Put Treaty angst behind us, says new MP

Shane Jones acknowledged his diverse ancestry in front of a packed gallery that included his wife Ngareta (left), parents Ruth and Peter and children (from left) Hoera, 13, Te Aumini, 8, Penetaui, 15, and Haukura, 11. Picture / Mark Mitchell

The nation must get over its angst about the role of the Treaty of Waitangi and build a relationship that "transcends both Crown and tribe", Labour MP Shane Jones said in his maiden speech yesterday.

Mr Jones, one of Labour's new stars, was the first newcomer to Parliament to deliver his maiden speech. The public gallery was packed with family and friends.

They included his parents, Peter and Ruth, wife Ngareta, some of his seven children, mentor Sir Graham Latimer and Te Ohu Kai Moana fisheries commissioners and staff.

Mr Jones began by referring to his ancestry, which he cited as evidence of the "plurality of cultures" that make up Aotearoa.

"I am a product of our history, a proud descendant of the Dalmatian gum digger, the Pakeha pioneer and Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto, Ngati Kahu, imposing tangata whenua women," he said.

"Northland or Tai Tokerau is where I call home. It is a place where the currents of ancestry have co-mingled and I am proud to claim all three streams as my heritage. Downstream, upstream, full on mainstream."

Mr Jones said he looked forward to working to improve the region's services. He noted its "iconic status on our historical sweep" included the Bay of Islands, where the Treaty was first signed.

"This document, some would say, has grown legs in the last 20 years. Where is it taking us, or where are we taking it? Is it to a destination we don't want to move to, or to a place it was never designed to be?"

The place of the Treaty was one of our most searching issues, but the debate should not be about literal words, but relationships.

"How do we honour the sentiments underlying this founding document? ... My own thoughts have changed over the years. The emphatic Treaty activist of the 1980s became a Maori economic advocate in the 1990s.

"This decade we must move on beyond historical angst. The future summons us to a relationship which transcends both Crown and tribe."

Maori and Pakeha had a shared heritage. "When the haka rings out at Twickenham we all swell with pride. This is an enduring image we should accentuate."

Addressing historical grievances was one chapter in the "grand narrative of our nation's story. Other chapters are materialising around us ... As the pace gathers by dint of birth rate, immigration and international influences, the ethics of inclusiveness must be carefully tended".

As a former chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission, he came to Parliament with "respect for pragmatism" and as the beneficiary of a fine education given by others.

This included a "group of elderly Anglican parishioners from the Warkworth pastorate who saved their pennies to send a small boy from Awanui, the backblocks of the Far North, to St Stephen's School".