Bidois DanDAN BIDOIS (National—Northcote): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. Te Whare e tū nei tēnā koe. Te papa e takoto nei tēnā koe. Ngā mate haere haere haere. Ngā reo ngā mana tēnā koutou katoa.[Greetings Madam Speaker. To the House that is before me greetings. To the land on which we stand greetings. Those who have passed farewell farewell farewell. To the many spokespeople representatives of the people greetings to you one and all.]It's a pleasure to rise and speak at the first reading of the Ahuriri Hapū Claims Settlement Bill. I would certainly like to extend a very warm welcome to everybody from the Ahuriri hapū who has come here today to hear this historic occasion in the House of Parliament.I'd also like to just reflect on where we're at in this process because this has been a long time coming; the redress that we're seeking here today through this bill stems from the 1800s. It was only in about 2013 that this deed was actually agreed to and it is the work of the previous National Government. I would like to acknowledge the Hon Chris Finlayson who if he's not here is probably sitting at home watching this debate because—Hon Meka Whaitiri: He's watching you Dan.DAN BIDOIS: —he's watching; he's watching us now—this is a matter of personal significance to him and his ministry and I do just want to acknowledge the work that he's done because through the previous nine years we signed 56 agreements.Hon Nathan Guy: How many?DAN BIDOIS: 56—56 deeds of settlement were signed in the previous nine years. So it's really great to see the current Government continue this good work but I do want to acknowledge that this has been a bipartisan effort from both sides of the House to settle these grievances and to hopefully pave the way for future economic and cultural prosperity for hapū and iwi throughout the country.Look about the bill—we've heard today about the wrongs that this bill essentially apologises for. But I just want to run through some of those specifically. So this bill seeks to acknowledge the acts and omissions that have led to the people of the Ahuriri hapū feeling like they're landless throughout the many years since their land was taken the many instances of just taking away that land and also the cultural significance of taking that away in terms of what it meant for loss of economic opportunities from that land. We all know now the great things that are happening up in the Hawke's Bay and Napier with respect to agriculture and viticulture. Unfortunately the people of Ahuriri hapū have been locked out of that economic opportunity. So this deed in fact apologises for that loss and acknowledges that.It also looks at the various cases where Crown actions have led to an undermining of their sovereignty whether it be through the land purchase—which was a pitiful amount really that was given—but also the lack of protection over historical and cultural sites. This bill seeks to acknowledge that as well.Then in the late 1800s the armed conflict that led to 14 Māori being killed. That's why I acknowledged the deceased in my opening remarks because it's important that we are here today not for just our people here but also to acknowledge those that have passed as well but also the attack on Ōmarunui and Herepoho and the subsequent issues that resulted from that.So look there is I think as the Minister outlined at the start no amount of money that could seek to properly make full redress for what's happened but we hope that the $19.5 million that has been committed through the deed of settlement is a significant and I think important amount but also the right to buy some of those cultural lands that we've talked about as well.As a member of the Māori Affairs Committee I'm looking forward to coming up to the Hawke's Bay and Napier region and to just investigating and meeting some of the locals up there and also to discussing this bill and how we can bring effect to the deed—the best case possible. So it's a really important bill and a very important occasion here today. I do want to acknowledge the current Minister but also the previous Minister Chris Finlayson for his contribution. I look forward to working with my colleagues from the Māori Affairs Committee and I commend this bill to the House.