Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill

Tēnei au te tāpae nei ki te aroaro o te Whare te tauāki ā-ture o Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki / Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill.

[I present a legislative statement on Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki / Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill.]

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

E mōti, Au kia pānui tuarua i tēnei wā Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki / Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill.

Ka nui taku harikoa ki te hoki mai ki te Whare mō te pānuitanga tuarua o te ture hiranga nei, te pire ka whakatū hararei tūmatanui e whakanuia ai a Matariki, Te Hararei Tūmatanui o Te Kāhui o Matariki. E ngākau whakahī ana i te pire nei i rikarika ana au ki te whakanui i te hararei tūmatanui tuatahi o te Matariki ā te Rāmere te rua tekau mā whā o Pipiri i tēnei tau. Ko te rā arohia ki a Matariki i te hararei tūmatanui tuatahi o te motu ka āta aro, ka āta whakanuia e te ao Māori. He rā ka whai painga ki te huringa tonu o tō tātou tuakiri ā-motu. He takahanga whakamua hiranga tēnei mō Aotearoa, kua noho nei hei iwi ki te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa o te ao hou. Kia hoki ki tāku i kī ai i te pānuitanga tuatahi e mārama ana te pire mō ngā tikanga whakatū hararei tūmatanui hou.

He tino poto te pire nei, heoi, ko tētahi huarua ōna kua toaitia kia pire reo rua kua tuhia ki te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā. Hiranga ana te reo rua o te pire nei ka mutu, e mārama ana tana whakamihi i ngā mātauranga i ahu mai ai a Mataraki, ko te reo o te ao Māori tērā. E kī ana te pire ka tū he hararei tūmatanui motuhake mō Matariki, ā, kua takoto mai ōna rā mō ngā tau toru tekau ki tua. Kua whakahou anō i ētahi atu ture kia uru atu ki te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki ki ngā tikanga o te rā mahi me te rā pakihi.

He mea nui anō te noho mai o te tauākī e whakamārama ana i te hiranga o Matariki ki a ngāi Māori. Ko tā te tauāki hiranga he tāpae tirohanga whānui ki a Matariki mō te whakatakoto i ētahi mātāpuna matua e toru kei te pūtake o ngā mahi whakanui i a Matariki o nehe, ko ēnei. Te maharatanga: te whakanui i te hunga kua riro mai i te aranga o Matariki i te tau o mua atu. Te whakanuia i tēnei rā te huihui tahi ki te whānau me ngā hoa, me te titiro ki anamata, te titiro whakamua ki ngā painga ka kawea mai ā te tau. He āhuatanga matua te tauākī hiranga o te pire. Kei a ia tōna whāroa. Ko ia e tohu ana i te hiahia kia kaua e tīhore te hararei tūmatanui motuhake hou ki te mātauranga Māori, otirā ki te whakaaro Māori.

Ko te noho mai o tētahi tauākī hiranga ki te pire e tohutohua o te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki, tētahi kāhui mātanga e kopoua i te tōmuritanga o te rua mano rua tekau anake hei tohutohu i ngā Minita mō āhea, me pēhea te whakanui i te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki. Ko te whāinga o te whakatū rōpū aratake ko te noho mai o te mātauranga Māori ki te iho o ngā whakatau e pā ana ki te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki kia tautokohia kia whakatairangatia te noho mātau me te ngākau pai ki te ao Māori. Nō rohe kē, nō rohe kē ngā mema o te rōpū kia uru atu ai ngā mātauranga o ngā iwi puta noa i Aotearoa. Mārama ana tā rātou kī ake hiranga te wāhi ki ngā uarā me ngā mātāpono e whakatinana ai a Matariki i te horopaki o te ao hou. Me te nui o ngā pēhitanga me ngā tikanga kua whakaritea i te hapori mō te āhua o te whakanui kaupapa i ēnei ra. Ka whakaaro ngā mema ki te hiranga o te whai whakaaro ki te tikanga tūturu me te aronga nui o Matariki kia whakanuia te kaupapa hiranga nui, hiranga nei. E haere tonu ana te ngākau whakamihi a te Kāwangatanga ki te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki, ki ō rātou tohungatanga me ā rātau tū pū arahi mō rātau āta whakaaro ki te āhua o te whakatinana i te hararei tūmatanui hou o Matariki. Tēnei te mihi ake ki a koutou katoa.

E hiahia ana au ki te mihi ki te komiti whiriwhiri ki tōna manukura, a Tāmati Coffey mō ā rātou mahi ki te āta whakaaro, whakaaroaro i te pire nei. Neke atu i te rua rau ngā tāpaenga whakaaro mai. Tata ana te tautokohia i te katoa te whakanuia o te ahurei mō te hiranga o te mātauranga Māori me Mataraki ki tētahi hararei tūmatanui hou. Kua hokia mai he kōrero mō te pire i te komiti whakawhiri, kāore he panonitanga kua tonoa o te hunga tāpae whakaaro ki te komiti rere whakanui ana te tautokohia o te pire. Tokomaha e toai i te kupu o te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki, arā kia whakatinana te mana o te mātauranga puta noa i te tukunga whakawhanake i te ture nei, ahu atu ki tua.

Ko te whānuitanga atu o te hunga tāpae whakaaro mai i tautoko i te whakatika o te pire i te korekore o te hararei tūmatanui e āta aro ana e āta whakanui ana i te ao Māori ka mutu, mā te hararei nei e whai huarahi ai te Karauna ki te whakaatu atu i tana haere kōtui ki te Tiriti me tana whakahau kia kaha ake te ngākau tuwhera ki a Ngāi Māori me tōna ao. E kaha anō te tautoko o te hunga tāpae whakaaro mai kia tāpirihia tētahi atu hararei e whakaanga ai, e hoki ai a mahara e tūhonohono anō ai te kaimahi. E whakatū anō ngā tāpaenga whakaaro ka mutu, he take matua tēnei mō tātou katoa i a tātou ka whakanui i te kaupapa ahurei ka parahia mai e te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki.

Kia māharahara tātou e kore ngā iwi katoa o Aotearoa e whakanui i te huringa o te tau me tau hou ko te kāhui o Matariki, ko te aranga o whetū kē pērā i a Puanga, i a Poutūterangi ka whakaatu i te mātauranga ā-iwi, heke iho i ngā whakatipuranga. E rite anō te hiranga o aua mātauranga aua tirohanga, ka mutu, kua kaha mātou ki te aro ki tērā i te ingoa tonu o te pire, te Kāhui o Matariki.

I a au ka kōrero nei mō te heke iho i te mātauranga i ngā whakatipuranga e taukapo ana i te mahana o ōku whakaaro taku ake whetū a Hiwa-i-te-rangi, he taonga i tukua mai ki a māua ko tana whaea, tā māua whakatinanatanga o Matariki. Ko ia tā māua haeata i ngā wā o te pōuritanga, te whetū rikoriko ka whakairia ō māua wawata, ō māua hiahia mō ōna rā ki tua.

Ko te iho o te pire ko te ngākau pūmau ki te hononga o ngāi Māori me te Karauna, me te āhua o tā mātou tuku, whakamahi, whakatairanga, tā mātou tiaki o te mātauranga Māori i runga i te kauanuanu. E mārama ana mātou kāore e tukua noatia ngā kōrero mō Matariki me te mātauranga Māori, kei te mārama anō mātou, kāore e rite i te wā whakanui ai i Matariki e ngā iwi. Heoi anō, e te Māngai o te Whare nei, ko tēnei te pire ka tāpaea i konei te pire ki te Whare nei.

[I move, that Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki / Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill be now read a second time. I am very pleased to return to the House for the second reading of this significant law, the bill that will establish a public holiday to observe Matariki, Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. I am proud of this bill and excited to announce the first date of observation of the Matariki public holiday will be on Friday, 24 June this year. The day for the first observation of the Matariki public holiday was carefully chosen, and will be well celebrated by the Māori world. It will be a day that will contribute positively to our changing national identity. It is an important step forward as we aim to become a people of the Pacific in the modern world. With reference to what I said at the first reading, the bill is clear about the rules regarding creating a new public holiday.

This bill is very short, however, it has been repeated, with the bill being bilingual, that is, being written in te reo Māori and English. Its bilingual nature is significant, and its acknowledgment of the Māori knowledge that underlies Matariki is the language of the Māori world. The bill states that a specific public holiday will be created for Matariki, and the dates for it have been set for the next 30 years. Some other laws have been updated to include the Matariki public holiday where it affects work days and business days.

Another important thing is the statement explaining the importance of Matariki to Māori. This important statement provides an overview of the three main themes that form the basis of the observation of Matariki in the past, as follows. Remembrance: the commemoration of those that have passed since the rising of Matariki in the previous year. To celebrate on this day the gathering together of friends and family, and looking to the future, looking forward to the good that can be carried forward to the next year. This important statement is one a core part of the bill. It is wide ranging. It advises of its desire that the new Matariki public holiday should not take away from Māori knowledge and to Māori thought.

The inclusion of the important statement was requested by the Matariki Advisory Group, a group of experts which was only appointed at the end of 2020 to advise Ministers on when and how Matariki should be observed. The purpose of establishing an advisory group was so that Māori knowledge should lie at the core of the decisions related to the Matariki public holiday, to support and elevate our working with good intentions with the Māori world. The members of the group were from different areas of New Zealand so that knowledge from all areas was included. Their important statements were clear about the place of values and principles in the implementation of Matariki in the context of the modern world. There have been many pressures and rules laid down in the community about how these days should be observed. The members were mindful about the importance of traditional practices regarding the main purpose of Matariki so that this important practice could be observed. The Government continues to acknowledge the Matariki Advisory Group for their expertise, their specialist guidance, their focused thinking about how to realise this new Matariki public holiday. Thank you all once again.

