Kia
ora tatou,
Kia ora tatou. Tuatahi e mihi ake ano au ki a koutou nga tu pakeke Wiremu
ki a koe koroua. Tuarua mihi ake ano au ki a koe e ‘Arch’ mihi ana au ki a
koe me taku hoa Mahara. Ki a koutou katoa e takaha ake ano i konei ki te korero
ake ano mo te ahua o te ra nei e mihi tonu ake ano ki a koutou. Ahake na wai te
hapu, na wai te wahi, te iwi, te mihi tonu atu ano tenei o te Minita Maori i a
koutou, nau mai hara mai. I a koe te rangatira e korero ake ano mo te ahua o nga
maunga ra o Rakaumangamanga, te wahi ra e tae ake ano nga waka katoa i te
whakatu i reira i te wahi ra i te Tai tokerau, e mihi ake ano ki a koutou. I a
koutou o te wahi ra o te Rawhiti i mau kaha ake ano o tera ahua. i a koutou i
timata ake ano ko koe i te Oneroa a tohe e tae ake ano ki Waikato. I nga roto o
Te Arawa whanui e mihi ake ano ki a koutou o tera whakahoeki e mihi ake ano ki a
koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
Ki
nga mate i hingahinga ake ano pera tonu e rite ake ano ki te papa o ta te tiati
e Joe, me te mama o tetahi o nga tino rangatira o te Arawa a Joe Hakaraia, nga
mate katoa kei te hingahinga ake ano, kei te tangi ake ano koutou, kei te tangi
ake ano tatou katoa. Tena tatou kia ora hoki rawa atu, kia ora.
Good
Morning, it is good to be here. Before I start I do especially want to thank Te
Puni Kokiri and the Chief Executive for their support and any other agencies who
have supported this session here today, and certainly The
F.I.R.S.T.Foundation, Te Kohu, the
effort that you people are putting in. Certainly I reiterate what you have said
about it being a fine gathering and that there are 400 plus is something I am
sure we are all excited about.
Thank
you for being here today, thank you for making the effort. I want to say kia ora
to my niece Haani who is here somewhere, my two nieces – well done for getting
here – I have got someone who watches and makes sure that you work hard all
through the sessions.
You
know in 1984, that’s a while ago now; I went to the Hui Taumata. The Hui
Taumata was where Archie as young as he was, got us all together and we went
down there – it wasn’t as many as 400 but it was quite a few hundred and we
went down to solve the problems and talk about leadership, issues, so on and so
forth. They were very relevant in those days, they are still relevant now. That
most certainly is an indictment, it’s a real hakihaki that we need to get
stuck into – so I really want to commend you for getting here today, for being
here in Wellington. Those of you who belong here look after the rest who got
here.
The
other evening I was at a hui signing of the Charter with Te Arawa and Bishop
Bennett said that one of the issues for modern day Maori is that we have new
values, new world, new time and new people. And I think I’d take cognisance of
what our rangatira that started off mihi-ing to us here was saying about make
sure that the rangatahi get a say or rangatakapu, both ages, get a say and
don’t leave it to the old people to define or determine. What I want to say to
you e hoa is; that is very true. What I want is to encourage you into is to
ensure that we take those values we have, (I think Archie was alluding to the
fact that we have a lot of Maori in this country) and move forward. So it is
important, the reason and the right that we have in this country, both through
the treaty issue and being tangata whenua is something that we have inherited.
We never got it out of The Warehouse, we never got it out of the government
agencies it was something that our tupuna have left for us. So I want to
encourage you.
Make
sure that there are two important things in life, two sureties – one is we are
all going to die – and I don’t want to be morbid- that’s the truth –
I’m telling you – if you find any way out of that please let me know. The
other issue is that there is only one tangata whenua in this country and that is
us – Maori, and it is important that we don’t detract or move away from that
or soften that – it is important that you people as the future leaders don’t
do that. It is a right in itself, and we have just been taking a bit of time
through leadership sessions, through the ups and downs that we’ve had on the
journeys here to getting ready.
So
our demographics, e mohio ana koutou te korero ‘demographics’ nei?
