Henare PeeniPEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Thank you for this opportunity. I rise to take a short call on the Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill and I want to congratulate our colleague Catherine Delahunty on being brave and bringing this particular bill in front of the House. On 14 September 1975 Dame Whina Cooper departed the Far North. That picture of her walking down a lonely dirt road holding her mokopuna's hand is now famous worldwide and the catch cry of that protest was Not one more acre"—not one more acre. I think this particular bill is a brave step to make that cry known again to say: "Not one more acre." Mr Bennett speaks about those landowners who have been affected in the past by the Public Works Act and says they should just suck it up and move on.David Bennett: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I am going to warn the member that I cannot see a valid point of order and I am going to warn the member that if he does not make a valid point of order he will be withdrawing and apologising.David Bennett: OK. I think you know what I meant.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Disagreeing with a member does not give rise to a point of order. It is called a debate—that is what we are having.PEENI HENARE: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I come from a small place called Ōrauta approximately 45 minutes north of Whangarei. The Public Works Act took large tracts of my family land—the farm our neighbour's farm—to build a railway. That railway was taken out of commission after years of operation. It was taken out of commission and it sat idle for no less than 12 years—12 years—and my family fought long and hard to get that land given back to our family. It runs right along our farm formerly owned by us taken by the Public Works Act and that particular railway sat idle for 12 years. We got no explanation nobody told us what they were going to use the land for it was still fenced off we were not allowed to go on it and all of a sudden it is now a cycleway. But for those 12 years nobody knew what was going to happen with it—nobody knew what was going to happen with it. We begged local members of Parliament we begged the council and we begged ministry officials and asked them to return that land to us—to return that land to us. Interestingly enough that particular railway also ran through what used to be known as the Kāwiti station—also taken under the Public Works Act. After the Kāwiti station was decommissioned they kept the land took out all of the scoria and it changed from the Kāwiti station to the ballast pit—all part of my family land. The Public Works Act has had a significant effect on Māori people. The research tells us now that Māori-owned land is just under 5 percent—just under 5 percent. It is my job—and certainly the job of this House—to ensure that that number does not decrease any more. However I do temper that contribution by also saying that our country is growing. We do need to grow. We know what the issues are around housing we do know that infrastructure is a big problem here in Aotearoa New Zealand and in order for us to be competitive and to grow we must make parts of land available for that growth. However given the injustices suffered by Māori for many many years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi I support this bill. I say that it is a good brave step for this Parliament to ensure that no more land is taken without good reason—without good reason—so that families like the Henare family of the Ōrauta valley do not lose large tracts of their land for in the first instance a railway that sat idle for far too long and now for a cycleway. I just want to say thank you Catherine Delahunty for bringing this bill to the House. We support it in the Labour Party and we look forward to support right across the House. Kia ora."