Coffey TamatiTAMATI COFFEY (Labour—Waiariki): Tēnā koe te Māngai o tēnei Whare kōrero ki a rātou kua wehe atu ki te pō puta noa i te motu haere haere haere atu rā. I te 31 tau ki muri i whakamanahia te Pire Reo Māori arā ko te Māori Language Act 1987. Ā ko te hua o tēnei pire i kīia he mana tō Te Reo Māori he mana anō hoki tō te tangata e kōrero ana i tēnei reo ātaahua rawa atu. I whakamanahia tēnei reo i raro i te maru o te kāwanatanga o tērā wā. Mai rā anō kua whakapau werawera te tini me te mano ki te whakarauora i tō tātou nei reo nō reira rau rangatira mā tēnei te mihi maioha ki a koutou.[Greetings to the Speaker of this House of debate to those who have departed to the place of the spirits throughout the country go go rest in peace. Thirty-one years ago the Māori Language Bill was passed—namely the Māori Language Act 1987. The result of this bill is that the Māori language has legal effect and that the people who speak this incredibly beautiful language also have status. This language was recognised under the auspices of the Government of that time. Ever since many people have expended much effort to revive our language; therefore my esteemed leaders this is an appreciative acknowledgment of you all.]Thirty-one years ago Māori language became an official language of New Zealand. Although it was 31 years ago we are still pushing for a very official status of our reo. It doesn't come easily but we are champions for it now and it's time—31 years later—for us to remember those whose shoulders we stand on as they too were pioneers in this field. It's at a time like this that I want to cast minds back to the time of Koro Wētere's tangihanga and how far we've come because of the moves that he made here in this very House.Koro Wētere answered in Te Reo Māori in this House of Representatives and he was ruled out of order. Now today Te Reo Māori is not only spoken but also sung right here in the debating chamber. At times it's also expected to be sung too. I wait ambitiously for the time to arrive—maybe not in my lifetime but some time in the future—when the majority of members of Parliament in this House are apt enough to be able to stand and speak in both languages: the language of our tupuna and also English as well.We acknowledge those people who have gone before us. We are not complacent however. We owe it to those champions of Te Reo Māori from those days but also to those ones today who continue to grow Te Reo Māori and also invest in our nation's reo journey. It's with that said that I would like to absolutely shout about the moves that this Government is committed to in terms of making Te Reo Māori something that we can integrate into our daily lives starting with early learning and starting with our schools. That goal has been set by this Government as being 2025.Having Te Reo Māori interspersed into our schools and early learning and to our primary schools—I've canvassed this issue widely throughout my electorate and when we talked about it it was often talked about as in compulsory Te Reo Māori in schools. I was pulled up by one of the kuia at one of the marae I went to out in the backblocks of Te Waimana. She said to me Stop calling it compulsory. Our language is a taonga it's to be respected. We never want to think that we're shoving it down anybody's throat. As we move forward as a country I'd like to think that you had a bit more respect for it and actually just put it into our schools. Treasure it for the treasure that it absolutely is."Based on that this year's Budget was the start of the Government's work towards this. We are giving $16 million over four years to two reo Māori initiatives with the first one being Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori which will support teachers to deliver Te Reo Māori in the classrooms. It will support all teachers: those already teaching Te Reo and those who have the potential but may not have the confidence right now.The aim of the second initiative which is Te Kawa Matakura is to develop a programme and qualification for secondary students who exhibit excellence in Te Ao Māori and more specifically mātauranga Māori—Te Reo me ōna tikanga.Recently I heard our Minister—Minister Davis—talking about a bilingual Aotearoa. It reminded me of a couple of kaimahi that I've got and I will spend the next 50 seconds talking about them. One of them is very fluent in Te Reo Māori—me ōna tikanga and I got great pleasure when at a recent marae hui the koroua asked me who she was. I managed to say "She is Ngāti Pākehā." She's somebody that goes to hui regularly and goes to tangihanga. She's immersed herself in Te Ao Māori and ahakoa he Pākehā tana toto he ngākau Māori tāna. [She's immersed herself in the Māori world and although her blood is Pākehā her heart is Māori.]So she's one person down one end of the spectrum.The other one that I'd like to talk to you about is my kaimahi back in Rotorua who has just started on her Te Reo Māori journey. She looks forward to every Monday because she gets to go to her Te Reo Māori class which she's put off for so long. It is a treasure and I will always be a champion for it. Kia ora."