General Debate

I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai, Te Whare. Tuatahi, māku hei tīmata taku kōrero, e tika ana kei roto i tō tātou reo rangatira kia poroporoaki i ō tātou tini mate. I reira au inanahi rā i te ātaahua o Waikare, arā kei waenga i te hapū o Te Kapotai. I reira e tangihia ana, e poroporoaki ana i te pāpā o tō tātou hoa mahi, arā a Willow-Jean Prime; arā ko Barry tōna ingoa. Nā reira e tika ana kia tuku kupu maioha ki a ia i te rā nei, kua tukuna atu ia ki te kōpū o te whenua, kia takoto ki te taha o tōna whaea. Nō reira, e te whanaunga, e te hoa Barry, haere, haere. Ka tae atu koe ki te okiokinga. Nā reira, rātou ki a rātou te hunga wairua; ka hoki mai ki a tātou, huri rauna i tēnei Whare, ki te hunga ora.

E harikoa ana ahau kia rongo ai Te Reo Māori e kōrerohia ana kei roto i tēnei Whare; ko tēnei Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Nā reira he mea tika kia kōrero ai tātou i Te Reo, kia rongo ai te hōhonutanga, te whānuitanga o ngā take e wānangahia ai i roto i Te Reo Māori. He mea pai tēnā. Engari ko tōku pōuritanga ko Te Reo o—ko te wiki, kotahi noa iho te wā ka rongohia e te nuinga o te Whare. Ko mātou e mōhio ana ki Te Reo Māori, he mea pai rawa atu kia kōrero, ā i ngā wā katoa e taea ana, horekau mō te wiki kotahi. Nā reira ko te Whare nei e taea ana kia whakapakari ai ō tātou pūkenga i roto i Te Reo Māori kia rongo ai i ngā wā katoa.

Engari ka kite ahau ētahi wahanga. Ka rongo hoki ahau ētahi o ngā kōhumuhumu nō tērā taha, ngā kōrero whakahāwea, whakaparahako, whakaiti i a mātou e kōrero ana. Tāku e mea atu ana, ehara tēnā tika ana i te mea ko Te Reo Māori Te Reo tuatahi o tēnei motu. I te ūnga mai o ngā waka tupuna ki konei ki roto o Aotearoa, ko Te Reo tuatahi muri atu i Te Reo o ngā manu me ngā tātarakihi ko Te Reo Māori. Horekau Te Reo Māori Te Reo tuarua o tēnei Whare, o tēnei motu.

Nā reira ko ngā whakapae o tērā taha ka huri mātou ki Te Reo Māori hei karo atu i ngā pātai, hei karo atu i ngā kōrero o te Whare—ehara tēnā e tika ana, he mea whakaiti tērā kia pā atu i te hiahia ki te kōrero i Te Reo Māori kei roto i tēnei Whare. E pai ana mā rātou kia whakahē i te kiko o ngā kōrero engari horekau e tika ana kia whakahē i te mahitanga o Te Reo Māori kei roto tēnei Whare.

Ko pōuri ahau kia rongo ai tētahi kōrero o tētahi Minita o mua mō ngā take Tiriti, e whakahāwea ana ko te roa o te wā e mahi ana ahau i te Crown/Māori relations, tērā kaupapa nōku. Hei tāna, e rima miniti noa iho tāna hei tuhituhingia i te, i taua take. Nā reira ko ia tētahi tauira o te whakaparahako o, a tērā taha ki ngā take Māori. E tika ana māku hei puta noa ki te motu whānui kia rongo ai ngā hiahia, ngā moemoeā o te ao Māori e pā ana ki tēnei take. Nā reira kia rongo ai tētahi Minita mō, o mua mō ngā take Tiriti e mea ana ka taea e ia te mahi taua mahi, a mahi i roto i te rima miniti, he mea whakaiti tēnā i te ao Māori.

Nā reira, kāore tēnei Kāwanatanga i te hiahia kia mahi anō aua hē o tērā taha. Ko tō mātou hiahia kia whakahōnoretia ngā tāngata whenua, kia mahi tahi i a rātou, kia mōhio ai tātou, kia ea ai mātou ngā raruraru e pāngia nei ki te ao Māori. E mōhio ana tātou kei raro iho te ao Māori i ngā tatauranga o Te Kāwanatanga, nō reira tō mātou hiahia kia mahi, kia hāpaitia te ao Māori kia ōrite te mana kei roto i ngā take o te motu ki tō te mana, kei tō te oranga o te ao Pākehā.

Nā reira, e tika ana tātou kia kōrero ai Te Reo i tēnei wiki, engari me pēhea te wiki whai muri ake i tēnei, me pēhea te wiki muri atu i tērā wiki? He mea tika mā tātou kia kōrerotia i Te Reo Māori i ngā wā katoa, kia rongo ai te hōhonutanga, te whānuitanga, te ātaahuatanga o tō tātou taonga Te Reo Māori. Kia ora.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker, and to the House. Firstly, to begin my speech, it is only right to be in our esteemed language to farewell our many deceased. I was there yesterday in the beautiful valley of Waikare, namely amidst the subtribe of Te Kapotai. There, the father of our colleague Willow-Jean Prime was being mourned and farewelled; his name was Barry. Thus it is appropriate to address respectful words to him today, he who has been returned to the womb of the earth, to lie beside his mother. So, my kinsman, my friend Barry, rest in peace. You will arrive at the resting place. Consequently, the spirits remain with the spirits; returning now to us, right around this House, to the living.

I am happy to hear the Māori language being spoken in this House; this is Māori Language Week. Thus it is apt that we speak in the Māori language, to hear the depth and the breadth of the issues we are debating in the Māori language. That is a good thing. However, my sadness is the language of—the week, there is only one time it is heard by most of the House. Those of us who know the Māori language, it is a great thing to speak, and at all possible opportunities, not just for one week. Therefore, this House is able to strengthen our skills in the Māori language so it can be heard at all times.

However, I see some burdens. I also hear some of the gossip from the Opposition, saying things which are derogatory, condescending, and belittling towards those of us who are speaking. What I have to say is that is not right, because the Māori language is the first language of this country. On the arrival of the ancestral canoes to New Zealand, the first language other than that of the birds and the cicadas was the Māori language. The Māori language is not the second language of this House, of this country.

Therefore, the accusations of the Opposition that we turn to the Māori language to avoid the questions, to avoid the discussions of the House—that is not correct, and it is belittling to apply that to the desire to speak in the Māori language in this House. It is fine for them to object to the substance of what is said but it is not right to object to the use of the Māori language within this House.

