Fox Marama: Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFox Marama: Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 20 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3500. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe e te ManaWhakawā. Tuatahi kei te hiahia au ki te tautoko i ngā mihi kua mihia i tēnei pō ki tērā o ngā tohunga o ngā rangatira kua hinga i tērā wiki. Ko koe tēnā e Ērima. Kua haere atu koe ki ngā ringa mahana o te Atua ki te taha o ō tūpuna tō pāpā ngā rangatira o Ngāti Hine ngā rangatira i whakarite nei i tēnei whenua mō tātau katoa i roto i te Tiriti āe. Anō nā kai te hiahia au ki te tautoko i ngā mihi kua mihia ki tērā o tana tama a Peeni. I tū ia ki te kōrero i te pō nei ā kua kite au i te mamae i te taumahatanga kai runga tonu i a ia. Kai raro tonu a ia i te kapua pōuri me tana whānau ā te whānau pani. Nā reira ki a koutou o Ngāti Hine āe kua ngaro tēnei rangatira. Kua ara mai tētahi hei whai i ōna tapuwae ā tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou o Ngāti Hine o Ngāpuhi te wāhi o te tīmatatanga te whānautanga o tēnei whenua ki Waitangi.[Thank you Mr Speaker. First I want to endorse the tributes accorded this evening to that one of the skilled and revered ones who collapsed last week. I am referring to you Ērima. You have gone to the warmth of God’s arms to be with your ancestors your father the esteemed ones of Ngāti Hine and the noble ones who arranged in the Treaty that this country be for all of us—yes! I also want to support the tributes accorded by Peeni that one of his sons. He stood to speak this evening and I could see that the pain and burden is still upon him. He and his family the bereaved family are still under a cloud of remorse. Therefore to you of Ngāti Hine yes this leader is gone. Someone will rise up and follow in his footsteps and I commend you of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi the starting place and birthplace of this country at Waitangi.]Kia ora. I want to add my voice to the kōrero tonight about Waitangi and its importance and its relevance to this country. When I travelled to Waitangi this year the first time as an MP with the Government my mother actually scolded me and said: “Where are you going to be? I need you here in Carterton because we are going to celebrate Waitangi here in Carterton with our whanau as we have done in Masterton Wairarapa for years.” I said: “Well actually Mum I will be a few steps behind the Prime Minister at Waitangi trying not to get hit with any flying projectiles.”And so it was that I travelled there to the birthplace of this nation—and that is how it was described by all who were there. All who were in attendance described Waitangi as the birthplace. And yet when I got off the plane having not been to Waitangi since I was a girl I looked for the sign that would show me the way—and there was none. There was a sign that said Paihia—or Paihea? Pai?Kelvin Davis: Paihia.MARAMA FOX: Paihia. Right. Well I did not know where that was. I had to get out my Google map on my phone to find my way because there is no signage pointing out the most historic place of our nation the birthplace of our nation where a partnership was formed. And so I think that needs to be addressed.But today we address the partnership that is the Māori trust board—the Waitangi National Trust Board not the Māori trust board just on its own but as a partnership of Māori and Pākehā coming together. Yes for me the biggest thing in doing this was to address the representation and make sure that it was equitable. Everybody has talked about it. We had four families being represented by one representative on the Māori side and three families each being represented by three representatives.Yes there is going to be a review. I want to acknowledge the Hon Maggie Barry who worked with us and briefed us on the important matters of the Waitangi National Trust Board so that we could ensure that there was equitable representation. She listened and she made the amendments and now we have an equitable process going forward. Yes the review may in time change that. But we felt that we could not let another day go on another week go on another year go on while the review took place where a glaring inequity would continue. I want to acknowledge the members of the Māori Affairs Committee who worked together to ensure that not one more minute would go by with that inequity continuing.I also want to acknowledge our member on the Māori Affairs Committee Pita Paraone who as everybody has stated has worked tirelessly in this area. And though there may be some issues about representation going forward about who in those families will come forward to row this waka together I am sure that we need to put our faith in the people that democracy will out that they will continue to uphold the mana of this place as the birthplace of our nation and do the wonderful job that has been done to this point to ensure that those grounds that area continue to thrive and represent our nation as a sparkling example as they do at this time. Kia ora e te Mana Whakawā. I commend this bill to the House.