McClay ToddHon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora e Te Whare and to our visitors from far and wide from Rotorua may I bid you also a welcome.It gives me real pleasure—a real privilege—to speak on this bill to transfer ownership of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute from the Crown to iwi. I recognise the speech of the honourable Minister and won't go into detail about exactly the depths of what the bill does—she has described and explained that so very very well. But I did want to recognise that as I look to the gallery around us including my colleagues across the Chamber it's almost everybody of importance from Rotorua who has visited Wellington today. Not all are people of importance—there will still be a handful left at home—but it does show a mark of respect to the importance of the work that we do here for so many to have come and to have visited. I bid you a welcome but you don't need a welcome—this is your House as much as it is everybody else's.I think it's important that we recognise the bipartisan approach that this House is showing—all parties—to this legislation. It shows the importance of it. When we return home and we have people who have watched Parliament on TV it doesn't always appear that we can work together but when there are issues of importance and when we are able to do the right thing together it is always the case that this House can do so. So I'm very pleased that we will see when we vote later today—my assumption—a unanimous view of the importance of this relationship and that we can take that message back to the Bay of Plenty and to Rotorua about the view that Parliament and its representatives have of this legislation and what it will achieve.I'd like to acknowledge the work of Te Ururoa Flavell who represented the Waiariki electorate in Parliament from 2005 to 2017. Indeed I remember before the last election so many people saying he was the best member of Parliament that the Waiariki electoral district had ever had. I had an opportunity to see him and have a brief meal with him last night. He jested—he joked—that he still was the very best one that they had had. He said that with a smile and in good humour.The reason I recognise that is because serving as the Māori Party co-leader from 2013 and the Minister for Māori Development from 2014 to 2017 in August of 2017 Minister Flavell as the Māori development Minister along with the Whakarewarewa Joint Trust's Malcolm Short as a representative signed the vesting agreement in a marae at Te Puia which ultimately will lead to the transfer of the ownership of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute from the Crown to iwi. I was privileged to be invited and I sat and witnessed that. It wasn't clear to all that were there or those that heard or read about it afterwards the significance of that occasion and the effort and great work and vision that Minister Flavell had put in to make sure that that could happen. It's important we recognise that.The legislation before the House which vests the institute in Te Puia Ltd Partnership is a significant step in strengthening the relationship between the Crown Wāhiao Tūhourangi and Ngāti Whakauē. It's also important for Rotorua because Te Puia is a vibrant business but it is an icon not of tourism but of much that we stand for there. The Whakarewarewa Valley of 60 hectares has more than 500 geothermal phenomena and attractions. I've researched and found or been told that Te Puia means gushing water and steaming vents" and for hundreds of years that has been the reputation that it has given. Guiding in the valley traces back 140 years. The famous Pōhutu Geyser more frequently the kiwi house—and to recognise I think in our local newspaper today the effort that Te Puia is going to around the preservation of kiwi and the plans that are there to ensure that kiwi are vibrant and remain throughout New Zealand.Rotorua attracts around 3 million tourists each year. More than half a million people visit Te Puia every year. I mention this because for many the Whakarewarewa Valley and Te Puia are about tourism. But on the very many occasions previously when I have had visitors from overseas come to visit Government and I bring them to Rotorua we've had the opportunity to bring them to Te Puia and the part of the experience they have enjoyed as much as if not more than these natural attractions is the culture and history and richness and the story that is told there.Iwi have been instrumental in the operational success of Te Puia as a business but more so in the creation the vision and delivery of opportunity through the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. This has occurred by supporting the retention and development of ahurea and toi Māori as well as providing training for so many. The vesting agreement and this legislation completes a process of recognising the significance of culture tradition and historical and spiritual association of Ngāti Whakaue and Wāhiao Tūhourangi with the area and with Te Puia.The Minister mentioned that not all have arrived in the same place and there remains a small group that are yet to make the final steps of that vision. Can I encourage all involved to continue the process of discussion because through discussion and understanding ultimately everybody can arrive in the same place.When I first became the member of Parliament for Rotorua one of the first approaches I had was from representatives of different groups within the valley. We had long conversations and I remember saying at the time "It's not my role to tell people what to do. It is to listen and to learn and then to help join others as they make these courageous steps forward." So whilst in Parliament we get to cast our vote today and take great pride in that it is those who over many many years have shown leadership and discussion and understanding and persuasion and who have banged the table when they had to but learnt not to in other cases when it was important who have led us here today.The Māori Arts and Crafts Institute has a reputation for providing some of Māoridom's best master carvers weavers and sculptors. The vesting agreement helps to ensure the protection of this legacy for future generations. It's my privilege on behalf the National Party to confirm we will be supporting this bill today in every stage and it's our hope that very early in the new year we can finish with the procedures of Parliament and pass this into law. Kia ora."