Speech at Te Tii Marae
170 years ago tomorrow a new nation was created at this place and we commemorate that occasion.
We celebrate what that nation has achieved and given to us but we do not gloss over the things which were subsequently done which dishonoured the treaty and created injustice which must be resolved.
We celebrate that to a large extent in our county people of many origins live together in harmony and a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect.
In our nation, people of different races have married and raised their children together, work and play sport together and have fought and sacrificed their lives along side each other for the peace we enjoy today.
We have forged a country that has striven to create social justice and opportunity for all but has still fallen short of what we would want to achieve.
I am proud of the role that Te Röpü Reipa has played in that from the Governments of Savage, Fraser and Nash, Kirk, Lange and Clark.
As a young man I remember Norman Kirk striding across the upper Marae on Waitangi Day hand in hand with a young Maori boy symbolising spontaneously and without any pretentiousness the partnership we wanted to forge.
Matiu Rata and Koro Wetere in 3rd and 4th Labour government promoted legislation which has created the basis for addressing past grievances back to 1840.
Labour remains committed to this process being completed to allow us to move forward as a nation.
In 30 years we will celebrate 200 years since the signing of the Treaty. I will be 86, I hope!
And the vision I have of the nation I want to see created by that time is one in which all Kiwis, Maori and Päkehä alike, share together and fairly in the gifts that a smart, creative, prosperous and environmentally pristine country can offer.
To achieve that vision we need the current generation of young Maori to be a breakthrough generation:
- That gains the skills and education to achieve to their full potential and be fully employed. It is unacceptable that today 15.4 per cent of Maori are unemployed. Tackling that challenge is far more important than what flag flies on the Harbour Bridge once a year.
- That sees improvements in health so that there is no difference in life expectancy in young Maori and young Päkehä.
- That our prisons are not disproportionately full of Maori inmates because successful preventive programmes like Te Hurihanga are funded to help young people getting into trouble to turn their lives around.
These are dreams which can happen if we are determined that they should and it is a commitment to realising those dreams as I Labour leader give today.
I brought Labour back to Te Tii last year. We will continue to come here to talk, to listen and to share. I thank you for your welcome today.
Nö Reira, tënä koutou katoa.