I am sad to hear an account from a certain past Minister of Treaty matters, criticising the amount of time I am spending on my Crown/Māori relations work, that responsibility of mine. According to him, he would need only five minutes to write about that topic. Thus he is an example of the disparagement by the Opposition towards Māori issues. It is only right for me to travel around the country at large to hear the needs and aspirations of the Māori world pertaining to this topic. That’s why, to hear a previous Minister for Treaty matters saying that he could do that work, and do it in five minutes, that is belittling to the Māori world.

Accordingly, this Government does not wish to repeat those mistakes of the Opposition. Our desire is that the indigenous people be honoured, to work together with them, to understand, to resolve the problems affecting the Māori world. We know that the Māori world is down and under in Government statistics, therefore our desire is to work, to elevate the Māori world to gain the same status in issues of national consequence as the status, the well-being, of the Pākehā world.

Consequently, we are right to speak the language this week, but what about the following week, what about the week after that week? It is the right thing for us to do: to speak the Māori language at all times; to hear the depth, the breadth, the beauty of our treasure, the Māori language. Thank you.]

What a shambles the Government is in. What an absolute shambles the Government is in. Here we have them, on a day when they had called extraordinary hours for the sitting of the House—a time when the House could’ve sat between 9 o’clock this morning and 1 o’clock this afternoon to progress six bills that the Government had set down on the Order Paper. And what happened? Ministers responsible for bills failed to turn up to the House. Unbelievable. So an hour and a quarter before the House was scheduled to lift, the whole thing was shut down.

I often say that the House in politics, the Parliament in politics, is a bit like the heart. Everyone knows that if their heart’s not beating too well, they’re not well. Well, the heart of this Parliament is not beating well, and this Government is in very bad shape.

One of the problems, quite clearly, and quite evidently demonstrated in the last two days in this House, is that the right honourable gentleman over there still hasn’t stopped acting as Prime Minister. He has the veto on everything this Government does. We have an industrial relations law—which, by the way, is appalling for employment prospects in New Zealand, appalling for anyone who’s got an entrepreneurial spirit and might want to start a business. But anyway, it’s been through Cabinet, it’s been to the select committee, it’s coming back to Parliament, and the right honourable gentleman says, “Uh-oh. We may have made a mistake. Pull on the brakes, we’re no longer supporting it.” And that’s not just for this bill—it goes on and on and on.

So I can’t wait to see the news footage next week of the Prime Minister in New York, giving the grand speech to the General Assembly, talking about their ambitious plans for the relocation of Nauru refugees to New Zealand, and then qualifying it all by saying, “But only if Winston says we can.” [Interruption]

💬 SPEAKER: I think there are some members who would like an early shower. If I have—[Interruption] I think that the shadow Deputy Leader of the House should lead by example.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The member on his feet has been around long enough to know the appropriate way to refer to other members of Parliament.

💬 Hon David Bennett: It’s not a point of order.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: Now, “sir” will be a supplementary if he likes, but he cannot call me Winston. Thank you very much.

💬 SPEAKER: Right, before the—I’d let it ride—

Well, only—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. The member who interjected during the point of order will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

💬 Hon David Bennett: I withdraw and apologise.

💬 SPEAKER: No. Loud enough so the House can hear him.

💬 Hon David Bennett: I withdraw and apologise.

Well, perhaps I should break my flow, as it has been broken, simply to say that I meant nothing pejorative in the use of the first name. I was simply referring to it in terms much like people refer to RNZ or BNZ or any of those other institutions that are so well embedded into our society. In fact, I’m sure that at some point—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! The member knows that he does not refer to points of order that have been dealt with.

All right—so back to the shambolic Government and the utterly disgraceful mess that they’re in. So we just had the speaker before me, the Hon Kelvin Davis, the Minister for Crown/Māori Relations, talking about the new institution that’s being set up; a new department announced by the Prime Minister, with the well-known person Tītewhai Harawira sitting next to her in the Cabinet room last week. There is a brand new central agency that is going to be able to have a view on every single bill. One problem—one problem: when the Minister was asked last week “What is the role of the Minister for Crown/Māori Relations?”, he announced—10 months after taking the warrant, taking the salary, taking the car, taking the house, all the drama—that very shortly there’ll be an announcement about what he does. Now, if that’s not shambolic, you tell me what is. Do you know why there’s been no announcement? Because the right honourable gentleman hasn’t decided what that role is just yet.

So there they’ll be, at the UN, the two of them, side by side, holding hands, putting on the spectacle or the picture of a united Government, knowing full well that those hands are only locked by the shackle of the secret agreement that keeps getting referred to in the House but hasn’t been made public, and, of course, the general display that the Government knows what it’s doing. Well, I would ask a simple question: if the Government knows what it’s doing, that’s one thing, but if the Government doesn’t know where to be to do what it has to do, as was the case this morning, how can anyone believe they know what they’re doing?

Another example this week was the failure to turn up in the House by a Minister leading a bill on the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill, who twice failed to get to the House, leaving it to other Ministers, telling us that they don’t really care about their policy. The virtue signalling is far better, and, frankly, look at the faces across the other side of the House. They are basking in their self-congratulations, at the fine words that they’re all uttering, but assured that that doesn’t make any difference.

E Te Mana Whakawā, tēnā koe. So I’ve heard that the world is coming to an end, that the sky is actually about to fall, or, if we are to really understate things, that this Government is about to destroy our economy with a Draconian retraction of employment rights, taking us right back to the 1970s, and that we’re all going to be forced to wear flares and get pet rocks! This Government apparently is so extreme. I can’t believe that this Government is not listening to the National Party and those businesses raising concerns about the destruction of their livelihoods and all of the jobs! Tea breaks for workers not in emergency services? Union access to worksites? Making it easier for people to join a collective contract? Improved ability to negotiate collectively? Removing the 90-day trial for businesses with over 20 staff? Goodness me! No wonder the sky is going to fall! Holy moly, this is out of control!

If I sound slightly sarcastic, it might be because I am being. All this legislation does is reinstate some of the statutory requirements that existed before the last Government removed them—ha, ha! This morning, to provide a bit of a balance to that narrative, I was watching, on RNZ, one of the suffrage documentaries by Kathleen Winter, sharing the experiences of some women working on the minimum wage in this country. They talked about working multiple jobs, struggling to pay the bills, seeing their kids for only a few hours a day and feeling as if they were being blamed personally when their kids got into trouble, even though they actually had no ability to be there for the kids when they needed them, because they were working three jobs just to have enough money to keep a roof over their heads.

