General Debate

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business.

The Prime Minister says she did not know there were sexual assault allegations against one of her staff members until Monday. I could go through the various media reports since 5 August and my own representation since being contacted by victims to show the inconsistencies in this, but they have already been well traversed in the last 24 hours.

Back in 2016, Jacinda Ardern wrote an op-ed about the scandal surrounding the Chiefs rugby team. She said that a resignation is not enough: “It’s the PR quick fix—usher the source of the controversy away. But that solves nothing. After all, apologies followed by silence changes nothing, and change is what we need.”

The resignation today of Nigel Haworth cannot be, in the Prime Minister’s words, “the PR quick fix—usher the source of the controversy away.” Yes, Mr Haworth needed to go, and it should have happened weeks ago, but what is also known is that the Prime Minister’s own senior staff and a senior Minister have known the seriousness of the allegations but have not acted.

The complainants were members of the Labour Party. They genuinely believed that the party would listen to their complaints and deal with the alleged offender appropriately, but nothing happened. It clearly has taken an incredible sense of frustration, disappointment, and disillusion for these people to come to me, a National Party MP, to try and see their complaints addressed.

These are serious allegations. The Prime Minister cannot keep her head in the sand and pretend like it is happening somewhere far, far away. It is happening in her own office, in her own organisation. She is the leader of the Labour Party. The alleged perpetrator works in her leader’s office—he works for her.

Less than a year ago, the Prime Minister was in New York at the UN, trumpeting “Me Too should be We Too.” Well, who knew that that meant her own office was following the path well trod by all those companies who drew a curtain over sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour.

I have been told by the complainants that Jacinda Ardern’s former chief of staff Mike Munro knew about the allegations, her chief press secretary, Andrew Campbell, knew about the allegations, and the director of her leader’s office, Rob Salmond, knew about the allegations. I have been told by two victims who work in Parliament that they went to Rob Salmond around Christmas time and made a complaint about the alleged perpetrator.

The Prime Minister has constantly said her office did not receive complaints and, in fact, encouraged the victims to speak to their line managers. They did. They have told me they went to Rob Salmond and nothing was done, and we are expected to believe that none of these men in her own office told the Prime Minister about the allegations—all of this in the aftermath of the Labour summer camp scandal, when the Prime Minister made it very clear she expected to have been told. And are we really expected to believe that she didn’t know that her chief press secretary, Andrew Campbell, embarked on a witch-hunt to try and find out who in the Beehive was talking to the media about the allegations? The complainants certainly felt hunted and scared that he was trying to shut them up and stop them from talking to the media—classic bullying of victims, and hardly a victim-led response.

A victim has told me that the alleged perpetrator has deep alliances to Grant Robertson, that he was involved in his campaign for the Labour Party leadership, and that Grant Robertson has known the seriousness of these allegations. It is unbelievable that he hasn’t discussed this with his close friend and his leader.

This all smacks of a cover-up. This goes straight to the top: to the Prime Minister, to senior Cabinet Ministers, and—

Order! The member’s time has expired.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Ko tāku hiahia kia kōrero ai tēnei ki roto i Te Reo Māori. Ko tāku hiahia kia mōhio ai te motu whānui e taea ana te kōrero ngā kaupapa katoa i roto i Te Reo Māori.

Ko tāku atu ki tērā mema kātahi anō ka heke iho i tana tūru, me heke iho ia i tana hoiho. E mōhio ana tātou i ngā raruraru kua pāngia ki tērā o ngā pāti i tērā tau; i hea rātou i tērā wā? Kei hea te pūrongo e pā ana ki tērā mema e noho mokemoke ana kei muri rā? Kei hea te kōrero e pā ana ki tērā o ngā Minita kua pana atu ki waho o Te Whare Pāremata i te wā o Hone Kī? E mōhio ana tātou ki ngā kōhimuhimu e pā ana ki tō rātou pāti, engari e tū ana ia hei whakahē i a mātou me ngā mahi kua mahingia e ai ki ngā kōhimuhimu. Ehara tēnā e tika ana. Me heke iho ia i tana hoiho teitei.

Ko tēnei pāti, tēnei Kāwanatanga e anga atu ana ki ngā kaupapa taimaha kua mahue e rātou i te wā ko rātou Te Kāwanatanga. Kua mahue mai rātou i ngā tini take taimaha mā mātou hei whakatikatika, pēnei i te kāinga koretanga, pēnei i te rawakoretanga o ngā tamariki, pēnei i ngā hōhipera e pākarukaru ana. Mōhio ana tātou ki ngā kōrero e pā ana ki ngā tūtae i rērere ai ki roto i ngā pātū o ngā hōhipera. Nā rātou i mahue tērā kaupapa mā mātou o tēnei taha hei whakatikatika. Me mihi hoki ki Te Minita mō ngā take Hauora mō tana mahi, hei whiwhinga rongoā mō rātou e mate ana, e pāngia ana e te mate pukupuku.

Te mate hinengaro: ko mātou e anga ana tō mātou titiro ki a rātou e taimaha ana, e pāngia ana e wērā mate taimaha, arā ko te mate hinengaro. Ko ngā tāngata e whakamate ana i a rātou anō. Inanahi rā kua whakapāhotia tō mātou rautaki hei āwhinatia rātou kia haukotia ai tērā āhuatanga ki roto o Aotearoa.

Kua huri hoki mātou ki te whakatikatika i ngā awaawa, te wai Māori e whakaparungia ana, nā tērā taha o Te Whare. Kīhai rātou i anga tō rātou titiro ki tēnei kaupapa, he kaupapa e ngākaunui ana ki Te Ao Māori. He nui ngā paru e whiu ana mātou ki runga i ō tātou whenua, kei roto i ngā awaawa, kei roto i te moana, kei runga i te rangi. Me mutu wērā mahi, te whakaparuparu i tō tātou taiao.

Wēnei wētahi o ngā kaupapa taimaha kua mahuetia e tērā taha, engari ko tāna hiahia kia maka te paru ki tēnei taha i runga i te tūmanako ko wētahi ka piri ki te paraikete. He mahi taurekareka te mahi o tērā pāti, o tērā kaikōrero i mua i ahau.

Kua anga hoki mātou ki ngā take mātauranga. Ko tō mātou hiahia kia whakanuitia i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Nā reira koia, he tini ngā mahi kua mahingia e tēnei taha o Te Whare hei hāpai i Te Reo Māori, kia rangona, kia kōrerohia Te Reo Māori puta noa i te motu. Pērā i Te Ahu o te Reo: kua kōrerotia e au ngā take e pā ana ki Te Ahu o te Reo i roto i ngā pātai kua whiua mai ki ahau i te ahiahi nei. Ko Te Ahu o te Reo, ko tō mātou whāinga mō tērā kaupapa kia tuituia ai Te Reo Māori kei roto i ngā karaehe katoa o te motu ā te tau 2025. Ko tō mātou hiahia kia rongo ngā tamariki katoa i roto i ngā kura tuatahi i Te Reo Māori. Te Kawa Matakura, he kaupapa anō nā mātou i whakatūria, he kaupapa wānanga i Te Reo Māori, i ngā mātauranga Māori, nā Te Kāwanatanga mai rā anō kua pēhi ki raro. Ko tō mātou hiahia kia hāpai ake i te mātauranga Māori mō ngā uri e haere mai ana.

Ko te kōhanga reo hoki: e $32 miriona tāra nā mātou hei āwhinatia i ngā kōhanga reo kia tautokongia ō rātou mahi kia pūāwai Te Reo Māori kei roto i ngā kōhungahunga, kia pūāwai Te Reo Māori i ngā kura kaupapa. Ka mutu ngā tamariki i ngā kōhanga reo, ka haere rātou ki ngā kura kaupapa. Ko tō mātou hiahia kia pūāwai Te Reo Māori kei roto i wērā o ngā kura.

Ko tō mātou hiahia kia pūāwai Te Reo Māori ahakoa ki hea, ahakoa ki a wai. E Te Māngai, tēnā rā koe.

