Parata Hekia: Obituaries — Sir Graham LatimerText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParata Hekia: Obituaries — Sir Graham Latimer[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11769. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):I seek leave to move a motion without notice on the passing of Sir Graham Latimer.Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.Hon HEKIA PARATA: I move That this House mark the passing of Sir Graham Latimer. Reo Māori i te tuatahi kua hinga he kauri nui o Te Tai Tokerau kua pōuri katoa mātou i raro i tērā rākau. Ko tāku ko tātou pea me kī haere haere haere atu rā okioki pai e te rangatira.[In the Māori language in the first instance a huge kauri of Northland has fallen and we are all saddened beneath that tree. I and perhaps we say depart travel on go forth and rest well esteemed one.]Sir Graham Latimer strode tall as a New Zealander—certainly as a Māori New Zealander but also as a New Zealander. He was a husband a father a grandfather a railway worker a soldier a farmer and some might think a somewhat unlikely leader who rose through the ranks of local leadership and emerged on the national scene.He had the distinction of holding responsibilities in the New Zealand Māori Council an organisation of some force for many years both as the district chair in Tai Tokerauand then as the president of the New Zealand Māori Council which was a position that he held for 40 years until 2012. He was also a National Party candidate in his time in what we all know to be the very challenging electorate of Te Tai Tokerau. He was unsuccessful in that regard but he went on to be an officeholder in the National Party where he was both provocative and uniting which I think is a theme of the work that he undertook on the wider national scene.He held many first positions in a number of very iconic and influential bodies in our country. He was one of the first three members to be appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal. He was knighted in 1980 and then he went on to take a case against the Government of the time and he won a landmark decision. It was known as the lands case where the Court of Appeal instructed that on the basis of that success the then Government could not proceed with its State-owned enterprises policy unless and until it found a way of protecting assets that might be returned under a Treaty settlement process.The reason I know that much detail is that I was one of the advisers to the Lange-Palmer Government of that era and I often sat across the table from Sir Graham Latimer and other notables of that time: Sir Robert Māhuta—tēnā koe Nanaia—Matiu Rata and Sir Tīpene O’Regan. These were all leaders from different parts of the country who advanced the cause of making the Treaty of Waitangi a core part of our considerations in our country. He was a wily old fox I have to say and I enjoyed the battle of wits which he won most of the time.That case led on to a number of developments that we now consider very much part and parcel of the infrastructure of our country. It led on to a substantial Treaty settlement process. It led to the establishment of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust. It led to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission. These were all economic assets that he was very much involved with but his efforts were not constrained to economic assets. He was equally interested in the viability and sustainability of Te Reo Māori and was engaged in the cases that sought broadcasting outcomes on radio and television—again somewhat unlikely because I do not think I ever heard him speak Te Reo Māori and even in English he was given to a laconic turn of phrase.He was extremely pragmatic and opportunistic ensuring that there was always some gain out of the effort put in. And those efforts cumulatively have resulted in a very solid platform for progress and advancement for our country.He was very fortunate I think to be married to a wonderful woman Lady Emily who sadly passed away last year who was the personification of dignity loyalty and graciousness and was by his side all through those years.He was very engaged in the Anglican Church and had a very strong faith.I think his greatest legacy to us given his much avowed public political leanings is that he nevertheless straddled the entire political spectrum because he was interested in results and outcomes. He said at one time—and I am not quoting him accurately—“Yes what we are doing taking these court cases and winning is providing a basis for ongoing conversation and where is the harm in that? Māori and Pākehā should be able to speak to each other and find better ways of development for our country.”So he leaves a very strong legacy. He leaves—[Interruption]—do I have to shut up? Oh sorry. He leaves a very strong legacy in all that he has done and we see that in these iconic institutions that make up our landscape now. We can see them in the production of the assets that Māori are now in control of. We see it in the language and the broadcasting instruments that we take for granted. I am sure we join with his family not just in mourning his passing—because he lived to 90 years of age with a huge string of achievements—but also celebrating his life. We should thank him for the contribution that he has made to the ongoing conversation of who we are as a bicultural multicultural multilingual modern New Zealand nation. Tēnā koutou haere atu rā e pā ngā mihi nui ki a koutou kia ora![Greetings to you collectively farewell sir and huge acknowledgments and thanks to all!]