Maori people express frustration

Press, 8 October 1988, Page 9

Maori people express frustration

JANE ENGLAND,

By

Maori affairs reporter

Maori people from throughout the South Island yesterday expressed their frustration at Parliamentary-imposed time constraints, and the rapid introduction of legislation.

Male elders (kaumatua) and female elders (kuia) and their tribespeople travelled from as far as Nelson and Oamaru to speak before the Maori Affairs Committee at Rehua Marae in Christchurch.

The committee has been hearing views on the Maori Affairs Bill, which is being amended for the first time since 1953. A A They also heard debates on the Maori Fisheries Bill and the abolition of the Maori Affairs

Department. The Fisheries Bill was seen as contentious. They consistently referred to Maori conservation practices and the need for full Maori rights in the legislation.

Ngai Tahu kuia, Mrs Rima Bell, said she had been disturbed at the continuing depletion of the fisheries resource.

“By 1990 we may have nothing left to celebrate with,” she said. Mrs Katarina Daniels expressed dissatisfaction with the requirement in the bill for Maori people to fish a substantial part of their 2.5 per cent quota allowance.

“What will be fishing in the next 10 years?” A kaumatua from Blenheim, Mr Tom Bailey, said the two most important words to Maori people were not contained in the

“They are rangatiratanga (chieftainship) and taonga (treasures), our sovereignty and our assets. To eliminate those is to act in contempt of the Treaty of Waitangi.” An Otautahi (Christchurch) kaumatua, Mr Hohua Tutengaehe, said Maori claims for fisheries had been moderate.

Most pakehas did not understand that the Maori perspective was based on a principle of partnership. “If Maori people get anything back the first thing they do is share it.”

Members of the commission invited Maori people to put their views in writing through submissions to the special select committee on the Fisheries Bill.

The people attending the hui strengthened the argument made at an-

other hui on the future of the Maori Affairs Department. They expressed common desire for the department to remain intact in a restructured form.

A young Maori man, who had hitch-hiked to Christchurch, echoed the frustration of many people who felt inhibited by the time constraint placed on the hui. He said he had spent time and money to attend. “Next time, I invite you to come to us in Timaru,” he said.

The two main arguments against the Maori Affairs Bill related to the selling of land if desired by the tribe, and the limitations imposed on Maori Trust Boards. The member of Parliament for Clevedon, Mr Warren Kyd, said that although the bill had been

redrafted in 1977, it had since been displaced by other acts which faced political urgency, such as the Treaty of Waitangi Act.

The chairman of the committee, Dr Bruce Gregory, said the debate had highlighted the challenge facing Maori people. “Legislation is being prepared quickly and the national political life is tough and brutal. We are fighting for a bit of the action,” he said. Other committee members are the M.P. for Tauranga, Mr Winston Peters, the M.P. for Yaldhurst, Mrs Margaret Austin, and the M.P. for Southern Maori, Mrs Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan. The committee was assisted by two lawyers, Mr Tom Wood and Mr John MacSorrell.