[My greetings to you, Mr Speaker. My desire is that this be said in the Māori language. My desire is that the entire country be aware that we can speak about all subjects in the Māori language.

What I’ve got to say to that member who just got off her chair is that she needs to get off her high horse. We are aware of the problems that afflicted that party last year; where were they then? Where is the report about that member who is now alone at the back there? Where is the statement about the Minister that was removed from Parliament in the time of John Key? We are aware of rumours about their party, but now she stands to disagree with our actions and the work we have done, all based on allegations. That is not right. She needs to get off her high horse.

This party, this Government, is addressing the substantial issues that were left to us by them, for us to correct, like homelessness, child poverty, dilapidated hospitals. We are aware of the information about sewage flowing down the walls. That is the legacy that they left to us on this side of the House to correct. We must acknowledge the Minister of Health and the work done to provide medication for cancer sufferers.

Also mental health: we are also turning our focus to those with mental health issues, including those who are contemplating committing suicide. Yesterday, we announced our strategy to support them and to prevent such actions in New Zealand.

We are also focusing on improving freshwater quality, which declined under that side of the House. They were not interested in this issue, which is a major issue for Māori. There is a large amount of pollution all over our lands, our waterways, our oceans, and in the very air. This must stop, the pollution of our environment.

These are some of the major issues that are left to us by that side. But what she wants to do is continue slinging mud at this side in the hope that some of it sticks to the blanket. That is an unworthy act, the actions of that party and that particular speaker prior to me.

We are also addressing education issues. We want to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. There is a lot of work that has been done by this side of the House to promote Te Reo Māori so that it is heard and spoken all across the country. For example, Te Ahu o te Reo: I have spoken about Te Ahu o te Reo programme in my answers to questions that were directed to me this afternoon. Our goal for Te Ahu o te Reo is that the Māori language be integrated into all classrooms by the year 2025. We want all primary school children to hear the Māori language. Te Kawa Matakura is another programme that we established for the in-depth study of the Māori language and culture, something that successive Governments have suppressed. We want to elevate Māori knowledge for the future generations.

Also kōhanga reo: we dedicated $32 million dollars to support kōhanga reo and their work so that Te Reo Māori flourishes with our young children, so that the language flourishes in Māori language immersion schools. Furthermore, the children in kōhanga reo go on to kura kaupapa Māori, and we want Te Reo Māori to flourish in those schools. Our desire is for Te Reo Māori to flourish everywhere and in everyone. Thank you, Mr Speaker.]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I’m glad that the justice Minister is still in the House—but, no, he’s getting up and leaving. I don’t blame him.

💬 SPEAKER: Order! The member knows that is out of order. He will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

I withdraw and apologise. I want to present an inconvenient truth in response to the comments that were made in the constant chipping of our deputy leader during her general debate speech—

💬 Marja Lubeck: Shocking speech.

—by the Minister of Justice. It’s shocking; I’ll come back to you in a minute. So I want to address—sorry, Mr Speaker. I want to address the fact that he said that the deputy leader of the National Party had exploited members, these young women in the Labour Party. Let me give him an inconvenient truth. The reality of it is why they sought her help, why they sought her support—and I’m proud of the way that she has dealt with them. I’m proud of the way that she has remained completely focused on their welfare and advancing their needs. The reason why she arrived there for support is because you didn’t look after her.

💬 SPEAKER: Order!

The Labour Party did not look after them. The Labour Party failed them in every measure. That’s why they arrived with the support of our deputy leader. Like I said, I’m proud of the way that she has supported them and that they’ve advanced this important matter.

I want to come to the Minister of Justice, and I want to go back to 26 June 2018, last year, when in this House I stood him on his feet and I asked him: does he think trivialising serious indecent assaults as merely a pinch on the bottom will encourage members of Parliament who know about other sexual assaults not to take them seriously or report them? We didn’t get one apology from that Minister; we didn’t get one apology from the Labour Party. The Greens—it was deafening, the silence coming from them. I’m talking about a case where a female corrections officer was indecently assaulted by a male prisoner. He didn’t pinch her on the bottom; he grabbed her. He grabbed her forcefully with a full hand between the legs—enough that in her victim impact statement the prison officer said that she felt angry, frustrated, and totally degraded, and felt vulnerable and uneasy at work.

The reason why I knew that this was going to—I could see that this was coming. I could see this was coming, do you know why? Because there’s a major cultural failure inside the Labour Party. The reason why I say that is because you’ve got the most senior member, you’ve got the Minister of Justice who was leader of the Labour Party, standing in this House and trivialising an indecent assault on a female corrections officer. That’s the message that’s sent by this party. That’s the message that was sent to the young men in this party: that an indecent assault can be tolerated, it can be trivialised—[Interruption] They’re all arguing and fighting it. What you should do is you should just stand up and apologise.

💬 SPEAKER: Third warning, and final.

Sorry, Mr Speaker. Someone from the Labour Party—the Prime Minister, especially, should be in this House standing and explaining to the country why under her watch, why under her leadership she has allowed a culture to fester and get to the point where we have a Labour camp with indecent assaults, where we have young women that have been indecently assaulted that, actually, haven’t been looked after. They haven’t been protected. They’ve ended up coming to us. They’ve ended up coming to the deputy leader of the National Party for support and to advance their issues. The reality of it is, when you have the most senior male member of a political party stand in this House and trivialise an indecent assault against a female in the workplace and say that there are more serious offences—the reality of it is this: the message that is sent to every young man in the Labour Party, or, actually, every young person in New Zealand, is that one of the most powerful figures in our criminal justice system is saying that an indecent assault on a female is OK; that it can be tolerated.

💬 Kieran McAnulty: What a load of rubbish. What a shameful comment.

Mr McAnulty says this is a shameful speech. Let me quote the Minister for him—let me quote the Minister—“The action which the charge related to was pinching a prison officer’s bottom. Now, that is a world of difference from other actions that result in a charge of indecent assault—that are genuinely more offensive,”.

I’d like one member of the Labour Party to stand up—the noisy member at the back there, stand up—and defend a comment like that, because it sent a very clear message, and, as a result, we’re dealing with the fallout of it today in this House.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Just in light of the two speeches so far from that side of the House, I understand this is a robust debate and I understand that they’ve got a role to play, but I feel really uncomfortable, in light of the context of some serious allegations that are making their way through this House, of just how much the Opposition—the two speakers—are pushing that line and politicising the pain and hurt in the allegation.

No, I have been listening very carefully to the debate. It’s not one which is, I think, comfortable for a lot of members. I have also been listening to the interjections from members on my right, who have brought a former Minister from the previous Government into the debate by name and a current member whose alleged offending occurred when he was a member of the National Party. I think when that occurs, it is not for me, I think, to do anything other than what I have been doing, and that is closely monitoring what has been said. If people want the rhetoric and the intensity dialled back, then my suggestion is that the interjections should also be wound back.

I te tuatahi ka whai ahau i ngā kaikōrero o tēnei Whare ko taku kōrero i te tuatahi ki te mihi aroha ki ngā patunga, ki ngā parurenga i waenganui i tēnei take, te kaupapa tūkino, ā, ki ahau nei, ko te mea nui ko te marutau o ngā parurenga katoa o tēnei momo tūkino, ko te mea nui ki te whakakaha i te marutau o ngā wāhi mahi katoa o Aotearoa ki te whakamana, ki te whakakaha i te marutau o tēnei wāhi mahi o Te Whare Pāremata hoki. Nō reira he mihi anō, he mihi aroha ki a rātou ngā parurenga o tēnei momo tūkino.

Ko tēnei wiki Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Ko te kaupapa matua o tēnei wiki, ko te kōrero “Kia kaha te Reo Māori”, ā, nō reira ko taku mihi tuatahi ki a Tā Hemi Hēnare, ki tana uri ko Minita Peeni Henare, hoki. Ā, e ai ki a ia, ko Te Reo te mauri o te mana Māori. Ko te kupu te mauri o Te Reo Māori. E rua ēnei wehenga kōrero e hāngai tonu ana ki runga i Te Reo Māori, ko te reo nō Te Atua mai. Ā, nō reira kei te mihi ahau ki a ia, ki tērā tupuna, ki tērā tohunga o te reo; kei te mihi ahau ki a rātou katoa, ngā tohunga o te reo i tū, i whawhai, i tū kaha kia pupuri kia whakamana i tō tātou nei reo tupuna mai i te tīmatanga tae noa ki tēnei rā, ā, kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi.

