Te Ururoa Flavell: Taken aback by Aborigine plight

Greetings again. During this recent recess, the Maori affairs select committee visited Australia on an exchange between our respective parliaments.

The purpose for our visit was to look at initiatives in the community and at government and departmental levels that impact on the well-being of indigenous children. Our group went to Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs in six days. There, we saw projects being run in the major centres such as Redfern, we heard from ministers and MPs and spoke to members of the community. It is sad to say that what we heard from the mouths of many was in direct conflict to what we actually saw in places such as Alice Springs.

I was really taken aback at how some of the communities were living and it made me feel sorry for the people there. This said, I personally thought they seemed well ahead of us here in some respects regarding indigenous issues but, in other regards, it was obviously us who are better off.

Even though it has been said many times, it is appropriate to state that we should feel very lucky to live in Aotearoa. If there is one lesson to be learned, it is that communities must lead their own initiatives to deal with their issues.

Along these lines, let me say congratulations to the children of Te Wharekura o Ngati Rongomai who recently won the regional Primary Schools Kapa Haka competition. They, along with Kaitao Middle School, Rotorua Intermediate and a combined group from Rotoiti and Whangamarino schools will be travelling to the national competitions in 2013 - so well done to you all. Let me congratulate also those who travelled to Napier for the recent Iron Maori/IronMan race. You are just awesome - and soon that will be me too.

Finally, let me acknowledge The Daily Post for focusing on the issue of bullying through the "Stop the Hate" campaign. They have covered the many angles of this issue each week recently and I support their initiative. Some might think mistakenly that bullying is just a physical act of striking someone but it can be much more than that - yelling, teasing, hateful speech or put-downs. They are all included in the definition of bullying and we should all support initiatives to get rid of this in our communities - stop the hate.

Tena ano tatou katoa. I te wa i noho watea te Whare Paremata, i haere te Komiti Whaiti Maori ki Ahitereiria.

He haerenga kua whakaritea nei i waenga i nga Paremata o nga whenua e rua. Ko te kaupapa o te haerenga nei, he tirotiro haere ki nga kaupapa e mahia ana e nga hapori, e nga tari kawanatanga e nga ringa awhina mo te oranga o nga tamariki iwi taketake.

I tae atu to matou tira ki Poihakena, Canberra me Alice Springs i te ono ra, a, i kite atu i nga kaupapa i te taone arai Redfern. Irangonatia nga whakaaroa nga Minita, Mema Paremata hoki, a, i korero ano matou ki ngamema o ngahapori.

He pai ke te ki, i noho taupatupatu ko etahi o nga korero i puta, ki tera i kitea mai i nga taone penei i Alice Springs. I te ohorere toku ngakau ki te ahuatanga o te noho o etahi me te aroha ano hoki ki a ratou. Ki a au nei, kei mua noa atu ratou i a Aotearoa i roto i nga take a tangata whenua, engari, i etahi kaupapa, ko tatou ke te arahi.

Heoi ano, ahakoa kua korerotia ketia te korero, e etahi, e tika ana te ki, ko to tatou waimarie i to tatou noho i Aotearoa nei. Mena he akoranga nui, ma te hapori ano te hapori e whakatika i ona raruraru.

Na runga i tera whakaaro me mihi ra ki nga tamariki o te Wharekura o Ngati Rongomai, te ropu i eke panuku, i eke tangaroa i te whakataetae kapa haka.

Ko ratou ko Kaitao, ko Rotorua Intermediate me te Kapa o Rotoiti/Whangamarino ka haere ki te whakataetae a motu.

Me mihi ano ki te hunga i haere ki Heretaunga ki te Iron Maori. Kei tawhiti koutou. A ko ake nei, ko au tera.

Ka mutu me tuku mihi au ki tenei niupepa, mo ta ratou aronga ki te kokiri i te take "Bullying" - ara ko te "Stop the Hate". Kua oti ke i a ratou te whakatakoto i te whanui, i te wharoa o tenei kaupapa i nga wiki, heoi ano ko takuhe tautoko.

Kapohehe etahi, ko te bullying, ko te patu a ringa a aha ranei a tetahi ki tetahi, engari ko te kangakanga, ko te whakaiti, ko te kupu tawai, ano hoki kei tera kahui.

Me kaha tautoko tatou i tenei kaupapa. Kati te mahi whakaiti.

I welcome your feedback. Email mpwaiariki@parliament.govt.nz or Phone (07) 350 3261 or Post to PO Box 12028 Rotorua 3045