Valedictory Statements

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa. Since the 19th century, Governments have put in place measures to control the influence of Māori. The original four Māori seats were established to keep us in our place. Since Māori in the House have started to grow in numbers and reach, calls to abolish the seven Māori seats threaten to take us backwards. When we progress the Treaty partnership to a point where it starts to mean something, calls for a referendum on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi grab the headlines and scare the horses. When we move forward, the status quo always tries to push us back and protect itself. I’ve never been happy with the status quo. I will never cede to anyone that this is as good as it gets for Māori. So each time you come for us, each time you try and put us back in our box, we will not back down. We never have, and today is no different.

There will be a time to have a discussion about changing the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and that time will be when Te Tiriti is finally honoured in its entirety. Articles 2 and 3 are yet to be fulfilled. Te Tiriti may not be palatable to some, but what was signed is what was agreed, and there is no way I can be convinced that one group who signs any treaty can unilaterally make decisions that impact on it without first having a proper engagement, conversation, debate—call it what you want—with the other group that signed. And, in the case of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, that group is ngā Rangatira me ngā Hapu o Nu Tirani. Those are the actual words of Te Tiriti. If ngā Rangatira me ngā Hapu o Nu Tirani do not buy the proposed changes, then the argument hasn’t been convincing enough. Converse with them—the co-signatories—before you converse with anyone else. It was Governor FitzRoy’s arrogant refusal to converse with Hōne Heke about Heke’s concerns about Te Tiriti that led to conflict in 1845. If we don’t remember and learn from past mistakes, we are bound to repeat them.

I do suspect taking aim at the principles is a back-door way of undermining Te Tiriti itself. The forum tents at Waitangi this year would be an ideal place for a meaningful first conversation with the co-signatories.

Ministers from the sixth Labour Government spent hours in those tents, debating and justifying our policies. The Prime Minister and Ministers of the last Government didn’t just fly in and fly out but, some years, spent five full days engaging with many groups. Prime Ministers Ardern and Hipkins set the bar high, and could never be accused of being fly in, fly out Prime Ministers at Waitangi. Our Government never looked to control the influence of Māori; we instead strived to learn from Māori.

I came into politics to do better for Māori. Much was achieved, but 15 minutes means it won’t all be included. As Minister of Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti, we started on that journey of making the relationship between Māori and Crown actually mean something. Translated, Te Arawhiti means the bridge, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi is that bridge that connects the Māori world with the non-Māori world here in Aotearoa. There are a number of us who can cross that bridge in either direction, who know the culture, customs, history, and traditions in both of those worlds, who are able to flick in and out of both languages and cultural contexts with relative ease. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority are Māori.

And yet just by striving for equity under article 3 of Te Tiriti, it is Māori who are accused of separatism and apartheid. It is a fiction that we haven’t had an adult conversation about Te Tiriti. The debate began at the spot named Tou Rangatira in Waitangi on 5 February 1840, and Māori have never stopped having conversations about Te Tiriti and its every nuance since.

My tūpuna Whetoi Pomare was a signatory to Te Tiriti. The rangatira of my hapū, Ngāti Manu, have never stopped discussing Te Tiriti o Waitangi from day one. No one should attempt to delegitimise 184 years of discussion just because they have belatedly decided to enter the conversation. The invitation stands to join us in our ongoing conversations as co-signatories on our many marae on our side of the bridge.

My job as Minister for Māori Crown Relations was to strengthen the relationship between Māori and the Crown and to get our Public Service to cross that bridge and better understand why Māori act in the way we act and believe what we believe and what the pillars of our culture are that mean we have the expectations of the Crown that we do. After 184 years, we should not have to constantly justify our world view to the Public Service and ignorant politicians.

Māori have made progress over the last 184 years, using the systems and mechanisms that this very Whare has established. Now those systems and mechanisms are being attacked by people in this House because the system they are part of doesn’t back their nonsense. It’s the status quo protecting itself again.

As an article 2 commitment, we worked together with the National Iwi Chairs Forum on a statement of engagement and on their shared aspirations. We developed joint work streams. Ministers, chief executives, and officials constantly met with their iwi counterparts. Māori had unprecedented access to the Government at all levels for the first time ever. We used Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a basis to bring people together—we didn’t divide.

We celebrated Māori heroes. The first, the statue erected in Pānguru of Dame Whina Cooper, and the pou outside Parliament being another example. While we see statues all around the country for Pākehā, such as the Seddon statue, Jean Batten, Colin Meads, Edmund Hillary, Bernard Freyberg, and the like, I could count on one finger the statues dedicated to Māori heroes.

