Friday, 13 May 2016 10.27am
NZ Rights Abuses and Environmental Degradation Highlighted at UN
Refusal to sign the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the 2007 anti-terror raids,
were highlighted as causes of concern for a potential United Nations Secretary General, the UN Permanent Forum for
Indigenous Issues heard this week in New York.
Speaking to the agenda item “Implementation Of The Six Mandated Areas Of The Permanent Forum With Reference To The
United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples”, indigenous rights advocate Tina Ngata pointed out that
Helen Clark had, herself, labelled the Declaration “divisive and unimplementable”. Citing the period of leadership under
Secretary General candidate Helen Clark, Ms Ngata stated “if we hope to build capacity for the UN to support the
implementation of UNDRIP it must begin from the Secretary General position down”.
Other issues raised included 2007 police militarization against the community of Ruatoki during the Anti-terror Raids,
Ms Ngata noting the “mischaracterisation of innocent Maori families as terrorists and subsequent violent armed invasions
of Maori homes and police militarization against the community of Ruatoki” in her speech to the forum on Tuesday. The
2005 Foreshore and Seabed Act, freshwater degradation and the significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions over the
period of Clark’s leadership were also placed before the forum for consideration, with a final recommendation for the
Permanent Forum to “impel the United Nations to specifically consider responsiveness to indigenous rights as criteria
for the role of Secretary General”.
Speech attached below.
E te hau kāenga, Onondaga, nei ra te mihi ki a kotou, e ngā rangatira taketake o te Ao, tēna kotou.
Ko Whetūmatarau te maunga, ko Awatere te awa, ko Hinerupe te marae, ko Te Whānau a Hinerupe te hapu tieki whānau, tēna
kotou katoa.
I wish to first acknowledge the traditional and rightful owners of the land upon which we are meeting and greet my
indigenous sisters and brothers from around the world and the member states gathered here. I would like to thank the
Chair and Forum for this opportunity to make my recommendation in regard to the implementation of the six mandated areas
of the Permanent Forum with reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and with
specific regard to the role of Secretary General and United Nations organisational capacity.
The recognition and fulfilment of indigenous rights is a struggle that requires constant attention, and consistent
champions. Although the distinct needs and strengths of indigenous peoples have been recognised in a number of UN
declarations and documents, nevertheless it remains that without strong oversight and support, this vital factor will be
neglected, to the detriment of all.
Never before in our knowing has our Earth been so gravely ill. Never before have we, the indigenous people of the world
faced such immense challenges, and equally never before has the world needed traditional knowledge and indigenous wisdom
and guidance more than now. Yet still, we continue to struggle for recognition of this relationship and our place in the
determination of our future.
Conventional science has confirmed what many indigenous peoples have known for some time - that the severity of our
condition calls for bold, immediate change. Conservative, incremental shifts will not save us. We require brave
leadership that is not afraid to challenge the inherent assumptions upon which our very society, and economy, is based.
It will take nothing less than this to secure a future for our peoples, and consequently to guide solutions for
humankind.
I submit that next UN Secretary General must therefore be one that is confidently supported by indigenous peoples.
However it is noted that there is a paucity of information available for indigenous peoples to analyse candidate
performance on indigenous issues, and subsequently inform our support or otherwise.
It is further noted, with concern, that the nomination by New Zealand cites the leadership of New Zealand government as
a credential for the role of Secretary General, when that same leadership oversaw multiple abuses of indigenous rights
including the largest single Maori land alienation event of modern times, where we saw over 10,000ha of Maori land
alienated through the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This leadership also saw abuses of human rights of Maori through the
mischaracterisation of innocent Maori families as terrorists and subsequent violent armed invasions of Maori homes and
police militarization against the community of Ruatoki. This leadership also saw increases in outcome gaps between Maori
and Non-Maori – all of which have been reported upon by UN special rapporteur Rodolpho Stavenhagen.
It is further noted that the same candidate, in opposition to Maori, refused to sign the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, labelling it divisive, and unimplementable. Crown research records confirm that under
this period of leadership New Zealand experienced near to the world’s fastest rate of growth in greenhouse gas
emissions, and nationally experienced a general degradation in freshwater quality.
This type of track record is of extreme concern, most especially for indigenous peoples, and if we hope to build
capacity for the UN to support the implementation of UNDRIP it must begin from the Secretary General position down.
Therefore, noting that the permanent forum has requested guidance from indigenous peoples so that indigenous peoples may
not be left behind, and recognising the importance and urgency of implementing UNDRIP, and further noting that the
Secretary General role should be an exemplar in such matters, my recommendation is that the permanent forum impel the
United Nations to specifically consider responsiveness to indigenous rights as criteria for the role of Secretary
General.
I would also like to thank our member state NZ for raising the issues of natural heritage, self determination, Maori
culture and Maori wellbeing. Sitting at the intersection of these issues is our traditional healing practices and these
currently are under threat by the proposed Natural Products Bill.
This bill seeks to establish a regulatory authority that will have unrestricted abilities in defining and regulating
natural medicines, their associated practices and practitioners. Of particular concern is the proposed funding structure
that will restrict traditional practioners, the cataloguing of our thousands of traditional medicine species which we
have been given only until 30 May to provide, and the expectation that Maori healers will provide all of their healing
knowledge to the Crown for regulation and protection, and the potential for that to lead to exploitation of our
knowledge and assets. We assert the right to self-determine our means of protection of these knowledge and assets
because that is our knowledge, those are our assets and only we know best how to protect them.
ENDS