Inapō i waea atu ahau ki tērā atu tohunga o te reo, ā, ko Kahurangi Whaea Naida Glavish. Tērā pea kei te maumahara tātou i roto i tēnei Whare Pāremata e pā ana ki te hitori i te wā e mahi ana ia ki te Poutāpeta i te tau 1984 me tōna tū kaha ki te whakautu i te kōrero “Kia ora.” Ko ia te “Wahine kia ora”, āe, me maumahara mātou ki a ia me tōna tū kaha e whawhai ana mō Te Reo i roto i tana mahi, i roto i tana whare mahi, i te Poutāpeta. I tēnā wā ka patu tērā mahi ki a ia me tana tū me tana Reo Māori i a ia e mahi ana, engari ahakoa te patu, ahakoa te kohete ki a ia, ka haere, ka haere tonu tana reo, tana whakautu “Kia ora”, ahakoa te kino, ahakoa te wero, ā, ko ia ko tērā Kahurangi Whaea Naida Glavish tētahi o ngā tino tāngata mōku mō ngā reanga i whai atu.

Ahakoa te patu ki taku karani-māmā i a ia e kuraina ana, ahakoa te wehenga atu o Te Reo i waenganui i taku whānau, kei konei tonu Te Reo, kei roto i taku tinana, i roto i taku toto hoki.

Kāore anō au kia matatau, engari ko te mea nui kia mau, kia ora ai tō tātou reo kia kōrero, ahakoa he poto, ahakoa te aha, ahakoa te matatau, aha rānei, me kōrero, me kōrero. Tēnei te hōnore, nōku te hōnore ka tū au ki roto i tēnei Whare i roto i tēnei wiki ki te kōrero i roto i Te Reo Māori ki a tātou katoa. Kia ora.

[As I take my place with other speakers in this House, I begin my speech by expressing profound sympathy for the victims who are at the centre of the matter of bullying, as, in my view, the important thing is the safety of all victims of this type of abuse, indeed safety in all workplaces in New Zealand, including in this House, should be strengthened. Therefore, I record my sympathy for those people who are victim of this kind of abuse.

This week is Māori Language Week. The theme of this week is in the slogan “Make the Māori language strong”, and therefore my first acknowledgement is to Sir Hemi Hēnare, and to his descendant Minister Peeni Henare. According to Sir Hemi, Māori language is essential to being Māori and the word is the essence of the language. Both of these things are still relevant in terms of Māori, a language given to us by God. I therefore pay tribute to that forefather who was an acknowledged language doyen in his own right; I acknowledge all of the language stalwarts who over the years have stood to fight for the preservation and status of our language from the beginning right up to this day. I salute you.

Last night I rang another language stalwart by the name of Dame Naida Glavish, who many of us in this House might remember for her part in history through her work in the Post Office in 1984, where she stood up for the right to use “Kia ora” at work. She became known as the “Kia Ora lady”. Yes, we should remind ourselves of how she had to fight for Māori language at her workplace, at the Post Office. At the time she was rebuked for her insistence on using Māori at work; notwithstanding the censures by her bosses, and the reprimands, she continued to answer the phone with “Kia ora”, in spite of the unpleasantness and the constant challenges; Dame Naida Glavish is for me a shining example for my generation which follows behind.

In spite of the fact that my grandmother was punished at school for speaking Māori, in spite of the fact that the language disappeared from my family for a time, the language is still in me, in my blood.

I am not yet a fluent speaker, but the important thing is to keep going so that our language can thrive, to keep speaking no matter how little, no matter what—proficient or not, just keep speaking. It is my privilege to stand here in this House during this special week to speak to you all in Māori. Thank you.]

The funny thing about virtue signalling and why people like myself use it as a derogatory term is that those who are virtue signallers demonstrate neither virtue nor the ability to actually signal; it’s just empty words. When I reflect on the Labour Party, and not just on recent scandals, virtue signalling is very present, because good and right actions do not occur. They’re talked about. They’re talked about at the UN, they’re put through on Twitter, they’re talked and discussed with their media mates, and slogans and hashtags follow. Virtue signalling sounds great, but when the tyre needs to hit the road, and virtuous and good actions are to be signalled and undertaken, they have failed.

We know in recent days that the Labour Party has virtue signalled but also retreated. It’s on the topic of retreat that I will focus most of my attention. So we’ve had the virtue signalling around how we should handle abusive people—inappropriate relationships. What we’ve seen, unfortunately—particularly around the allegations in the Prime Minister’s office—is a retreat from actually helping the victim sufficiently. We’ve had a retreat from what is actually a human and decent action to support the victim. But we’ve also seen a retreat in the last few hours of the Labour Party president—has retreated from his role. An attempt—and I stress the word “attempt”—to provide some cover. But the things about disorganised retreats—from those who know military history—is they don’t end well for those who are supposed to follow the leader.

But what we’ve also seen is a great retreat in recent days around KiwiBuild. And it might be a slight relief to the other side of the House that I will not continue to prosecute the issue of how the sexual abuse allegations have been so woefully, woefully handled. But in that vein of retreat and around KiwiBuild, it is just yet another example of utter, utter failure by this Government. In fact, if I was to link it to that word “virtue signalling”, as I did at the start, KiwiBuild was put forward as this great action to be signalled and actioned. It was meant to deliver 100,000 amazing houses in 10 years, glossily put through at election campaign. Labour pushed it as hard as they could. I mentioned in an earlier speech they bribed, effectively, New Zealanders by saying, “We’re going to do this.” Here we are, just over half way through the term of this first Government, and on top of multiple failures and non-delivery, we now have the biggest bribe—I know I keep using that word; it’s probably slightly inappropriate. But the biggest promise put forward by this Government has fallen by the wayside—has completely and utterly failed.

💬 Hon Amy Adams: Imploded.

So much so—in fact, I hear a colleague of mine, Amy Adams, say “Imploded.” It has imploded in such a way that I’d suggest it’s like a black hole. Because when something implodes that badly, it sucks other things out. And what we’re going to see in this Government is more and more fail. In fact, the new supposed target put forward by the Government in KiwiBuild is “We’re going to build as many homes as we can as quickly as possible.” That’s not a target; that’s just fluffy words. That’s what every Government, every person, attempts to do. It has been an utter failure.

With the few hundred homes that have been built, no one really wants to live in them. There’s a whole pile of these supposedly amazing KiwiBuild homes—well, as I say, tens of them really—that no one wants: an utter, utter waste. It was actually the good and hard work of this side of the House that drew the attention of the New Zealand public, somewhat the media, and others to go, “Actually, these are just, basically, highly subsidised homes.” And even though they’re highly subsidised by the hard-working money of other Kiwis, people still don’t want to buy them. I raise that because I don’t think that bodes well for whatever the Government’s plans are for any future housing.

In fact, one of the great risks I see—and including with some of the work they’re now trying to develop through a Kāinga Ora bill—is that more houses are going to be built purely to achieve a target, to tick a box, but not actually provide the housing that New Zealanders need. And the need is huge. Not only is KiwiBuild a massive failure, not only has this Government retreated in disorder, but the housing crisis just gets worse—12,000 New Zealanders are waiting for a State house. That’s twice as high as what National was dealing with. In 18 months it has doubled to 12,000 New Zealanders. That is a statistic of shame, and I predict when the next quarterly results come out it will be even worse. The retreat will continue, but so will the virtue signalling, and virtue signalling, as I say: no virtue, no signal.

E te Mana Whakawā, tēnā koe. Ahakoa ngā kōrero, ngā rūpahu o ngā mema o Nāhinara, i rongomau mātou ki te hari me te koa o ā mātou nei whānau kei waenganui i ō tātou nei hapori katoa.