One woman talked about her brother dying and her jumping in the car to go to his tangi and running out of petrol and having to return home because she didn’t have enough money, as a full-time worker, to be able to get to her own brother’s funeral. That is the reality of thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders’ lives in this country under the laws that that side of the House is so staunchly defending. What they are defending is the degradation of thousands of people in our country, and I’ve got no truck with it. People who are saying that this legislation is extreme and that it’s going to lose us jobs are just beating a drum that has created that inequality.

I know most New Zealanders care about that inequality. They see the stories in the media. They see their neighbours, their friends, and their family members struggling, and they want something else. They want better for themselves and for their families. That is why they voted for a change of Government, because we can do better, but it means stepping out of the way that things have been done for the last 10 years. Increasing the minimum wage will help, but we also need to connect the dots around our employment legislation. We need to improve people’s employment security and even up that imbalance between employers and their staff.

We’ve got too many examples of people not getting even their legal entitlements because their employer either doesn’t know them or thinks no one is watching. Even the International Monetary Fund has said that unions and their access to workplaces is essential in addressing inequality. Reduced union power: increased inequality. It’s a global pattern. It’s a key thing that we need to address if we are serious about addressing inequality, and the Green Party is. We want to hear from workers, like we want to hear from all the voices on this side of the House working towards a solution, and we’re pleased to support a Government that put this in the first 100-day work programme.

Nine years in Opposition and almost 12 months in Government, and what have we seen from this Government in terms of justice reform? Zip—nothing.

Actually, that’s not fair—that’s not fair. Let’s think about the only thing that the Minister of Justice has tried to do, and that’s repeal the three-strikes legislation. And how did that go for him? Well, he thought that he had agreement from this coalition Government, from his coalition partners, and he was all ready on the day to take the paper to Cabinet to have it approved and to go through Cabinet, and all of a sudden he heard the revving of a loud engine behind him. He turned around, and what was it? It was a bus. It was a big black bus with “Send them a message” on it. And behind the wheel was the Rt Hon Winston Peters. He was bearing down on him, cigarette out the corner of his mouth and, you know, a glass of whisky on the dash, and he had Clayton Mitchell and Darroch Ball and Fletcher Tabuteau standing behind him egging him on with their Dirty Dog sunglasses. And here he was, bearing down on poor Andrew Little. Where did he have to go? He had nowhere to go. What happened? Straight under the bus—straight under the bus and over the top.

I just put it to the Labour caucus, because I know for a fact that the Labour caucus—Kris Faafoi especially—

💬 Hon Kris Faafoi: Ha, ha! Stop name dropping.

Kris Faafoi especially is not happy about this. How do you think they feel having their justice Minister thrown under the bus, driven over the top of by their coalition partner? Imagine how we would feel as the National Party if that happened to our justice Minister. Oh no, that’s right; it wouldn’t happen, would it? And just as—

💬 Hon Kris Faafoi: When are you starting a new party?

—and just as Andrew Little’s getting up and dusting himself off, and picking the asphalt out of his beard and—

💬 Hon Kris Faafoi: How’s the new party going?

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume his seat. The Hon Kris Faafoi: interjections are meant to be rare, reasonable, and witty, and not draw the Speaker into them. The member failed on all three counts.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a bit like that in the Parliamentary Rugby Team changing sheds as well, but he always gives it a good effort.

He’s just dusted himself off. He’s picked a bit of asphalt out. He’s just thinking that he’s got over having been put under the bus, and he turns around, and all of a sudden there’s a big red bus. The big red bus drives straight over the top of him. Under he goes. And just as he’s going under the grill, he looks up and a big tear wells up in his eye, because he sees the driver of the bus is the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. She’s sitting there behind the wheel and bang, over she goes—boom! The reason for that is because the only other thing that he’s done, other than try to repeal the three-strikes legislation, which failed miserably, is he decided to deliver a justice summit—a justice summit that he told us was going to cost $700,000. I thought that was a bit excessive. I thought that was still $1,000 per participant, and that was a bit excessive.

💬 Hon Willie Jackson: You had lunch.

Oh, I had lunch? Who’s saying that? Oh, the Hon Willie Jackson says I had lunch. Actually, let me correct you on that. I had a green tea, but I wish I had had some lunch now that I have found out that it was $2,500 a head to attend the justice summit.

Mike Williams—the great bastion of the Labour Party, Mike Williams—wrote a column last week saying that my view on the justice reforms was disgusting because I’m advocating for victims and I’m saying that public safety should always be at the forefront of any justice reform that’s done. And then he goes on to say, “You know what? Mark Mitchell wasn’t even at the justice forum.” Well, if he had just looked up, he would have seen that I led the pōwhiri with Andrew Little. And if he’d actually been there, he would have realised that, actually, I did attend the justice forum. The problem was the opening of the justice forum, where the Minister Kelvin Davis got up and told Stuart Nash that he looked like Tom Cruise, and then Stuart Nash got up and told Kelvin Davis that he looked like George Clooney, and then poor old Andrew Little—I don’t know, Elmer Fudd or something like that. That was the opening.

Then I was getting interviewed by Tova O’Brien. And while I was getting interviewed, she said, “What do you think?” And I said, “Well, I’m really worried. There’s no real victim representation here. It appears to be a bit of a talkfest.” And then what happens? Anzac Wallace jumps up out of the crowd as I’m being interviewed. And what does he say? What does he start shouting down on the main floor of the conference?

💬 Hon Willie Jackson: Utu.

“Too much talk”. Yes, utu; that’s right. Utu from Willie Jackson. He says, “Too much talk. Too much talk and not enough action.” And he summed it up perfectly. All we’re seeing is too much talk and not enough action in a coalition Government that not once but twice has thrown their justice Minister under the bus. They had rooms there for counselling. They had a reflections wall; they had rooms there for counselling. The Minister actually, I think, has got post-traumatic stress disorder. He didn’t turn up yesterday in the House for a very important bill—

Order! The member will resume his seat. The Hon Willie Jackson.

Tuatahi e tika ana ki te tautoko te kaupapa, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori; e tika ana ki te whakanui i tō tātou reo i ngā wā katoa. Nō reira, ki a koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa. E tika ana kia huri ki te reo Pākehā i tēnei wā ki te whakamāmā aku whakaaro.

[Firstly, it is appropriate to support the initiative, Māori Language Week; it is right to celebrate our language at all times. Therefore, to you all, greetings, greetings to us all. It is appropriate to turn to the English language at this time to ease my thoughts.]

I wanted to speak Pākehā for the rest of my speech today to explain the Māori policy, the Reo Māori policy, which seems to be confused in the media and particularly from the other side.

