Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill
First Reading, Tuesday 22nd June 2010
Te Ururoa Flavell, MP For Waiariki

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker, kia ora tātau katoa e te Whare, tātau kua hui mai i tēnei pō ki te wānanga i tēnei o ngā take, arā, ko tēnei pire mō te Kapu Whutupōro o te Ao ā te tau e heke mai nei. Ko te aronga o te ao Māori ki tēnei mea te whutupōro, he take e mōhiotia ana e te motu, me kī, kua roa te ao Māori e whaiwhai haere ana i tēnei mea te whutupōro. Ā, i tēnei tau tonu nei kei te whakanuia te kotahi rautau o te whutupōro Māori i runga i te mata whenua, me kī, te whakanui i te noho o te ao Māori i roto i te whutupōro. I te Paraire kua hipa ake i toa te tīma Māori, ī ā, ki a Airani, i eke panuku, i eke tangaroa. I muia tōku kāinga o roto o Te Arawa i Rotorua e te tangata, e te Māori I noho whakahīhī nei ki te toa o te tīma Māori ki runga i te manuhiri, ki runga i a Airani. Āpōpō, ka tau atu ki roto o Heretaunga ki reira pakanga atu ai ki a Ingarangi, kātahi ka kitea mai ai mēnā he toa nui, whakaharahara nei te tīma Māori, he aha rānei. Engari, koinā te tūmanako.

I ngā tau kua hipa e hia kē nei ngā Māori kua eke ki ngā taumata katoa, me kī, anei anō te mema nei a Paora Quinn. Kua eke tērā hei kāpene mō te tīma Māori. Ko ētahi o ngā kāpene o te tīma Māori kua noho hei kāpene anō hoki mō te Kapa ō Pango. He tika tā te mema rā pea, engari he toa, he toa. Ko Buck Shelford tētahi kua noho hei kāpene mō Aotearoa, me kī, ko Tāne Norton, ko Taine Randell, rātau katoa kua noho, me kī, kei tērā taumata o te Kapa ō Pango mō Aotearoa nei. Nō reira, ko te tino pūtake o taku kōrero, he whakamārama ake i te ngākaunui o te iwi Māori ki te whutupōro.

Nō reira, i tēnei wāhanga o tēnei pire, arā, te pānuitanga tuatahi, ka tautoko ake te Pāti Māori ki tēnei o ngā take. Nā, tērā pea kāore anō ētahi kia rongo engari, i kī mai te tumuaki o Te Puni Kōkiri, a Leith Comer, he āhua ōrite, me kī, te ngākaunui, ā, ka mutu, te noho o te tīma Māori nei ki tērā o te hunga i haere ki tāwāhi ki te Hokowhitu-ā-Tū, arā, te Rua Tekau Mā Waru. Ā, i runga i te papa pakanga tētahi, i runga i te papa tākaro tētahi. Ngā mea e rua, arā, ko te tīma Māori me te Rōpū Rua Tekau Mā Waru he kaupapa hei whakanui i a tātau a Aotearoa nei. Nō reira, koinei te āhuatanga o tēnei mea o te whutupōro, he whakakotahi nei pea i a tātau. Ā, kāti, me kī, he kōrero whānui tēnei hei tīmatanga kōrero māku. Nā, kia hoki rā anō ki te pūtake o tēnei pire.

Pēnei i tā wētahi e kōrero nei, āe, kāore e kore ka tau mai ētahi painga ki Aotearoa nei nā te Kapu o te Ao engari, ko te mate kē ki tā mātau titiro, e hāngai tonu ana, me kī, ki ngā mahi, ki ngā whakahaere, ki ngā whare, ki ngā momo āwhina ā-whare nei, ki te Kapu o te Ao; kaua ki te hunga mātakitaki; kaua ki te hunga tākaro; kaua ki te hunga tautoko, arā me kī, ko te hunga e tautoko nei i te kapu. Ko te raru kē, ka titiro te pire nei ki ngā mea, me kī, whakahaere, arā, pēnei i te mahi unu waipiro. Nō reira ka hoki mai ki tērā.