I wish to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee and its chair, Tāmati Coffey, for their work, focused thinking, and consideration of this bill. There were more than 200 submissions, nearly all of which were supportive about celebrating the uniqueness and importance of Māori knowledge and the new Matariki public holiday. Reports were relayed back to the select committee that no changes were requested as a result of the submissions received by the committee. They eagerly supported the bill. Many people repeated the words of the Matariki Advisory Group, that we must embody the validity of Māori knowledge right throughout the development processes of this law, moving forward.

The breadth of the submissions supported that the bill be created due to the absence of a public holiday specifically for the Māori world and, by the creation of this holiday, the Crown is able to show how it works in partnership regarding the Treaty and its direction of being more open-hearted towards Māori and the Māori world. There was also strong support in the submissions that a new holiday was needed for reflection and remembrance and the ability for workers to connect with each other. The submissions also stated that this was an important issue for all of us as we observe this special event having had the way cleared by the creation of the Matariki public holiday.

We are aware that not all tribes in Aotearoa observe the turning of the year with Matariki, but with other stars such as Puanga and Poutūterangi, which in itself is an example of different tribal knowledge systems that have been passed down over generations. This knowledge is equally valid, and, to that end, we tried to capture this in the name of the bill, by including the term, “cluster of Matariki”.

As I was talking about the intergenerational transfer of knowledge, my thoughts warmly turned to my own star, Hiwa-i-te-rangi, a gift handed down to her mother and me. Indeed, this is our own realisation of Matariki. She is our ray of sunshine in times of sadness, the glittering star when we can hang our dreams and desires for the days ahead.

The essence of the bill is the steadfast connection between Māori and the Crown, the character of our sharing, our use of, our promotion, and care of Māori knowledge, with respect. We understand that not all things about Matariki and Māori knowledge will be shared freely, and we are also clear that not all tribes observe Matariki at the same time. However, I present this bill to the House.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and it’s a great pleasure to speak on this piece of legislation, Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. Now, it’s very interesting: the National Party certainly supports the idea of a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. And what you have here in the bill is ensuring that over the next 30-odd years the holiday will be celebrated on the Friday adjacent to the weekend closest to the Tangaroa lunar phase—the point in the lunar month, as the Minister would have explained, where the last quarter moon rises—of the month of Pipiri, in the Māori calendar the period typically around June and July. So what we’re talking about is an important idea and principle in Te Ao Māori, the Māori sort of world view. And, of course, some groups have different views within Māoridom—that this is a time sometimes thought of as the start of a new year.

So the idea of having a public holiday celebrating that and drawing attention to those ideas and those views, of the Māori world, we support. The slight issue, however, is that if they were to replace one of our many other public holidays—say, Labour Day would be a good one to start with—so that we weren’t creating additional public holidays but we were reshuffling the public holidays, reflecting the passage of time, then we would support this legislation. But that, of course, is not what this Government is doing, and so we won’t be supporting this legislation.

Why? Because what we have here in this Government, currently, is one that seems to think that the purpose of government, or the role of good government, is just to throw treats, in terms of additional public holidays or various entitlements, out through the passage of law. This is just one of many that they’ve done over the last couple of years.

So there’s the idea: OK, we’ll pass a law and have an extra public holiday. We have 11 so far this year; also, workers have an entitlement to 20 days’ leave, so 31 days in total. Then, a few months ago, they passed another law, which is to say you can have an extra week of sick leave—up to two weeks. So that’s fine, and then they’ll pass another law, saying that we’ll increase the minimum wage very significantly, from about—it was around $16 when this Government came into power; up, now, past $20, and higher all the time.

But the problem is that the Ministers who stand up here and pass these laws and puff out their chests and say, “How wonderful we are, and what good people we are”, they’re not the ones who are paying the bill. It’s the private businesses that have to pay for it. So the legislation is passed, and the Minister stands up there and says, “Aren’t we wonderful, generous people, because we’re going to give you an extra public holiday.”, but somebody else has to pay for it, and, unfortunately, the reality is that collectively, all these additional costs are not insignificant. They make it more difficult for people to stay in a position to continue to employ other New Zealanders and to keep their businesses alive and competitive.

💬 Hon Stuart Nash: What rubbish.

And the Minister says, “What rubbish.” Well, of course. What would he care—what would he care? I mean, if you just add on—

💬 Hon Stuart Nash: So are you going to roll back the minimum wage, or reduce the number of holidays workers have?

So what you would say is the Minister seems to imply that adding additional costs on to business by substantially increasing the minimum wage—under the National Party, the minimum wage was increased regularly, but by the volume and increase of the minimum wage—doesn’t have an impact on businesses. That just shows how deluded and out of touch this Government has become—deluded and out of touch.

So what we have is a Government that genuinely seems to believe how you improve incomes in this country is simply by Government fiat—by legislation. You come into this House, you’re a Minister, you puff out your chest, and you say, “We’re going to increase wages: by increasing the minimum wage here, by increasing the entitlement to sick leave here, by giving you another public holiday.” But they don’t seem to understand that the only sustainable way—the only sustainable way—to increase incomes in this country is to have a more productive economy that produces things that the rest of the world is prepared to pay for, and never, ever would you hear from Minister Stuart Nash or any of the others any talk about how we are going to focus on improving our international competitiveness as a country. No. You wouldn’t hear that. You wouldn’t hear that at all, and you wouldn’t hear much in the way of improving productivity, and therein lies the problem.

So we’re not prepared to be party to just these incessant additional costs on to the people, the New Zealanders, who are running the small businesses up and down this country, who have been through the absolute mill through COVID over the last couple of years, struggling to stay alive, stay in business, many of them—and particularly in the hospitality and tourism sector. They look at this, and they say, “Well, heck, yet one more opportunity”—yet one more opportunity—“to add costs to the business.” And the Minister sort of implies that there’s nothing much involved here. The regulatory impact statement thinks that the cost will be somewhere around $443 million annually. Well, fiddlesticks, I suppose, in the big scheme of things, for this Government. I mean, who cares, $440-odd million—not a big deal—and why is that? Because it’s just another day of production taken out, and then there’s additional wage payments and loss of income.

Now, of course, everybody wants more holidays. I can understand that, and I can understand why all the submitters think it’s a good idea. And, like I say, the principle of having a Matariki holiday we agree with, and we’re very happy about that, but what we would have liked to have seen is just some recognition—just a moment’s recognition from this Government—of the difficulties of staying in business and staying afloat, and recognising that now maybe—maybe—this is just not the time for yet more entitlements in this country.

And maybe they could have considered Labour Weekend as a good alternative to remove. I don’t know why we don’t have a “National Weekend” that I’m aware of. We don’t have an “ACT Weekend”, but we have a Labour Weekend, and maybe it’s time in history that it’s moved on, and we replace Labour Weekend with Matariki, and that would be fine. Then we would have been able to support this piece of legislation.

And you might say it’s a little thing. One day extra holiday—what difference does it make? But the point that we would make is that this is just one of many things that this Government has done, on a regular basis, coming into this House time and time again, Ministers announcing new things, new entitlements for workers, that they’re not paying for; that private businesses are paying for. Those are the businesses that employ New Zealanders. They’re the businesses that create exports, that create our wealth, and need to be internationally competitive. And they also are the businesses that charge us for things. The cost structure that underlies those businesses is what flows through to the cost of living, and, as every New Zealander knows, the cost of living is going through the roof. Everything is more expensive. And the cost structure that our economy is based on is, actually, relevant in this context.

So that is why we applaud the thinking behind this bill, in terms of creating a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. We look forward to that celebration. We just wish there was as much empathy and as much thinking for the needs of the small and medium sized businesses up and down this country and their ability to stay profitable and in a position to continue to employ New Zealanders. I wish there was as much thought and empathy given to them, so that they could have substituted one of the existing holidays, rather than creating an additional one right here, right now.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o tēnei Whare. Ngā mihi nui ki a koe me te Minita hoki mō tēnei pire, te Hōnore Kiritapu Allan, i whakaarohia ōna whakaaro mō tēnei pire, Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill.

[Warm greetings to you, and the Minister responsible for this bill as well, the Hon Kiritapu Allan, who has shared her thoughts about this bill, Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill.]

This is the public holiday of Matariki that we’re talking about, and I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the Minister, Kiritapu Allan, for her commitment to this bill, her commitment to te reo Māori as well, because that was a stellar effort to my colleague, and the ears of our mātua tūpuna [ancestors] will be listening down on you, e te Minita, i tēnei wā [Minister, at this time].

I also want to take a moment just to acknowledge the previous contribution from the Hon Paul Goldsmith, who decided that he’d support it after telling us all of this great stuff about exactly when the date is going to be landed. He understood about the maramataka Māori. He understood that it had to be taken on a certain date over our Matariki period. That there, in its essence, is part of the evolution of this public holiday: getting our people all around Aotearoa that don’t know about the maramataka, that don’t know how the traditional Māori new year was celebrated—to be able to actually dig into our roots here, in Aotearoa, and realise that we’ve got mātauranga Māori that should be uplifted. I commend him on his knowledge and I encourage him to keep learning.

This is a learning journey for everybody, not least for us as the Māori Affairs Committee, and I was proud to help shepherd it through our committee process. The submission period opened for six weeks and we got 212 submissions through, of which we listened to 12 oral submissions. We heard from our advisers, who were appointed from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and I want to thank them for their work that they’ve done alongside the committee as well. We also decided to appoint a specialist adviser on this journey to help guide us in this mātauranga. It’s a new world and, as I said before, we’re all learning as we go. So thank you to Professor Rangi Matamua for the work that he did on the committee as our specialist adviser. We acknowledge you, your mātauranga that you’ve shared with us, and also your aspiration to make sure that this works, to make sure this is a public holiday that, actually, all of us, as people of the land, of tangata Tiriti, tangata whenua, that we can both enjoy this public holiday together.