Ka tika me mihi atu ki a koe kia orana e te rangatira Vaine Rere. Ka nui te mihi atu, te kite i a koe i waenganui i a mātou. Anā te kite ā-kanohi ka tīpako tērā kōrero a ngā mātua tūpuna ki ō tātou nei tamariki kia rongo ai te tino ia o ā rātou nei hiahia mō ngā uri whakaheke. “E kore koe e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.”

Tēnā, ka tiro ake au ki ngā kaupapa kei waenganui i ā tātou nei kōhanga, kura, wharekura, hei whakapakari, hei hāpai, i a rātou i te tuatahi, te tamaiti kei waenganui i te whānau arā, kia piki ake e rātou kei runga i te huarahi o te mātauranga, arā, kia ū ki tō tātou nei reo rangatira.

I tērā wiki i rongo au ki tētehi kōrero a taku tamaiti—te wā tuatahi i rongo au ki tana reo Māori, e kī, e kī Māmā. Ko te take kīhai au i puta ki waenganui i tana kura, but hei aha tērā. I tū mai ia i taua wā ki te kōrero mō tētehi tangata rongonui e ngākaunui ki a ia; ka mātakitaki tērā o ngā whakaata, ka rongo au ki tana reo, e hari, e koa ana nā te mea i rongo au ki te hiahia o ōna mātua, o ōna tupuna i te wā i whai whakaaro rātou kia tupu tēnei tū āhuatanga kei waenganui i ō mātou nei hapori a Rāhui Pōkeka, a Ngāruawahia.

Nō reira ka mihi atu ki a Hōnore Kelvin Davis me ōna mahi maha e pā ana ki tō tātou nei reo. Ka whai au ki tērā kaupapa ko Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, ngā mahi o taua kāhui, kia āhei ki te whakaritea i ngā rauemi me tētehi rautaki mō ā tātou nei pouako, ā tātou nei kura puta noa. Tērā ka mihi atu anō ki a ia kātahi anō i riro pea i a au tētahi whakamārama mō te kete kei runga i te pae tukutuku mō Kauwhata. Mehemea he tamaiti, he pouako, he māmā, he pāpā rānei, kei reira te wāhi e tōpu ai ngā rauemi kia whakamāmā i ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki Te Reo kia whakangāwari ngā rauemi ki a rātou e kimi, ki a rātou e hiahia ana ki te kōrero.

Ka whai atu au ki tētehi anō o ngā kōrero i waihotia a Kelvin. Tēnei tū āhuatanga kei waenganui o tō tātou nei Hōnore Kelvin Davis. Tērā tū āhuatanga kei waenganui i ō tātou nei hapori kia ūkaipō Te Reo kei waenganui i a whānau. Ko te mea nunui ahakoa ngā āhuatanga kei ngā kura, kei wāhi kē atu, mehemea e ūkaipō Te Reo kei waenganui i te whānau, koinā te mea nunui, koinā te mea nunui. Ko mātou tērā e hiahia ana mātou ki te tuku paku āwhina ki ō māua nei tamariki, kia tupu kia hua i roto i tērā o ngā manako, kia manawanui ki Te Reo Māori, kia manawanui ki ngā tikanga a ngā mātua tūpuna, kia rapua i ngā mōhiotanga i waihotia ki a mātou kei waenganui i a Waikato-Maniapoto.

Nō reira ki a koutou katoa e kaha ana ki te hiki i te mānuka e pā ana ki te kaupapa o tō tātou nei reo Māori, tēnā koutou, ki a rātou e hiahia ana kia ngana ana ki te kōrero Māori, kia kaha.

[Thank you, Mr Speaker. Notwithstanding the untruths of National members, we remain happy and optimistic about our families among all our communities.

I must acknowledge and greet the distinguished chief Vaine Rere, kia orana. It is wonderful to have you with us today. It is a visual representation of the words of our forebears that highlighted their desires for the generations to follow, “The seed which was sown in Rangiātea will never disappear.”

I now turn to that which occupies our kōhanga, immersion primary and secondary schools—to develop and encourage the child in a family environment, to encourage them on their education journey, all the while staying faithful to our Māori language.

Last week I heard my son give a presentation—it was the first time I had heard him do this in Māori, good one, Mum. I was not supposed to be at his school, but never mind that. He stood up to talk about a famous person who he admired; I watched his presentation, I heard his language and I was delighted because I also heard the fruition of the aspirations of his elders and his ancestors who put so much effort in to creating this language outcome in our communities of Huntly and Ngāruawāhia.

I must therefore acknowledge the Hon Kelvin Davis for his work around the Māori language. I have been following with interest Te Ahu o te Reo Māori and the aim of that initiative is to make available resources and strategies for teachers and schools throughout the country. I therefore congratulate him as it is the first time that I have had clarification around the resources on the Kauwhata website. Children, teachers, mothers or fathers are able to more easily access Māori language resources that they need, which are collected in to a single portal.

I shall dwell further on something that Kelvin, the Hon Kelvin Davis, has said. It is important that the Māori language is deeply rooted in our communities, as well as in our family homes. We should note that notwithstanding the use of Māori language in schools and other places, it is the use of it in the home amongst the family that will have the greatest impact. It is our wish to help our children, to further develop our ambitions and aspirations for Māori language, to develop our ambitions and aspirations for Māori traditions and customs, and to access the knowledge that has been left to us in Waikato-Maniapoto.

I therefore urge you all to take up the challenge of strengthening Māori language, and I salute those of you who are willing to give it a try.]

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. Kia kaha, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. I want to speak today and I want to start off first of all by talking about what a mess this Government is making of measles. I want to outline exactly what sort of mess they’re making. In fact, let’s talk about vaccinations as a whole and talk about this terrible year—2019—for vaccinations for this Labour - New Zealand First Government. Let’s start with meningitis at the beginning of the year and bring ourselves to where we are now.

So let’s talk about January: the meningitis vaccination programme in Northland, where we don’t vaccinate 5- to 12-year-olds, where schools fund-raise during a meningitis outbreak—an infectious outbreak—where schools fund-raise for their own meningitis vaccines. When did we start outsourcing public health to sausage sizzles and to schools? When did we start doing health “lite” during an infectious disease outbreak? Note to self: a Labour - New Zealand First Government outsources public health.

Then we move through to May. Now, the flu immunisation vaccination programme is the biggest public vaccination programme in New Zealand. We vaccinate, roughly, one in every four New Zealanders. In December, Pharmac goes out to its suppliers, and this time they said, “Look, we need about 1.3 million vaccines.” Their supplier came back saying, “We can supply about 1.02 million.” And nothing more was done until May, when we ran out of vaccines. Mid-May to mid-June, New Zealand ran out of influenza vaccines because the Government didn’t do the maths, the supplier didn’t do the correct modelling, and no one filled the gaps.

Now, I asked David Clark a range of questions around this about three or four weeks ago—many people will remember that—and his reply was so appalling that Grant Robertson had to stand up and ask the Speaker how he could edit the video later. You may recall that. It’s online. Go and have a look at it. It was an appalling response, which shows how much David Clark and this Government have taken their eye off vaccination.

That brings us to where we are today—to measles; a tiny virus with very serious consequences. We know that a third of people with measles will have complications—pneumonia, infected ears, respiratory infections. We know that 10 percent will be hospitalised, and tragically—tragically—one to two per 1,000 infected will actually die, and they’ll die of encephalitis.

So how did we get here? Well, I think we got here, in my view, in two ways. First of all, consumer complacency—it’s been a long time since New Zealanders have seen polio. I don’t know whether anyone here would know what diphtheria is. We actually vaccinate for it, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen that as well. So, undoubtedly, consumer complacency, but clinical complacency also—and by that I mean, on 1 May last year, when David Clark took away the health targets, our professionals took their eyes off the ball, just like central government did. People pay attention to what is recorded and what is monitored, and we took away that lever when we took away health targets.