Our age bands are very important to us. As Archie said earlier on, we are
a very young population. Pakeha/non- Maori, are a very old age population. So I
always tend to think that one thing we could do is to get you all out on the
street, get 400 Pakeha and lets have a race, if we’ve got it right we should
win it. But instead of just talking, takaro, or running, or racing let’s talk
about racing into control of our destiny. Lets talk about you becoming leaders
who will determine and define what is good for us – and don’t take too much
time of it.
You
know there is analysis after analysis in this country and internationally, a lot
of people tend to restrict the way forward by waiting until the policy is
analysed. I think a fair bit of
that is humbug. In any colonised or settler society like ours, generally about
two hundred years out from the starting point there is this fascinating
transition that happens where you change from one social environment to another
– and you are in the middle of that right now – you are the most important
group to Maoridom in this country. I’m the Minister. I’m at the late end of
my forties and people tell me ‘hey you are too young to be the Minister’. I
know what its like to be knocking fifty and you’re in a Ministers job ‘your
damned if you do and your damned if you don’t’. So all you budding leaders
make sure you are prepared for that; it is not all rosy.
What
happens in this transition is you notice a lot of our pakeke have passed on, a
lot of our pakeke koroua, kuia, who used to look after the marae and the paepae.
I’m being very careful saying this because you might say ‘ours is
always full’. It’s not empty by accident, it is a demographic transition -
we are losing a lot of our old people and the issue is; if you talk about
leadership the age of leaders starts getting down to a young level. Don’t ever
think in your great leadership journey that you can do without the pakeke.
I
want to be free and frank with you this morning and get back to Bishop Manu
Bennett’s points – yes it is a new time – yes there are new
values – yes there are most certainly new types of leadership coming
through. I have always been one who sees our leadership being lateral, being
where everyone moves along. If you study Maori history the one time that the
leader got into calling an issue was only when they went to war – that’s
when you knew who the real rangatira was, but generally on the way we knew very
well about how to awhi each other forward.
I
do ask the question ‘if it is new times and we need new leadership what does
that look like’? – It is a continuing debate. We have a Prime Minister in
this country, and I want to say to you as Archie said ‘this isn’t just about
politicians trying to make decisions’. We do intend to ensure through that
strong leadership that Maori leadership is not only kept intact but it is
developed speedily. People are saying that wananga like this happened in 1939
and that Sir Apirana Ngata focussed on Maori peoples’ development and I relish
and do understand and appreciate our great history where we came from and where
we are going. What is more important for me is about taking stock in relation to
where we are and who and what we are now – right now – and going forward.
It
is easy to analyse and pontificate through research – even though I thanked The F.I.R.S.T. Foundation,
I also listened to the learned Mr Leith Comer this morning when he said to get
strategies or issues sorted out on paper. What is important for you as new
leaders is to project out, not just 5, 10, 15 years. What do you want Maoridom
to look like in fifty years? What do you want for your children if you have
them? What do you want for your mokopuna if you are a young grandparent? What do
you want for yourself? There are a whole lot of ways of doing that. We can get
stroppy about it. We can get overly intellectual about it. We can analyse
everything that has happened to us, we can analyse what we are going to do now.
But what you have to have is strong vision. You have got to believe that you are
leaders and that you have to do it, because this country is full of a lot of
‘can’t do people’ – ‘you can’t do that’ – or you can’t do
certain things like drive without a licence you can’t do that, and we’ve got
to put up a big stop sign like on the highway. Let’s stop the bashing, let’s
stop over indulging in the booze, let’s stop being uneducated, let’s stop
not being business owners, let’s stop not being in control of what we want.
As
the Minister of Maori Affairs, and like Archie [Taiaroa] says, Associate
Minister of a whole lot of areas, education, fishing, tourism and employment, I
want to make sure that we do that and don’t take another twenty years.
Don’t be standing here, as I was after 1984 with nothing but a good
memory, let’s get on with it.
It
is important that we talk about where we came from. The rangatira who gave a
whaikorero this morning I found fascinating – he talked about Rakaumangamanga
and there is a place off Rakaumangamanga which is in Te Rawhiti up north –
Pakeha call it Hole in the Wall – all the tourist boats go in it. I was
privileged a few years ago to go there with two old kuia to have a look at it
and they told me that when the waka came here they rested there before they
dispersed. Now I believe that. I believe what they told me because their tupuna
told them that.