Now, we’re very clear that we have a universal strategy. Labour’s very clear: it’s a universal strategy going forward that we want put in all the schools by 2025. Not compulsion—I know we’re getting all twisted and broken over the compulsion carry-on. Take it from me, I’m someone who advocated down that track for 10 years and got into the most stupid idiotic debates on radio talkback about what’s compulsory and what’s not compulsory.

Then you say, “Well, you pay your taxes compulsorily. You stop at the red lights. You learn maths compulsorily.” I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it going on for 10 years about whether it should be compulsory or not compulsory. If we all want a result in the end, we should all support the Labour Party policy, which is about getting that Reo, our Reo, into all the schools—available in primary and intermediate; all our Māori, Pākehā, Pacific Islanders kids talking—by the year 2025. It’s a fantastic policy, it’s a terrific policy, and the Hon Nanaia Mahuta expressed it tremendously well on television last week and supported what our Prime Minister’s been saying all the time.

In this week of the Reo Māori, I think it’s important to remember the fight for the Reo. The fight for the language was fought by mainly non - Māori language speakers. I worry sometimes as we’re progressing that we forget the fight of Ngā Tamatoa, of my uncle Syd Jackson, of my auntie Hana Jackson, and of Marama Davidson’s father, Rāwiri Paratene. They were all young radicals who fought against society and at times against our own—at times against our own: all the Māori language speakers who thought they were too young and silly and stupid. But they put the challenges down to Māori, they put the challenges down to Government, and we are here where we are today.

I say to a lot of our young guns, never forget where the fight came from, because whilst we’re fighting for the language, there are a lot of Māori who don’t speak Māori. There are a lot of Māori who try, much like my uncle—hopeless, you know; couldn’t speak a word of Māori—they got worse as they got older. They were absolute fighters for the kaupapa—absolute fighters for the kaupapa—and no less than anybody who is an expert in the language.

I say to our matataua, I say to our young experts, don’t you forget that. Don’t you judge people on the quality of their language. You challenge them on the quality of their advocacy. We’ve had a lot of our people—they’re fabulous at the back of the marae, they’re great cooks, and they’re great at different areas. They’re no less than a lot of our young ones coming through. They’re great advocates and role models for our people.

We have groups of Māori who are mataku ki te kōrero Māori. They’re actually speakers of Māori, but they are so nervous of making mistakes that they refuse to talk Māori. They don’t go on Te Karere; they don’t go on Te Kāea. I say to our experts today, “Encourage those groups of people.” When I went to learn the language, when I started getting some fluency in the language in 1989, at Ngati Raukawa, they said to us, “Why do you come to learn this language?” We waited and we thought, “Well, we’re not sure.” And the response from our kaumātua was, “It’s because of the fear of humiliation, isn’t it? It’s because of the fear of humiliation that you go on to the marae and you can’t talk, or they come to you and you can’t karanga.”

That was the reality back in 1989, but we’re in 2018 now, and our people should not be feeling humiliated because they can’t speak the language. They should feel proud that they’re Māori first and foremost, and, if they’re not speaking the language and supporting the language, that should be main point. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa.

[I acknowledge you all, greetings to us all.]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Ko tēnei Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Ko te reo Pākehā te reo tuarua ki au. Ahakoa he iti he pounamu Te Reo. Tēnā koutou katoa.

[This is Māori Language Week. In my view, the Pākehā language is second. However small the amount of Māori language, it is precious. Greetings to you all.]

💬 Hon Members: Kia ora.

Thank you for that—I think a thumbs up from across the House for my pronunciation. But I can’t actually start this general debate without actually mentioning the fact that the gentleman who just sat down, Willie Jackson, actually vigorously—vigorously opposed the Labour Party policies back in 2015—

💬 Hon Tim Macindoe: 2014.

2014. I do, however, like his sentiments in term of having pride in their language, as someone who speaks Korean, my mother tongue, and I’m very pleased that my parents actually kept up with the lessons throughout my childhood.

What an amazing and utterly shambolic Government this is. I’m reflecting on many things and I don’t want to draw to the public’s attention too much by repeating some of the things that were said last week—I did not get an opportunity to speak in the snap debate. The honourable gentleman behind me, my dear friend Tim Macindoe, had the opportunity but I did not as I was at a meeting. I did not actually talk about the resignation, because the resignation came after the sacking of the Minister, the Hon Clare Curran, from the portfolios that she held for the shambolic ways that she actually managed herself.

In terms of what she said, I just wanted to quote something from one of the speeches that she actually made, if I can find it. One of the things that she actually said was that “My priority”—and I’m quoting—“is that this will be the most open, most transparent Government that New Zealand has ever had. We will do this in several ways,”—she actually said—“including requiring proactive disclosure of some official information, … improving Government capability and performance in relation to the Official Information Act; and deepening the Government’s commitment to the Open Government …”. That’s just not true, is it, as we’ve seen.

This particular Minister, who is no longer a Minister—her time as a Minister is actually probably an example of what not to do as a Minister. It started back in December, when she had this secret meeting with a Radio New Zealand executive—she was the head of news and head of content at Radio New Zealand. The Cabinet Manual actually states that when a Minister wants to have a meeting with someone like Carol Hirschfeld, she needs to remind Carol Hirschfeld that you need to tell—not you, Mr Speaker. Carol Hirschfeld needed to get permission from her chief executive, or the board, or the chairperson. Carol Hirschfeld actually failed to do that, and, ultimately, that led to Carol Hirschfeld leaving RNZ. Perhaps the Prime Minister should’ve sacked the Minister then, and then maybe the Prime Minister would not have this embarrassment of Clare Curran having to be sacked from two portfolios for not being open about her dealings with Derek Handley.

Derek Handley was another shambles. She actually claimed in her written question 19442—that’s my question to the Minister—that her staff had access to all of her emails, and that if it was ministerial business or Government business, the staff will decide. Well, it seems like they didn’t have access to the Minister’s email addresses, because they didn’t even know about the meeting that she had with Derek Handley. They never actually put down the fact that she had a meeting with Derek Handley when my colleague Brett Hudson asked the question of who she met with on a particular date. Derek Handley was actually left off the list, and the Minister, once again, had to correct her answer she gave wrongly. That’s a second offence.

The Prime Minister should have actually known by the appalling performance in the House. And I don’t think it’s the case that she was inarticulate. I don’t actually believe that Clare Curran is inarticulate, because I have worked with her over the 10 years—

💬 Brett Hudson: Fifty.

No, I know—some people might say that. But I think the thing was she started answering a question that I gave her, “What Government business did she do on her personal Gmail address?”—she started her answer by saying she did not, and then that played in her head over and over again.

Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. Tēnā koutou ngā mema o tēnei Whare.

Ko te maunga Aoraki ka tārehua.

Ko te maunga Aoraki ka tārewa.

Ko te maunga o Aoraki ka tū tonu mai mō ake, ake, ake tonu atu.

E mihi ana ki te rangi.

E mihi ana ki te whenua.

E mihi ana ki ngā tāngata katoa.

Tēnā koutou i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. He mea nui Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori kia kore ai tātou e wareware ki Te Reo Māori. Kia mōhio mai koutou, Te Whare, nā taku whaea, nā Whetu Tirikatene i waihanga te pire tuatahi mō Te Reo Māori, te pire kia whakamanahia Te Reo Māori i raro i te ture kia rite ki te reo Pākehā. E tū ake ahau ki te tautoko ngā kōrero o taku tuakana, a Willy, i ngā tāngata e kōkirihia ngā tāngata o mua, i kōkirihia te kaupapa o tō tātou reo Māori.

Engari, i te rangi nei, e kī ana te kōrero he 20,000 anake ngā tāngata e mōhio ana ki te kōrero i Te Reo Māori. Ko te kōrero o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori e kore e taea mā te Māori anake e whakarauora i Te Reo Māori, engari, mā te Pākehā hei āwhina, e taea. Nō reira e Māori mā, kaua e tūkino i ō tātou hoa Pākehā o Tauiwi.

Kua rima tau ahau e ako ana i Te Reo Māori. Kāhore i te mahi ngāwari. E tinitini ana ngā tauiwi e ako ana i tō tātou reo. He mea nui tēnā ki ahau. Engari, e kore e kitea ngā kaiako Māori. Nā wai te hē?

Iwa tau te roa o Te Kāwanatanga i raro i a Nāhinara, i te Pāti Māori, engari kāhore he kiko mō Te Reo Māori. Kei te mihi ahau ki te Rōpū Kākāriki mō tō rātou kaha tautoko i Te Reo Māori. Kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi.

I runga o Pouaka Whakaata, kei te tautoko ngā tāngata i Te Reo Māori. I runga o irirangi o te motu kei te tautoko ngā kaimahi ki Te Reo Māori. Kua kōrero te Pirimia. Kua kōrero te Minita Māori. Kua kōrero ngā mema Māori o tēnei Whare. Ko te rapu me pēhea e taea e tātou te whakatutuki i te moemoeā kia reo Māori ngā kura o te motu? Kua kore ngā kaiako Māori. Kua kore ngā kaiako e taea ki te kōrero Māori. Koia tēnei ko te rapu. Me kimi kē ki hea?

Ko tētahi kaupapa nui kei runga i te tēpū i tēnei wā, e pai ana Te Reo Māori. E pai ana te iwi. He maha ngā iwi. Te hunga manene ka nui tō rātou tautoko i Te Reo Māori. He iwi kōrero reorua rātou. E hia kē ngā reo kei tāwāhi. Kāore ō rātou māharahara mō ngā reo o te tangata. He aroha nō rātou ki tēnei whenua o Aotearoa.

Kei te tautoko ngā kamupene. Kei te tautoko te irirangi o te motu. Kei te tautoko ngā kura. Ko te mea e tāria nei ko te māia o te Pāremata—ko te tautoko o ngā tōrangapū, ko te tautoko o ngā rōpū nei: ko te tautoko o Nāhinara, ko te tautoko o Aotearoa Tuatahi, ko te tautoko o te Rōpū Reipa. Ko te tautoko o tēnei Whare te mea e tāria mai.

Nō reira, kua tāroaroa tōku kōrero mō tēnei wā. Kua kōrerohia kē ngā kōrero. Ko te mea e tāria nei i tēnei wā ko te whakatau o Te Whare Pāremata. Nō reira, āpiti hono rātou te wairua ki a rātou, āpiti tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou. Tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. Greetings to the members of this House.

Mt Cook, hidden in the mist.

Mt Cook of great heights.

Mt Cook who will stand for ever more.

I acknowledge the sky.

I acknowledge the land.

I acknowledge one and all.

Greetings to you all during Māori Language Week. Māori Language Week is important, lest the Māori language become forgotten. To make those in the House aware, it was my aunt, Whetu Tirikatene, who developed the first Māori language bill, a bill that gave the Māori language equal status to the English language under the law. I stand to support what my brother Willy said about those in years past who drove the Māori language agenda forward.

However, currently there are apparently only 20,000 people who know how to speak Māori. According to the Māori Language Commission, Māori cannot revive the language alone, but with Pākehā help, we can. Therefore, to my fellow Māori, do not disparage our Pākehā friends.

I have been learning the language for five years. It is not easy. There are many Pākehā who are learning our language. That is important to me. However, Māori teachers are difficult to come by. Who is at fault?

We had nine years of Government under National and the Māori Party and there was nothing of substance for the Māori language. I would like to acknowledge the Green Party for their strong support of the Māori language. Thank you very much.

On television, people support the Māori language. On radio throughout the country, staff support the Māori language. The Prime Minister has talked about it. The Minister for Māori Development has talked about it. The Māori members of this House have talked about it. The real question is, how we can achieve the dream of Māori language in schools throughout the country? There aren’t any Māori teachers. There aren’t any Māori teachers. There are no more teachers who can speak Māori. This is what we are looking for. Where can we find them?

One big issue on the table at the moment—the Māori language is flourishing. We are doing well. There are many different tribes, including immigrants, who strongly support the Māori language. They are bilingual. There are countless languages overseas. They don’t worry about how many languages a person speaks. They love New Zealand.

Business shows support. Radio throughout the country supports it. Schools support it. All that we need now is courage from Parliament—support from the politicians, support from these political parties: National support, New Zealand First support, and Labour support. It is the support of this House that is wanting.

Therefore, I’ve spoken for long enough at this time. What needs to be said has been said. What we need now is the support of this Parliament. Therefore, to those who have passed on and to those of us amongst the living, thank you.]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, what a sad and sorry saga it’s been over the last few weeks for the Government. And it is for the Government, because, although the main actor on stage has been former Minister Ms Clare Curran, it’s actually a symbol. It’s symbolic of the absolute disgrace and mess that this Government is.

And how did it begin? Well, it began just after they took office with arrogance and hubris. I could, I know, be referring to basically anyone on that side of the House, but I’m actually referring to then Minister Clare Curran, who was determined that the rules and the expectations around ministerial behaviour should not have to apply to her. So what does she do? She goes out and sets up a secret meeting with a very senior member of the Public Service, and a very well respected broadcaster—a sneaky little meeting on the side to achieve who knows what. What we do know is it was found out about, and she then spent quite some time trying to dissemble and dance on the head of a pin as to what it was really about.