So where are we in the current state? Well, we’ve clearly got this outbreak in Auckland, and on Monday I predicted that Northland would be the next cab off the rank. No surprise there; we’re the next area adjacent to Auckland. It was going to be either us or the Waikato. Clearly, it’s us. I know that because, as of last night, another five cases were added to the 35 we’ve already had in Northland, making it 40. Northland will be the next area with a meningitis outbreak.

So what do we need in Northland? We need more vaccines. We know they’re running out in Auckland. They’re also marginal. When I call my colleagues around Northland, there are marginal supplies there. What was the Government’s response to measles supply? Well, let’s do a stocktake on Monday. Let’s stop the distribution of all vaccines and let’s do a nationwide stocktake. So, again, I checked with my colleagues: “Did you get a call from anyone asking how many vaccines you’ve got in your fridge?”—“No, we didn’t.” So how good this stocktake is, who knows?

Then let’s look at the consequences of the stocktake. So, leading up to 4 o’clock last night, the recommendations for measles were “children and everyone under the age of 50”. That is, if you were born after 1969, you needed that second vaccine. After the stocktake on Monday, it became apparent that there were not enough measles vaccines in New Zealand, and if you go on the ministry website right now, you will see that guideline has changed to “under 30”. What happened to the 30- to 50-year-olds overnight? A miracle must have happened! They’re suddenly immune! We live in miraculous times—30- to 50-year-olds in New Zealand suddenly became immune to the measles virus overnight last night. No, that’s not what happened. What happened is that, with the national stocktake, David Clark and this Government were able to see that they are out of measles vaccines, they haven’t done the modelling correctly, and, consequently, 30- to 50-year-olds now miss out. Not good enough.

My last point: authorise the pharmacists to give the vaccine. They already give the flu vaccine. It’s easy to do.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare ka noho tonu ahau ki roto i Te Reo Māori. E toru ngā kōrero ka tau mai ki runga i te pae o mahara; kei te whakarongo atu ki ngā hunga ki tērā taha o Te Whare.

Tuatahi, “Kei runga te kōrero kei raro te rahurahu.” Ko te tikanga o tēnā kōrero, he māmā noa iho te pahupahu, he māmā noa iho te kōrero, engari e mōhio ana ngā hunga o tēnei taha o Te Whare, ko ngā rahurahu kei raro i a rātou me wā rātou wāhanga i te wā i a rātou i tū ai hei Kāwanatanga. Koinā te mea tuatahi.

Te mea tuarua. “Mā te tangata harakore te kōhatu tuatahi e epa.” Mai i ngā karaipiture taua kōrero; ka waihona atu tērā he mea māmā noa iho.

Ko te mea hei whakakapi ake “Tukuna tō tātou Reo Māori kia rere.” Kīhai au i rongo atu i tētahi paku aha nō tērā taha o Te Whare e kaha tautoko nei i te āhuatanga o Te Reo Māori, i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, me ngā kaupapa Reo Māori. Nō reira koinā te take ka tū au i te rā nei hei whakaranea ake ngā mahi papai rawa atu i tutukihia nei e tēnei Kāwanatanga.

Kua kōrero mai ōku hoa mahi mō te wāhanga ki Te Reo Māori, nō reira ka tahuri atu ahau ki tētahi kaupapa ki runga i ngā ngutu o Te Ao Māori, arā ko te mate pukupuku. Kua roa rawa Te Kāwanatanga e karo atu ana i tēnei mahi, i tēnei mahi nanakia, āe i tēnei matenga nanakia i pā ki te iwi Māori. Heoi anō, ko tā mātou, hei tukuna atu i tētahi rahi pūtea ki a Pharmac, mā rātou e hokona atu i wētahi o ngā rongoā hei tiaki i te iwi Māori. Ko mātou anō Te Kāwanatanga i whakatūngia ai tētahi komihana hei tiro ake, hei hanga mahere ake mō tēnei mate pukupuku; he tīmatanga pai tēnei. Kei te mōhio mātou i tēnei taha o Te Whare, he tīmatanga noa iho engari kua roa rawa te iwi e karanga atu ana ki tēnei Whare kia whakaritea i tētahi mahere mō te mate pukupuku.

Ka tirohia ake ahau ki tētahi atu o ngā kaupapa, arā ko te hunga kore mahi. I roto i ngā marama kua pahure ake nei, e hoa, kei roto i ngā tatauranga te kōrero nui, anā ko te kōrero nui kei te heke haere ngā nama, ngā tatauranga e pā ana ki te hunga kore mahi. Nā te aha i pērā? E hoa, nā te mahi o tēnei Kāwanatanga, nā te mahi a te Hōnore nei a Willie Jackson, ngā mahi a Te Kāwanatanga nei ki te whakaritea i ngā huarahi ka taea e te hunga rangatahi, ka taea e te hunga kore mahi, ki te whiwhi mahi. Kei te mōhio mātou o tēnei taha o Te Whare, he oranga kei roto i te mahi. He oranga kei roto i te mahi. Nō reira koinā tā mātou e hiahia ana kia whiwhi mahi ai te hunga kore mahi. Ka kite atu tātou katoa i te utu ki taua pātai ki roto i ngā tatauranga.

Ko tētahi atu o ngā kaupapa kei roto i ngā meneti whakamutunga e hiahia ana ki te kōrero ki a tātou katoa, na, e pā ana ki te wai māori. Ee, kua roa rawa te Paati Nāhinara e kiki nei i te kēne, e mea nei “kicking the can” e kiki nei i te kēne ki roto i ngā tau 30 kei mua i te aroaro. Ko te mahi o tēnei Kāwanatanga kia kohikohia i ngā whakaaro me ngā kōrero a Te Ao Māori, a te hunga ahu pāmu, a ngā kamupene, a ngā kaunihera, kia noho ngātahi ai tātou ki te whakarite mahere me pēhea nei te wai māori ki roto ki Aotearoa e tū nei. Heoi anō ki tāku e tino harikoa ana, mā ngā mahi a tōku tuahine nei a te Hōnore a Nanaia Mahuta me te hoa mahi a te Hōnore a David Parker, nā rātou te mahi nui ki te kohikohi i ngā whakaaro kia whakaritea nei tētahi mahere mō te wai māori, kia ora ai te wai māori. Mā tērā ka ora ai a Aotearoa.

Ki roto i ngā hēkona whakamutunga, kei Te Papaioea ōku whakaaro i tēnei wā, ki te hunga rangatahi e tū ana ki runga i te atamira o Ngā Manu Kōrero. Ko tāku atu ki a rātou, whiua atu tō tātou Reo ki te rangi, whiua tō tātou Reo ki ngā tōpito katoa o te motu whānui, anō hoki whiua ngā kohete ki a mātou ngā mema Pāremata.

Kei a rātou he reo mō ngā take huhua, me ngā take hōhonu o te ao nei. Nō reira tukuna mai wā rātou whakaaro ki runga i te atamira hei kohete mai i ngā mema o tēnei Whare.

Ko te mihi whakamutunga ki a koe, ko koe tēnā e hāpai nei i tō tātou Reo Māori. E Te Whare, tēnā koutou, kia ora tātou katoa.

[Thank you, Mr Speaker, I shall continue in Māori. There are three quotes which I wish to bring to mind today having listened to those on that side of the House.

Firstly, “Fine words on the surface, but mischief is afoot below.” What that means to me is that it is all very well to spout fine words, it is easy to make speeches, but on this side of the House we know that when they had their time in Government, there were hidden agendas. That’s the first thing.

The second quote is “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” This is from scripture and is self-explanatory, and as such needs no further clarification.

The last of the quotes is “Let the Māori language soar.” I haven’t heard a single thing from that side of the House which would fall within the province of support for Māori language, for Māori Language Week, indeed for anything to do with Māori language. I therefore feel compelled today to reinforce how well this Government is performing thus far.

My colleagues have covered off Māori language matters, so let me turn to a topic which is on the lips of many Māori, that is the disease cancer. For too long now Governments have sidestepped the challenges of addressing this awful disease—yes, this terrible scourge that so affects Māori. We have allocated significant funds to Pharmac to enable them to provide access to the drugs needed to look after Māori. As the Government, we have established an expert agency to lead the design of a plan to combat cancer; this is a good start. On this side of the House, we recognise that it is just a start, but for too long now people have been calling on this House to create a planned response to cancer.

