Ko te koura hoki whakamuri

While it is quiet, I thought I would share with the House some views about te Ao Maori, as sort of an educational exercise.

Our tupuna continue to amaze me with their insightfulness about life often explained in whakataukï, kiiwaha, whakatau a kii, and for those not sure about what I am on about, let me give an explanation.

Mr Speaker, you might have heard this one. “E kore te pätiki e hoki ki töna puehu”, the flounder never returns to its disturbed sand.

Some of the tribes talk about it like this, “e kore te kuri e kai i tona ruaki”, the dog never eats its own vomit or “chunder” in rugby pallance!!

These are both encouragements that tell us today:

If you do a job do it right first up
Don’t stuff up and try to cover your tracks with excuses
Don’t excuse your incompetence


There are others. Ko te koura hoki whakamuri - the crayfish that walks backwards.



For those of you in the know, you will be aware that koura have a sort of reverse gear. When they get alarmed or shocked, they shoot back into shelter by flicking their tail forwards violently.

I reckon our tupuna had a fairly insightful understanding of things because it explains some of the things that have happened recently.

First, there was the unprecedented back-down covering the sale of Crown land.



In February this year, the Honorable Mark Burton came out loud and clear, stating, “the Crown’s policy is that Landcorp properties are generally not available for use in settlements.”



The Maori Party raised the alarm. Ngati Kahu, Hauraki, Tuwharetoa, and other iwi and hapu spoke out publicly about Landcorp and OTS’ management of their lands.



Nationwide attention centred on the role of Landcorp in threatening to sell Whenuakite on the Coromandel Peninsula, Rangiputa in Northland as well as Raurimu in the National Park area.

And then what do you know, the koura starts edging backwards, and hey presto, another new process is created. A major backup; a 360 degree reversal if you like – with officials now being specifically asked to consider whether there are cultural values in such properties, as well as assessing potential claimant interest in the land for Treaty Settlements.



And in talking of Treaty Settlements; let’s go back to the 23 and 24 August 2007. The main players are the Waitangi Tribunal, the Federation of Māori Authorities, the New Zealand Māori Council, and other central North Island iwi, including Te Arawa and Ngāti TÅ«wharetoa who had been following legal action through the courts.



23rd August: the Minister of Treaty Settlements was reported by the New Zealand Herald as saying that, despite the grave concerns expressed by the Waitangi Tribunal about the interests of overlapping hapÅ«, and the durability of future central North Island settlements, quote, “the Government would be moving ahead with the settlement and it was up to interest groups to organise their own hui”, unquote.



Hello, within less than 24 hours, “i hoki whakamuri te koura”, the koura retreated once more.



Ministers of Treaty Settlements, Finance and Mâori Affairs announce that they would meet with Central North island iwi who are not part of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu settlement agreement, to discuss their concerns about the accumulated rentals for deferred purchase land arising from aspects of that settlement package.

Not long after this, the Ministers announce that they want Tamaki Makaurau iwi to have a workshop to advance their claims on the back of the Waitangi Tribunal report which said that there were serious issues to be dealt with resulting from OTS failure to act in good faith.

Then there’s housing. Our co-leader Tariana Turia says there are major housing problems in Porirua. Leaking homes, no restoration work, the health and wellbeing of people seriously compromised. There are similar cases I might add in the Ruatoki Valley and the Waitahanui area in my electorate. The Minister is hot off the mark and defends the Ministry to the hilt but once again, 24 hours later admits that there are serious problems. Too much!!



Mr Speaker, one other fact about the koura might be of relevant to the discussion.



Koura are scavengers that feed on leftovers that float by in the water or settle on the bottom. Once the food is caught, the sharp pincers push it into its mouth, where it is ground to a pulp in order to digest it.



And so, I turn to the issue of the status of tangata whenua.



For twenty four years, tangata whenua have been working with the UN working groups responsible for the current draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration had been the collective effort of thousands of indigenous participants including the tangata whenua of Aotearoa. It’s an aspirational document something to aim at.

And yet a Government which once said, it saw the Treaty as the foundation of this nation, has advanced backwards; to run away in panic with bigger fish in the sea – and in the process, spitting out the very people who are the first nations people of this land.

The final feast of koura is that when the water starts to boil, the shell turns bright red, and it’s all ready to eat. There’s a story even in that!

This is why it is so important that there is a strong independent Maori voice in this Parliament. Someone has to attempt to protect our interests!