'An eye for an eye just makes the whole world blind' : Tariana Turia

 Tena koe Mr Speaker.
There are some moments of inspiration that cause us all to reflect but believe me it is not what happens in this House.
One of those moments happened this last weekend.
Henare O’Keefe told a crowd of more than 2000 people, “My faith has been restored in mankind today”.
The Hastings District Councillor reduced to tears by the outpouring of love that came from a community who cared.
A community who had had enough of violence; a community shattered by a brutal home invasion of a young family in Flaxmere.
The number one issue facing Aotearoa today, is not actually about Kiwirail, Kiwisaver, Kiwibank or any other aspect of Kiwiana.
The question facing us all, is what can we as everyday families do, to transform our lives?
What can we do to step up to the challenge, to put on our own walking shoes, to take our streets, communities and homes back?
Last night in this House, there was a lot of emphasis given to the need for a moral code, the need for standards.
And I wonder whose standards are we being judged against? Whose code of morality prevails?
I recall a release issued by the Muliaga family which described what they called the ‘strange silence’ from Blue Chip in failing to offer to repay one cent of the millions owed to New Zealanders who lost their life savings.
Their release concluded that “These people continue to live in million dollar mansions and drive luxury cars, while the Muliaga’s struggle week to week, living in a state house”.
Every day the newspapers tell us of grim reality of poverty and deprivation, of violence, of crime, of desperation.
And there is no denying that these are the defining issues of our time.
But they must not strangle hope.
In addressing the rally in Hawkes Bay, Henare O’Keefe ended, “no amount of legislation, no number of social workers or policemen, can substitute what has happened today”.
And he’s right. We must look to each other for our solutions.
We must actively harness the strengths of whanau, as an opportunity for the people to flourish.
And we must all search our collective histories, for examples of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and the power of service which we can draw on to inspire our next steps.
There are many solutions that we have within our reach.
Pio Terei in his ‘no-sweat parenting’ approach, tells us that the essentials in every child’s school bag are good sleep, good food, a hug and a smile when they wake up, and a huge repertoire of encouraging words.
Dr Pat Ngata inspires us to raise our sons as 'gentle' men.
Project Mauriora shows us how we can draw on our kaupapa and tikanga, as tools to help work towards a life-long restoration of peace within our whanau.

And this is just a start.
The Maori Party believes that families are the foundation of any society, and the value that society places on its people, determines the quality of that society.
And we must promote the special role of the whänau, the first educator, in the well-being of this nation.
Whanau must be supported to care for and make decisions affecting their own members, and to be able to access all the resources that they need to thrive.
We have to restore to ourselves, the value of taking responsibility for the actions of the members of our families - and the impact that those actions have on others.
Henare O’Keefe did exactly that. He stood and addressed the children, and I quote;
“To our children, I want to say I’m sorry. If you have been hurt in any way, shape or form, I’m so sorry”.
This district Councillor, this distressed Dad and grandfather, could have stood up and railed against gangs, hyped up the crowd to get tough and to get even.
But instead he practiced what Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘An eye for an eye just makes the whole world blind’.
He opened our eyes to a different way; a way of stepping up and creating community unity; of inspiring hope; of recognising injustice; and of taking responsibility.
That sort of action is what restores my faith too.