I wish to look at another topic, the matter of unemployment. We have seen in recent months a trend, an encouraging trend in the statistics, and that is the downward trajectory for unemployment. Why is that, you may ask? Sir, it is because of the work of this Government, the work of the Hon Willie Jackson, the work of this Government which has devised ways to enable young people, and the currently unemployed, to get work. We know, on this side of the House, that there is livelihood and self-worth in work. That is why we are intent on providing the opportunity to work for the unemployed. We can see the answer to that earlier question in the statistics.

Another matter which I wish to put before us all in these remaining few minutes is the issue of fresh water. For a long time now, the National Party has been kicking the can—yes, kicking the can—off and on for 30 years. This Government however has turned its attention to gathering ideas through consultation with Māori, with the agricultural industry, with the business sector, and with councils, so that we can sit down and design a plan together around fresh water in New Zealand. Thus, I am delighted with how my colleagues the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and the Hon David Parker have managed to get consultation under way for the care and preservation of fresh water. It is through that that New Zealand will thrive.

In the dying seconds of the time left to me, I confess that my thoughts at this time are in Palmerston North with the young people who are taking the stage for Ngā Manu Kōrero. I say to them, thrust the Māori language to the heavens, launch the Māori language to all the points of the compass, and, by all means, fire your criticisms at us, your members of Parliament.

They have the ability to talk far and wide about the numerous issues of this world. Therefore, let their thoughts be aired on the stage and there hold the members of this House to account.

In conclusion, I thank you for your efforts to honour our Māori language. Members of the House, thank you one, thank you all.]

When is the rubber going to meet the road with transport commitments under this Government? Promise after promise has not been met. It’s a failure to deliver. Look at the Safe Network Programme. The Government announced $1.4 billion to upgrade roads, State highways last December. Waikato was going to be one of the priority areas under that first year of the programme. We’re nine months into this now and we still don’t have a plan for the projects in the Waikato. If that’s a priority, I’d hate to see what happens to the regions that are not. This is simply not good enough. Eight hundred and seventy kilometres apparently, and yet, then, seven months later, another press release from the Government and now, suddenly, they’re doing 3,300 kilometres under the Safe Network Programme. No change in the value. It’s still $1.4 billion, but now they’re able to quadruple the distance covered with that same commitment. How does that happen?

They also said they’re going to upgrade local roads with that. “Great for the Waikato”, I was told by the Minister in written questions. So I said “Great. What’s the list? Which roads are being covered?” “Oh, we have no lists of local roads being covered. We cannot tell you how many kilometres will be covered.” So it’s pluck a figure out of the air and make it up. It is simply not good enough. In the Waikato, we should have had an expressway extension down to Piarere being built. It was committed to under the previous Government. This Government scrapped it. There’s so many high risk intersections in that area, dangerous roads that need improvements.

So I said, “What’s going to be done about this?” The Minister responded, saying, “We’re putting in electronic signs.” “Great”, I said. “When are they going to be operating?” “End of January—end of January this year.” It took until July and August for those signs to be operating—more than six months late. Why were they late? Oh, they couldn’t find a power supply. They couldn’t get consent from the landowner themselves. They couldn’t get traffic management sorted. This is the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). Come on! Surely we can do better than that. The expressway would have bypassed those intersections and absolutely should still be done. The traffic volumes warrant it. The safety demands are increasing. The Waikato needs that investment.

The Government said they were also going to do some safety upgrades on the existing piece of State Highway 1 to help mitigate some of that. Those safety measures, four of them, were meant to be completed by May this year. We’re now in September. How many of these have been done, do you think? Zero. Not a single one of the four commitments have yet been completed. Due in May, it’s now September, and none delivered. Another broken promise by this Government and a failure to deliver.

Then we come to Morrinsville, the intersection of State Highway 26 and Avenue Road—a dangerous area. It’s had far too many accidents. There were meant to be upgrades there. I called a public meeting because there’d been no action. Two hundred people turned out for that, along with NZTA and police and council, and we got some commitments. Great. There was going to be an upgrade to the traffic island. That would be installed in a few weeks. It was installed after six weeks. Then the police said they would put out some speed cameras. They did that: 60 infringements in the space of a few hours. Every four minutes someone was speeding and being ticketed through that intersection. It shows how important it is to shift that speed zone. It’s a simple request: push the 50 kilometres zone out a few hundred metres. That’s what the community needs for our safety, and it’s not being delivered on.

A temporary roundabout was another commitment that they gave for that intersection. They’d make a decision by the end of June, they said. We have the letter right here: “End of June, a decision on the temporary roundabout will be made.” We’re in September. We still don’t have a commitment from this Government. It’s not good enough. The safety of residents and commuters in Morrinsville is being compromised. They deserve better. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the result of my advocacy for the constituents is that the Minister has now blocked me from directly meeting with the NZTA. I have to go via the Minister’s office instead. What a disgrace. This Government should be doing better. They’ve promised so much in transport and they’ve failed to deliver time after time.

Commuters in the Waikato and residents in the Waikato need a better response than this. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a commitment to rail from commuters to travel between Hamilton and Auckland: $78 million. Well, now that’s blown out to $91 million and the project hasn’t even started yet. And, of course, it’s not stopping in Te Kauwhata, Pōkeno, or Tuakau at the top end of the electorate. Transport across the Waikato is being failed by this Government. They need to do better. Waikato deserves more.

Mr Speaker, e tika ana ki te tautoko tō tātou reo i tēnei wā.

Tuatahi, ko te pātai nunui i tēnei wā, ko wai te Rōpū Nāhinara ki te whakaparahako i a mātou? Koinā te pātai nunui i tēnei wā, Mr Speaker. Ko wai rātou? Maumahara tā rātou hitori e pā ana ki a tātou te iwi Māori. I takahi rātou i runga i ngā beneficiaries i ngā wā o mua. Ko wai te kaiārahi i taua wā? Ko Paula Bennett. Ko tērā te wahine i takahi i runga i te mana o ngā beneficiaries i ngā wā o mua, engari tēnei wā, ko ia te wahine i whakahē i a mātou. E rerekē tā rātou rautaki; rerekē ki a mātou. Maumahara mātou te wā a Jami-Lee Ross, ngā raruraru i taua wā. Engari i kore mātou i whakahē te Rōpū Nāhinara. Koinā te kōrero o tā mātou Pirimia i taua wā, engari he rerekē te kaupapa mō te Rōpū Nāhinara, moumou tāima ki te kōrero e pā ana ki tā rātou rautaki, e tika ana ki te whakahoki ki te kaupapa o te rā, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

Tēnei wā pīrangi au ki te whakanui maumahara ngā rangatira e rua—te rangatira Pita Paraone, me te rangatira Tahu Pōtiki.

Maumahara tēnei tangata Pita Paraone—tangata i roto i te rōpū New Zealand First, te kaikōrero Māori i mua i a Shane Jones. He rawe tana mahi. He rawe tana mahi. Ka rerekē ki te whanaunga a Peeni, a Shane, kāore ia i runga i te pouaka whakaata; kāo, tāngata noho puku, engari he tangata tino pakari a Pita, tino pakari, nui ana mahi i roto i te hapori. Maumahara tana mahi i Waitangi, i te wā o ngā porotēhi i reira. Nā Pita i tini te ture i reira e pā ana ki Waitangi Day. Nā Pita—ka tika me maumahara i tana mahi. Hōhā ia ki te whare parahako o ngā whanaunga a Peeni. Nā Pita i tini te ture i taua wā e tika ana maumahara tana mahi. E tika hoki ki te maumahara tana mahi e pā ana ki Te Reo ahakoa kāore i tupu ake i Te Reo; he tangata i ū ki te kaupapa. He tangata noho whakaiti; he tangata tino kaingākau mō Te Reo Māori. Ko tērā te mea nui ki ahau, ahakoa kāore i tupu ake i Te Reo, he tangata i tautoko tō tātou reo i ngā wā katoa, nō reira e Pita, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.