Some of the feedback was very varied. We had some people that were incredibly supportive of the bill. We had some people that were very dubious about the bill, too. One of the concerns was, as the previous speaker mentioned, around the cost of what an extra public holiday would mean for certain demographics, for certain businesses. It was very hard to be able to land on exactly what that cost was going to be, such a wide range, actually. The kind of range that was landed on, through our advisers, was anything between a benefit for the country of $25.7 million to a cost to the country of up to $133 million, and somewhere in the middle.

You see it’s really hard to try and put a dollar figure on the benefits of a public holiday because, when you’re talking about it like that, it sounds very financial. Actually, one of our submitters said that trying to identify it through a financial lens actually takes a very Pākehā perspective on this whole public holiday. What he said, as one of our submitters, was that he wondered whether or not other perspectives, Māori perspectives, might better incorporate the wellbeing of workers when considering the financial implications. So on that, as I say, it was very hard as a committee to try and understand what exactly the cost-benefit analysis was because there is so much to consider in that space.

We had a big discussion about whether or not we use the name “Matariki”. Matariki is celebrated by some, but not by everybody. There are regional variations around Matariki, and I want to go on record, right here, right now, to say that Matariki is one word for a constellation of stars that we celebrate differently in different parts of New Zealand. Puanga—in different parts, that’s another term for Matariki, and there were many more. But what we decided was that, for clarity and simplicity, we would actually go with this. That was encouraged also by our specialist adviser, by Professor Rangi Matamua, acknowledging that there are regional variations, but actually deciding that we’ll stick with one for now, and, in the bill, we’ll make sure that we let everybody know that there are variations that happen across Aotearoa too.

There was some concern that we may be heading down a Christmas tree, Easter bunny kind of route with this public holiday too, that we were going to commercialise the sheesh out of this. I want to just speak to that for a moment. It is a concern. People that want Matariki to be acknowledged want the depth of the public holiday to be recognised, but also don’t want to show up at their local mall and see it plastered all over the windows of their favourite shops, trying to sell off cheap goods, fast clothes, that kind of thing. I want to acknowledge that because it’s something that I share as well. I don’t want to see the complete commercialisation of Matariki, but I acknowledge that through the learning journey there may be some opportunities in there too. Whether it be a Matariki calendar with the Māori New Year listed on it, if it’s T-shirts to help publicise the event—if it’s things like that, then we don’t mind.

But what we landed on, as a committee, was that we can’t control any of that. Once we put this on the map, we can set it forth with best intentions and we can monitor it over time, but, actually, it will be up to the people to decide which way it goes. But I really hope that our Māori communities all around Aotearoa help to educate our local non-Māori communities about the significance of this, and hoping to keep it away from that kind of tacky commercialisation that many of us cringe at as well.

I want to acknowledge our deaf community who came forward and said they wanted to go on record and say that if we’re going to be having festivals, we should make sure that, if they’re big festivals, we’ve got sign language interpreters as well, because they were very concerned that at some of our public holiday events and some of our big major events our deaf community are left out of that conversation because they don’t have access to interpreters. So we discussed that as a committee, we talked about how we could be more inclusive in it, and we heard about the fact that Te Arawhiti is indeed accommodating for that as they plan for the new holiday as well.

There were some concerns around resourcing and making sure that, as it rolls out in our education system, we’re saying good things but that there’s actually resources for our teachers to be able to share this mātauranga as well. We were also assured by the Ministry of Education that that was absolutely part of their considerations; there was a budget allocation last year to be able to help with that. I also note that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment have also put out some funding for Matariki events around the country, to bring communities together, to help celebrate what Matariki looks like in your part of Aotearoa. So that fund is currently open, and I encourage people, as they’re listening to this, to think about putting in for some of that funding to be able to celebrate Matariki when it comes around—not just this year, but for the next 30 years that we’ve got to look forward to.

There is a lot to say about this bill but I just wanted to finish by thanking all of the officials that have helped us through the submissions process: our clerks of the committee, obviously all of those submitters—all 212 of them—as well as the 12 that submitted to us orally. We thank everybody for their thoughts but this is something that, I think, in years to come, we’ll look over our shoulder and we’ll be incredibly proud of being part of the team that actually helped usher through this bit of mātauranga Māori into our normal vocabulary, so that people like Paul Goldsmith can actually help to educate all of those Paul Goldsmiths around him about the significance of this event, Matariki. It’s an incredibly special event. Actually, I feel at a loss that when I was growing up as a primary school student I knew nothing about this. The mātauranga was out there but we’re only just discovering it, and that’s just the start. There’s lots more coming in this space, and I look forward to seeing the progress of this through the House but also the aspiration of what else we can use to help address that kind of bi-cultural relationship in our country.

For that reason I support this bill and I commend it to this House.

It’s a reflective moment for me to be able to stand and speak to the second reading of Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. The first reading of this was on 30 September 2021. I pick up from my parliamentary colleague who has just spoken, Tāmati Coffey. A key phrase he talked about was “in years to come” so I’m reflective because it’s significant—the timing of when things are done. This is a bill that undoubtedly will be passed into law. It will be a calendared, marked, indigenous, New Zealand holiday of significance and relevance. However, the significance and relevance, in my submission, is the timing of this being passed into law.

The timing is about priorities that our country has been confronted with and the hardships that have been imposed on our people, struck down with COVID, the cost implications, not just fiscal but the impact on our communities. It’s known that the National Party does not support this bill, not because of the significance and the cultural relevance of this as a calendared marker within the shaping and history of the nation and where we are striving towards but because of the timing of the impact on our society. It’s all very well for members in the Labour Government to diminish the relevance of the fiscal cost and implications.

My colleague talked about a Pākehā perspective on this in terms of looking at the cost as it affects our communities. I am a former Māori business owner, and I know that many small to medium sized enterprise business owners who are Māori, along with non-Māori, will carry the fiscal implications of this. We acknowledge and recognise the importance of this as a cultural marker on our calendar. I heard my colleague also mention that he wasn’t aware growing up of what Matariki is. Well, some of us actually were in terms of the communities and those who shaped and influenced us. Where I come from in Whanganui, we celebrate what is called Puanga. Puanga is known as Matariki in other areas, and we have celebrated that without the necessity of a calendared public holiday. We have celebrated that because that is culturally significant and relevant in our lived life and experience, and we haven’t needed legislation to mark this as a significant event in the calendar of our lived experience.

The National Party does not diminish the importance of Matariki—or, where I come from, in Whanganui, Puanga—and we will continue to know it is Puanga whether it is going to be calendared as Matariki, which it will be. But the concern the National Party has is the timing of this. I believe in the values of the National Party. We espouse and we talk about, essentially, what is mana motuhake—self-responsibility, independence, and I reframe that as collective responsibility. I challenge members in the House to think about whether it is a collective responsibility to impose on our employers, our small to medium sized and even the bigger-business owners, the cost that this will be in a burden upon them.

When our country is going into a period of recovery—and I note that the days for Matariki, Puanga, will be marked off, calendared, 30 years in advance—from COVID; an economic, social, and cultural recovery that will take the next 30 years. It will be my children and my grandchildren who bear the cost of this on our society. Is this really responsible Government? Is this the appropriate timing to be passing something that, yes, is important and feels good—and we acknowledge that—but back home in Whanganui, we celebrated Puanga without the need or necessity for it to be calendared in as a public holiday, without the incursion of cost on people who are in work. And even those of us who are in work and employed, we took time out anyway without that cost being imposed on somebody else—we deemed it a priority to do so without it being calendared as a public holiday.

The National Party, and I personally, support the significance and relevance of Matariki—Puanga—being put into our calendar, but is the timing of this really appropriate? As I said, this is going to pass into law. The numbers are in the House, but for the public who are listening, the National Party does not diminish or demean or belittle the significance of this as a marker for the direction that we as a nation are going—and we need to go together, not separately. I do not tolerate just because I am a member of the National Party and a Māori member of the National Party that it be suggested, for the slur to be, that this is about racial preferences and divide—I do not tolerate that or accept that as a Māori or as a Māori associated with a party that espouses mana motuhake. Does this bill really require what has been a marker for those of us who come from lived experience within Māori communities to be locked in as a public holiday?

It is going to happen. The National Party is one of pragmatism and priorities and has put it to the Government that Matariki—Puanga—be a holiday in substitution of another party. I submitted that to the Māori Affairs Committee. Of course, it did not meet with any approval. I submitted that my birthday happens to fall on Labour Day so I was quite prepared to acquiesce and let that one go, but, really, Madam Speaker and everybody listening: timing is everything. This is going on to the calendar. It is a marker. It will be locked in for the next 30 years, but so too will the nation in recovery, and my mind and my heart turns to my children and my grandchildren yet to be born, because they are the ones who are going to endure the consequences of this COVID. They will also celebrate, because it will be locked into law—a Matariki public holiday. But I’ve raised and nurtured my children also to be practical. There are things that they wanted as children that they simply could not have or receive, because of timing and, quite frankly, what could and could not be afforded were issues taken into account.

In conclusion, the National Party cannot commend this bill to the House for the very reasons I’ve indicated. The principle driving Matariki as a public holiday and marker is supported, but the timing of the implications on New Zealanders and our business communities certainly has some bearing on cost. I do not commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. It’s an absolute pleasure to be talking on Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. Can I say it’s a pleasure to be talking on this because I know from a previous role, prior to coming to Parliament, that the then Mayor of Wellington City was certainly keen on making sure that Matariki is part of the city rejuvenation here in Wellington to celebrate an indigenous public holiday based around Matariki. So in talking to Justin Lester, I know that he’s certainly celebrating there in Johnsonville, in North Wellington, saying this is a good thing and, I believe, so are many other people around Aotearoa New Zealand who have been hoping at some stage this Government would look at putting in place another public holiday to celebrate the Māori New Year. And we’ve seen in many parts of New Zealand, of the country, where different cities and districts have taken up the mantle to really look at our history and how this particular indigenous celebration can be applied locally.