Now
there are always a lot of versions about those waka of ours, I was fascinated by
that, although Michael King might write something different. It is important
that we respect those issues in relation to why we are here. He talked about
Hawaikinui, Hawaikiroa, Hawaiki pamamao. E rongo ake ano koe ki te nui o nga
korero te pakupaku noa iho e tua ake ano no waitai? E korero ake ano mo tera.
You hear on and on in korero ‘Hawaikinui Hawaikiroa Hawaiki pamamao’
and we need to make that relevant because it has been handed down by our pakeke.
Hawaikinui,
and this is my analysis from Mangatuna in Tologa Bay. I think Tologa Bay has
become more famous because I have been wrenched from leadership in relation to
my whanau home. There is one thing you can’t do, you can pick your friends,
you can pick which rugby or netball team you play for, but you can’t pick your
whanau.
And
so, I get stood on the mark for that, and I have to do better. It is not too
dissimilar in the Sunday papers, yesterday, talking about my weight. But they
forgot about the other fellahs you know. Look at this, look. I have been trying
hard alright? It’s a hard thing. I spoke. Yeah, it’s a hard thing, over the
past week; I went to three kapa haka championships. The other morning, myself
and Dr Paki (who is here), we went up to Hawke’s Bay where there were
thirty-three teams competing there. These are some of the great things Maori are
doing. They had been competing over the five nights during the week. There was a
Pakeha group there with nearly sixty Pakeha in it. I was flabbergasted to watch
these Pakeha parents urging their kids on and I was thinking ‘e hika, and kei
te pai tera, engari kaua tatou e warenake mo tatou.
They had three groups there, half Pakeha, half Maori, so you know we can
be friendly when we want to. Then I went early in the morning on Saturday to
Manawatu they had another kapa haka tournament there, going to town, a big mob
of them.
I
came to Wellington and then went back to Gisborne with my colleague Lewis who
works with me. Ngati Porou East Coast rugby team were playing Poverty Bay but I
had to take off to see the other kapa haka tournament for primary schools – I
said to Lewis how many more minutes in the game and he said fifteen I said
‘veer left, lets’ go and see the game on the way’. I played nearly 100
games for the East Coast and we never won one. But that was true leadership it
was like my mates to stick it out. You know I can tell you having played in
Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay those were some of the best sport times I ever had
‘cause we travelled together as a whanau on the bus; we saw New Zealand. If
you live in Ngati Porou/ East Coast then getting down to Christchurch was like
going to Washington or going to America. Getting to Wellington was like going to
America because we generally didn’t go past Gisborne.
I am thankful to the East Coast rugby team because I saw most of New
Zealand on their back.
Oh
the other thing I want to tell you – they thrashed Poverty Bay 54 – 16.
Homai te pakipaki for the East Coast. I enjoyed watching all those
Poverty Bay supporters (mostly Pakeha) going back after the game like this
[indicates disappointment] - because we used to do it all the time. And as much
as I have whanaunga in Kahungungu ‘watch out on Sunday when they get there,
because you’ll see some true leadership play at Hawke’s Bay’ Fascinating
you know, the Ngati Porou rugby union they have only got seven club teams and
they are all Maori plus one Fijian. So in your leadership trail, shake it up,
get some more indigenous representative sides, because there is only one in this
country Ngati Porou/East Coast -
that’s real leadership.
You
know this Hawaiki nui, Hawaiki roa and Hawaiki pamamao we shouldn’t just stand
up and say it. Hawaiki nui is a
great place wherever that is; whether it is Rakaumangamanga whether it is Ninety
Mile Beach, whether it is Mangahanea, whether it is Ruatoki, whether it is
Hastings, whether it is Tologa Bay, you always have a great place that you know
that you belong to, where your tupuna were. There is always a great place for
you.
