United Future
Gordon Copeland

Gordon Copeland general debate speech

Arising from the speech itself it seems clear to me that we are probably now in agreement on two points.

Firstly, that the historical iwi based grievances arising from breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi need to be settled quickly.  That is an issue which United Future has continually voiced support for since entering Parliament in 2002 and my colleague Murray Smith has successfully appealed to the Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Hon Margaret Wilson, for more resources in that regard.

Likewise, having listened carefully to exchanges in the House over the last couple of weeks it seems that all parties now agree that access to Government funding entitlements should unambiguously be based on need rather than on race, although I am not yet clear where the Greens stand on that issue.

I note though that Don Brash is effectively repeating the dictum made famous by Michael Joseph Savage, namely “To each according to their need”.  So while some things change others stay the same! 

I draw the conclusion however that Don Brash’s speech has also struck a chord with New Zealanders for other reasons as well.  Many New Zealanders I encounter feel less than confident about their place in the world.  They are seeking an answer to the overarching question  “What does it mean to be a New Zealander”, a question, interestingly enough, over which Don Brash himself stumbled during his interview with Kim Hill!

In that context I want to renew United Future’s call for a national debate on the question of a written constitution.

When asked about this I have heard the Prime Minister say that we already have a constitution, but my comment would be, if that is the case, let us bring a sampling of Year 10 students into this House to tell us about New Zealand’s constitution.

Let us then compare what they say with the response from their equivalents in Australia, the USA, and The Netherlands, all nations with written constitutions.  I believe we would find the difference to be like night and day.

We would find the young people from those other three nations confident about what it means to be Australian, Dutch or American.  They would understand their rights and privileges and the way their governments work - and it would be no accident, rather the result of deliberate educational programmes in their schools aimed at empowering and emancipating their citizens.

By contrast New Zealand has no such programmes because we have no such constitution.

Mr Speaker, when voices as diverse as those of Sir Tipene O’Regan,  Chris Trotter, and Peter Dunne begin to say that we need a written constitution, then it is incumbent upon us to read the signs of the times and be prepared to move forward and move forward quickly.

With a written constitution perhaps Dr Brash, Year 10 students and all the rest of us can move to a new and deeper understanding and confidence concerning what it means to be a New Zealander.