CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@chrastecky to be clear, it's not "my" metric. This was a quote from a conference i was attending and "live tooting".

But that aside, I'm interested to hear why you think the number of children cycling to school is so low in your country?

@HeavyMetalWings the concept of the whole conference was about building a fair and just society - not about building a country. So i don't think we're in any disagreement here

@erik indeed

@GreenChristian to be clear, this is a quote from an ex-Green MP here in Aotearoa NZ, giving a speech at a conference I attended, it's not a quote from me.

And then as I left this afternoon, I went to speak to Gareth Hughes, and thanked him for what he did and what he went thru. I got to speak to one of my inspiring "heroes", when I would normally have slunk away wishing I was braver.

Be the change you want. As Gareth said (and I didn't toot), "we are living in a time of monsters". So, be the light you want to see in the world. We can change it for the better by acting together.

And as an example of me living my values, I "kia māia"d on day one, by filling a gap after the final speaker when during the time for questions afterwards, and there was nothing but a slightly awkward silence... I stood up, and started a waiata tautoko, which the whole room joined in. The first of the conference (there were two more over the following days).

I've not sung in public before, let alone in Te Reo Māori. Let alone led it!! But it had been a truly inspirational speech.

@Torithom no, sorry.

It's a new Victoria University building. So I'm assuming they built it this way deliberately.

E mihi ana ki a koe mō te rangapū ki roto te haerenga i ēnei rā.

Thank you for coming along with me these last few days.

I am certainly thinking more about what I can do to build a better society, what that looks like, and how I can help move the dial in all the aspects of my life.

#KiaTikaKiaPono... Me kia kaha hoki, kia māia, me te mea nui; kia manawanui e hoa mā.

So most of the words in these posts have not been mine, but those of others. I hope i was clear when it was my voice, but if in doubt (or it was a particularly insightful remark), you should assume someone else said it.

I really loved this conference, and live tooting it reminded me of the good old days of Twitter, where I could find other attendees and see their interpretations of what was being said, and pick up other quotes i missed.

Another thing stolen from us. 🥺

And that's a wrap. (Well, technically there's a field trip to Porirua Harbour this afternoon, but with the weather warnings and flooding, I'm giving that a miss).

Thank you all for your favourites, boosts, and supportive comments while I live tweeted this.

I have no doubt there's a fair few autocucumber errors that slipped in while I was madly posting... but i tried to be true to the intent of the speakers words even when I couldn't keep up fast enough to be 100% accurate.

How do we shift from constitutional dialogue to constitutional kōrero. Not to just replace it with a Māori word, but to have a concept for our ministers to approach things with a Māori perspective.

It provides a space for people to disagree with the outcome, and still have their perspective and voice to still be held.

#KiaTikaKiaPono

A constitution should be based on what is the right way to behave and engage (tikanga), and a value of community.

While Māori representation in parliament is important, it is not decolonisation. It's an adornment to it.

#KiaTikaKiaPono

I am getting to some good news.. it doesn't need to be this way.

We need to think about how we reorient ourselves if we do want a just society.

Te Tiriti provides a model of how we can organise a model for collaborative public discussion. It envisages the ongoing sharing of different types of power between the Crown and tāngata whenua. Moves us away from a "govt knows best approach".

#KiaTikaKiaPono

... into issues that directly impact them. There was no consultation, just a belief that the government knows best.

98.7% of contributions to the Regulatory Standards Bill were against it. And yet the minister responsible for it showed contempt by refusing to engage with the concerns raised there. That's not engaging in discussion.

#KiaTikaKiaPono

The standing up of the people select committees had been stood up to fill that gap. Demonstrating the power of listening, parliament have failed to listen.

No consultation at all on the pay parity decision. No one campaigned on it, so no one voted for this, and there was no discussion. There is no discussion here, no listening.

Numerous examples of official advice being ignored, recently the 'move on orders'. But many policies have been about removing community input ...

#KiaTikaKiaPono

The line the govt likes to take is that 'the people have spoken, we have a remit'. That view of democracy is very thin... anaemic.

What are the mechanisms that enable us to shift and refocus to listening and dialogue?

We've seen _many_ examples of unjust law making and undermine democracy. Skipping the select committee process removing the opportunity for public discussion intended to be part of that dialogue.

#KiaTikaKiaPono

(Side note, this talk is honestly fascinating and engaging, but the concepts are big and chunky, and I'm really struggling to distill down to Toot-bites, arohamai e te whānau ipurangi. ..)

#KiaTikaKiaPono

(He's just used "Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Tāngata Tiriti"... - it's the first time I've encountered this grouping, and the first time I've heard the middle group. Have to say, I'm a big fan)

#KiaTikaKiaPono

This whakataukī is often translated as 'speech is the food of chiefs', but I think it's better to say 'discussion is the food of chiefs'. Discussion needs to hear the other side, not just to talk your own view over others.

The lack of listening is a part of our constitutional structure. We should reorganise that to be more a part of dialogue - as shown by Te Tiriti.

#KiaTikaKiaPono

Final speaker, Carwyn Jones; 'Ko te kai a rangatira, he kōrero' - Listening for democracy in Aotearoa.

Starting with a beautifully fluent mihi in flawless and unhesitant Te Reo Māori.

#KiaTikaKiaPono