Davidson MaramaHon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence): E te Pīka o te Whare ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori. I tērā wiki nā te kore noho o tēnei Whare i kore ai tātou i mihi ki ngā kaihāpai o te reo Māori. I kore ai tātou ngā mema Pāremata i mihi ki Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori i roto i tēnei Whare ā tēnā taku tino kaupapa i te tautohetohe nei.Ko te mea tuatahi me āta mihi tātou ki Ngā Tamatoa me Te Rōpū Reo Māori ngā wāhine toa pērā ki a Hannah Te Hemana Dr Linda Smith Rīpeka Evans mā arā ko rātou katoa i whakarite i kōkiri i whakatakoto hoki i te petihana mō te reo Māori ki te Whare Pāremata i te tau 1972. Āe ko taku pāpā tētahi o rātou i taua wā. Engari i taua wā korekore kīhai te katoa i tautoko i te kaupapa. Nā te patu o te Karauna te mataku o ngāi Māori kia kōrero i te reo rangatira. Nā tēnā pāmamae kīhai te katoa o te ao Māori i tautoko i te kaupapa engari i haere tonu a Hannah Te Hemara mā. Ka tae ana te tekau mā whā o Hepetema 1972 ā ka tau mai te wairua kaha me te kotahitanga. I tērā wā i kōrero taku pāpā ki te hunga pāpāhō. Ko te mea nui e hiahia ana mātou ko te kitenga a te marea i te oranga o te reo Māori ka mutu kāhore e tūpono nei ka mate; kei te ora pai te reo Māori. [Last week because the House was not sitting we did not acknowledge the champions of the Māori language. We did not as members of Parliament acknowledge in this House Māori Language Week and that is the subject of this debate.Firstly we should openly acknowledge Ngā Tamatoa and the Te Reo Māori Society the powerful women such as Hannah Te Hemana Dr Linda Smith Rīpeka Evans and others—that is all of those who organised championed and presented the Māori language petition to the House of Parliament in the year 1972. Yes my father was one of them at that time. But at that time not everyone supported the issue. Because of Crown subjugation Māori were frightened of speaking their noble language. As a result of that trauma not everyone in the Māori world supported this issue either but Hannah Te Hemara and others persisted. By 14 September 1972 there prevailed a strong unity of spirit. At that time my father talked to the media. The main thing we wanted was for the public to see that the Māori language was alive it hadn't just disappeared and died; the Māori language was alive and well.]Mr Speaker I talk to mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori as I mentioned in my tribute to the Queen's passing last week that the House was not going to get to that once-in-a-50-year opportunity to mark the te reo Māori petition and all those who have fought and continue to fight to uphold te reo today. Directly relevant to this time and to the fight for te reo is the focus on the monarchy right at this very moment here and around the world.For here in Aotearoa as I have said the conversation is for constitutional transformation. What would Aotearoa look like if Te Tiriti was recognised and honoured in our constitutional arrangements and throughout our communities and society? The work to decolonise and re-indigenise Aotearoa is the conversation for this place regardless of what is happening on the other side of the world. It is not a new conversation. It is one that we have to be brave to continue to have and believe in the hope of constitutional transformation—the proper sharing of power.Simeon Brown: That's not what the Treaty says.Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: That is how Māori understand constitutional transformation. In Parliament we have to remove the fear and ignorance about Te Tiriti which is eliciting and highlighting itself here today in this very House. For far too long Parliament has had years of being misinformed—Simon Watts: He was giving you some advice.Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: —and I'm hearing it right now on this side of the House. So the Māori experiences of powerlessness we also know are not the only ones and that is the political discussion to be having. There is so much hope and guidance and wisdom in Te Ao Māori values that will soothe the pathway of a constitutional transformation to keep building allies and the message of working together.I want to acknowledge Ka Tū Kotahi Tātou a solidarity movement standing outside the Christchurch District Court right now to stand with love and to fight Islamophobia with a current case that is going through for people with deep hatred and ignorance sharing some of the most heinous footage about a white supremacy terror that happened to our earth here to our whenua here. That is manaakitanga in action. Those are the values that Matike Mai and the work of transforming Aotearoa have always held up. That is the beauty of Māori-led conversations about what Aotearoa can truly look like if it acknowledges He Whakaputanga the tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake of Māori over our whenua.Earlier before I heard a colleague from the National Party Ms Pugh talking about Leave our land alone." and I go way further and say give our land back—hoki whenua mai. If we want to be clear about Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori hoki whenua mai—give our land back as part of the process of constitutional transformation. And for what? To be able to care for it look after it share it in a way that upholds all of our mokopuna not just a few. Kia ora Mr Speaker.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."