I know, from visiting many schools and stories from other members of Parliament—colleagues who have been into a range of places, where they have certainly come back saying that the depth of understanding now about Matariki is certainly impressive, to say the least. They’ve certainly looked at what the meaning is, how it impacts locally, but how special it is to New Zealand. And so I’m really pleased to see that this year, on 24 June, we’ll have our first Matariki public holiday. As I said, different people have had a different understanding, but ultimately—and can I just acknowledge at this stage the Minister, the Hon Kiritapu Allan, for bringing it to the House.

I had the pleasure of accepting the petitions on her behalf at Te Papa from Action Station. I think it was from Lewis Holden as well, and there were thousands of people who had put their names to this, saying that we certainly want to build that greater national understanding and put a value on the Māori language, culture, and heritage. And in talking to the people who handed it over to me at Te Papa, they said to me, “Do you think this will have some impact?” Often we accept petitions and sometimes we just don’t know. But it was also, I think for me, pleasing to keep in touch with Laura and others who’ve been part of building this, I guess, movement around making sure that this public holiday was put in place.

But the good news is always when you can say to them that it’s actually going to happen. So can I just also acknowledge the Matariki Advisory Group and their work. They certainly took a different approach in terms of determining the dates, because it will shift to align to the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, for each year, but it will always be on a Friday. And in doing just a small bit of research and being on the Māori Affairs Committee, it’s good to be part of some of the submissions and listening to the feedback, which was positive. And look, we’ve heard from the previous speaker around the cost, but I think it’s one of those times, and particularly with what’s going on in the global context, that this is an appropriate timing for some good news and the fact that it will be a significant milestone for the Parliament: only the fifth piece of dual language legislation in our history. And so I think that’s symbolic in itself and signifies the work that’s been undertaken in terms of making sure that this will be passed in time for that celebration on 24 June. Good words have been said already, and I want to commend this bill to the House.

Members, before I take the next call, which I understand is going to be a remote contribution, the only way I can call a member who wishes to make a remote contribution is if they indicate in the chat function of the hybrid Parliament functions. So if there were a member who would like to take a call—I call Teanau Tuiono.

Tenā koe e te Māngai, otirā tēnā koutou katoa e te Whare. I whakaaro me tīmata au i taku kōrero i tēnei pō e pēnei ana te haere. E mihi ana ki a rātou mā ki a rāua mā ki a Tā Wira Gardiner rāua ko Kahurangi June Jackson i hinga ki roto ki tēnei wiki i tēnei rā. Ko tō mātou nei ngākau nā mātou ngā Kākāriki kei te taha o ō rātou nei whānau i tēnei wā i te mea mōhio tātou nō te ao Māori he tipua rātou, he toki, he mātanga, e ngākaunui ana o tātou nei whānau Māori kua noho taiwhenua, ahakoa noho tāone, nō reira me mihi atu ki a rāua me ō rāua whānau e noho pani ana ki tēnei o ngā rā, otirā ki te Hōnore Willie Jackson i tēnei wā ko tērā tōna māmā i hinga i kō ake nei, e mihi ana. E mihi ana ki runga i ngā whakaaro o Matariki, kia tae ki tērā o ngā kōrero i rangona whānuihia ki roto i ngā tangihanga ko rātou mā kua whetūrangihia, ko rātou mā kua whetūrangihia, kua whetūrangihia rāua i tēnei wiki. I whetūrangihia e piri ana ki te kāhui o Matariki me te whakaaro anō ko tētahi o ngā whetū ko Pohutukawa. I te wā o Pohutukawa ko tōna aronga mō te hunga kātahi anō kua rere atu ki roto i te tau.

I a au e haere ki ngā hui Matariki i te motu ki roto i ngā hekenga ngā toru tekau ngā tau, i whakatūria tētahi hui ahurei. I te tīmatanga o ngā whakaritenga Matariki kia maumahara rātou mā kua wehe atu, kua maumaharara o rātou nā i waiho ake mai ngā maramara mātauranga, ngā maramara wheako, he aha ai? Hei kohikohinga whakaaro, he kohikohingā manaakitanga, maumarahatanga ki a tātou ngā morehu e noho pani nei i tēnei wā. Nō reira, ko tērā tētahi o ngā wāhanga ki roto i te Matariki e taea e tātou, tātou o tātou nei hapori, otirā o tātou katoa i roto ki Aotearoa nei.

Te ruku ki roto i te taketaketanga o tēnei mātauranga i ahu mai o tātou nei tikanga Māori, āe ko tēnei Pire e piri ana ki a Matariki, te kāhui whetū o Matariki, ka noho matua mai i ētahi iwi hei tohu i te taka o wā, he tohu nui hoki a Matariki ki o tātou tuakana, mātou mai e noho ana ki ngā airani, ā, ngā tuākana rere i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa mō te taka o te wā. Ko ētahi o ā rātou kupu mō te kāhui, ko Mataliki, ko ētahi ko Matali‘i, ko ētahi ko Matari‘i, ko Makali‘i anō hoki.

Tautoko katoa ko ētahi anō kōrero i puta mō tērā wā o te tau me tērā wāhi o te rangi, ā, mō tātou nei whānau e noho ana ki ngā rekereke o te maunga tītōhea ki Taranaki ko Puanga, i te mea mēnā ka noho koe ki tētahi maunga, ko te Puanga, ko tērā te whetū e kitea koe, pērā ki ō tātou nei whanauka ki Ngāi Tahu, ko Puaka tērā e karangahia. Mēnā ka noho koe ki wāhi kē atu nā te taiao i whakaritea ki a koutou. Haere he tikanga ki a tēnā iwi ki a tēnā iwi i te wā o Matariki ko ētahi ko ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki tōna tīmatanga, ki tōna roa, ko te rerenga o te rā, ko te mata o te marama, ā, ko ngā marama ko te taiao te takiwā me te takoto o te whenua. Nō reira he piringa anō tēnei, ehara i te mea he hararei noa. Nō reira he piringa anō ki te taiao he oranga anō tērā mō tātou.

Kua whakaritea kētia ngā rā aro ki a Matariki mō ngā tau toru tekau tuatahi kia pai ai te taka mai o te hararei tūmatanui te Paraire e taka rawa ana ki te marama o Tangaroa, nō reira, o tātou nei mātau e mōhio e pēhea e haere ana ngā mata o te marama. Ko Tangaroa ko te marama ki roto i te marama o Pipiri e mahuta ake ai a Tangaroa. Nō reira, ko te raupapa e whakarite ana a te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki tēnei i whakatau nō reira katoa i te mea he mātauranga taketake, he mātauranga Māori tohaina ki a tātou katoa.

Ko tēnei pire, āe, kei te whakatū he hararei tūmatanui. E kī ana te pire ka tū tētahi hararei tūmatamui mō Matariki, heoi ko te mea hiranga katoa ko te poua hohonutia o ngā kōrero o te pire ki te mātauranga Māori. Kāore tātou i tētahi hararei e pērā ana. He pire, he hararei e piri ana ki te whenua i ahu mai tēnei whenua nō reira ko tēnei tana mana motuhake, nō reira i kōrerohia e au i mua engari nā mātou nō te waimarie i arahina mātou e te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki, nō reira me mihi anō hoki ki a Tākuta Rangi Matamua i te mea koia tō mātou mātanga mō mātou nei e noho ana ki roto i te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori nāna noa i hautū tērā komiti i mua te tuhi o tēnei o ngā pire, heoi, i noho tahi ia ki a mātou i te wā e piri ana ngā kaupapa katoa mō Matariki ki roto i ngā matapaki kōrero.

I waenga i ngā kaitāpae kōrero, he whānui, he whāroa te tautoko o te pire, ngā kōrero hoki i whakaritea te Rōpū Arataki o Matariki e mau tonu ai te tapu o ngā mātauranga Māori i te roa o te tukanga nei. E whakaaro ana ngā kaitāpae ka ea e te pire nei te korenga o tētahi hararei tūmatanui māna nei te whakamānawa nei i tō tātou nei ao Māori. Mā konei hoki e whai huarahi ai ki te whakatinana i te mea nei te whakahoanga o te Tiriti me te akiaki anō kia whai wāhi nui ai te iwi Māori kia āta whakakanohitia nuitia ai. Kia kaha te kōrerotia o te hononga o te whakanuitanga o Matariki ki te taiao, tērā tētahi o ngā aronga nui nā mātou o ngā Kākāriki i te mea i kite mātou mēnā ka ora anō te mātauranga ki roto i a Aotearoa nei, mō tātou katoa, he oranga anō tērā mō te taiao.

Nō reira, i rangona aku nei taringa i tērā o ngā kōrero i tau i wā ki te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori, heoi, e ai ki ētahi atu o ngā kaitāpae ko te whai rauemi a tētahi āhuatanga matua e whai whakanui ai kia toka ai te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki ki te ahurea. Me tiro tātou ki tērā ki roto i ngā kura katoa, ki roto i te marau, auraki mai, rūmaki Māori mai. Nō reira ko mātou nei e hiahiatia, mātou ngā Kākāriki kia tiro i tētahi āhuatanga kia puta mai i te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga, ngā rauemi me ētahi hōtaka anō kia hāpai atu i ngā pūkenga o ngā pouako ki roto i ngā kura i te mea, mā runga i te whakaako i te rawa o ēnei kōrero, te hōhonutanga o ēnei kōrero ko tēnei mea e piri ana tātou ki a tātou anō ki roto i ngā āhuatanga o Matariki. Nō reira, ko te taha o te rauemi he mea nui.