Matariki has been a huge success. And we deliberately used Māori knowledge and expertise to make it a meaningful and unique New Zealand day. Most New Zealanders have embraced Matariki, including using the simple karakia booklet we produced to bring the day in. Those that haven’t embraced the day are the losers. Their grandchildren won’t have the same hang-ups.

We implemented Whāinga Amorangi so that chief executives had to show how their departments and agencies could be more responsive to Māori aspiration. We established a database of Treaty settlement commitments so that agencies and departments could keep track of their commitments.

Perhaps, though, the best example of how things changed in the positive can be seen in how Waitangi Day is now celebrated. The last Waitangi Day under the Key-English Government in 2017 was a debacle—a national embarrassment instead of a national day. Politicians refused to take responsibility for causing that debacle and instead laid the blame on Ngāpuhi and Māori. Politicians made the day about politicians. Separate pōwhiri for Government and Opposition meant that each party tried to drag in their own crowd of supporters. The media would fixate on and make like the arrival of politicians was the most important part of the commemoration. It was a mess. Commentators then claimed we should change our national day, that it wasn’t a day of unity, that it should be shifted away from Waitangi, that Ngāpuhi can’t organise anything, and that it’s too chaotic and divisive.

We changed all that. Our top priority was to maintain Ngāpuhi’s mana and dignity. We stopped politicians from being the focus of attention. The pōwhiri is just simply a welcome that under tikanga frees politicians to mix and mingle with the people. It is not the focus of Waitangi. We said all political parties should go on together; no party supporters allowed. We all sing a waiata to tautoko whoever speaks from whichever party. For two hours of the year, we should be able to come together, act like adults, and then mix with the people and enjoy the occasion. And it worked. Waitangi became what it should be, a national day of unity and commemoration. It got to be so pleasant, so enjoyable, so inclusive and devoid of conflict that media complained it was boring. The reformatted Prime Minister’s barbecue breakfast was a stroke of genius from Jacinda Ardern. Everything we did brought people together.

Ngāpuhi’s dignity and mana was upheld over those six years. That could all change again this year because, on 5 February, the Government wants a separate pōwhiri to again make themselves the centre of attention. It is a mistake and if it all turns to custard, then the Government alone is to blame. Do not scapegoat Māori, the Waitangi National Trust, or Ngāpuhi.

It’s one thing for the Minister of Māori Crown Relations to make a difference for Māori, but the responsibility doesn’t lie with that Minister alone; it is up to all Ministers. As Minister for Tourism, we, alongside Te Puni Kōkiri, helped increase funding for Māori tourism, who were able to support Māori tourism operators. Can I acknowledge here and congratulate Dame Pania Tyson-Nathan for all her work to support Māori tourism and for being recognised in this year’s New Year Honours List.

As Minister for Children, Oranga Tamariki was charged with devolving resources and decision making to communities and community providers. In Māori education, we implemented Te Ahu o te Reo, helping teachers weave te reo Māori into their lessons on a daily basis. It is so popular that it is oversubscribed, giving me hope that future generations of New Zealanders will have the confidence to cross the bridge comfortably, flicking in and out of languages as they see fit. We established a new wānanga framework so that the wānanga are accountable to the iwi or Māori organisations that establish them. Kōhanga reo have a new pay scale that moves them closer to pay parity. Some kōhanga kaiako had their salaries almost double, making kōhanga reo an attractive, well-paid career option.

Teaching New Zealand histories in schools will help future generations to cross the bridge. The Waitangi Tribunal is a huge repository of Māori history and stories. Those stories need to be converted into educational resources for future generations to understand our rich Māori history and how actions or inactions in the past got New Zealand to where we are now. My earlier reference to Governor FitzRoy refusing to engage with Hōne Heke is an example.

As Minister of Corrections, the Hōkai Rangi strategy and Māori Pathways have been successful and are laying the foundation for an improved corrections system. The lowlight of my time as Minister of Corrections was of course the Waikeria riot. If not for the heroism of corrections officers, there would have been fatalities. There were some real heroes on the day, and I thank them. Our goal was for the riot to end without serious injury or loss of life; that was achieved. Can I say to members of today’s Opposition, when something similar occurs under this Government, in our prisons or even in our youth justice facilities, the worst thing you can do is head down to the prison, stand at the gates in front of media and posture and grandstand. During the riot, those MPs who did just that actually increased the risk to corrections officers, emergency services, and other prisoners because it encouraged not just those participating in the riot but also prisoners in other prisons who might feel that the way to grab a politician’s attention is to riot elsewhere. Any contagion would have stretched Corrections resources beyond breaking point. There will be a time to criticise the Minister, but during those live and dynamic situations, the most unhelpful thing to a safe and timely resolution is political posturing and grandstanding.

