Sharples - Federated Farmers AGM Speech
te-pati-maori
Fri May 04 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Sharples - Federated Farmers AGM Speech
Friday, 4 May 2007, 3:28 pm
Speech: The Maori Party
Federated Farmers AGM; Friday 4 May 2007
Hokitika Chartered Club, 42 Hamilton Street, Hokitika Dr Pita R Sharples, Co-leader of the Maori Party
[speech was released for distribution; but not delivered due to travel disruptions ]
Charlie Pedersen, President; Don Nicolson, Vice President; Annabel Young, Chief Executive, and the National Board.
I was delighted to come here, to the land of Poutini Ngai Tahu, and the hapu of Ngati Waewae, descendants of the rangatira, Tuhuru.
I acknowledge too, the history of Ngati Wairangi, and the connection that Ngati Waewae have as one of the eighteen Papatipu Runanga who are party to the Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Claim Settlement Act.
And in making those connections, we may look across the mountains, tracing over those same pounamu trails that led Ngai Tahu to this takiwä centered on Arahura, Hokitika, and Mäwhera (Greymouth).
The trails went through river valley and mountain pass, or along the sea beach, prevented by inherent dangers of canoe voyaging over the choppy Tasman seas.
These are connections which I treasure as Ngati Kahungunu.
But these connections are also the basis by which you, and I, meet here today; the foundation for the Maori Party talking with Federated Farmers of New Zealand.
It is our shared values of the absolute significance of land to our growth and wellbeing.
For you, the value of land is absolutely linked to the lifeblood of some 18,000 farming businesses.
The value of land runs through your veins in the industries of meat and wool, dairy, mohair, rural butchers, high country, grain farmers, and beekeepers.
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The value of land also extends beyond these shores to the International Federation of Agricultural Producers.
It is, in every sense, your key fodder as any reader of the Federation Update, The Flash or Straight Furrow would quickly realise.
For us, in the Maori Party, we value our spiritual identity and connection with the land.
We hold great due by mana whenua as the principle which defines Mäori by the land occupied by right of ancestral claim.
We uphold mana whenua in our respect for turangawaewae and ükaipö, literally the places where you belong, where your feet are planted, where you count, and where you can contribute.
We believe that once grounded to the land and home, Mäori are able to participate in society in a positive, productive manner. And that, in essence, is our driving force as a political movement.
We seek to accentuate the positive aspects of the indigenous world, to put forward at all times a strong and independent Maori voice in the best interests of this nation.
And so, with all these connections in place, let the conversation proceed.
It was with the greatest pleasure that we, in the Maori Party, accepted the invitation to come here to the AGM of Federated Farmers to continue the dialogue that our respective organisations have already begun.
Foreshore and Seabed We recognise, first and foremost, the strength of your voice in opposing the Government’s draconian theft of the foreshore and seabed.
We recall the statements you made some four years ago, raising the vision of the nation to consider the implications of the legislation on private land in the foreshore, which constitutes some 40% of the country’s coastline.
We appreciated also your stand, in being very clear that the legislation over-rides private property rights by providing a right of public access over private land in the foreshore. You told the Government, as did thousands of New Zealanders beside you, that Maori customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed should be protected alongside the rights of your members with land in private title in the foreshore and seabed.
You will be aware that we currently have a Bill to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act on the order paper, waiting for a time when the work on the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act is concluded and we can move on to other issues of significance to the nation.
Our Bill states as a basic starting point, that the Foreshore and Seabed Act in over-riding the property rights and thus the human rights of Maori in unlawful, unjust, and strongly opposed by Maori.
But there are other areas, of course, that we have in common.
Walking Access Report
Indeed, just two months ago, we issued a release acknowledging your expertise in bringing the Government down, over the Outdoor Walking Access report.
We spoke out with great enthusiasm, for your contribution in challenging plans which had the potential, again, to alienate or confiscate land in the name of the Crown.
We know that Maori organizations within your Federation, were particularly relieved about the crucial stand you took, which resulted in the establishment of an Access Commission; and forced the Government to back down on their much-marketed election promise to throw open access to rivers, lakes and conservation land. We admired the contribution of tangata whenua in the independent Walking Access Panel; the Federation of Maori Authorities, and many hapu and iwi in ‘persuading’ the Government, as it should, to actively protect the property interests of Maori land; and to provide for economic and development opportunities.
And we think your orange ribbon campaign was a mark of genius. We are thinking perhaps we could attach red, white and black ribbons to pieces of flotsam and jetsam and see if the Government gets the point!
Environment and Local Government
But of course, we wouldn’t do that, because of our belief in the creation and maintenance of a clean, safe and healthy environment.
You would no doubt be very familiar with our kaupapa of kaitiakitanga which is explicitly written into the Resource Management Act. I understand that your national council has identified the RMA as your top priority over the next three years, so I am sure we have much to talk about!
In essence, it is our belief that we must protect the value of the land and pass it on to our descendants in a state which is at least as good as, if not better, than it is today.
Since time immemorial, whanau, and hapu have been the custodians over the lands, mountains, waterways, and air space within each tribal area. It is a responsibility, a right and an obligation that we will never shirk from.
I’d be interested in hearing of your reaction to an idea we have been promoting, of the Genuine Progress Index.