He mea e hikaka ana te whakaaro ki roto i ō tātou ngākau ō tātou nei tamariki mokopuna, nō reira, kia kaha te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga ki te toha atu ngā rawa, ki te toha atu ngā rauemi ki ō tātou nei pouako, ki ō tātou nei kura. I tautoko au i ngā kōrero o Te Tiamana i kōrero mai ia mō tō tātou nei hapori turi i kōrerohia mai, he mea tika te kōrero, e toru ngā reo o Aotearoa nei: ko te reo Pākehā, ko te reo Māori me te reo tohu o te turi, nō reira e tautoko ana mātou ngā Kākāriki kia whai wāhi anō rātou ki roto i ngā tahua pūtea kia āhei rātou mēnā ka haere rātou ki tētahi hui e hāpai ana ngā āhuatanga o Matariki ka taea e rātou te mārama ana ngā kōrero. Nō reira tautoko ana mātou ki tērā, tērā o ngā whakatau mō ō tātou nei hapori turi, ō tātou nei whānau turi.

Ko tētahi āwangawanga nui i puta ko te whakapūteatanga—me pēnei ana ki? I te mea he māharahara anō tērā nōku nei kia kaua e Makitānara ko tātou nei Matariki, kia kaua Rua Tāra Toa, Te Warewhare tō tātou nei hararei Matariki, kia mau tonu ki tonu ki tōna taketaketanga, kia mau tonu ki tōna ki te ia o tōna hōhonutanga ki tana piringa ki te taiao, te taiao ki te tangata, te tangata ki te whānau, te whānau ki te hapori, te hapori ki te iwi, otirā ki a tātou katoa. Nō reira, i rangona i aku nei taringa tērā o ngā āwangawanga he āwangawanga anō tērā anō hoki nei, heoi ko te mea nui i a tātou e whakarite rautaki ana mō tēnei kaupapa me āta whakaarohia tātou ki roto i ngā kaupapa here ka puta mai i te ture me ōna waeture anō hoki.

Nō reira, tērā noa iho tō mātou nei kōrero heoi anō, me hoki atu anō ki te tuatahi o tātou nei kōrero e mihi ana ki a rātou mā kua hinga atu, e mihi atu au ki a rātou mā kua whetūrangahihia, rātou anō, kua piri anō ki te kāhui o Matariki. Ko te tūmanako ka rapu anō tātou ō rātau nā maramara matauranga o rātou nei maramara wheako anō kia mau tonu tātou ki a rātou, tērā anō te takoha mai o ngā ahurea o Matariki ki a tātou anō, te piringa o te hunga mate ki a tātou, te hunga ora otirā āhei koutou—

[I thought I would begin my speech tonight in this way. I would like to acknowledge Sir Wira Gardiner and Dame June Jackson who have passed on this week and today. The hearts of the Greens are with their families at this time, because we in the Māori world know that they were legends, champions, experts and also committed to Māori, whether they lived rurally or in towns, so I must acknowledge them and their bereaved families on this day, as well as acknowledging the Hon Willie Jackson, as this was his mother who recently passed. I acknowledge them, in the language of Matariki, by using one of the phrases widely heard at funerals, they have all become stars in the heavens, they have all become stars in the heavens, both of them have become stars in the heavens this week. They have become stars connected to the Matariki cluster in the knowledge that one of those stars is Pohutukawa. At the time of Pohutukawa its focus is those who have died that year.

As I have been going to Matariki gatherings around the country over the last 30 years, a cultural gathering was set up. At the beginning of the observation of Matariki it was as a remembrance of those who have passed, and for the things they left behind, the gems of knowledge and experience, and why? As a collection of ideas, of generosity, and memories, of those of us who remain, orphaned, today. Therefore, this is something within Matariki that we can all do, in our communities, and throughout New Zealand.

To dive into this ancient knowledge which comes from our Māori conventions, yes, this bill adheres to Matariki, the Matariki cluster which primarily, for some tribes, is a sign of the passing of time. It is also an important sign to our relatives who live in the islands—that is, our Pacific relatives. Some of their names for the cluster are Mataliki, Matali‘i, Matari‘i and Makali‘i.

I support everything that was said about the time of year and the place in the sky and, for our kin who reside at the base of the barren mountain, of Taranaki, it is Puanga, rather, that signals the passing of time, because if you live near a mountain range that is the star you will see, just like it is for our relatives of Ngāi Tahu, it is called Puaka. If you live in another place your environment will determine this for you. Each tribe has its own practices relating to the time of Matariki, when it rises, for how long, the path of the sun, the phase of the moon, the months, the environment, the location, and the lay of the land. Therefore, this is a relationship, not just a holiday. It is a relationship with the environment, and that benefits us all.

The days of observance of Matariki for the first 30 years have already been set so that we can solidify there is a public holiday that will fall on a Friday in the phase of Tangaroa, according to the moon-phase experts. The Tangaroa phase in the month of June which signals the correct time. Therefore, this series has been decided upon by the Matariki Advisory Group, rightly so, as it is ancient knowledge, it is Māori knowledge that has been shared with us.

This bill, yes, it establishes a public holiday. The bill states that a public holiday will take place, but the most important thing is the connection of the content of the bill to Māori knowledge. We have no holiday like it. It is a bill, a holiday that connects to a place from where this land arose, and that is its unique feature, therefore. I spoke earlier about how we were fortunate to be guided by the Mataraki Advisory Group, so I should acknowledge again Dr Rangi Matamua. He was our expert, for us of the Māori Affairs Committee. It was he who guided that committee prior to the writing of this bill, however, he sat with us as we tied together all the aspects of Matariki in our discussions.

In the submissions, there was broad support for the bill, and the content created by the Matariki Advisory Group has stayed true to the sacred nature of Māori knowledge for the whole length of the process. The submitters thought the bill satisfies the need for a public holiday that venerates the Māori world. Also, this provides a pathway to manifest the Tiriti partnership and to encourage engagement by Māori and for them to be able to play a leading role. We should keep talking about the connection of the celebration of Matariki to the environment. That is one of the Greens’ main focus points, because if Māori knowledge thrives in New Zealand, it will also benefit the environment.

I am also cognisant of issues around resourcing brought to the attention of Māori Affairs Committee by the submitters and that this should be a priority in order for the Matariki public holiday to be firmly established in our culture. We should implement this in all schools, in the curriculum, in both mainstream and immersion Māori schools. Therefore, what we of the Greens would like to see is the Ministry of Education producing these things, resources, and more programmes to support the skills of the teachers in the schools, because by teaching the value and depth of these stories we will enable us to connect to each other through Matariki. Therefore, resources are an important part.

This is a source of enthusiasm in our hearts and those of our children and grandchildren, so, I encourage the Ministry of Education to share resource material with our teachers and our schools. I support the position of the chair who talked to us about the deaf community. What he said was correct; there are three languages in New Zealand: English, Māori, and sign language. Therefore, we the Greens support that they should have access to funding so that if they go to a gathering supporting aspects of Matariki they will be able to understand what is going on. Therefore, we agree with that, that decision about our deaf community, our deaf family.

One big concern that arose was the potential commodification—how should I put it? There is a concern that our Matariki holiday turns into another McDonald’s, the $2 Shop, or The Warehouse. It should rather hold firm to its origins, to the depth of its connection to the environment, the environment to the person, the person to the family, the family to the community and the community to the nation, to all of us. Therefore, I heard that concern, and there were other similar concerns, however, the main thing as we were establishing a strategy for this issue was to carefully consider the policies emanating from the law and its regulations.

So that is all we have to say, however I should return to the start of our speech and acknowledge those who have passed, those who have become stars in the heavens, once again connected to, and close to Matariki. Hopefully, we will be able to rediscover their educational and experiential gems so that we hold on to them. That, again, is the gift of the culture of Matariki to all of us, the relationship of the dead to us, the living, and the ability—

Order! The member’s time has expired.

I rise on behalf of ACT to speak to the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. It’s a purpose of the bill to establish an annual public holiday to acknowledge Matariki, and we think it’s a great idea to celebrate Matariki. It’s a great, significant event, and an occasion that certainly deserves its own special day. The use of the stars in migration of Māori to New Zealand is of great significance and really should be taught in school history classes.

But we oppose this bill because businesses simply can’t afford it, especially at this time. The cost of creating a twelfth public holiday is estimated to be around $450 million, and we believe if the Government wants to indulge in this sort of luxury of another holiday, it needs to identify another day to be removed from the calendar. We’ve got 11 to choose from—that’s over two working weeks. Add four weeks annual leave—that’s over six weeks—bereavement leave, family leave, and maternity leave. Sick leave has just doubled, at a cost of almost $2 billion to businesses. This Government even made businesses pay employees four weeks’ pay if they chose not to get vaccinated.

Even the most union-loving lefty must admit that owning and running a business is tough. But I know they don’t actually understand, because we’ve got a Government totally devoid of business experience, who think business owners are like Grant Robertson and have a never-ending supply of money. I had to laugh when I was listening, in the debate on the last bill, to Greg O’Connor lecturing this side of the House about how money doesn’t grow on trees. I just shook my head.

They believe all employees want to work hard and business owners are just nasty, self-serving people, and anyone who actually manages to be successful got there by treading on their employees—just after profit. It’s a shame, but, as a nation, we simply can’t afford to have more holidays. The fact is that the vast majority of business owners get no leave at all. Most businesses across the country—if they’re still operating—are already fragile from the effects of COVID-19. That’s not to mention the many impositions this Government has inflicted on business in the last few years, impositions that have had very little thought on the effect they would have on the success of a business—success that is necessary to employ and look after employees.

