Whaitiri Meka: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 28 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18419. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker.Tēnātātou katoangā mema o te Wharenei. I was in such a rush because this is such a great day so I do apologise to my colleague Catherine Delahunty for trying to jump into her speaking slot. But can I first acknowledge our rangatira who have turned up here in the House fromNgāti Tapu meNgāitamarāwaho. Engā rangatirakua tae maitēnei te mihi aroha ki a koutou.[To the leaders who have arrived here fond greetings to you collectively.]It is always a privilege to stand and support the third reading of a Treaty settlement bill. Like all the previous speakers I say that it is a great day for thehapū of Tauranga Moana in seeing that this land is being returned to the original owners. As a proud member of the Māori Affairs Committee I say that after the way in which this bill was championed by my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell—tēnei te mihi ki a koe te rangatira—and handled by the Māori Affairs Committee this is one of those proud moments that you can stand there and celebrate but you cannot imagine what it feels like for the people who have joined us here in the gallery and those who are at home in terms of the returning of this land and what that is going to do for the people of Tauranga Moana.In my earlier contribution on the New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill I did talk about the particular submitters who felt themselves excluded—NgāiTūkairangi—but again through the reality of our shared whakapapa those descendants of that particular tipuna are recognised through their links withNgāti Tapu. I am a big believer that the iwi-Māorihapū-iwi way of dealing with challenges is to go back to our whakapapa and so I acknowledge in the passing of this bill the importance of that to ensure that we see the passage of the bill through this third reading.I want to take a bit of time to just divert and pick up on what the Green member Catherine Delahunty spoke about in relation to the role of the Church Missionary Society in shaping or influencing the fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand in terms of the early missionaries. Like we have seen in this particular bill whether the establishment of this post and the acquisition of the land were legal can definitely be challenged and these kinds of things have had a huge impact on all parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. In my area in my electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti there are Te Aute College and Hukarere Girls’ College and we also have St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College. They are schools that have been touched by Christianity. They are founded on the principles and values of Christianity but for a lot of those schools if you visit them—and I encourage members to visit both Te Aute College and Hukarere Girls’ College; you will see that they are great schools which produce great leaders—you will see that though they have got endowment land attached to them they are struggling to keep the maintenance of the hostel areas.On the one side I am seeing the Church Missionary Society sitting on huge economic opportunities in terms of the land that was gifted for the purpose of education so many years ago. So my contribution is to support the plea in this House that this gifting back to the people of Tauranga Moana should be the catalyst for the return of the missionary land gifted byhapū and iwi so many years ago. It should come back to the original owners so that the original owners can enjoy the economic the social the spiritual and the environmental returns that land gifted back to the rightful people quite rightly creates.I do not want to go on too much longer. This is an exciting time. I am honoured to support all members in the House in this third reading and I do in all sincerity wish the people of Tauranga Moana a very safe journey home. You have done your deed you have seen the passage of this important bill in its third and final reading and I celebrate your success and that of the people you represent here on the gifting of what I know is an important piece of whenua to the people of Tauranga Moana.Nō reira I stand again and support the third reading of this bill. Kia oratātou.