Governor-General Bill : Second Reading
te-pati-maori
Thu Oct 14 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Governor-General Bill : Second Reading
Thursday, 14 October 2010, 10:13 am
Speech: The Maori Party
Governor-General Bill : Second Reading Hon Dr Pita Sharples, Co-leader of the Maori Party Wednesday 12 October 2010; 5.00pm
Tena koe Mr Speaker
This Bill, in repealing and replacing Part One of the Civil List Act, could be interpreted as simply being about remuneration, income tax, duties, rates, levies and fees.
And indeed, the intention of the Bill is to facilitate improved financial arrangements for the support of the Governor-General and his or her programme.
To ensure that a future governor-general receives a payment on leaving office that compares broadly with that available under current law, the bill proposes a payment of six months' non-tax-exempt salary.
This is an amendment which has arisen out of the recommendation of the Law Commission - and an amendment which the Government Administration Committee supports.
The amended Bill therefore updates the financial arrangements concerning the salary, allowances, and travelling expenses of the Governor-General.
The amendments will enable the arrangements to become more transparent and simpler to administer. And a key change of course is that this Bill removes the tax exemption status of the Governor- General's salary.
>From this point on, Governor Generals will now will now equally have to >pay income tax with every other New Zealander; ending the >Governor-General's tax-free status
A critical feature of all these changes are that they will not affect the constitutional position of the Governor General.
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And I want to just speak to that point, which is so relevant in light of recent events in the public media.
The relationship between the position of Governor General and the constitutional framework of Aotearoa, dates back as far as 1840, to the signing of the Treaty which provides the fundamental context of our nationhood.
On 6 February, 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by Queen Victoria's representative, Governor William Hobson, and ultimately some 500 rangatira.
Ever since that time the Governor-General has been an important representative of our founding document.
He or she represent to every New Zealander the formative invitation of the Treaty - for tangata tiriti - those who are here by virtue of the Treaty - to enter into a relationship with Maori.
And so we are pleased to support this Bill, as also an important means of being able to consolidate the relationship between tangata whenua and the Crown; and in doing so to promote the concept of an enduring nationhood.
The Governor-General has had a significant presence at some of our most distinctive moments in the history of this nation.
It was Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, who took part at a ceremony in Ruatoria on 6 October 1943, to honour the Maori Battalion's Victoria Cross winner, second Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu - an event attended by more than seven thousand Maori from all over New Zealand.
It is the Governor-General who appoints members to the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate claims of breaches of the Treaty from 1975 onwards.
It is the Governor General who represents the Monarch at the historical Waitangi Day events.
And I share with the House the words of Dame Sylvia Cartwright in 1975 "I encourage all New Zealanders to support and engage in our uniquely indigenous culture and language. It is an important part of our identity. It is what helps make us who we are and marks us out internationally".
The role of the Governor-General can indeed be greatly influential in shaping our views as a country, about our very concept of nationhood.
And in this light I was interested to hear the call of Maanu Paul, that it was time for Aotearoa to have a Maori Governor General again - given it is now some twenty years since Sir Paul Reeves left the role.
It was Maanu's recommendation that Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie, a retired High Court judge, has sufficient mana, has more than sufficient ability, and has the personality to carry out being a governor general for Aotearoa.
We come then to this Governor General bill, accepting the changes to ensure the Governor General pays tax as with any other New Zealander - but also conscious of the special interest that the concept of a Governor General will have, as we embark upon the Constitutional Review which was a key hallmark of the negotiations we, the Maori Party entered into with National to form Government.
We support this Bill at its second reading - it repeals outdated and irrelevant provisions of the Civil List Act; it removes the tax-free status that is currently attached to the role; and it continues to provide an opportunity for discussion around our constitutional arrangements, the relationship between the Crown and tangata whenua.
ENDS
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