The relentless minimum wage increases show that this Government just doesn’t understand how business works and that they only listen to their advisers when it suits their agenda. They are career politicians who have never had to worry about whether they’ll have enough money in the bank to pay their staff, never had to borrow money off family and friends to pay the bills to keep operating, and never had the feeling of whether it’s worth it to keep going when you keep getting kicked when you’re already down. The response from a Labour backbencher that if a business can’t survive seven weeks without an income, they probably shouldn’t be in business really sums it up for me.

I received a letter yesterday from a refrigeration company that I deal with, and I’ll just read the first paragraph. It says, “This letter is to advise you that there will be an increase on our hourly service rates, our vehicle fee charge, and our call out rate to be put into effect on 1 April 2022. This increase is due to inflation, minimum wage increases, and the cost of fuel over the last year.” That same letter would be going out to hundreds of hospitality and other businesses. It’s real.

A hospitality owner told me over the weekend that they needed another worker. They interviewed a 17-year-old high school student, a year 13 student who lived at home and wanted to earn some money to go to university. However, they needed some training, needed someone else working alongside them for a short time to get the experience, and it just wasn’t worth the risk to that owner of that hospitality business. For another dollar, they said no and employed someone with a little bit of experience. The unintended consequences of this sort of legislation on young people, disadvantaged people, and disabled people is huge.

In 2018, seventy-one thousand people were on the minimum wage. Last year, 160,000 people were on the minimum wage. This isn’t a good thing for hard-working New Zealanders. It just means that those with experience, those who have shown loyalty, and those who have made an effort in their work are not getting the increases that they would have got if businesses just can’t afford it.

With any pay rise, leave entitlement, or other changes in employee conditions, we must look at productivity to make sure we can pay for it. We constantly compare ourselves with other countries when it comes to the minimum wage, conditions, and leave provisions, but we constantly ignore productivity—the most important factor that enables these countries to provide different conditions to their employees. Paying people more while expecting no extra productivity is just naive. People who work hard should be paid more. Unfortunately, Labour, the Public Service Association, and the Council of Trade Unions don’t agree. Productivity seems like a dirty word.

Business owners are asking “Where will it end?”, and then today we hear the Government introduce the so called Fair Pay Agreements Bill. The absolute lunacy of this bill will be debated later, but, for the sake of hard-working employees, ACT will repeal it in 18 months’ time. I’m sure we’ll hear that an extra public holiday will actually be beneficial to businesses—again, from those who have never owned a business: the same people who tried to convince us that more sick days increases productivity. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment disagree, but we know that they’re only listened to if they agree with the agenda.

The Government has tried to convince the public that businesses were looked after during COVID, and the daily spin surrounding the COVID business support has been masterful. Businesses are struggling and going under—the stress is huge—and through no fault of their own. A Government that genuinely cared would take a breath; think about families, employers, and employees; put their ideologies aside; and help this country to recover from the tumultuous last two years, and this sort of nonsense is doing the opposite.

ACT will always support the employer because, if their business isn’t successful, it’s the employees that will suffer. We know they need tax and regulatory relief, and we’ll fight on their behalf for more sensible, sustainable economic policies so that they can grow their businesses and employ more New Zealanders.

ACT appreciates the significance of Matariki—not just for Māori but for all people of New Zealand who have studied and observed it at schools and in their communities throughout the country for a number of years. It is part of the curriculum. We appreciate the importance of everyone learning about and acknowledging the new year, the various reasons for the celebration, and, especially, its use as a navigational tool for the migration of Māori to this beautiful country. But New Zealand businesses cannot afford this extra holiday, and ACT opposes this bill. Thank you.

E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā rawa atu ki a koe. He mihi ki ngā rangi, he mihi ki ngā whenua, tēnā koutou katoa, he mihi ngā whetū o Matariki. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Mr Speaker, warm greetings to you. Greetings to the skies, greetings to the lands, greetings to you, and greetings to the stars of Matariki. Greetings, greetings, greetings, one and all.]

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak this evening on Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. The Matariki bill is in front of us this evening at this second reading, and it’s been an honour to be a part of our Māori Affairs Committee, who have heard the oral submissions, heard from communities, heard from Māori, heard from business owners about their aspirations for this particular kaupapa, what Matariki can bring, and the economic benefits of Matariki too. I want to reflect on my time, and I take the point from the chair of our Māori Affairs committee, Tāmati Coffey. He acknowledged that there was once upon a time where all of us, even being Māori, didn’t know the knowledge, the mātauranga, of Matariki.

In fact, I go back to part of my career in communications and marketing and working for an organisation who picked up Matariki as a kaupapa. Te Wananga o Aotearoa is a tertiary organisation, but plays a role in educating and inspiring Aotearoa, not just Māori—educating all of Aotearoa New Zealand, in particular a large number of Pākehā in our country who are passionate about culture and passionate about culture in our country. Matariki, in this sense, starts to feel like a bit of a natural step in some instances. I go back to a piece of work with, back then, Dr Rangi Matamua, with Paraone Gloyne, and the work that they did to start to talk about te iwa o Matariki, the nine stars, as opposed to what we understood as the seven at that particular time. We worked with kura, with schools, with tamariki, with businesses to communicate our knowledge around Matariki: the stories of nine stars, the names of each star. I acknowledge Minister Kiritapu Allan, who spoke of her daughter earlier on, who is named after the wishing star, Hiwa-i-te-rangi. Beautiful.

Throughout that project, we learnt a lot, and then that morphed into a partnership with Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Council, who launched a large Matariki festival, both for cultural reasons and educational reasons, but to bring economic benefits to the city of Tāmaki-makau-rau. They set up a number of events—and can I acknowledge Anahera Higgins and Ataahua Papa, incredible people who started the journey to share the stories of Matariki, to share a festival across New Zealand’s largest city, and to bring all of Aotearoa out to celebrate this particular event, just like we do at New Year’s.

I go back to reflecting on the last speaker, Chris Baillie, who doesn’t think there’s any economic benefits to such events, such activation, to bringing all of New Zealand together out and about, particularly at this time, post - COVID-19, when businesses desperately need a reason for people to come out of their homes, to build their confidence, to spend their money, to feel good, and to have something to celebrate. What better than a kaupapa of Matariki, which is about starting fresh, resetting, starting the new year together, and wishing about what are our future aspirations? That is what Matariki brings for all of us.

I want to go back to some of the research that I did and some of the information that we heard from businesses, and just to put on record the important facts about Matariki, this public holiday that we’re proposing and at our second reading of. It is expected to have a net benefit of $25.7 million and a net cost of $133 million, and this calculation is based on estimated economic benefits of between $310.4 million and $496.1 million and estimated costs of around $443.4 million. Now, I’m no mathematician, albeit I’ve worked in marketing communications—some would call that business—but that tells me that there definitely are economic benefits. I’ve spoken to businesses, to hospitality owners, to tourism operators in Tāmaki-makau-rau. They know that Matariki as a public holiday will enhance their business, because it will get people out and about, spending the money that they desperately need.

I’m excited about this bill, not just because of the opportunity to continue to educate and inspire Aotearoa, but I see it as another opportunity to reactivate Tāmaki-makau-rau, to bring our people out to celebrate, to share the economic benefits that this presents. And so without further ado, I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā tatou.

The next call is a split call. I call Joseph Mooney.

I rise as the member of Parliament for Southland to speak on Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. The National Party supports Matariki and a Matariki holiday. But as other speakers before me have said, there is a time and a place for the Matariki holiday, for it to come into law. And we have put forward our view, very clearly, that if it is to come in now, it needs to replace another public holiday. This country already has 11 public holidays, and at this point in history, there is a huge amount of pressure already on New Zealand businesses and the people they employ, and we need to make sure we take the pressure off them so that they can continue to trade and to operate.

I’ll speak very briefly, in turn, on Matariki because it’s quite a special thing. The appearance of the seven stars of Matariki in midwinter marks the start of the Māori New Year. Matariki can be translated as Matariki: tiny eyes; or Mata Ariki: eyes of God. The Matariki stars can be seen all over the world, and also known as the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, and Subaru. According to one legend, the stars show a mother and her six daughters, with the mother—Matariki—in the centre. Matariki is not a constellation, but a star cluster. A star cluster is where the stars are situated near each other in space, whereas a constellation is a collection of stars that only appear to be close to each other from our view here on Earth. Matariki is one of the closest star clusters to Earth, a mere 444.2 light years away. While only seven of the stars are clearly visible to us, the star cluster actually consists of more than 1,000 stars. Traditionally, Matariki was used to determine the coming season’s crop here in New Zealand, Aotearoa. A warmer season, and therefore more productive crop yield, was indicated by how bright the stars were. The rich tradition of Matariki provides an ideal opportunity to explore the ways that people pass on and sustain aspects of their culture and heritage.

As I said, the National Party welcomes a publicly observed Matariki holiday. We oppose imposing a potentially $450 million burden on our businesses, and particularly on our small businesses. Many small business submitters expressed their concern about the cost an additional public holiday might present to businesses that are already facing increased minimum wage, additional sick leave, and the ongoing effects of COVID-19. New Zealand is a nation of small and micro businesses, including the self-employed. There are approximately 530,000 small businesses in New Zealand, representing 97 percent of all firms. They account for almost one-third of all employment and contribute over one-quarter of New Zealand’s gross domestic product.

New Zealand has a higher percentage of small and micro businesses than other countries. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has noted that the recovery of New Zealand’s small businesses post-COVID-19 is vital to the sustainability and growth of the economy, and to the wellbeing of thousands of small business owners and the people that they employ. And I would note that the people they employ are the people who put food on the table for their children.

