the last three years in Government. One of the key platforms from that term, which will assume even greater importance in this one, is to lead the public discussion around the constitutional arrangements for Aotearoa. It was disappointing to read the comments from Mr Harawira about the importance of swearing allegiance to the Queen in ceremonies held yesterday.

I think he said you just cross as many fingers and toes as you can, because it is absolutely meaningless. Well, for us—and I am sure, for him—he should know that there would be no Treaty of Waitangi without the Queen, and that the sacred covenant entered into between Wikitoria and the rangatira of Aotearoa remains highly significant to whānau, hapū, and iwi across the land, and we want to pursue that. The Māori Party is of the view, however, that swearing allegiance to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is of fundamental importance in moving forward, and our bill, the Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill is just one that we will be taking up to honour our commitment to our people and, indeed, to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation document.

Finally, I would note that one of the most important aspects of our relationship accord is actually what is not in the agreement.

Despite what Mr Peters has said earlier, the Māori Party does not support partial asset sales, and support for such measures was not included as a part of that accord.

We have also been very clear about the “agree to disagree” provision. This provision protects the independence, the mana motuhake, of the Māori Party. We have the freedom to vote on all issues on a case by case basis, other than matters that are subject to confidence and supply, which is around the Budget. That, by the way, is how we operated in the last term, and we will continue to do so in this term.
We guard our independence fiercely to safeguard the strong and independent voice for Māori. We remain focused on what we will achieve in long-term gains for the next generation and how our kaupapa and tikanga will be enabled to influence this and shape the growing nation. All of those things will be achieved, we hope, in the next three years.

That is where we will be heading. I said earlier that I would hope that all of these things that have been developed through the confidence and supply agreement, with the relationship accord, set a special precedent. The past has meant that parties with only the confidence and supply agreement are pretty much bound down. The Māori Party appreciates very much the relationship accord, which changes the tone of that relationship to give us the freedom that we have to vote where we want to and how we would like to, except on those issues of finance, and we look forward to a strong, robust three years ahead. Kia ora mai