Jones ShaneHon SHANE JONES (Minister of Forestry): E ngā mātua e ngā pūkenga e ngā mārohirohi mai i Te Mānia Roa Te Kāhui Maunga māku te kī ko te whenua anuanu haere mai haere mai haere mai. Tēnei mātou te mihi atu ki a koutou atu i ngā kanohi Māori me ō mātou hoa Pākehā mō te kaupapa i whakarauika mai ai tātou ki konei i tēnei rā. Hei whakatatū i tēnei wahanga o te hīkoi hei muhu i tētahi hara i utaina ki runga i te whenua i utaina anō hoki ki runga i ngā pakihiwi o ō koutou mātua. I ahau i tamariki koinā anō tā mātou i mōhio ai mō tō koutou rohe he whenua makariri. Me te mātau ētahi o ō mātou kaumātua o Ngā Puhi i haere ki te ako i a koutou me pēhea te tope rākau. Pērā i a Sonny Pēhi wēnā tāngata kuhukuhu i tō rātou wā. Nā reira me mihi atu ahau ki a koutou tōku rangatira te hōnore Winitana e tautoko ana me whakatutuki e tātou tahi i roto i tēnei Whare te kaupapa i tēnei ahiahi. Nō reira tēnā koutou kata.[To the elders the skilled ones the tenacious ones from the central plateau Te Kāhui Maunga and I would say from the cold lands welcome welcome thrice welcome. We acknowledge you from both the Māori members and our Pākehā colleagues for the purpose which has brought us all together here today; to complete this part of the journey to correct a wrong which was imposed on the land and imposed on the shoulders of your forefathers.When I was a child that was all we knew about your tribal area; it is a cold place. And we also knew that some of our elders from Ngā Puhi went to teach you how to chop trees down. The likes of Sonny Pēhi those people who were involved in their time. Therefore I rightly acknowledge you my leader the honourable Winston for supporting; it should be executed in this House the focus of this afternoon. Therefore greetings to you all.]A few Māori words to welcome and acknowledge the turnout today by Ngāti Rangi. A number of us were brought up on various stories and one story—you've got to be careful when you're a Māori from the north talking about Māoris from the south but I'm a politician today so I'll say what I like. A story is that a cluster of maunga existed in a slightly unhappy state of being in the centre of Te Ika-a-Māui. Depending on what story you tell either Pīhanga Maunga a beautiful maiden or another story Ruapehu. Taranaki was feisty unsuccessful in capturing the affections of the female maunga—something I do not hope to experience in an electoral sense. Taranaki paved its way thus leaving the current natural landscape features of the Wanganui River the Te Ngaere wetlands and Tongariro was victorious. Ruapehu according to this story looks still with a great deal of affection to Taranaki. Pīhanga in another story was eventually won over by Tongariro and actually retained and passed on in the words of the waiata very famous in this part of Aotearoa around what we call in English the volcanic plateau broadly speaking o Te Mānia Roa E hū rā i Tongariro Ka mahana i taku kiriNā Rangi mai anō i mārenaKo Pīhanga te wahine Ai pua ai hau ai marangaiKōkiri e[Bubbling up at Tongariro To warm my body.It was our father the Sky who marriedPihanga as his wifeMaking the rain the winds and the western storms.Go forth my love.]I sing with a somewhat sketchy memory from my time at St Stephen's the final verse of that waiata because kōkiri means charge forward" and that's the challenge as we stand shoulder to shoulder with Ngāti Rangi and their whanaunga that whilst we as Māori have had a proud history of protest of resistance we've also learnt to cope with the politics of compromise. This most certainly as Mr Tirikatene has said was a compromise. It's a compromise that reflects the cultural political and economic reality that besets those of us who do still support the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process.I think all New Zealanders should doff their caps. Part of the whenua was gifted to Ngāti Rangi and then as part of the compromise it was gifted back to Aotearoa. We've seen this gesture on numerous occasions but despite frequently being written about in Government reports it is very infrequently spoken about on talkback radio. This in many respects is the essence of how this House helps enact this legislation after the various negotiations select committee process voluminous accounts of departmental reports—that it's an affirmation of mana whenua it's an affirmation of indigenous identity and it's an affirmation of spirit. So our party we most certainly support the passage of this legislation. It ought to be something that enjoys a bipartisan spirit a spirit of collaboration and companionship. I know that you're all very very industrious Catholics so with that spirit of collaboration pray for my tribe Ngāpuhi. Thank you very much."