I have been around and spoken to many, many small businesses in my electorate—and I’m sure colleagues in this House have done the same—and I’ve heard stories, for example, of many business owners I’ve spoken to where they have fought incredibly hard over the last two years to keep the doors open and keep their people in jobs. I have talked to business owners who have taken out mortgages on their family home, taken out second mortgages—and in some cases, even third mortgages—just to keep their staff employed; keep their business operating in the hope that they will have a future. We should not be placing more burden on these small businesses now, at a time when they are doing everything they can do survive and keep their people employed. That is why this Matariki bill coming in as an additional public holiday is the wrong step at the wrong time—despite noting that we do support Matariki and what it represents wholeheartedly.

So we need to note that there has been a number of cost projections, which vary quite significantly. It’s estimated that the net effect on the economy is somewhere between $25.7 million in the positive and $133 million in the negative. This calculation’s based on estimated economic benefits of between $310.4 million and $496.1 million, and estimated costs of around $443.4 million—in other words, almost half a billion dollars.

We’re advised that the additional costs of implementation are likely to be similar to those of New Zealand’s existing public holidays. So we need to note there are 11 existing public holidays, placing costs already on our small businesses in particular. Quite simply, the proposal to create a new holiday will add more stress and strain to small businesses who are already dealing with inflation that’s at three-decade-highs before we’re even headed into a period with Ukraine and Russia added to our inflationary impact. I cannot commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā tātou e te Whare. It’s a pleasure to speak to the second reading of Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill. Te Paati Māori is, of course, proud to support this bill. We acknowledge the leadership of our people, including Dr Rangi Matamua, who have offered their time. Many have offered their time, energy, and mātauranga to advance this kaupapa. We have spoken with and been met by many kura, many kaiako, many mokopuna who are already celebrating this and asking us to support this call. It is long overdue. And it is long overdue that the Crown officially recognises our indigenous New Year traditions in Aotearoa. It is long overdue that we have, in fact, an indigenous public holiday.

As Rawiri said in our first reading contribution, Matariki did not mark the new year for all hapū and iwi in Aotearoa, and we maintain many traditions across the country. Rawiri acknowledged, also, the tradition of his people, Autahi, while my people of Taranaki and Whanganui and others acknowledge Puanga. Puanga, for people of Taranaki especially, is about the recognition of lost ones who have passed beyond the veil during the year gone. Puanga also acknowledges the environment and ecosystems of our land and our water. It would traditionally be a signal of time for our people to get their crops in order and to hunker down for winter. It now also is a time for planting and sowing the soil for preparing for the coming year and for strategising and planning as a people. It represents change that is needed in Aotearoa, especially now we have left what was the new old norm to go to a new norm. According to a whakatauākī, “E rua tau ruru, e rua tau wehe, e rua tau mutu, e rua tau kai.”

[Two years of wind and storm, two years when food is scarce, two years when crops fail, two years of abundant food.]

In recent years, we’ve seen the strong revitalisation of our Puanga traditions across Taranaki and beyond. Parihaka now hosts an annual Puanga Kai Rau festival, which celebrates our land, our people, our uniqueness. This serves to strengthen our collective bounds as a people and honour our whakapapa and our tūpuna. The passage of this bill will enable the continued growth and revitalisation of our many traditions across Aotearoa, and we acknowledge the submission of Dr Matamua, who confirmed that this is not about celebrating Matariki to the exclusion of our other traditions. We also acknowledge all those who submitted on the bill.

This should be only the first step. We should see this moment in time as an opportunity to reindigenise the way we live in Aotearoa. We have seen a recent widespread restoration in the use and understanding of maramataka. Now we should affirm our maramataka as the foundation for the way we do things: holidays, calendars, ways of working, ways of how we look after each other. We know that the maramataka is intrinsically derived from this whenua, from this climate, from these ecosystems here in the Pacific. The Gregorian calendar has no such relevance for all of us at all. Shifting away from that just makes sense. It’s actually what the next generation are already doing; we’re just catching up. Recognising Puanga and Matariki makes sense. Let’s not make any delay. For Te Paati Māori, we say, “Let’s get it done.” Nō reira, tēnā tātou katoa.

E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koe. Tēnā tātou katoa. E rongo atu ana koutou i ahau? Āe? Ka pai. Tēnā koutou. Aroha mai koutou. Ko tēnei taku wā tuatahi ki te kōrero i runga i te rorohiko mai i tōku kāinga i Te Tai Tokerau ahakoa kua tahi marama tātou e mahi ana i tēnei momo rauemi, nā te mea e noho haumaru ana tōku whānau i Te Tai Tokerau nei.

Nō reira ka tīmata ake taku kōrero mānawatia a Matariki. Kua roa ahau e ako e pā ana ki te māramataka Māori, e pā ana ki a Matariki. I te whā tau kua pahure ake nei i haere ahau ki tētahi wānanga ki roto i Whangārei-terenga-paraoa ki te whakarongo ki ngā kōrero a te tākuta a Dr Rangi Matamua i kōrero ia mō Matariki, i kōrero ia e pā ana ki ngā tohu o te wā me te māramataka Māori. I taua wā kātahi anō taku pāpā i hinga i ako ahau ngā kōrero e pā ana ki Te Waka o Rangi, arā ko te tupuna o Taramainuku e pupuri ana i ngā wairua o ngā mea o te tau kua pahure ake nei, ā, nō reira i runga i tēnā kōrero, e mihi ana ki ngā mate huhua o te wā. Matariki tohu mate. Ko tētahi ko Tā Wira Gardiner, ko tētahi ko Kahurangi June Jackson. Nō reira e mihi ana ki te hunga kua whetūrangitia.

I runga i tēnā ka hoki ki a tātou te hunga ora. E mihi ana ki te Minita, te Hōnore Kiritapu Allan. E mihi ana ki a ia me tana pēpi, a Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. I rongo i ngā kōrero e pā ana ki a Hiwa-i-te-Rangi i tēnei pō. Ko Hiwa-i-te-Rangi tetahi o ngā whetū o te kāhui Matariki. Nō reira, te hunga ki a rātou, tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou. Te pēpi, ko tātou pēpi a Hiwa-i-te-Rangi, ka nui te mihi ki a tātou i tēnei pō.

E hiahia ana ahau ki te mihi hoki ki te Ropū o Matariki, a te Rōpū arā Te Māori Advisory Group me ngā mema i runga i tēnā, ko Rangi Matamua tētahi, tētahi nō roto o Te Tai Tokerau te matua Rereata Makiha a matua Hoturoa Kerr, Victoria Campbell, Pauline Harris, Ruakere Hond me Jack Thatcher hoki. E mihi ana ki a rātou katoa. Nō ngā tōpito o te motu rātou, ko ngā kōrero, ō rātou mātauranga i mau mai ki te tēpu ki te whiriwhiri i ngā take e pā ana ki tēnei pire, e mihi ana ki a rātou.

Me ngā mema o te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori, ki a koe Tāmati te heamana o tērā komiti me ngā mema katoa i noho ki te whiriwhiri i ngā take e pā ana ki tēnei pire e mihi kau ana ki a koutou me ngā tāngata i pono e pā ana ki tēnei pire. Ka tino nui taku hari me taku koa te kite i tēnei pire i roto i te Whare Pāremata.

Ko te mea nui ki ahau ko te mātauranga kei roto i tēnei mea te kāhui o Matariki, āe e tika ana ngā kōrero ko Puanga i roto i Tai Tokerau te tohu o te tau hou Māori, me kī, te wā o Ōturu, o Pipiri engari kei reira hoki ngā kōrero e pā ana ki Matariki i te wā i te takiwā o ngā marama o Tangaroa i te marama o Pipiri, nō reira ko ngā mātauranga e pā ana ki te maramataka, hono ana ki te whenua, ki te moana, ki ngā mate me ngā hiahia mō te tau e heke mai nei. Āe, tika ana te kōrero o Debbie e pā ana ki te rerekētanga o te whakanui i te tau hou i te tīmatatanga o te tau i roto i te raumati nā te mea e ai ki te maramataka me ngā mahi te rautaki o te tau ko te mahi kaha i roto i te māra i taua wā, ka tupu ngā kai kia hauhake ā te wā i mua tata i Matariki, ā, nō reira he mahi nui tonu i mua o te aroaro kia ako i ērā mātauranga katoa hei whai mā tātou katoa.

Kua poto te wā ki ahau ki te kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei i tēnei pō engari ko te pānuitanga tuarua tēnei mō tēnei pire e tautoko ana ahau pau te kaha. I mua i te otinga o taku kōrero e mihi ana ki tētahi tokorua i roto i Te Tai Tokerau kua homai ki a ahau me tōku whānau ō rāua mātauranga e pā ana ki te maramataka arā, ko Rueben Taipari Porter, ko Heeni Hoterene. Nō reira e mihi kau ana ki a rāua mō te mātauranga kua whāngai ki a mātou i te kāinga nei. Ka kaha tonu tātou ki te whakanui i te kāhui Matariki, Puanga hoki. Ngā mihi.

[Can you hear me? Yes? Good. Greetings. Apologies, everyone. This is the first time I have spoken remotely from my home in Northland, although we have been using these resources for a month. I am with my family keeping safe at home in Northland.

So I will begin my speech welcoming Matariki. I have been learning about the Māori calendar as it relates to Matariki for a long time. Four years ago I attended a seminar in Whangārei-terenga-paraoa to listen to Dr Rangi Matamua talking about Matariki. He talked about the current signs and the Māori calendar. At that time, my father had just passed, and I learned about Te Waka o Rangi, and the ancestor Taramainuku who bears the spirits of those who died in the previous year, and so, on the basis of that I acknowledge the many dead at this time. Matariki: a time to remember the dead. One of whom is Sir Wira Gardiner and another, Dame June Jackson. Therefore I acknowledge those who have become stars in the heavens.

With that, I now return to us, the living. I greet the Minister, the Hon Kiritapu Allan, and I greet her baby, Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. I heard the stories of Hiwa-i-te-Rangi this evening. Hiwa-i-te-Rangi is one of the stars of the Matariki cluster. Therefore, let the dead be with the dead, and the living with the living. The baby, our baby, Hiwa-i-te-Rangi, warm greetings to one and all this evening.

I would like to acknowledge the Māori Advisory Group and the members thereof. Rangi Matamua was one; one from Northland was Rereata Makiha—Hoturoa Kerr, Victoria Campbell, Pauline Harris, Ruakere Hond, and also Jack Thatcher. I acknowledge all of them. They came from all corners of the land so that the stories and their knowledge could be brought to the table in the discussions regarding this bill. I thank them.

And the members of the Māori Affairs Committee, to you Tāmati, the chair of that committee, and to all the members who sat and discussed the issues related to this bill, I sincerely thank you and the people who were genuine about this bill. I am very happy indeed to see this bill in the House of Parliament.

The important thing for me is the Māori knowledge about the Matariki cluster. Yes, it is true that in Northland Puanga is the sign of the Māori New Year, that is, at the time of Ōturu, but there are as well the stories regarding Matariki at around the time of Tangaroa in the month of June. Therefore, the knowledge about the lunar calendar connects to the land, to the sea, to the dead and the desires for the following year. Yes, what Debbie said was correct about the difference in observing the new year at the beginning of the year in summer, because according to the lunar calendar there is much to do in the garden at that time—plants are grown to be harvested later, just before Matariki. And so, there is still a lot for us to learn about all this knowledge so that we can follow it.

I have a very short time to talk about this tonight but I support, without reservation, the second reading of this bill. Before I finish speaking I would like to acknowledge a Northland couple who have shared their knowledge about the lunar calendar with me and my family, they are Rueben Taipari Porter and Heeni Hoterene. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us at home. We must stay strong in observing Matariki as well as Puanga. Thank you.]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. That speech stopped abruptly, so excuse me if I was a bit slow jumping up there. This—

💬 Paul Eagle: You weren’t listening.

Oh, I was listening very carefully to the member on the other side there.

What I’m just going to enjoy talking about is the second reading of this bill, and, of course, I don’t think there’s anyone in New Zealand or even, indeed, in this House who would not like to have another public holiday. So there’s pretty uniform support for this bill in terms of the significance of Matariki—particularly to Māori but also to all New Zealanders—and it’s been very useful listening to the contributions tonight. I thought some of the contributions have been very thoughtful in, particularly, providing a perspective on the importance of Matariki.

So the big issue, of course, is why do we have to have this new, additional public holiday—our 12th public holiday? Effectively, we already have 31 days of holidays in New Zealand, of four weeks’ leave plus the 11 public holidays, and, of course, here we are, going to pass a bill which says, “Let’s have another one.” Our strong view was that we understand the significance of Matariki and agree with the principles of that. But we were just very, very keen, particularly at a time when people are struggling, people are losing their businesses, the staff working in those businesses have been under a lot of stress—and we’re in a situation where we’re going to impose additional costs on, particularly, the businesses and business owners at a time when they are struggling.

Our strong proposition, as we’ve heard tonight, is that, yes, we should do Matariki, but we should replace another holiday. Of course, the Hon Judith Collins suggested Labour Day, which many of us thought was a good recommendation. So, effectively, we’d end up with a net sum gain, but move to a situation where we move away from Labour Day, which probably has very little relevance now, to one that does have significant relevance to many people who live in New Zealand.

So it’s just the issue around the cost. I’ve heard some of the contributions talking about it and we’ve heard the figures. Nearly half a billion dollars—$450 million - odd—this is going to incur. I heard one of the contributions from a Labour member earlier talking about “Hey, there are some significant upsides because it’s going to lead to other increases.”, and no doubt there’ll be tourism, there’ll be mental health issues, and all that sort of stuff that it will support. It’s useful in terms of having time off—I understand that—but the reality is that the people that pay for this and who do not necessarily get the benefit are the business owners. They are the people who are going to be writing out the cheque to pay for their staff to have another day off.

So if the benefit was to accrue back to the same people, then I’d accept the argument, but it doesn’t. The argument is that the cost to this accrues to only one category of person or individual or business owner, and that is the big issue about it. When you’re talking about $450 million of additional cost at a time when the Government has already imposed an estimated $2.8 billion of additional cost through things like minimum wage increases and all the other allowances they’ve done, we just keep building cost, where now it puts the score—particularly for small businesses—well over $3 billion of additional cost that someone’s got to write out a cheque for.

If it was the Government writing out the cheque for it, that’s a different point. But this is not. This is a Government who does not respect business owners and thinks they’re all good for it and that they should pay for anything and that they can pay for it. That’s not the reality, unfortunately, and this is another half a billion dollars of cost that’s going on small-business owners. We support the holiday—that is not the issue. What we are saying is that we should be replacing this for another holiday and allow people to enjoy and celebrate what’s important now—particularly and especially with regard to Matariki—but actually remove some of the other legislation that’s less important.

So look, I just think the debate around this has been canvassed tonight. I don’t want to talk much more about it. I know the first scheduled date is Friday, 24 June, and the big issue is: why is it always on a Friday? Of course, again, the contribution around that is that it makes it nice for a long weekend, but, again, in the scope of trying to look after and support the key powerhouse of the New Zealand economy, which is small businesses, is that the best thing? Is that the best thing for New Zealand and for New Zealand businesses, because, after all, they are the people that employ most of the people in New Zealand: 97 percent of employees are employed by small businesses. So, again, we just need to be mindful about how we protect our small business base because, as I said, they are the powerhouse.

I think the Government should have been more cognisant and open to the idea of replacement. I note that the officials put up a number of recommendations, none of which the Government took up, and so here we are tonight. This bill will, obviously, go through. We will celebrate Matariki, but it’s a mistake, and it should have replaced another public holiday.

💬 Glen Bennett: Which one?

Labour Day.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Look, I’m really pleased to take a call on this bill, Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill, in its second reading. I’d like to commend the Minister, and I’d like to acknowledge the select committee and all of those that submitted to the select committee. I just wanted to touch on a comment that Mr Bayly made around Labour Day and getting rid of Labour Day. It just speaks to the way that the National Party feel about our hard-working New Zealanders out there when Labour Day actually commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day. New Zealand was the first country in 1840 to claim that right so it’s actually very relevant and very important to our history as a country.

So coming back to this piece of legislation though, I note that the Māori Affairs Committee have reported this bill back to the House, recommended by majority that it pass without amendment. We’ve heard that it will establish a new public holiday here in Aotearoa, celebrates Matariki, and it is the start of the Māori New Year, and it has become a time of celebration actually not only for Māori but for many people around New Zealand. It’s going to be the fifth bill that we have in New Zealand to be a dual language in both te reo Māori and English, which again is another thing that we should celebrate as a country. We heard that it’s going to be observed annually on the dates set out in the current bill for the next 30 years, with the first date being 24 June in 2022.

It’s the first such public holiday that’s going to distinctly recognise and celebrate Te Ao Māori, and it’s something that we, as a nation, we can share together. It comes at the perfect time of year: June-July. It’s winter; it’s cold. You know, people often need a bit of a break, time to recharge, or simply be with family and friends. It is actually often a quieter time for businesses and tourism and hospitality, and I know that in my electorate here, I think Mount Hutt and Ōpuke hot pools will be quite thankful that we are having a public holiday at that time of the year because that will be a peak for them and the fact that it’s going to be an extended—or on a Friday, that will create a long weekend and will certainly encourage people in the electorate to spend their money, which I think will be very welcome by those sectors.

Within the select committee, though, there were other options that were discussed, such as replacing another holiday, and we’ve heard members opposite talk about replacing Labour Day, which maybe they’re trying to make a bit of a funny pun, I guess, because of the name, but actually it is really significant to our workers here in a New Zealand. It is part of our history. So I don’t see the sense in replacing that. You know, it’s far more relevant than something like Boxing Day, for example. So there were other options that were discussed, as I said, about perhaps having it on Monday, replacing a different public holiday. But my understanding is that the committee supported the initial proposal in the bill, with the holiday being determined by the maramataka and falling on a Friday.

We heard Mr Bayly talk about “Why a Friday? Why a Friday, for goodness’ sake? You know, it’s just another cost. Think about this.” Well, I just wanted to remind Mr Bayly that it was the National Party that Mondayised public holidays, so when a public holiday might fall on a Saturday or Sunday it moved to a weekday, which therefore incurred a cost to employers also, so his point is a bit moot there, I think. As for Friday versus Monday observance, the committee was advised that the cost to the employer would be similar and so would the social and cultural benefits. But one of the points about having a public holiday on a Friday is, if you think that the majority of our public holidays are actually on a Monday, what it would mean is that for those who don’t perhaps ordinarily work on Mondays, they would be able to partake in a public holiday on a Friday and enjoy that.

We’ve heard that we have 11 public holidays currently. If we compare ourselves to other OECD countries, there’s at least 18 others that have more than us and 12 that have fewer, so we’re actually mid to low range when you think about it in that respect. I’m really proud of this bill and I’m proud that we have a public holiday that is unique to us, that celebrates Te Ao Māori, that all New Zealanders can celebrate Matariki and learn more about it, because that’s what it’s all about. It’s about learning more about things that are special and traditional and specific to our culture here in New Zealand and our Māori culture in particular. It’s an opportunity for us to enjoy time with our loved ones and something that we’re all in particular need of, particularly after the last couple of years, is being able to spend time with each other, family and friends, and making the opportunity when it comes around, and Matariki will be the perfect opportunity and time of year to do that. So, I commend this bill to the House.