And indeed, we would be interested in the views of another of your speakers at this AGM - local Westland Mayor Maureen Pugh – about how such a concept could be taken up at local government levels.
It would be no surprise to you, that the protection, restoration and enhancement of mauri, the lifeforce of our natural environments, is a key policy priority for the Maori Party.
But we know also, that what is measured, counts for something. We know that indicators are powerful.
More than ever the world needs measures which genuinely reflect what we value, and assess our progress in leaving a decent world for our mokopuna, ‘our ecological footprint’. The Genuine Progress Index looks at sustainable development across economic, social and environmental domains.
A recent example of how this would work is to say, weighing up the compliance costs of micro-chipping against effective strategies to control dangerous and menacing dogs.
We know that some of those who were proposing micro-chipping of dogs had no idea at all about the reality of farming communities, or even the expectation on local authorities to handle this. We supported the amendment exempting farm dogs – an initiative which we know Federated Farmers had a key role in influencing.
The GPI deducts costs associated with pollution; resource depletion; environmental degradation from the system of accounts. In a way it’s like a system of accounts – balancing out the debits from the credits.
In the conventional system of GDP, Gross Domestic Product, the needless expenditure triggered by toxic waste contamination, preventable natural disasters, pollution, all count of the same value as investments in sanitation.
So what we want to work towards is a society in which financial measures are but one indicator of genuine progress; and the concept of GPI seems a pretty good way of getting there.
Sustainable Management I would be interested in knowing more about your ‘10 in 10’ campaign, which challenges members to reduce nutrient loss from your farms.
We have particular concerns around effluent and waste disposal especially where effluent enters rivers and coastal waters.
The goal of reducing nutrient loss by 10% in 10 years seems to me exactly the sort of aspirational goals a GPI would promote.
You will know that our experience as tangata whenua has developed over centuries, methods of harvesting kaimoana – mussels, tuna, koura - in a way which reduces the impacts of nutrients on lakes.
And I think the joint research programme on Ngati Whakaue farmland with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Federated Farmers and other key players is a really interesting project in so far as observing the impact of nitrogen and phosphate leaching into the lakes and any restraints it imposes on land productivity.
Water The pressures about the precious resource of water, are of course, another key priority for us in the Maori Party.
We have been raising the issue in the House about water becoming tradeable, which creates a property right, as recently as two days ago. If that is the case, iwi have a right under the Treaty as tangata whenua.
Tangata whenua respect customary rights to water as the exercise of tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga over waterways.
The Waitangi Tribunal stated in both the Whanganui Report and the Mohaka River Report that water is a taonga. As such, Maori customary title to water belongs to iwi and hapu, according to tikanga Maori.
So we support the view from Mâori that customary rights to water still exist or are, at the very least, contestable in court.
Being in the land of Ngai Tahu, I am course aware that Ngâi Tahu have stated publicly that they were frustrated that they were not consulted in the drafting of the Government’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action; and were denied when they applied to participate in the consultation process.
The issues for us, is that we want to ensure the continuation of a sustainable, quality water resource. But the issues of water ownership and Crown obligations to engage with Maori as partners to the Treaty of Waitangi are a vital part of this debate – and can not be unilaterally decided by one side of the Treaty partnership.
The Treaty anticipated a relationship, reciprocity - a compact of the utmost importance, a solemn promise of nationhood.
Treaty of Waitangi And of course, in the negotiation of our ancestral lands and waters, we welcome the spirit of co-operation that is represented in yours – and ours – belief in honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
We acknowledge the recent position you have taken in stating that the Resource Management Act must acknowledge obligations under the Treaty - tino rangatiratanga…o ratou whenua o kainga me o ratou taonga katoa – the full and undisturbed possession of their lands, and estates, fisheries and other properties.
And of course, this organization will be well aware of the broader context of a Government which has consistently undermined the Treaty through removing the Treaty from the school books of our children; in diluting the treaty in the contracts health providers have with DHBs, in supporting the unheard of – the deletion of Treaty references from legislation advanced by New Zealand First.
We can not say loudly enough, or more passionately; the Treaty is the reason that you and I are here today.
The Treaty is the foundation by which we have formed a nation. The Treaty is our most powerful symbol of unity and nationhood. And they want to chuck it away?
You know – there is so much that we could talk about.
There is the matter of seabed mining; our stand against toxic dioxin contamination; our call for cross parliamentary action on peak oil; our support for urgent actions to address climate change.
But while we have policies and positions we have presented from day one of the birth of this party; our achievements are also about raising hope, increasing the democratic participation by Maori; promoting a strong and independent Maori voice.
We are so committed to a concept we call – kanohi ki te kanohi – going back to the people, encouraging active engagement with the political debate. We are pleased to respond to your invitation to engage – and I hope that some of the ideas sprinkled here today, will lead to fertile ground for further conversations to develop.
We know that there may be points at which we disagree; but we know also, that the opportunity to open the doors to discussion, will be a catalyst for our ongoing relationship – and as is befitting this land of natural abundance and wealth, I hope our conversation today reflects what Poutini Ngai Tahu would say, Ahakoa he iti he pounamu; although it appears small, it is most precious.
ENDS
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