Hawaiki
roa is that place that is just on the seafront and that you just can’t quite
get there; where you want to get to, we are always striving to get to a better
place. What is a better place? Where you get better educated, where you can get
into business, it is a place where you are trying to strive to get to – this
is my own analysis by the way Te Kohu. I’ll copyright it and you can disagree
with it later.
Hawaiki
pamamao is the place where you get to, after a whole lot of effort where
everything is great for your brothers and sisters for your nana your koroua and
your kuia and your parents. Everything there is what you want.
That is where you can buy houses, you can pay your bills, you can get
your children better educated, you can do these things that you want to in this
country by right, being the tangata whenua. That’s where Hawaiki pamamao is.
Now
how do we get there people? There are a whole lot of different ways. Some of you
have the reo some of you don’t. Some of you have been brought up with your
nanny some of you haven’t. Some of you like Aaria some of you like Bob Marley.
I was just going to say Bob Marley’s music was better than Aaria but I’d
better not because I like Aaria too and Maia. It is important that we preserve
our reo and our tikanga. Don’t get fooled or conned into leaving it behind,
thinking that it isn’t cool it isn’t kosher to have that. Stick with it,
makes sure that you do that.
There
are two things that you need to manage as future leaders; they are mana and
moni. You need both, don’t let people fool you that both are tapu and you
can’t touch them! Your mana is yours, your whakapapa is yours, where you
belong to is yours, and also learn how to make money and plenty of it, because
I’ve never seen an unhealthy, unthankful, wealthy Pakeha yet, or an unhappy
one. There is nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with making money, nothing
wrong with getting into business, nothing wrong with being business people. It
is important that we go ahead in those fields. Like I said, good decision-making
is about being informed. So you have all turned up here today, because I do know
you believe that you are leaders or your people have sent you.
Especially
in this life if I start at seven o’clock in the morning and finish eleven
o’clock at night and I go to the marae and everybody says ‘Come over here
boy, we’ve got some pukuhipi boil up’. Pakeha don’t know the feeling of
that aroma when it comes past you, of pukuhipi. So those are joyous things but I
get better at it. I went for a walk
this morning with my trainer Amster Reedy and he had a sore ankle so we had to
cut it in half and I was rearing to go. The other problem you have to stick with
it. Sticking to the diet at times is hard; sticking to getting exactly what you
want is hard. There is no free lunch and there is nobody who is really going to
get off their haunches to say ‘yep, we’ll let you Maoris lead how you want
to. Yep, we’ll let you get on with it’. I want to tell you, like for me at
times – things will get tough, but if you remember that leadership is about
caring for our people Maori, believing in what they want, and making sure that
you are a good Maori, no matter what happens, and that you can lead. Then we
won’t go far wrong.
People
like mine and Turoa’s and Archie’s and Bill’s, I was going to say Mahara
but he is a young politician he’s only 25, our time is coming. I really want
to encourage you, be brave and bold about it, and be disciplined, because there
are enough people out there who will want to pop you off that track. This is a
really exciting time for us, the next ten years or so we are going to give it a
damned good go. You know a lot of things that your old people didn’t know. You
know about the digital divide, you know about e-commerce you are switched on,
and all I can say to you is ‘keep going and well done’. When I was your age
I was shearing sheep or cutting scrub. I used to have to cut scrub in the rain
because there was no benefit or you weren’t allowed on it. We need to get our
people off the benefit; and that’s not making any pointed remark at anybody
who is on a benefit, because people do need it. But won’t it be a better world
if we head off understanding where Hawaiki nui is. Take off for Hawaiki roa no
matter how we do it, and make sure when we get to Hawaiki pamamao that we are in
control of our people’s destiny.
Good
luck with your hui today whanau. All the best. If you want anything more from
me, write to me. I’ll be back for tea I hope tonight, and I hope there are
salads there because the Prime Minister is going to be there I understand. And
she’s right because she keeps on telling me ‘You know, little
- eat more often, but little okay’. So that is the same as leadership
more often, but make sure. You can get a long way taking smaller strides than
trying one big G-hit. There is always a heap of people out there like myself to
tell you ‘hey do it this way’ – there is nothing like the old song ‘do
it your way’ but make sure you care about your people, irrespective of what
people say or think you are. Good luck with you hui. Kia kaha kia ora koutou