Much was achieved for Māori in my portfolios. One favour I asked of the Iwi Chairs Forum was that they develop criteria to rate the contribution of all Ministers towards honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Politicians are only ever rated and judged according to their worth to Pākehā and according to Pākehā criteria. That needs to change if we are to bring people together.

You can’t last in politics without good people to support you. To all the chief executives and officials I worked with: Iona and team from Education; Chappie and the late Sir Wira Gardiner and our team at Oranga Tamariki; Jeremy, Christine, Ray, and staff from Corrections; Carolyn and folk from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment—thank you all. Also, to Bernadette Cavanagh, who I worked with while she was head of Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

The Tuia 250 commemorations could have been a disaster for race relations. We were handed that hot potato and the job of getting it on track only months out, and it ended up being a really successful and inclusive couple of months commemorating New Zealand’s shared history. We brought people together, we didn’t divide, and can I acknowledge Dame Jenny Shipley there, who was also part of the organisation. But, in particular, I want to acknowledge Lil, Glenn, and everyone at Te Arawhiti; we had a blast, and so much fun and laughter. On behalf of Māoridom: thank you all so much. The value Te Arawhiti generates for race relations in Aotearoa far exceeds the paltry budget you have. If Te Arawhiti is shut down, the Government would lose hundreds of millions of dollars through litigation that you could have prevented. But this is a Government who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. If the first few weeks of this Government is anything to go by, Treaty lawyers will be rubbing their hands together in glee.

To all the Māori public servants who finally felt they could be Māori in the public service: just keep on doing it. Don’t be subjugated by this regime. To all the officials I worked with: we worked hard and we laughed hard when appropriate. All the best. I hope you still get to laugh.

My political mates kept me grounded. Willie Jackson: thank you for your support right through to the end of my political career. It’s just a pity it wasn’t there at the start when you actively promoted and supported Hone Harawira.

💬 Peeni Henare: our lives and whakapapa are so convoluted, intertwined, and confusing that on one side of the whānau I’m his uncle, and on the other side he’s my auntie. We’re also cousins somehow, and, more importantly, we’re mates. Of course, he likes to age shame me by reminding everyone that I was his form 2 teacher, but I prefer to say that we were at school together—in the same class. But even in form 2, I could see the leadership potential in him—it’s unfortunate that he still has some outstanding homework. On the occasions I asked him for advice, the teacher became the student.

Then there’s my mate Stuart Nash. It’s always good, in politics, to have that one person you can go to when you need to be able to shut the door to his office and vent and rage when things are going against you. Someone who will listen and not judge, who’s there through thick and thin, the ups and downs, when you’ve stuffed up, when you’re in the media for the wrong reasons, when you’re having personal issues, and when you think you’re being hard-done-by. If I can say one thing about my mate Stu, it would be that I did a lot of listening!

💬 Ned Kelly: can I just say thanks to you for your support.

To all the staff who worked for me in my electorate offices, my executive assistants in Opposition, and to all of you who worked with me in 7.2: thank you so much. My senior private secretaries, advisers, press secretaries, front-desk people, and of course all the private secretaries: we had a great office, some really fun times, but we got things done and you all went the extra mile for me. I’m for ever grateful for your support of me; you made the weekly commute to Wellington so worthwhile. I will name just one person, and that is Deborah Mahuta-Coyle, who helped me to survive as a Minister. Thank you, Deb.

To the people of Te Tai Tokerau and to everyone who helped on my campaigns: thank you so much. I am so grateful. And finally, to my biggest supporters in Te Tai Tokerau, Kaye Taylor and her late husband, my mate, Rudy Taylor: thank you so much. To Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, congratulations on becoming the next kaitiaki of the seat of Te Tai Tokerau—go well.

This is the first time I’ve ever sat in this particular seat in the House, and for a very good reason—the same reason the Hon Christopher Finlayson sat here for his valedictory—I don’t like the fuss that is made over people at the end of their valedictories. There is a decent feed up in the Labour caucus room; everyone is invited. E te Whare, my time here is over. Hei konei rā.

No encore, the House is suspended until 7.30 p.m.

Sitting suspended from 6.07 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.