Upston Louise: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill — Third Reading 
Upston Louise: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1487] 
LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupo) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa tena koe e te Whare. Rau rangatira ma tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra. Tena koutou nga iwi o Ngati Maniapoto tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. E te Minita tino rawe e te kaitiakitanga o nga take pera ra i te Tiriti o Waitangi no reira e te Whare Miere kia ora. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Speaker and the House. Leaders of a hundredfold I acknowledge you in respect of the matter of the day. To the people of Ngati Maniapoto salutations acknowledgments and greetings to you all. To the Minister you are truly a great guardian of matters like those relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. Therefore I acknowledge the Beehive and thank you. 
] 
This is another proud day for this House. It is a proud day as we complete more settlements that have been outstanding for not just years but decades. This Government has signed 22 deeds of settlement since we came into office in November 2008 and today will go down as another milestone in our progress towards all settlements. Settlements recognise the rights and wrongs of the past and have an important part in strengthening the relationship between the Crown and iwi.  
I want to use the words of my colleague and the chair of the Maori Affairs Committee the Hon Tau Henare who said in a recent settlement speech that we cannot call New Zealand a truly democratic society until all of our nation’s sores have been healed. So today is another big step forward in healing our nation and in this case those surrounding the Waipa River.  
Today is also a significant day for me as the member of Parliament for Taupo. The Waikato River connects the people of my electorate from Turangi in the south to Cambridge in the north. And as the Waipa is the Waikato River’s largest tributary in length 116 kilometres your river connects to the one I represent. This bill is an important companion to the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill which was first introduced in April 2010. So this is the final piece of the puzzle that gives effect to the co-governance arrangements for the Waikato River.  
We recognise that the Waipa River is a significant contributor to the waters of the Lower Waikato River and to social cultural and environmental as well as economic well-being across the entire region. We recognise Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch that this river is your taonga and that the relationship with the river lies at the heart of Maniapoto’s spiritual and physical well-being.  
The involvement in co-governance and co-management of the Waipa River is a key aspect of the longer-term sustainability of the Waipa River both for today and for future generations. I see friends and partners in the gallery who are also working in important work to clean up the Waikato River and I acknowledge their presence in the gallery. I also want to acknowledge the presence of the Hon John Luxton who is the co-chair of the Waikato River Authority. It was just on Saturday that I attended the Raukawa 25th year celebrations and it was great to see a public display of the progress that the Waikato River Authority has been making.  
So this is a proud day for this House. The settlements help to unlock the economic potential for iwi. It is a significant boost for regions—in this case the Waikato region the greater region—and also assists in very small communities as well as the wider region and also our nation. It is clearly part of our priority as the Government in ensuring that we build a more competitive and productive economy. So let us celebrate this day together. Kia ora.