move towards being not only a nation that honours the Treaty of
Waitangi but is actively
a multicultural society. So I do commend the bill to
the House. I call Nuk Korako.
Acknowledgements to all gathered here in the House. Mr Speaker... I
stand to speak
in the second reading of the Coroners (Access to Body of
Dead Person) Amendment
Bill because as the chair of the Maori
Affairs select committee in the
last parliament it was our committee that
created the impetus
of this bill through its 2016 report, Inquiry
into Whanau access to the management
of tu papa queue,
which was instigated by the
Hon Metiria Turei but also I'd like to acknowledge
former MPs of that committee that
are not here today, particularly
tonight, Hekia Parata
are not here today, particularly
and Pita Paraone. Mr Speaker, the recommendations from the report
actually requires legislative
change. There is nothing
more sacred, Mr Speaker, to tell Maori
than the Tupaku and the
associated tangi. The cultural and
practices that many Maori engage
with concerning our deceased
are very ancient. The process of
death and the associated practices
are time honoured, and integral
in the expression of our Maori culture. Mr
Speaker, the process of dealing
with the moment of death, for
those whanau fortunate enough
to be present at the time of their
loved one's death, the process of mourning
starts. That process,
of course, begins with the act of tangi,
starts. That process, of course, begins with the act of tangi, the
whaling, timalingi...
whaling, timalingi...
All of this constitutes an integral part of our
process of grieving the loss of a loved one. For
many Maori we have a custom of
not leaving the side of our loved one until
the tupapaku has been buried. That
is why we sleep next to our
deceased loved one and that is why we never
leave the tupapaku or
the body unattended. Even in the act of
transporting and dressing the tu pap
still have whanau who will be present or who will do the tressing
of our tupapaku. The dressing and
preparation of tupapaku has
always been undertaken by our women. It
is why we are reluctant to
let our loved one be passed across
to a coroner where with can no
longer with present alongside
our loved one. Yet, Mr Speaker, there must
be processes for the corpsor your to do
their mihi through the act
of 2006 that regulates the coronial
system in New Zealand. For
example, an unexpected death that could reveal a
hereditary heart defect a
whanau was not aware of can mean a life for a
whanau of the deceased. A
sudden death that can be attributed to
a communicable decease can mean safety
for a community. In the discovery
of a homicide, can mean justice
for a society. Mr Speaker, all of
these constitute valid reason for the
coroner to be able to do their mahi.
But there must be a balancing
act But there must be a balancing act
and this is what we
are attempting to achieve with this bill. The role
of the coroner is to investigate
sudden or unexplained deaths and
to make recommendations that can
help reduce the chance of further deaths
make recommendations that can help in similar circumstances.
make recommendations that can help in similar circumstances. Mr
Speaker, the Coroners Act 2006, the
core purposes are to help prevent
deaths and to promote justice. To
achieve these purposes
the act states that it recognises the
cultural and spiritual needs
of the whanau and others close to the
deceased person. While the Coroners
Act 2006 responds fairly well, as we
noted in our Maori Affairs select
committee report of 2016, it
actually does address in some
ways the cultural needs of whanau during
the coronial processes. But the
report from the Maori
Affairs select committee identified that there was
an opportunity to improve
the coronial system so that it can
better meet the needs of our
culturally diverse society, and
I say that because it is
not just Maori that we were looking at when
we were doing this
particular inquiry. We actually
went right across a number
inquiry. We actually went right
actually hear the submissions of as many ethnicities here that we
have in New Zealand.
That
That is why this bill has been brought to this House. It's toe
address Maori Customs and
protocols and ethnicities and other cultures.
The Coroners (Access to Body of a
Dead Person) Amendment Bill Mr
Speaker will be recognised including
with Maori Customs, within our New
Zealand coronial services.
with Maori Customs, within our New Zealand coronial services. In
most cases, this already happens and is
included in the guidance procedures
for coroners. However, it is
not a legislative requirement.
for coroners. However, it is not a legislative requirement. We
made plain that in our inquiry as well.
This bill will ensure the cultural
beliefs are explicitly taken
into account as a matter of course.
beliefs are explicitly taken into account as a matter of course. The
bill amends section 26 of
the Coroners Act to explicitly require
the Connor to consider Maori
custom and for other cultures when
determining who can view, tough or
remain near the person. Mr Speaker,
it is important to note that this
bill does not seek to
change the current practice of coroners. What
this bill does is ensure
this practice of taking cultural
considerations into account is more
visible and tangible for those
who are dealing with the
loss of a loved one. Mr Speaker, I am pleased this
bill is widely
supported across the House and hope that it can swiftly
pass through the remaining stages to
become law. I
have no hesitation to commend this bill to the House.
commend this bill to the House.
peace be at rest and we the living greet
peace be at rest and we the living
here today. This is a split call. Five minutes. I call cap Wood. Thank
you, Mr Speaker. In this House
and in
you, Mr Speaker. In this House and
Speaker, in this House and many other forums we don't talk
about death often because we find it
an uncomfortable topic and perhaps we
should do so more
often because it is one of
is one of the universal human experiences. In the
case of this bill we are dealing with a matter of
death in circumstances that
are often particularly trouble
troubling and