Rurawhe AdrianADRIAN RURAWHE (Labour—Te Tai Hauāuru): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Otirā tēnā tātou e Te Whare. I just want to acknowledge first of all Marama Fox for bringing this bill to the House.It has been a very interesting debate. So far all of the points that I have heard—I have heard a lot of points supposedly against this bill but they sound like points that are for the bill and the issues that are raised are issues that could be discussed at a select committee. That is why I stand in support of this bill. I think it is a great idea to have that discussion around what is the content not only of the oath that we take in this Parliament but of every oath and declaration. I think it is a discussion that we should actually have and the right place for that to take place is at a select committee. I encourage everyone to actually vote for that opportunity. We should have that opportunity.We have heard a lot about the Treaty of Waitangi and about irrational fear. In 1975 there was some irrational fear around the Treaty of Waitangi Act which the then Labour Government passed and there were a lot of things said at that time about what would happen. Then in 1985 again when it was amended so that claims could be taken right back to 1840 there was some more irrational fear. At that time people were talking about It's going to bankrupt the country. It's going to do all sorts of things." and now we can sit in this House and have rational debates about Treaty settlement claims which the whole House supports. That is the importance of the Treaty but it also shows how our attitude towards the Treaty of Waitangi has changed over the last 40 years. This bill is another way that we can give expression to the Treaty of Waitangi.I was really interested to hear my colleague Kelvin Davis talk about his whakapapa. When we swore allegiance to the Queen her heirs and successors I did not realise that we might be swearing allegiance to his whānau because if what he said is right then he could very well be an heir or successor to the Queen.I really support this bill. In 1996 Tariana Turia actually swore allegiance to the Treaty of Waitangi. She was the first one to do that and she got away with it.Marama Fox: Did the House fall down?ADRIAN RURAWHE: Did anything change? Well no not really but it was an expression for her to let the whole world know that the kaupapa she was standing on was the Treaty of Waitangi. I believe that I should have that opportunity as well and every other member who wants to express that should have that opportunity as well. When I did take the oath in this House I put my hand on the Bible and in my other hand I held a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi. I wanted to give my own personal expression to both the Bible and the Treaty—my faith and my kaupapa that I believe in. That is the way I did it. I would have loved to have the opportunity to say those words—to say that I would undertake the work of a member of Parliament under the kaupapa of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I strongly believe that every one of us should have the opportunity to do that.I also believe that those irrational fears that are being articulated belong in 1975 not in 2016. So I encourage every single one of us in this Whare to examine the words that are coming out of our mouths and match them up with our actions. The words that I am hearing from the members opposite about this bill do not match up to their action of not voting for it. Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa."