Ecoshow 2007: Making Sustainability a Real Option

I am proud to be here today, as uri of Tuwharetoa, Ngati Apa, Nga Wairiki, Whanganui and Nga Rauru – to share with you some thoughts that we in the Maori Party have around the challenges facing the planet as we focus on the common interest and welfare of all plant and animal species.

And I want to mihi to Fran Davey, and all of the organisers and presenters who have committed to this Ecoshow 2007. It is commitment such as you have demonstrated that will inspire us all to ensure that sustainability is placed at the top of every policy agenda.

We in the Maori Party have been saying since our earliest days of establishment that the peak oil crisis and the human response to this crisis will be the defining moment in the history of the human species.

We are determined that all parties must have a common interest in initiatives to curb greenhouse gas emissions, to sign up to sustainability and energy independence, and to work collaboratively across the global village in caring for our world.



Our environment and energy efficiency policy for the Maori Party is headed with a very simple concept.

Ki te pai te manaaki, ka manaakitia – if we care, nurture and respect, we too will be cared for, nurtured and respected.

It is a value which we live by, and have lived by, since time immemorial in taking up our traditional roles as custodians over the lands, mountains, waterways and airspace within each tribal area.

As custodians we are challenged with the responsibility of looking after our environment to the best of our ability so that all can benefit.

I want to refer to some experiences we have had on my marae, Whangaehu marae, as a means of sharing our korero with regards to ecology and sustainability.

Whangaehu marae is on the true left bank of the Whangaehu River, between Ratana and Whanganui. It is my first home.

Tapiki atu i nga ao o te rangi kia matau koe

ki to ao ake katahi ka atea te titiro ki te ao e huri nei.

If we understand our origins – we can understand our relationship with the world around us.

In every part of the landscape, we know the significant places of our tupuna. We know of these because our land is our mother, Papatuanuku. We are her and we belong to the landscape. The sea is part of that landscape as are our rivers, our mountains, our lakes.

And so when I return to Whangaehu I am always blessed with the knowledge that we sit in the shelter of Rangitahuahua, our whare, alongside of the Whangaehu River, protected in the warmth of our Maunga, Paraekaretu.

We know that our location on the Rakataua block is rich with the memories and contributions of all those who have descended from Rangiwhakaturia and Taitapu.

This setting is important – because it would be fair to say that as a people, we have certainly faced the destructive forces of all of the elements.

In 1968, our marae was flattened by the ‘Wahine’ storm. We purchased an old Salvation Army Hall and built on to it, and that was erased by fire in 1980. And then just a few years ago, our marae and our families were ravaged by the floods that affected the whole of the Rangitikei and Manawatu. All of these events have been devastating.

I wanted to share our story with you today, because it illustrates for me, that our iwitanga is dramatically and consistently challenged by the changes that occur to our landscape.

Our relationships and kinship with our awa, our maunga, our whenua, the climate, have had to withstand the forces and effects of global climate change – and we are all aware that these events will increase in frequency and severity over time.

Just a couple of months back in July, the Northland floods had a particularly savage impact on Mangawhero marae in Otangaroa, and the idea was floated, that perhaps the marae should be shifted on to higher grounds.

As mana whenua, our turangawaewae and ükaipö, the places where we belong, where we count, where we are important where we are suckled and where we can contribute are absolutely essential to who we are.

The relationship is indivisible between us and those places. That’s why the protection and preservation of our land, our whenua, is of such critical importance because our whole well-ness is associated with her. Any damage to Papatuanuku impacts on our health and spiritual well-being.

It is not just a simple matter of getting the house removal truck in to shift the marae up the road. The impact of climate change cuts to the very heart of our identity.

And so we must commit to a cultural shift in society which links the inevitability of resource scarcity with plans for the future.

In March 2007, Dr Gerry Carrington, Head of Physics at Otago university issued the challenge of how we will fare as global demand outstrips supply. His advice was clear, and I quote: “We’re going to have to reinvent our entire energy network”.

So how do we keep our natural resources and environment healthy, safe and intact for everyone?

What changes will be necessary to ensure the efficient use of water, the conservation of energy, and to sustain active environmental management?

Far be it for me to come to this esteemed audience and advise what measures are necessary to ensure the wellbeing and future good health of the environment. It should be the other way around – we are eager to learn from you, as to how we can invest in the future for Aotearoa in a low-energy sustainable world.

