The Taku Tahae Moana Bill

Title - Committee in the House - Marine and Coastal Area Bill
Hone Harawira - Te Reo Motuhake o Te Tai Tokerau
Tue 22 Mar 2011

Mr Chairman, I recommend that the word takutaimoana be removed from the title of the bill, because it's inclusion insults the notion that the marine and coastal area bill will do anything to help Maori restore their rights to the takutaimoana, when in fact all of Maoridom (apart from the 4 members of the Maori Party caucus of course) know that it won't do anything of the sort at all.

I also recommend that the word takutaimoana be removed from the title of the bill, because it's inclusion suggests that Maori support the bill when in fact, before the bill even got to the house, the iwi leaders group had withdrawn their support for the bill, and have been notable by their absence in the gallery at every reading of the bill rather that attend and be assumed to support it.

And I also recommend that the word takutaimoana be removed from the title of the bill, because it's inclusion suggests that Maori support the bill when we now know that of the 72 submissions received by the Maori Affairs Select Committee from whanau, hapu, iwi, marae and other Maori organisations, only 1 supported the bill, a support rating of 1.5%.

And if I could, I suggest that perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT or the MY STOLEN SEABED ACT, as in ...

My seabed is being stolen by the government who have no doubt already mapped out all of the seabed around our country, and no doubt already identified the kind of corporate entities whom they intend doing business with, including corporate pirates like BP and Exxon who have demonstrated a ruthless commitment to profit at the expense of the environmental destruction that their industry is noted for

Or perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT to reflect the fact that my seabed is being stolen by the government who plan to ram through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which will open up all of our resources, including our foreshore and seabed, to the international rape and pillage brigade, who will in turn repay the good turn that we are doing them, by suing our government in secret international courts should Maori and other environmentally conscious New Zealanders take positive and concrete steps to protect our seas from the destructive activities of the petroleum industry

Or perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT to reflect the fact that my seabed is being stolen by the government who have already entered into dodgy relationships with petroleum companies who have a record of disaster and mayhem in the oceans of the world, without any formal record of corporate accountability that most other countries would demand of such resource exploiting agencies

Or perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT to reflect the fact that my seabed is being stolen by the government who see the foreshore and seabed as a commodity from which they can maximise profits to repay overseas debt, all the while ignoring the crippling debt that ordinary New Zealanders are facing up and down the country

Or perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT to reflect the fact that my seabed is being stolen by the government who are committed to entering into contractual relationships with foreign companies who have demonstrated no interest in the needs of indigenous peoples anywhere in the world, and for that matter have demonstrated no interest in the needs and aspirations of Maori people, or indeed New Zealanders generally

Or perhaps the bill might be renamed the TAKU TAHAE MOANA ACT to reflect the fact that my seabed is being stolen by the government who have already decided that genuine consultation with Maori is no longer a requirement for the passage of legislation aimed at exploiting resources rightfully in the domain of whanau, hapu and iwi.

tu te ao maori
tu te rangatiratanga
tu motuhake
tena tatou katoa

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