What’s the rush? asks MP

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel is yet to give her maiden speech in Parliament, but she spoke out this week  against two high profile government policies.

These are the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority and the repeal of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill law which would have banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1, 2009.

Parliament sat under urgency this week to push the measures through .

“Why is this important kaupapa being rushed?” she asked. “Don’t get me wrong, the word urgency — the irony is not wasted on me.

“The sad part is the urgency on this side of the House is the urgency to save lives and to prevent us going back and making mistakes that we know we’ve already lived.”

The new MP unsuccessfully suggested an amendment that approved tobacco retailers not be allowed to operate within one kilometre of a marae.

“Now, marae have made their decision to protect whakapapa on their land, in their buildings — the least we can do is respect that by guaranteeing that retailers will not be allowed to sell this paitini, to peddle this poison, to our tamariki, to our whānau, our hapū and our iwi in such close proximity to an already vulnerable institution of te ao Māori.

“Marae are a physical depiction of the tinana — of the person of the body,  te mana, te tapu o te tangata — an argument which, sadly, I have not heard coming from that side of the House.

“We’ve not heard the value of mana tangata, the value of life.”

Referring to the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority, Ms Tangaere-Manuel said it was an important body to her as a daughter who wondered what would have been had her mother’s belief in rongoā Māori been honoured.

“She was told, ‘one or the other’. There was no balance sought. We wanted her to be able to treat her body as tapu, but when she declined surgery, she was told ‘you’ll be back in a box’ and treated inadequately because she believed in rongoā Māori.

“I’m pleased to report my mother did live for another 10 years, but we can only wonder what would have been if her beliefs were honoured and she was provided mainstream care to go alongside that.

“I can’t help but sit here and feel insulted — insulted by that side of the House who are telling us that they understand what’s best for us; they want what’s best for us.

“Excellent; let us tell you what that is and help us put that into action.”

Speaking in Parliament, Health Minister Shane Reti said the law change laid the foundations for a future health system that was “based on need”.

His dream for the health system was not “bureaucratic structures and endless plans” but “identifying need and responding to it”.

Dr Reti reiterated that some Māori health expertise and resources would be retained after the Maori Health Authority closed, including the Hauora Advisory Committee and iwi-Māori partnership boards.

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the Government was committed to the Smokefree 2025 goal.

Labour’s approach was an untested regime with a focus on prohibition, and the Government instead wanted regulation of tobacco that would allow a practical, workable, and tested approach, she said.

Ms Tangaere-Manuel was scheduled to give her maiden speech on February 22 but that was cancelled following the death of Efeso Collins.

His funeral was on Thursday.

The Green list MP was the first MP to die in office since Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Labour MP and former Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, who died in 2013.