What it ended up at was Carol Hirschfeld got the sack. Really, the person who needed to get the sack at that point in time was then Minister Curran. It would have been the right thing to do, and, as events have transpired, it would have been the caring thing for the Prime Minister to have done. But, unfortunately, we have a weak leader in the Prime Minister—she didn’t do that.

Fast forward just a few short weeks from that saga, and one would have expected that Minister Curran would have learnt from that episode and wouldn’t have repeated it. Instead, what we find out is that in the second round of recruitment—or just before the second round of recruitment—for the Chief Technology Officer, Ms Curran has done it again—a serial offender.

After a Twitter conversation with Mr Derek Handley, she rushes to her private Gmail account. She initiates an email conversation, which leads to a meeting. She doesn’t acknowledge it. It’s not in her calendar. It’s only in a little bit of hygiene—if we believe media reports—that, because the Government had decided to appoint Mr Handley to the role, they discover that, actually, there was a meeting and it wasn’t in her calendar, and—oops—someone’s asked about it, therefore they will find out that it was hidden. Using a personal email account, I think, is enough evidence for the public at large to say that it was deliberately hidden.

So, finally, some action is taken. The Prime Minister strips a couple of portfolios from Ms Curran, but she’s in the spotlight—the glaring spotlight—because members on this side know that if she’s done it once, she’s done it twice, she’s done it a number of times. So the maelstrom of activity from the Opposition in this Chamber and through written questions and Official Information Act (OIA) requests—I can only imagine the pressure that Ms Curran was feeling at the time. Ultimately, that was her downfall, because, with those OIA requests that my colleague Melissa Lee and I had submitted, those emails, those additional communications, were going to come out. We can say with some confidence that there were further emails because just yesterday Ms Curran herself was quoted and reported as saying there might be more emails between her and Mr Handley. Given her previous actions, “might be more emails” is about the same as saying the sun might rise in the east tomorrow morning.

Ultimately, it was her hubris and arrogance that was her undoing. She proved what is known as the Peter Principle—that people will rise to the level of their incompetence. And she certainly did. The Peter Principle, however, is not to be confused with the “Peters principle”. The “Peters principle” is where a person acts like they actually have the job of their immediate superior so that eventually the public believe that they do.

So, look, in all this is a failing of leadership and, actually, uncaring leadership. With all the pressure that Ms Curran was under, a caring and thoughtful leader—Prime Minister—would have relieved that burden from her early in the piece. Instead, she made her suffer through a week to 10 days of further intense pressure—pressure that, ultimately, led to her downfall.

We’re left with a Government, still, that claims that it’s going to be the most open and most transparent that New Zealand has ever had, and yet, aside from those secret meetings, we also have a coalition document annex that they won’t show and an example of a local government OIA on the Three Waters strategy where every page—every page—was redacted. If that’s their view of an open and transparent Government, we’re in big trouble. But this is just stage one. This is just the end of the beginning.

E tū ake ana au i tēnei wiki o tō mātou reo rangatira whakamana i tō tātou nei reo. Heoi, kei te wiriwiri au i roto i ōku nei hū. He tino pēpi noa iho ahau i roto i tō tātou nei reo, heoi anō, ko tēnei te wiki ki te karawhiua, ki te whāia te ara o tō tātou nei reo. Heoi anō, kei konei ahau.

Kei te tautoko au te kōrero o tēnei hoa, tēnei Minita, te Hōnore Kelvin Davis. Ka huri atu au, ōku whakaaro ki te tuahine, ki te tuakana, a Willow-Jean i tēnei wā taumaha, otirā ki tōna kāinga; ko Season-Mary, taku tino hoa mai i te mahi o te ture, ki a rāua māmā ko Adrienne, ā, Nandy. I tēnei wā taumaha, tino taumaha ki a rātou, heoi anō, kei a koe te pāpā, e Barry, e takoto, moe mai rā.

Heoi anō, ka huri ahau i tēnei taupatupatu he kaupapa tino whakahirahira ki ahau ki te whakamana ngā kui mā, ngā koroua mā, i ngā wā i mua i te whakarauoratanga a tō tātou nei reo, i ngā kura, i ngā kōhanga reo, i ngā marae, i ngā wāhi katoa, otira kei muri i tēnei Whare.

Kei te haramai ngā iwi mai i ngā hapū, mai i ngā iwi katoa ki te haere ki tēnei Whare ki te pātai atu ki ngā mema o tēnei Pāremata ki te kite a rātou reo, ki te whakamana i te ture a mātou nei reo.

Heoi anō, ka titiro atu ki ngā hua o ā rātou nei mahi, ā, kua kite au i taku tamāhine, kōtahi tau ia, ko Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. I roto i tana haerenga i tēnei ao kei te whakakoa mai, kei te whakapuāwai, kei te hīkoi tonu i ngā reo e rua, te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā. Ā koinā te mahi o ngā tāngata tino maha kua haere i mua i te whawhai mō tēnei take o tō tātou reo.

Kei te titiro ki ngā kura. Tino maha ngā tamariki kei roto i ngā kura. Kei te titiro ki ngā taupatupatu o te Manu Kōrero, i ngā kura kei roto i Aotearoa. Tino maha ngā tamariki, tino maha ngā rangatahi, ngā taiohi kei te haere mai ki ngā kura katoa. E tino kaha rātou i tā mātou nei reo.

Heoi anō, ka tahuri au ki ngā pūwaha, ki ngā pūwhaikaha i te reo mai rā anō, ā, nā rātou te reo i manaaki, i tiaki hei taonga tuku iho ki a Ngāi Tātou o Aotearoa whānui. Heoi anō, ko wai ēnei rangatira? Kāore e ārikarika ngā amorangi e tū i Te Reo i roto i ngā tau kua tuhia ki te rae o mātou te hunga ako. Engari, e tika me mihi mamona ki a rātou e whakahua i te reo i te kura i ngā tau o mua, ahakoa, he kino, he pai ake, ā, ki a rātou e whawhai kia tū Te Reo Māori hei reo ōkawa o Aotearoa, ki ngā kuia, ngā koroua rātou i kaha whakatinana i ā mātou tikanga i runga i ngā marae hei tauira, kei ngā kairaho, kaiako i ngā kura katoa. He aha te kai o ēnei rangatira. He kōrero, he kōrero.

