Posted by MLR: Speeches and Press Releases on May 09, 1998 at 14:47:23: Maori Law Review (MLR) Excerpts from speech to Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Perth, Western Australia 15 August 1997. Hon Tau Henare Minister of M�ori Affairs There's a common catchcry among indigenous people of the world. It's a simple line that goes something like this: I'm black and I'm beautiful, and I'm proud of it. New Zealand is going through an exciting phase politically and it's exciting for me personally, as a New Zealander, as the Minister of M�ori Affairs and as a M�ori. I'm proud to be M�ori. Undeniably black and beautiful. For me being M�ori is something no-one can take away from me. I have my whakapapa, my genealogy, the thing that binds me and my children to the land, to New Zealand. �. It's a time when, as a result of New Zealand's first election under our new system of proportional representation, M�ori are for the first time represented in the New Zealand Parliament like never before. At thirteen percent of the population, M�ori hold a corresponding number of the seats... With M�ori holding fifteen of the one-hundred-and-twenty seats in the house. This is a great result for M�ori people and for democracy as it is a time of renewed hope and positivity in M�oridom. Because for the first time you've got fifteen brown faces-not four - but fifteen, advocating a very pro-M�ori position and ensuring the voice of the indigenous people of Aotearoa are having a real say and making their presence felt in the corridors of power. Along with this you've also got three M�ori sitting around the cabinet table having a direct input in to the decisions that reflect on the lives of all New Zealanders �. It's an exciting time not only for us as M�ori, but I believe for all native peoples of the Pacific to sit up and take a long hard look at what's happened in little old New Zealand. �. If you listen to the radio talkbacks back home, read some of the blatantly racist commentaries on the growing force that is M�ori clout, you know as a people, as a force, we're heading in the right direction. Like I said at the beginning I'm unashamedly black, and I'm unashamedly beautiful and I won't lie down for anyone who tries to suggest there's something wrong with the pride I take in myself as a M�ori. Because of the stringent pro-M�ori stance my immediate colleagues and I have taken, and also some on the opposition benches, we've copped a lot of flak from the media who've painted us as thugs, heavies and hoods. We can't help it that this country, that the media, have got used to a M�ori political element who in the past have just sat there and said nothing. That's not our problem. But according to the media it is. According to them we should be those handkerchief-head uncle toms: yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir. If our stance, our position, is arrogant because we stick up for what we believe in, because we have a strong M�ori mandate which says that's what we want you to do, if that's thuggish, then so be it. I'll wear that label, not kindly, but at least we're advocating what we were put there to do. (posted by nicole)
