Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. It is indeed my honour to take a call on the third and final reading of this Ngāti Rangi Claims Settlement Bill. Can I please add my warm welcome.E ngā mana Ngāti Rangi mana Ngāti Rangi reo Ngāti Rangi tāngata kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa whakahirahira anei ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa. Ōku rau rangatira mā e kui mā e koro mā tēnā koutou nau mai tēnā koutou nau mai tēnā koutou katoa. [To the authorities Ngāti Rangi authorities Ngāti Rangi voices Ngāti Rangi people who have come here because of this important occasion these greetings are to you. My esteemed leaders and elders greetings welcome greetings welcome greetings to you all.]I've heard the previous speakers on this bill and I'd like to join in in supporting this third and final reading and can I acknowledge those that have travelled near and far to pay witness to this significant event. I want to acknowledge as is our custom the recent passing of people from my electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I want to particularly acknowledge Ken Eruera a renowned sports broadcaster from the iwi radio of Ngāti Porou. I want to acknowledge Ruruhira Tawhai a woman that worked very hard in Kahungunu around sexual violence and women's refuge; and of course our centenarian Nanny Noa Nicholson of Muaūpoko Rangitane who recently passed.E ngā mate huhua ko waenganui i a tātou haere haere haere atu rā. [To the many deceased amongst us go go go well.]Like I said I join in the chorus of the House in supporting this third and final reading. Can I too acknowledge the hard work of the Ngāti Rangi Trust their negotiators the Ministers and the officials that have brought this bill to the House.It's often an important occasion on the third reading to try and find a hononga with Ngāti Rangi and so I'm going to share a story. When I was very young many many years ago my uncle Gaga Robin and his wife at the time Dana Robin were members of the Waipatu Catholic Māori Club and I want to mihi to the Mareikura whānau that are up in the public gallery—I saw some of them come through. But even though I was a staunch Anglican—very staunch to this day—I travelled with my uncle and became a member of Waipatu's junior kapa haka and that's where in all honesty and humility I came across the Mareikura whānau who descend from the people who are in the gallery here to us today. Of course I want to reflect on the recent passing of Porky Mareikura this year another descendant of the famous Mareikura whānau.So something about Kahungunu: that we were able to attract whānau from around the motu who married beautiful Kahungunu women or beautiful Kahungunu men and forgot to go home. But we are honoured as an iwi of Kahungunu to have our Ngāti Rangi whānau and the descendants who continue to contribute to both our iwi and so I want to acknowledge the hononga between the Mareikura whānau and the Ngāti Kahungunu whānau o Heretaunga.There was much talk in this House around I guess a comparison with what's been achieved in Ngāti Rangi and what they hope to achieve in Ngāpuhi. Can I say that the solution is very simple: send in a woman to do the job—send in a woman to do the job. And I think I've got that woman. Her name is Noeline Taurua—that's right. Send a woman in to do the job because if someone can turn around the Silver Ferns in 11 months then surely Noeline has something to add. But in all humility in celebrating this momentous occasion can we say congratulations to the Silver Ferns. Congratulations to the Black Caps. It is in all honesty a time to celebrate as this reading is for the people.I can't help but think of when the Minister the Hon Andrew Little shared some of the history of the Ngāti Rangi people particularly at the time when we had an influx of settlers to our country. The demand for land was high. Calls were made on the Crown to send in troops to try and obtain land. I can never ever think about the decision the tīpunas of these people had to endure about whether to join the colonial forces or not. Let's just think about that: join the colonial forces or not. So the decision was made as we heard the Minister say with a heavy heart and there have been many occasions in this country where iwi have laid down their lives. They have served this nation and yet like he said the reciprocation wasn't there.So I just wanted to reinforce what Minister Little said in acknowledging the sacrifice the hard decision Ngāti Rangi made to ensure the ongoing survival of their people. I want to acknowledge it wasn't done easily. I want to acknowledge the sacrifice that they made. In some small way in the third and final reading of this bill we're acknowledging that sacrifice.We are in the 179th year since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. I do hope that we do not take 179 years to enable the Treaty—the Tiriti o Waitangi—to actually contribute to the fabric of this country. Just last week we had this Parliament full of Youth MPs and I want to acknowledge my Youth MP Rebekah Raihānia who talked about the importance of including Treaty clauses kaupapa Māori and mātauranga Māori in legislation passed in this House. If we as a nation are going to benefit we must give due consideration to that possibility.So I am pleased like I said to stand in support and to acknowledge the people of Ngāti Rangi. I want to acknowledge particularly our rangatahi that joined us here in the gallery. We'll be long gone but your people's legacy will be just beginning and I wanted to acknowledge our rangatahi that are here today. I want to acknowledge our kaumātua and our kuia for your guidance your wisdom and your patience. This is a day to celebrate. It is a day to move to foresee the vision that I know many of our tīpuna that aren't here today have for your people for our people and for the nation as a whole. I'm proud to stand in support of the third and final reading of the Ngāti Rangi Claims Settlement Bill. I commend it to the House.