Ko te mea tuarua, pēnei i tā ētahi atu o ngā mema e kī nei, ko te mahi o tēnei pire he whakatū i tētahi mana whakahaere me kī, arā, te Rugby World Cup Authority. He rōpū, ko tāna mahi he whakaae, he whakahē rānei i ētahi tono mō ētahi whakahaere i roto i te kpu. Ko te mate kē, pēnei i tā ētahi atu o ngā mema e kī nei, tōna mutunga mai ka whakamanahia te tangata kotahi. Ko te Minita tērā i tōna mutunga mai. Nō reira kei te āhua noho rangirua tonu mātau ki tērā āhuatanga, mēnā ka riro mā te Minita i tōna kotahi e whakamana, e whakahē rānei i ētahi o ngā mea ka whakahaeretia ā te wā o te Kapu o te Ao. Ka mutu, kei te noho āhua manawapā tonu te Pāti Māori i te mea, kāore te Minita mō ngā Take Māori e kitea ana, e rangona ana rānei hei mema mō tērā rōpū, tērā kāhui, arā mō te authority nei. Ko tā mātau ā te wā ka kōrerohia whānuitia i roto i te select committee, he whakatakoto i ētahi kōrero ki te kī atu me pērā, me noho tētahi wāhanga mō te Minita mō ngā Take Māori ki reira.

Nā, ka huri atu anō rā ki te āhuatanga o ngā kōrero o te mema a Mr David Clendon mō tēnei mea te waipiro. Kai te tika tāna, kai te āhua noho rangirua tonu te Pāti Māori mō ngā whakahaere mō tēnei mea mō te tuku whakaaetanga, me kī, mō te waipiro. Nā, anei au e pātai nei i te pātai, he aha te take ko te nuinga o ngā kōrero mō te Kapu o te Ao e hāngai tonu ana ki tēnei mea te waipiro? Arā, mō te unu pia, mō te unu waipiro rānei, ērā momo āhuatanga katoa. Ko tēnei pire, anā, koinei tāna mahi, he kōrero mō te waipiro kaua mō ngā take nui me kī. Nō reira he take nui tērā hei kōrero mā tātau i te mea, ka hoki ngā mahara ki tēnei tangata i roto i a au o Te Waiariki o roto o Tauranga Moana ki te Arataki Rugby Sports Club. Ko tōna ingoa ko Greg Doolan. E ai ki tāku e mōhio nei, i noho ia hei kaiwhakahaere mō ngā kaitohutohu o ngā tīma o roto o Arataki. Nā, i whakaae ia ki te haere ki reira hei kaitohutohu mō te tīma o Arataki mēnā ka noho wātea tērā karapu i te waipiro. Nō reira he tuatahitanga tērā i roto o ngā karapu whutupōro o Aotearoa. Nā, tērā kōrero tērā.

Kei te mōhio tonu tātau, ko te mahi o ngā kamupene hoko waipiro, he whiwhi moni, he whaiwhai haere i tēnei mea te moni. Ko te mate kē, kua kōrerohia whānuitia e tātau i roto i tēnei Whare ngā kino ka puta i te waipiro, arā, ngā aitua i runga i te rori, ngā whawhai tētahi ki tētahi, arā, te mahi wairangi a ētahi haurangi ki ētahi, mēnā ka whaiwhai haere i tēnei mea te waipiro. Engari, pēnei i tā David Clendon e kōrero nei, tōna mutunga mai, ē, ka raruraru ētahi. Nō reira, ko tērā kōrero tērā. Ka mutu, e harikoa ana i te mea, kei reira tonu ētahi here kia kaua wētahi e whaiwhai haere i tērā āhuatanga, arā, te haurangi. Nō reira, āhua pai tonu tērā.

Kua kite atu, arā nō ngā whāinga nui, me kī, ngā utu nui ka noho hapa ki tēnei o ngā pire, nō reira, ka pai tērā. Me pērā i te mea, kai te haramai ngā manuhiri i tāwāhi, arā, te Barmy Army. He aha tā rātau mahi? Taku mōhio he mahi haurangi. Nō reira, me tūpato tātau i te mea, mēnā ka tae mai, kei noho raruraru tātau nā ngā mahi nanakia, nā ngā mahi porohaurangi a wētahi i tā rātau taenga mai.
Nō reira hei kupu whakamutunga māku, kāore anō tētahi kia kōrero i tēnei take engari, me pēnei rawa te kōrero kua whakaingoatia a Julian Savea hei Junior Player of the Year i tēnei tau tonu nei mō te IRB. Kātahi nei tērā kōrero ka tae mai. Nō reira me mihi ki a ia, me mihi rā ki ō tātau Junior World Champions i Argentina, inatata nei. Nō reira me whakanui tātau i tērā āhuatanga.

Nō reira kāti, kua roa tēnei, ko tāku ko te kī atu, āe, ka tautoko te Pāti Māori i tēnei, nā runga i te aha? Nā runga i te mea kua noho a Aotearoa kei ngā taumata o te whutupōro, me tautoko ka tika i tēnei wā. Ki te kore tētahi āhuatanga hōu e puta mai, tērā pea ka whai atu ki tōna mutunga. Nō reira huri noa, kia ora tātau.