In 2005, we stood up and suggested an urgent cross-party parliamentary commission was required to develop an over-arching response to the oil crisis. We wanted to see a collective commitment towards solutions which would reduce government, personal and business dependence on oil.

The cross-party parliamentary commission failed to gain any support across the parliament, but we believe with the recent climate change policy announcements, the levels of support enjoyed across the House has been very encouraging.

Our efforts to protect the natural environment and ecological system must be large-scale, innovative and forward-thinking.

We believe that all peoples have a fundamental right to clean air, land, water and food.

This means being protected from the production, release and disposal of toxic and hazardous waste.

This means freedom from ecological destruction.

And it also means the collective responsibility to ensure that we use the resources of the earth in ways that preserve the planet for current and future generations.

It may be about encouraging organic food production as a source of food supply. As a Party, we have consistently opposed ‘terminator technology’ which prevents food crops from producing seed for the following year. We are also interested in the work that the Federation of Maori Authorities has been doing with Crop and Food research, in identifying the traditional use of our native plants in foods and flavourings.

Not only will the distinctive New Zealand food products do well in those niche, high value export markets, but of course ethnic cuisine, indigenous food products, are absolutely positively healthy as well.

Another area we’ve been interested in is the developments of biofuels – and I think in particular of the work being undertaken not far from here with Taupo BioJoule.

This project near Turangi is researching 110,000 willow tree stakes as a means of producing alternative fuel, plastics and sweeteners. Their goal is that will one biofinery operation will produce 30 million litres of fuel a year.

We note too, however, the constant and critical need for balance.

The last thing we want to end up doing is to create other negative situations if bio fuels become the next cash crop as they have in other parts of the world and land once used for the production of food for humans grow crops for biofuel instead.

Parts of the United States and Mexico are now facing this problem with corn being grown for biofuels or land once growing corn now growing biofuel crops, with the scarcity of corn impacting on the corn based diet of the people of Mexico. The traditional tortilla is quickly in threat of being relegated to the status of an item "that once was".

This means of course a look at the world’s economic systems which I will come to soon.

Over in the Waikato, Maori incorporation Taharoa C, has invested $1.8million on the resource consent to build a 42-turbine, 100MW wind farm at Taharoa, on the southern edge of Kawhia Harbour, at an estimated cost of $84 million.

These of course are all asset rich, major investments in our future. But it doesn’t all have to require the big spend in order to achieve the best outcomes.

At Whangaehu Marae we have had many, many debates about ways of achieving alternative power generation including locally-made wind generators combined with solar panels.

But we are also very committed to building up our communal gardens so that we can care for our own families – producing enough fruit and vegetables to nurture and sustain our health and wellbeing by caring for the basics of food, water, soil and life.

And there are strategies that we can all adopt to reuse, recycle, repair, respect, replace and revive.

Finally, we believe in the Maori Party that the single most important challenge ahead of our community, is to truly understand the relationship between our energy supply and our monetary system.

Our monetary system is based on one thing – growth – no matter what it takes.

The Maori Party believe accounting for the costs of growth are critical towards achieving Genuine Progress in our world.

To do this, we recommend the use of a Genuine Progress Index (GPI) as a measure of comprehensive, sustainable, and inclusive advancement.

The GPI is an indicator of net advancement and progress. As an example, health promotion is a positive; the use of time and resources for treating addictions, though necessary, is a negative.

The Maori Party supports the development of GPIs for use at national and community levels (including whanau, hapu and iwi and district and regional councils).

Under the GPI framework, resources will be utilised for development only when preservation and restoration imperatives are implied.

We want to support the capabilities of all whanau and citizens for social, cultural and economic advancement. Ultimately, we believe this is the cultural shift required to sustain all aspects of our wealth, human and other through investment.

A society in which financial measures are but one indicator of genuine progress will ensure New Zealand’s future in a low-energy sustainable world.

As tangata whenua with a Treaty relationship with the Crown, we have the responsibility to ensure that all peoples that make New Zealand their home are treated with fairness and dignity.

We value manaakitanga, the commitment to involve all peoples in the process of rebuilding our nation based on mutual respect and harmonious relationships.

That relationship will truly be reflected when we all make the commitment to maintain a clean, natural environment for all New Zealanders to enjoy and respect.