Ka huri ki Tahu Pōtiki, he hoa tawhito ki ahau. Ehara i te mea māmā i te whakatipuranga a Tahu. Koirā tana kōrero kua kī ia ki ahau, ko ia he gangster i ngā wā o mua. Āe, koinā tana kōrero engari te kaupapa i tini tana ao, ko Te Reo Māori. I haere ia ki te Wānanga o Raukawa; i ako i tō tātou reo i reira. Rawe tana mahi i reira. Mai i aua rangi i mua tae noa mai ki te wā o tana matenga ka noho i taha Māori, i taha Māori, i te pō. Nō reira e te hoa Tahu, maumahara tō mahi, ko koe te kaiārahi mō Ngāi Tahu kei runga i ngā poari katoa. Maumahara tērā ka kōrero a Colin James ko Tahu te tangata tino pai mō te Rōpū Nāhinara. Koinā te kōrero a Colin James i ngā wā o mua, nō reira e te hoa, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.

Heoi anō i kōrero au e pā ana ki te tokorua nei nā te mea ki ahau he tauira rangatira rāua mō te ao Māori i te mea kāore rāua i tupu ake i roto i Te Reo Māori, Mr Speaker. Engari mā te pukumahi me te kaha, me te māia, i whiwhi i te whainga mō te kōrero Māori. Ko tērā taku karere i tēnei wā ki a koutou e pīrangi ana koutou ki te ako i tō tātou reo ki a koutou te Rōpū Nāhinara—kia kaha, kia māia, kaua e whakamā. Tino ngāwari ki te ako i tō tātou reo Māori. E maha ngā kaiako, e maha ngā wānanga ki te ako i tō tātou reo. Hei aha ngā karo. Kaua e mataku ki te kōrero mēnā ka hapa i roto i te reo, kei te pai. He tino uaua ki te kōrero pērā taku hoa, Peeni Henare. Āe, kei te pai tēnā, ko te mea nui ko Te Reo. Koinā te mea nui. Kua rongo mātou te kōrero a Marama Davidson, rawe tana kōrero. Ko te mea nui, ko Te Reo Māori. Kaua e āwangawanga e pā ana ki ngā hapa. Kaua e āwangawanga e pā ana ki te whakahē; ko te mea nui, ko te kōrero. Kaua e mataku. Kia kaha. Kia māia. Tēnei Te Wiki o te Reo Māori tēnei te mihi ki a tātou katoa, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Mr Speaker, it is indeed appropriate that we support Māori language at this time.

Firstly, the big question of the day is, who is the National Party to be disparaging about us? That is the big question of the day, Mr Speaker. Who do they think they are? I remember their track record with the Māori people. They ran roughshod over beneficiaries in days gone by. Who led the way at that time? Paula Bennett. She was the woman who trampled the dignity of beneficiaries in days gone by, but now she is the one who takes us to task. To us their strategy is odd. We remember the time when they were having problems with Jami-Lee Ross. We didn’t rake the National Party over the coals. That was what our Prime Minister told us to do at the time, but the National Party is different and it is a waste of time to talk about the way the National Party does things, so I should go back to the theme of the day which is Māori Language Week.

At this time, I wish to pay tribute to two distinguished gentlemen—Pita Paraone and Tahu Pōtiki.

I remember this person Pita Paraone—a fellow in New Zealand First, their Māori spokesman before Shane Jones. He did wonderful work. He was different from the brothers Peeni and Shane; he wasn’t on television, no, he worked silently, but Pita was very staunch and hardworking in his community. Remember his work at Waitangi when there were protests. It was Pita who changed the rules pertaining to Waitangi Day. It was Pita—it is right that we should remember what he did. He was fed up with the insults that were thrown by Peeni’s relations. Pita changed the rules and it is right that we remember that. It is also appropriate that we remember his work around Māori language because he did not grow up with Māori but he was committed to supporting it. He was a humble person who was committed to the Māori language. That is a big deal to me, that even though he didn’t grow up with Māori language, he could be counted on to always support it. Farewell, rest in peace, Pita.

I now turn to Tahu Pōtiki, my ancient friend. It has not been easy for Tahu’s generation. That is how he described it to me, that he used to be a gangster. Yes, that is what he said, but the thing that changed his world was the Māori language. He attended Te Wānanga o Raukawa and learned his Māori there. He did very well there. From that time right up to the time he died, he lived his Māori side. Therefore, Tahu my friend, I remember what you did, you who led Ngāi Tahu, and who were on all the boards. I remember too what Colin James said, that Tahu was suited to the National Party. That is what Colin James had to say in days gone by. My friend, farewell, rest in peace.

I have talked about these two gentlemen because to me they are excellent examples for the Māori world since they did not grow up knowing how to speak Māori, Mr Speaker. It was through diligence, through perseverance, and determination that they achieved their goal to speak Māori. That is my message today to those of you who wish to learn our language, to you folk from the National Party—have a go and stick with it, don’t be shy. It is really easy to learn our Māori language. There a plenty of teachers and many places to learn our language. Never mind excuses. Don’t be afraid to speak for fear of making mistakes, it’s all right even if it is difficult to reach the high standard of the likes of my friend Peeni Henare. Yes, it is all right, the Māori language is the main thing. We have heard the excellent speech of Marama Davidson, yes excellent. The main thing is to use the Māori language. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Don’t worry about people pointing out your mistakes, speaking Māori is what’s important. Don’t be scared. Have a go. Stick with it. This Māori Language Week, I greet you, one and all.]

Thank you very much. Kia ora, Mr Speaker. I’d like to start my contribution today by talking about renewable energy. Three weeks ago in this House I made mention of the two-year delay that there had been from Minister Parker in making his decision over the Waitaha power scheme in South Westland.

Now, Coasters could have been excused over that period of time for thinking that this was a done deal and you might ask why? What would have led to such an optimistic conclusion? Well, how about eight years working with the Department of Conservation on flora and fauna studies, flows in the rivers, management during construction and post-construction of pest and weed control, about having the support from the conservation board? There was absolutely no pushback from local iwi, the traditional guardians of the land, and they set a very high bar for access to that land. It was supported by the local council and it was hugely, overwhelmingly supported by the local community. It was a clean, green, 100 percent renewable power source. It’s a run-of-river scheme. It’s not a dam, which means that they divert a small amount of the water through a tunnel and back into the river after going through a turbine.

Now, what’s becoming typical for the locals in the coast is that when we want to do anything on our land, along come the greenies and some other interest groups who say to us that they want us to leave our land alone because it’s their playground, and it’s got to be accessible when they want to visit any time in a blue moon. But they forget about the people that have to live there and scratch a living off that land.

So along came Forest & Bird; the Green Party, with their form submissions—thousands of them; and a handful of kayakers. This river has been successfully kayaked six times—six times—in its history. But if they did want to go, Westpower, the power company, was prepared to shut down the scheme and close it for the day, so that they could actually accommodate them.

Now, to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 and charge the 34,000 electric vehicles that the Government is aspiring to, we’re going to need more generation. We’re going to need it so that we can achieve our zero-carbon targets. So, within 30 years, we are going to need double the electricity generation, like the schemes that Waitaha would have given us.

Now, the Minister has said, in this House, that there are 3 gigawatts of consented generation in New Zealand. Well, news for the Minister: you don’t generate electricity from consents. These ones are actually beginning to lapse, and the reason for that is because those schemes are not financially viable. Waitaha would have been built—it would have been built—and the return to the community was the profit from that scheme, because it’s a community-owned trust.

Before I finish, I’d like to touch on the triple whammy that’s coming down the pipeline into our rural areas at the present time. Now, I know that a Cabinet paper’s gone to a Cabinet committee today on bringing agriculture into the emissions trading scheme (ETS), and we can expect a decision or an announcement on that in the next week or two. We’ve got the zero carbon bill, which is creating some unachievable methane targets for our farmers, and we’ve now got the freshwater reforms that have already been dubbed “the no more farming policy”. This Government—

💬 Hon Amy Adams: The ETS tomorrow.