[Greetings to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to all of us in the House gathered here tonight to debate this bill before us, the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill, dealing with the event that takes place next year. The country is well aware of the obsession that Māori have over rugby. Māori have been keen followers of rugby for a long time, and at this very moment 100 years of Māori rugby are being celebrated in the country. Last Friday the New Zealand Māori team reached the pinnacle of all pinnacles, by defeating Ireland. Oh, yes! My home town of Rotorua was swamped by Māori and others. They were proud of how well the Māori team triumphed over the visitors from Ireland. Tomorrow the team will arrive in Hawke’s Bay to do battle with England, where it will be seen whether the Māori team is a great or special one—whatever it is. But one can only hope.

Over the past years numerous Māori have achieved at all levels. Let us take the member Paul Quinn, for example. He achieved captaincy of the Māori team. Some Māori team captains became All Black captains, as well. The Labour member might well be right but nevertheless a champion—yes, a champion. One such captain was Buck Shelford, who became a captain of the national side, as did Tāne Norton, Taine Randell, and others who reached that level of captaincy of the All Blacks for this country. So the real basis of my speech is to highlight the commitment of Māori to rugby.

At this stage of the bill, at its first reading, the Māori Party supports it. Some of us may not have heard what Leith Comer, the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, said when he stated that the commitment of Māori to rugby was not unlike that of the 28th Battalion, the Māori Battalion, when it served overseas. One team served on the battlefield, the other on the playing field. Both the Māori rugby team and the 28th Māori Battalion are causes that we should celebrate in New Zealand. So rugby brings us together. This is a general introduction to begin my contribution as I return to this bill.

Like those who spoke before me, I agree without reservation that benefits will accrue from the Rugby World Cup for New Zealand. But the problem with the bill from our perspective is that the focus is on operations, administration, buildings, and assistance with accommodation related to the event; it is not about spectators, players, and supporters of the cup. The real problem is that this bill looks at factors that affect crowd control, like alcohol consumption. But I will come back to that.

The second point, which has been raised by other members, is that this bill establishes a controlling entity, the Rugby World Cup Authority. Its role is to endorse or reject business initiatives to be run in tandem with the Rugby World Cup. The problem, as alluded to by other members, is that one person becomes empowered, and ultimately that will be the Minister. We are in two minds over the fact that the Minister makes the final decisions over matters pertaining to the World Cup. Further to that, the Māori Party is somewhat concerned that the Minister of Māori Affairs is invisible, or appears to have no role, in that entity, the administrative body or the Rugby World Cup Authority. We will pursue that issue widely during the select committee process, to ensure that the Minister of Māori Affairs becomes part of the controlling authority.

I turn my attention now to the implications raised by the member David Clendon relating to alcohol. He is right. The Māori Party is somewhat concerned about allowing the consumption of alcohol. Now, I ask myself, why is most of the talk about the Rugby World Cup related to alcohol? Why is it about drinking beer and all the other alcoholic beverages? This bill is all about that—about alcohol consumption—and not about the real issues, for heaven’s sake. It is important for us to comment on that, because I recall a person from Tauranga, within my Waiariki electorate, from the Arataki Sports Club. I understand that he managed the coaches of Arataki Sports Club’s rugby teams. His name was Greg Doolan. My understanding is that he agreed to become head coach of rugby at Arataki Sports Club if the club became alcohol-free. This is a real first for rugby clubs in New Zealand. That is that story.

We all know that alcohol outlets retail alcohol, make a living from their sales, and pursue avenues to ensure turnover. Problems with alcohol have been raised many times in this House: problems like road accidents, fighting, and senseless acts while under the influence of alcohol. But as David Clendon said, some of us will get into trouble. That is the story. None the less I am glad there are controls there to deal with problems around alcohol. That is somewhat reassuring.

I notice that a major emphasis in this bill is placed on the huge potential costs from those actions, which is good. It must be so, because the “Barmy Army” is coming from overseas. From my knowledge, all that they do is get drunk. So we must be wary, because they might come and cause trouble with their mischievous and drunken antics.

In conclusion, no one has spoken about this, but it has just come to my attention that Julian Savea has been named as this year’s International Rugby Board junior player of the year. I commend him and our junior world champions, who won that title in Argentina just recently. We should celebrate that event, as well.

I will end here. This contribution has already been too long. Yes, the Māori Party endorses this bill, but why? Because of New Zealand’s lofty status in rugby, it is appropriate that we support it at this point in time. If nothing new emerges, we will more than likely pursue this to its conclusion. Thank you all.]

ENDS

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