Nō reira, ki tēnei Whare, ki te whakamana ko tāku nei reo, kei a koe Mārama, tēnei te mihi nō reira kei a koe e te Māna Whakawā, tēnā koe.

[I stand today during this week to celebrate and acknowledge our beautiful language. However, I am shaking in my shoes. I am still a baby within our language, however, this is the week to let it fly, to follow the path of our language, so here I am.

I support the words of this friend, of this Minister, the Hon Kelvin Davis. I turn my thoughts to the sister Willow-Jean and her household during this difficult time; Season-Mary, my good friend from my legal work, through to their mother, Adrienne, to Nandy. It is a very difficult time for them, and I say to you, sir, Barry, may you rest in peace.

I turn the focus of my debate to a subject that is very important to me, to pay respect to the elderly women and elderly men who supported the language before the move to revitalisation, at schools, at pre-school, on marae, everywhere, behind this House.

Tribes and subtribes from throughout come here to this House to ask questions of the members of this Parliament to see their language, to support the law for our language.

If we look at the fruits of their work, I think of my daughter; she is one year old, her name is Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. In her experiences of the world she smiles, she grows, she walks with two languages, the Māori language and the English language. That is a result of the work of the many who came before us who fought for our language.

I look at schools. There are many children in school. I look at the debates at Manu Kōrero in schools throughout the country. There are many children, many teenagers, many young people who come from schools throughout. They are very strong exponents of our language.

I now turn to the language stalwarts from the years gone by, they who protected the language, who fostered the language as a treasure for wider New Zealand. So who are these stalwarts? The leaders who stood proud for the language are numerous, but they are inscribed in the memories of us, their students. However, it is only right to acknowledge those who used the language at school in the earlier years—despite the difficulty, it was good—and to those who fight for official recognition of the Māori language, to the elderly women, to the elderly men who embodied our customs on the marae to set an example, to the teachers of all schools. What is the nourishment of these leaders? It is discourse, it is discourse.

Therefore, to this House, to support my language, Marama, I acknowledge you, thank you, Mr Speaker, thank you.]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. You know, in Parliament we often hear the term “the devil’s in the detail”, and what that really means is that talk’s cheap, it’s difficult to get things done unless you pay attention to process, and it’s essential if we want to get good outcomes and good results. That’s why I’m so shocked, surprised, disappointed, and actually more than a little angry that the new Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration has neglected her responsibilities in setting the work programme for the entities that she’s responsible for in Christchurch. The reason why this is so shocking and, frankly, almost unbelievable is that the Minister has talked long and hard and loudly about making a difference—and I do not doubt her sincerity—but she hasn’t bothered to put in writing any changes to the expectations of organisations that she is responsible for are working to.

So let me explain that a little bit. A letter of expectation is the way that a Minister can guide, direct, manage, and activate the organisations that they are responsible for. It’s one of the most important levers that they have. The Statutory Crown Entities: A Guide for Ministers states that setting expectations is the first step in setting the strategic direction and annual performance of Crown entities. That’s the Minister’s prime job: setting strategic direction, and making sure that we get a good performance and that we get the outcomes that the people of New Zealand need.

When the Hon Megan Woods became Minister, she was determined to see more momentum in the rebuild of Christchurch, and I absolutely support that. We all want to see more momentum, and when National was the Government, we worked really hard to do that. But she also said, “You can’t keep on doing the same thing and, magically, expect a different outcome.”, and that’s the surprise. After 11 months in the job, that’s exactly what she’s doing, because Ōtākaro and Southern Response are still working to the letters of expectation—because they haven’t had a new one—that were put down by the previous Minister, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. So, with no attempt to change those expectations, how can she expect different outcomes? Do you think it’s by magic, perhaps, or maybe perhaps by ESP or mind-reading?

Now, having no letters of expectation adds another problem to Ōtākaro and Southern Response. They are in a compromised position because in response to the Minister’s letter of expectation, Crown entities are required by law to provide an annual statement of performance expectations, and that’s so the public can see what the Minister has asked and they can see how those organisations are responding to that and there’s also transparency and accountability to the community.

The real problem we have here is that without the Minister’s letters of expectation, Ōtākaro and Southern Response don’t know what they’re supposed to do, so they can’t write a statement of performance expectation and, therefore, they’re in breach of the law. It’s a total shambles—no transparency, millions of dollars are being spent without any formal oversight or accountability—and I think it’s absolutely symptomatic of what we’re seeing from this Government every day. They’re ill-prepared, inexperienced, distracted, and totally chaotic. It’s everything that we don’t want to see in a Government.

I think it’s criminal that the neglect of this Minister is slowing down the progress in Christchurch. I think it’s absolutely not good enough for the people of Christchurch or the people of Canterbury. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Ko Ranginui kei runga, ko Papatūānuku kei raro, ko ngā tāngata kei waenganui, tihei mauri ora. Ko te mihi tuatahi ki te Atua, nāna nei ngā mea katoa. Ko te mihi tuarua ki Te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koe. E ngā mate, rātou mā kua whetūrangitia, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

Tātou ngā kanohi ora, tēnā koutou. Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. Ki ngā mema o tēnei Whare Pāremata tēnā koutou. Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

E tū ana ki te tautoko i tēnei taupatupatu i roto i te āhuatanga o te wā, arā, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Ko te kaupapa o tēnei wiki, “Kia kaha Te Reo Māori.” Ka mōhio au, ehara au i te mea pai rawa atu ki te tū ki te kōrero kaha ki Te Reo Māori, engari ko tēnei tōku whakaaro: me whakamātauria; kia kore e taea i te tuatahi, whakakaha, whakakaha, whakakaha anō.

Kei hea ngā mema o tērā taha o Te Whare ka taea te kōrero i Te Reo Māori i ēnei rā? Karekau. Taihoa, arohaina mai, tēnā koe Melissa Lee mō tō mihi, tēnā koe.

Ko te tūmanako o tēnei Kāwanatanga ki te whakanui i te rōpū kia taea ai ki te kōrero i Te Reo Māori arā ki te whakamana i Te Reo Māori. Ko te tino hiahia o Te Pirimia he miriona ngā tāngata kei te kōrero i tō tātou reo rangatira a tau e 2040. Pai atu tērā ki a au.

Ko tētahi o ngā mea pai mōku mō te haerenga mai ki tēnei Whare, ki tēnei Whare Pāremata, ko te haerenga mai ki tētahi wāhi e taea ai e au te whakapakari i tōku reo. Kāore he kāinga mōku e kōrerohia ai Te Reo Māori i te huhua o te wā. Kāore he marae, e hoki atu ai au e kōrerohia ai te Māori i te huhua o te wā. I ngā wā o mua ko Te Whakaata Māori me Te Reo irirangi tāku i whakarongo ai i te mātakitaki i Te Reo Māori. Kāore rātou i te whakautu mai i ētahi wā.

