Speech: 'The arm of the law was long' : Rahui Katene
te-pati-maori
Wed May 18 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Speech: 'The arm of the law was long' : Rahui Katene
Wednesday, 18 May 2011, 3:58 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
General Debate
Rahui Katene, Justice Spokesperson
18 May 2011
Twenty years ago a song was released by David Grace which has become known as an anthem to Tuhoe.
It gives focus to the refrain ‘Rua Kenana, Tuhoe prophet of the Urewera’, and in doing so it encapsulates the pride of the people in the leadership of someone who believed that Tuhoe could and should be self-determining.
At the turn of the century Rua established a thriving community at Maungapohatu, from where land was owned and farmed collectively and all proceeds were shared according to need; a community bank was established; and the people gathered around.
In 1916, Maungapohatu was invaded by a troop of some seventy police, in what the Supreme Court later ruled as an illegal assault
Rua was charged with sedition. His trial in the Auckland High Court lasted 47 days, the longest trial in New Zealand’s history until 1977. Of the eight charges laid against him the jury found him guilty of only one – morally resisting arrest. Yet he was sentenced to a year’s hard labour and another 19 months imprisonment.
At his sentencing, Chief Justice Chapman told Rua “The arm of the law was long…that is the lesson your people should learn from this trial”.
A century later, one wonders if history is repeating itself.
On Monday 15 October in 2007, more than 300 police carried out dawn raids on homes and premises right throughout Aotearoa. The focus of the raids was in response to what was alleged as “concrete terrorist threats”: people who had supposedly attended training camps in the Urewera Ranges.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
The latest twist in the trial of the so-called Urewera 18 is that it now appears unlikely to go ahead as scheduled on 30 May. Some are speculating that with the Rugby World Cup and an election in sight, the timeliness of such a controversial trial has come under scrutiny.
But the question we in the Maori Party ask, is, if there is such a focus on ‘one law for all’ by some parties in this House, how is it that the Tuhoe people continue to suffer 'the long arm of the law' without so much as a murmur?.
Why is it that it has taken between four and five years to gather evidence on what is now nothing more than arms charges?
Three weeks ago 150 prominent Maori social justice activists and academics came together in support of a submission to the Solicitor-General sponsored by lawyers Moana Jackson and Professor Jane Kelsey.
In that letter Moana Jackson spelt out the impacts of this sorry episode, stating “The accused, the whanau and the whole of Tuhoe have had this hanging over them for almost four years, unable to live a normal life. They already carry the label of terrorists for ever”.
Waiariki electorate MP, Te Ururoa Flavell, has spoken frequently about the lifelong consequences of the original raids on Ruatoki, and the never-ending saga of a prosecution that has been delayed for nearly four years. But of course, while there are dire and traumatic impacts on human lives, there are also very real financial costs to a twelve week trial in Auckland.
And I cannot ignore the echoes back to 1916, when Tuhoe had to bear the substantial legal costs of the trial against Rua Kenana, as well as the indignity of being billed for the costs of the police expedition – amounting to over nine hundred pounds. To address these huge financial burdens, Tuhoe was forced to sell land.
Mr Speaker, we are at a time in our nation’s constitutional history, when we are attempting to build bridges and learn from our past. Iwi across Aotearoa, in a substantial gift of generosity to the nation, have settled claims amounting to the equivalent of one or two percent the true worth of what they are entitled to.
Our concern, with this tragic case against the Urewera 18 is that any progress we make in nation-building is hindered by Justice delayed. The lives of the people charged as a result of Police Operation 8 have been on hold for far too long. Due process of law surely required the right to a jury trial, in an expeditious timeframe. The human impact has been enormous. Further delay is unjustifiable; it is unfair; it is unacceptable.
Finally, I am reminded of the wisdom of the late Dame Judith Binney – a Pakeha historian who earnt the highest respect from the people of Tuhoe. She once said, ‘If we who live in the present in Aotearoa can discuss our shared history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, then we may gain from the past. If we cannot do this, then we will have learnt nothing from the past and we will have exchanged nothing with each other”.
If we can learn anything from the experiences the people of Tuhoe have endured over a century and more, it is that no good will come from delaying the process of justice that every New Zealander is entitled to. Let us move forward together, learning from our past with courage and goodwill to one another.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
**
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
**
Find more from The Maori Party on InfoPages.