Mackey Moana: Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill Te Urewera Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMackey Moana: Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill Te Urewera Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19485. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MOANA MACKEY (Labour):Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Can I acknowledge our distinguished visitors here—Tāmati Kruger Kirsti Luke and the negotiating team the people of Ngāi Tūhoe here today and at home and the Hon Chis Finlayson. Every Treaty settlement is a privilege but what an incredible honour to have your name attached to this particular Treaty settlement. Congratulations on all the work you have done with Ngāi Tūhoe te Whakatāne mayor Tony Bonne.This is a very special day acknowledging the brutal history of Ngāi Tūhoe and the beginning of the journey of reconciliation with the Crown. In 2010 I made the beautiful journey to Maungapōhatu for the first time. Maungapōhatu is truly a sacred and spiritual place and as a manuhiri I felt very privileged to be welcomed on to the marae there. You feel the presence of Hinepūkohurangi the personification of mist and fog and her younger sister Hinewai the personification of light misty rain.It was Hinepūkohurangi who enticed the sacred maunga down to earth. In this respect Tūhoe are truly descended from the environment from the dense bush and rugged ranges of Te Urewera and the ever-present misty clouds that shroud them. There is no question that you will protect the taonga of Te Urewera and I want to acknowledge the words of the Hon Dr Nick Smith the Minister of Conservation who said he believes that Ngāi Tūhoe will be as good as the Crown or Pākehā in protecting Te Urewera. I will suggest they will prove to be better. I made the journey to Maungapōhatu for the launch of a book called Best of Both Worlds: The Story of Elsdon Best and Tutakangahau by Jeffrey Paparoa Holman celebrating the relationship between Tūtakangahau and my great-grand-uncle Elsdon Best.In 1892 Government survey teams met opposition from Tūhoe when attempting to survey a road through the Urewera district without Tūhoe consent. The Department of Lands and Surveys sent my great-grand-uncle Elsdon Best to Urewera as a mediator. Tūhoe had been in contact with Pākehā society for more than 50 years. However it was seen at that time by Government as the last opportunity to gather information about pre-European Māori society due to the isolation of Ngāi Tūhoe. Elsdon Best joined the roadmaking team in 1895 and formed a close relationship with Tūtakangahau and Paitini Wi Tāpeka of Maungapōhatu.Through these relationships he was drawn into continuing conflicts over the future of Tūhoe lands and was eventually accused by the Government officials of deliberately stirring up trouble for the Government in the rohe of Ngāi Tūhoe. On that basis he threatened to leave the position and at that time he was appointed secretary of the Urewera Commission. In this new position Elsdon Best was able to record Tūhoe history and genealogy as it was debated before him.I feel truly honoured when I travel around some of the marae in the rohe of Ngāi Tūhoe and during my doorknocking in Tāneatua and Ruātoki to see photographs of my great-grand-uncle Elsdon Best on the walls of the wharenui and people’s homes and of my grandfather Elsdon Craig who wrote the biography of Elsdon Best Man of the Mist. So very personally I feel that this is a special day for this House. I feel extremely honoured to participate in this debate today. The brutal history of Ngāi Tūhoe has been well spelt out by many of my colleagues.Can I also acknowledge that there is much more work for the Crown to do in the rohe of Ngāi Tūhoe beyond this settlement. We have some of the worst housing in the country people living in extreme poverty and there is much in that area that needs to be remedied by the Crown. In that respect can I also acknowledge the late Terry Firkin and the work that he did in housing and in training young apprentices in the Tūhoe rohe.This is a very very special day for this House. It is a day that I think many thought would be a long time off and very distant into the future. Can I again congratulate the Minister of Māori Affairs and the Minister for Treaty settlements on bringing the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill and the Te Urewera Bill to the House. I certainly feel very humbled and privileged to be able to participate in this debate today.