Ko taku tino waimarie ki te whiwhi i tētahi rōpū mō ngā mema Pāremata hou. Ko ētahi o rātou i pēnei te pakeke i a au he matatau ki te kōrero Māori. Kātahi anō au ka whiwhi wā kia kaha ai te pātai, “He aha te tikanga o tēnei? He aha te take o tērā? Me pēhea te whakahua o tēnei?” He mihi aroha ki ōku hoa Pāremata mō ō tātou mōhiotanga mō ō tātou manawanui hoki.

Mehemea he maha kē atu ngā tāngata pātaitai, ā ka maha noa atu ngā tāngata kaha ki te kōrero Māori. Ko tōku tūmanako āpōpō mō Aotearoa ko tōku kaha ki te haere ki te toa hokomaha tērā ranei te haere o aku tamariki ki te kura e kaha ana te kōrero Māori, ā ki te whiwhi whakautu i roto i Te Reo Māori hoki. Ko te mea tino pai ki a au ko te ako i Te Reo Māori, te homai tirohanga, ahakoa he iti, ki roto i te ao Māori. Ko tōku whakaponongia pai mō ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa tēnei ko te mahi mā rātou. Nō reira kia kaha Te Reo Māori.

E Te Whare nei, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, huihui mai tātou katoa.

[Ranginui abides above, Papatūānuku below and mankind is between them, let there be life. I pay first respects to God, to whom all things belong. Secondly, I acknowledge the House which stands here, greetings to you. To those who have passed beyond this realm, farewell, farewell, farewell.

Let us now turn to the living world. I acknowledge you, Mr Speaker. Greetings to the members of this House of Parliament. Greetings to one and all.

I stand to support this debate as per the present focus, which is Māori Language Week. The theme for this week is “Let’s make Māori language strong.” I realise that I am not the best example to demonstrate strong Māori language, but what I think is this: we must try; if at first we don’t succeed, let’s strengthen more and more.

Where are the members on that side of the House who are currently able to speak Māori? There are none. Wait, sorry, I acknowledge you Melissa Lee, for your greeting, thank you.

It is the hope of this Government that we increase the number of able Māori speakers, thereby honouring the Māori language. The Prime Minister would like there to be a million people who can speak our Māori language by the year 2040. That is better to me.

One of the good things for me during my journey to this House, this House of Parliament, is that I came to a place where I am able to develop my language. I don’t have a home where Māori is spoken most of the time. I don’t have a marae to go back to where Māori is spoken most of the time. I used to have to rely on Māori Television and iwi radio to see and hear the Māori language. Sometimes they didn’t reply.

I am indeed fortunate to have a group for new members of Parliament. Some of them are my age and fluent in Māori. I have just plucked up the courage to ask, “What does this mean? What is that used for? How do I pronounce this?” I thank my parliamentary colleagues for our knowledge and for our patience.

If more people would ask, there would be more Māori speakers. My hope for New Zealand in the future is that I will be able to go to the supermarket or my children will be able to go to school being able to speak Māori and to receive a reply in Māori, as well. What I would really like is to learn Māori, which would give me a glimpse, however small, in to the Māori world. It is my fervent belief for all New Zealanders. Therefore, let’s make Māori strong.

Members of this House, greetings to you all who are assembled here.]

Tēnā anō tātou katoa i roto i tēnei Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Me te tautoko hoki i tēnei tuahine-ā-tōrangapū āku e kaha nei ki te whakahuahua i tō tātou reo Māori i roto i tō tātou Whare i tēnei rā.

[Greetings one and all during Māori Language Week. I would like to acknowledge my sister-in-politics who spoke our Māori language in our House today.]

I want to again acknowledge the efforts of the parliamentary community to use our language, to naturalise it, to normalise it, and to strip it of its cringe factor so that people will feel more comfortable giving it a go.

I stand in this debate to address a matter that is a regular feature of how I discharge my functions and obligations. From time to time, I’m challenged as to whether or not the fiscal decisions that are made have been made with the necessary probity, and whether I am a very good steward. I think that’s a fair enough challenge: that the face of the Provincial Growth Fund needs to be able to withstand attacks from time to time, and criticism, in terms of stewardship.

Now, I have visited my ire upon Fonterra, and I would say that Fonterra has a new CEO. They’ve lost both their CEO and their chair in recent times, and the CEO needs to be given an opportunity to help correct the trajectory of the waka. He’s a younger man. There are big challenges in Fonterra. No doubt there are big challenges because there are large numbers of people that are going to have to curb their ways or be invited to move on in order for this powerful company to sustain itself.

But there’s one thing that I will not tolerate. I will not tolerate anyone saying the following things about my good self: that my intervention in the Fonterra issues, according to Mr Mark Townshend, a former director of Fonterra, was driven by my donations. That is not only malignant; that is grossly untrue, and I say to Mr Townshend, a large shareholder at the Fonterra company: if you want to come out into the public and doubt the integrity of our party, sure. Mr Townshend and his ilk may think that our small party, New Zealand First, is a rinky-dink outfit, but you, sir, are out of line. You are casting aspersions on the donors that I have listed. You are doubting the integrity of me and my party as we participate in the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act review, and that remark of yours cannot go unanswered. I say to you: go back to Chile and redeem your reputation over there, where New Zealand’s reputation for being strong on animal rights failed under your stewardship. I say to you, sir: do not direct your ire at the ability of New Zealand First to continue to be critics and supporters of various options for improving Fonterra.

Now, Fonterra is an important entity, but no one in Fonterra is bigger than Parliament. No one in Fonterra is bigger than the law. So I say to those directors that are signing up to take on directorial duties, as I said to the recently departed chairman of that organisation, keep your nose out of NZ First politics. Keep your nose out of politics, out of this Parliament, because Fonterra is a creation of the law, and we as legislators are utterly entitled to reflect perspectives and views. I am not going to remain silent whilst one of New Zealand’s most wealthy dairy farmers believes he can blithely go around and darken my good name and expect to continuing to ride around on a helicopter or fly all over the world and survey his dairy empire whilst imagining that those remarks, designed to diminish my integrity and status, and the ability of our party to speak fearlessly, go unanswered.

Now, I know the man is a grandee of the National Party. I don’t care whether he’s donated to any member of the National Party. My approach is very candid, my approach is very lucid, and it’s very transparent, but I give fair warning to any new director or old director who does that again: you will feel the entire wrath of our party.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.