—does not—ETS tomorrow, as well, thank you, Amy Adams. And, yes, exactly, that’s the Cabinet paper that I was also talking too. But, emissions trading—we need to have these renewable power generation schemes, but we’ve got to think about our rural communities.

Butter, beef, and lamb are getting great prices at the moment. It is fantastic for our primary sector. So our primary sector—thank God for them because they produce 60 percent of New Zealand exports; so do not mess with it! Join the dots. Back our farmers, back our rural communities, back our small-business owners and back Westpower and other small hydro generation plants so that we can have renewable energy. We can reach our renewable targets, we can be 100 percent renewable in this country, but we cannot achieve it while this Government continues to say no.

Tēnā koe Te Māngai o tēnei Whare, ko tēnei te wā tuatahi ka tū, ka kōrero Māori ahau i tēnei wā tautohetohe, engari kia kaha Te Reo Māori, nē. Ko tērā te kaupapa mō tēnei wiki, engari ki ētehi o ngā tauira o ngā kura huri noa i Aotearoa, kei te kōrero Māori rātou i ngā wā katoa, i ngā wāhi katoa. Tēnei ētahi o ngā kura i tae mai ki Te Whare Pāremata inapō.

Te Mana Whakawā, i haere ahau ki te pō whakawhiwhi taonga mātauranga o Te Pirimia, ngā Tohu Kairangi Mātauranga. He pō hei whakanui i ngā kaiako, i ngā kura puta noa i Aotearoa me ngā kaiako hoki. Kei te taha o Te Pirimia ngā Minita mātauranga e whā, ko Kelvin Davis, ko Chris Hipkins, ko Jenny Salesa, ko Tracey Martin, hoki. I tae mai te nuinga o ngā kura huri noa, ētehi nō Tāmaki Makaurau ko Te Kura o Hoani Waititi, kotahi nō Te Tairāwhiti ko Te Kura o Manutuke, tae atu ki Murihiku i Te Waipounamu ko Winton Kindergarten te ingoa, me ērā atu kura huri noa.

He poho kererū ahau ki te maha o ngā kura nō Te Waiariki – Te Kōhanga Reo o Tarimano, Te Kōhanga Reo ki Rotokawa, Elstree Kindergarten, Tiaki Early Learning Centre me Fairhaven School nō Te Puke. Ka tika me mihi ki a rātou katoa. Ka nui te hari me te koa o te hunga inapō, engari nā wāi te tino toa? Nā wai i eke ki te taumata? Nā Raukura. Nā Rotorua Boys’ High School i toa. I whiwhi te tino taonga o Te Pirimia, ka wani kē. Nō reira ko te tumuaki Chris Grinter, ngā kaiako, ngā tauira, te mutunga kē mai o te pai. E ai ki te whakataukī, kāore te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka, engari e Te Māngai o Te Whare ko Raukura te kapa haka tino toa ki Aotearoa me te kapa whutupaoro tino toa o Aotearoa, hoki. He poho kererū te Waiariki katoa. Tāne mā o Raukura, ko koutou ngā rangatira mō āpōpō, inapō, mō nāianei, hoki. Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.

Te Mana Whakawā, ko tērā tētahi o ngā whāinga o tēnei kāwana – ko Aotearoa te whenua papai rawa atu i te ao ki te whakatipu i ngā tamariki, mokopuna. Tiaki te whānau, tiaki te ao. Manaaki i ngā kaiako me ngā kura, manaaki i ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāore e kore i raro i te maru o Te Pirimia ko Jacinda Ardern, kei te haere tonu mātou o te kāwanatanga. He ringa raupā. E ai ki te kōrero, mahia te mahi.

I raro i te kāwana o mua, he āhua pakaru ētehi o tō tātou kura, te pakaru o ngā karaehe, te pōhara o te whānau o ngā tauira; koretake rawa te kāwana o mua, engari kei konei tātou me ngā Minita Mātauranga e whā. He aha ngā kaupapa o tēnei kāwana? Ki te awhi i ngā kura, i ngā kaiako, i ngā tamariki. Ka hanga tātou i ngā kura hou, i ngā karaehe hou mō ngā tauira 100,000. Kotahi rau mano. Auē. Manaaki i ngā kura, manaaki i ngā tamariki.

Tuarua, 623 ngā kaiāwhina tautoko, Learning Support Coordinators i roto i ngā kura. Ko hareruia te karanga o ngā tumuaki puta noa.

Tuatoru, kua kore te utu mō ngā koha ā-kura; ka utua tēnā e te kāwanatanga. He aha ai? Mō te oranga o te whānau.

Tuawhā pēnei te utu mō te NCEA. Ka utua tēnā e te kāwanatanga mō te oranga o te tauira.

Hei whakakapi i tēnei kōrero, he mihi tēnei ki Te Pirimia me ngā Minita Mātauranga mō te kaupapa “Lunch in Schools”, te kai i te kura. 30 kura ka uru ki te kaupapa ā tērā tau; 120 hei te 2020. He aha ai? Mō te oranga o tō tātou tamariki mokopuna. Mā mātou e awhi i ngā kura, ngā kaiako, ngā tauira, te whānau. He aha ai? Mō te oranga o tō tātou taonga – ngā tamariki me ngā mokopuna kei te haramai. Tēnā koutou katoa.

[Thank you to the Speaker of this House. This is a first for me, to stand and speak in Māori during the debates session, but let’s make the Māori language strong. It is after all, the theme for this week, but I note that some students in schools all around New Zealand are speaking Māori all the time, wherever they are. These are some of the schools which came to Parliament House last night.

Mr Speaker, last night I attended the Prime Minister’s education awards ceremony, the Education Excellence Awards. It was an evening which celebrated teachers and schools all around New Zealand. Accompanying the Prime Minister were the four Ministers of education, Kelvin Davis, Chris Hipkins, Jenny Salesa and Tracey Martin. Most of the schools came from all over, some from Auckland including Te Kura o Hoani Waititi, one from the East Coast Te Kura o Manutuke, right down to Southland with Winton Kindergarten and other schools as well.

I am very proud of the large number of schools from the Waiariki electorate: Tarimano Kōhanga Reo, Rotokawa Kōhanga Reo, Elstree Kindergarten, Tiaki Early Learning Centre and Fairhaven School from Te Puke. I certainly do congratulate them. Everyone was very happy last night, but who really triumphed? Who was the best of all? It was Raukura. Rotorua Boys’ High School took out the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award which was wonderful. May I say that the principal, Chris Grinter, the teachers, and the students really are first class. In the proverb, we are reminded that the kumara does not brag about its own sweetness, but, Mr Speaker, Raukura is the prevailing national haka champion, and the First XV the national rugby champion. All of Waiariki is very proud. Gentlemen of Raukura, you are the leaders of tomorrow, of last night, of right now. Go after your dreams; if you yield, let it only be for a very lofty mountain.

Mr Speaker, there is one ambition that this governor has: that New Zealand be the best place in the world to raise children. Take care of the family, take care of the world. Look after the teachers and the schools, look after the children. There is no question that under the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, we of the government will keep going forward. We work hard. As the saying goes, just do the work.

Under the former governor, some of our schools became somewhat run down, our classes were broken, families of students were poor; the former governor was really useless, but we are all here, along with our four Ministers of Education. What are the objectives of this governor? To embrace schools, teachers and children; we are building new schools, new classes for 100,000 students. One hundred thousand—my goodness! Look after schools, look after children.

Secondly, 623 support staff as Learning Support Coordinators in schools—principals throughout are singing the praises of this.

Thirdly, there is now no cost for school donations; the government will bear that cost. Why? For the wellbeing of families.

Number four, it’s the same for NCEA. The government will pay for the wellbeing of students.

To conclude this speech, I must congratulate the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Education for the Lunch in Schools initiative. Thirty schools will be included in the initiative next year, 120 in 2020. Why? So that our children can thrive. We will embrace schools, teachers, students, families. Why? So that our precious children and future grandchildren can flourish. Thank you all.]

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.