Parata Hekia: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Parata Hekia: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5340] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
:  
E Te Mana Whakawa nga mema Paremata e te tungane Mahara tena koutou huri noa i tenei Whare. Ki a Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika tenei au e tu ana i te whakaiti i te honore i te whakahihi i te oranga ngakau i runga ano i enei kaupapa katoa ki te mihi ki a koutou nga kanohi o ratou kua hipa atu i te tatau o Hine-Nui-te-Po tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa kua to mai nei ki tenei Whare i runga i tenei kaupapa ataahua i tenei ahiahi. E tautoko ana ahau i nga mihi kua mihia ki a koutou e tangi hoki ahau mo ratou kare e taea te noho ki waenganui i a koutou me te maumahara kei konei katoa ratou i runga i te wairua pai ki te tautoko i tenei ra whakahirahira tenei ra whakahonore a ehara i te mea i a koutou anake engari me ki i a tatou katoa nga iwi o Aotearoa whanui. No reira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker members of Parliament brother Mahara and to you throughout this House greetings. To you Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika I stand before you in humility with honour pride and absolutely happy inside about all these matters. As I acknowledge you faces of those who have passed through the doorway of the Great Maiden of the Night greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all who have arrived in this House this afternoon for this admirable matter. I endorse the acknowledgments bestowed upon you and mourn those not able to be in your midst but remembering that they are all here spiritually to support this great and honourable day not just for you but let us say for all of us the tribes of New Zealand at large. So greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all 
.] 
I rise to support the third reading of the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill. My colleagues have spoken before me about much of the content of the bill; I rise simply to endorse all the sentiments that have been expressed here today. The bill represents a culmination of a history and herstory of which many parts are shameful but the fact that it has culminated in this agreement allows honour to be restored not only to Taranaki Whanui but also to the Crown. That is one of the key features of the Treaty settlements. They allow us to put back together the relationship that was originally envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi or to at least begin again that process. 
Treaty settlements do not mark the end of a relationship they simply signal a milestone that has been achieved in a relationship that has stuttered and faltered and now must begin again stronger for all those challenges wiser for all those challenges and with some small support because we all know that Treaty settlements can never recompense people for all that was taken from them and for the lost opportunity of the things that were taken from them. But it is a beginning a new beginning. 
This Treaty settlement is not about restoring Taranaki Whanui’s rangatiratanga because no one can take that away from them or from us. We all carry with us our everyday rangatiratanga but what Treaty settlements allow us to do is to get on and execute tino rangatiratanga practically rather than talking about it singing about it and waving flags about it—actually practising it. 
The responsibility of leading falls hard upon the shoulders of those who take that responsibility. Negotiating claims is not an easy matter. People are making judgment calls all the way and all through that process they must try to keep together the collective no matter how difficult and how turbulent the path. 
It is a tribute to all of Taranaki Whanui that they are at this stage today. I look forward to seeing the revival of the narratives and the stories of all the history and herstory of Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara that Taranaki Whanui’s tipuna endowed on the place names and landmarks of the geography and topography of this area. They and their descendants will go on not only to build new stories of achievements and contributions to the citizenship of this city and this country but also to contribute to our position in the global set of villages that we now occupy. 
I thank all Taranaki Whanui very much for having the patience and tolerance to commit to the process. I celebrate with them having achieved this stage and I look forward to working with them and supporting them in whatever way I can in the pathways they carve ahead of them. This is a day yes of sadness for those who have not been able to be here but it is also a great day of celebration that Taranaki Whanui allow us to share with them. No reira tena koutou tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa.