Taking a leaf out of nature's book

Te pa harakeke, or the flax bush, is often referred to in our culture as a metaphor for whanau.

The treasured place of a tamaiti is represented in the central shoot of flax, encased by the fronds which represent their parents, their kuia and korohoke and wider whanau.

When I think about the pa harakeke, it really does put into perspective the role that we as whanau have in protecting our rangatahi, and supporting their growth. As fronds come off the plant, a new generation takes its place, and te rito, or the heart of the flax bush, continues to grow.

It is timely that we remember the value we place on our rangatahi, as we celebrate Youth Week 2012. It is also timely that we remember our roles as pakeke in nurturing our young, and supporting their growth.

The theme for Youth Week 2012 is "Love the skin you're in", which focuses on just how important it is to have happy, healthy and positive self-acceptance of who you are.

Over the weekend our Aotea regional Kapa Haka competition was held in Hawera. We had young people from Whanganui joining those from across our rohe performing, and showing their skills in poi, haka, waiata and more. It is a perfect showcase of the talent in our kids, but also a fitting expression of our rangatahi loving the skin they are in.

It makes me proud to think about how our young ones are holding on to our cultural practices, and our values. These kapa haka events are a showcase of our creativity and innovation, demonstrated alongside a clear respect for our traditions and tikanga. I congratulate Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana, Te Matapihi and Nga Purapura o Te Tai Hauauru who will represent us in the national Te Matatini competitions.

Our rangatahi have real talent, and it is events such as this which really push their talents to the fore. Of course kapa haka is not the only area where our rangatahi excel, they are all talented in a variety of things, and I think the challenge for us as pakeke is to create opportunities for those talents to be honed and shown more and more.

One of the things that we in the Maori Party have been thinking about recently is the issue of succession.

How do we bring our young ones in and arm them with the support they need to flourish in a new, and sometimes hostile, environment?

We often have a natural urge to protect our kids from harm, and from risk, and I think the trick of it is to create safe opportunities in which they can learn and grow and indeed gather the skills and knowledge required to stand tall and lead.

While we are having this discussion now as a political party, there have been many discussions of this nature going on across our marae, whanau, hapu and iwi. Succession is a universal issue that we must address if we are to ensure strong and healthy mokopuna, great-mokopuna and future generations.

The median age of Maori is 22. While I love that our whanau are growing, we need to plan for the future to ensure that our young ones are ready to take on the roles of kaikorero and kaikaranga, through to kaiako, trustees, politicians, economists, and more.

There is another well-known saying that we use, "hutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te komako e ko?" - "If the heart of the flax was removed, where would the bellbird sing?" Our role as whanau is to keep our children safe, and to continue to protect and nurture them, for they are our future, and they are the measure of the health and wealth of our people.