Rurawhe AdrianADRIAN RURAWHE (Labour—Te Tai Hauāuru): Mr Deputy Speaker e tū tautoko ana ahau Te Reo wakamoemiti ka tukuna atu e te tuakana a Tūtehounuku Korako nō reira e te tuakana ka nui te mihi atu ki a koe. Otirā korōria hareruia ki a koe e Ihowa o ngā mano tūāuriuri whāioio. Kī tonu te rangi me te w'enua i te nui o tāu korōria ā tīhei mauri ora! Mai i Te Rakiura ki Te Tonga whiti atu ki Te Wharekauri ki Te Rāwhiti toro atu ki Te Uru piki ake ki Te Reinga ki Te Tai Tokerau ngā kokonga e whā o te motu o Aotearoa tae atu ki Te Awa Tupua e rere nei. Ka huri atu au ki ngā whānau i raro i te kapua pōuri nō reira e ngā mate maha o te wā hoki wairua atu ki a rātau mā i te wāhi ngaro. Haere atu rā ki tua o te ārai ki te kāinga tūturu mō tātau mō te tangata. Oti atu te wā ki a koutou nō reira e oki e moe e moe ā kāti mō tēnā! Nō reira e Te Māngai o Te Whare e piri ana taku mihi atu ki aku whanaunga ki te mihi kua tukuna atu e koe otirā ki te mihi mai i Te Minita. Nō reira koutou ngā whānau ngā hapū katoa o Te Awa o W'anganui anei au tō koutou whanaunga e tuku mihi atu ki a koutou katoa nau mai haramai whakatau mai rā ki Te Whare Pāremata nei nō reira tēnā koutou katoa. E tika ana kia tuku mihi atu ki ngā hapū me ngā rohe tūpuna katoa puta noa i Te Awa o W'anganui i tēnei rā tēnei rā whakahirahira! Nō reira koutou mā nau mai haramai whakatau mai rā! He tino hōnore tēnei kia tū ake i roto i Te Whare nei ki te tuku kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei pire ātaahua tēnei pire whakahirahira. [Mr Deputy Speaker I rise in support of the prayer that the senior member Tūtehounuku Korako gave and so much appreciation to you the elder member but at the same time glory and hallelujah to You Jehovah of the countless thousands of the innumerable and of the very numerous. Heaven and Earth are filled with the greatness of Your glory behold the breath of life! Across from the Stewart Island in the south over to the east to the Chatham Islands and extending up to the west and to the North Cape in the Far North to the four corners of the country of New Zealand including the Supernatural River flowing here. I turn my attention to the families beneath the cloud of sadness and so to you the many deceased of the moment return spiritually to them of the place unseen. Go forth indeed beyond the veil to the original home for us mankind. The time for you has come to pass; therefore rest sleep and slumber on! Therefore Mr Deputy Speaker my tribute is closely aligned with that accorded by you to my relatives but at the same time to that one accorded by the Minister. Therefore to all of the families and subtribes of the Whanganui River here I am your relative according this tribute to you all. Welcome come hither to this House of Parliament and so salutations to you all. It is fitting that I pay you the subtribes and all the ancestral areas a tribute throughout the river of Whanganui on this day. This indeed is a real honour to stand up in this House to make a contribution about this beautiful bill this bill of significance.]It gives me great pleasure and it is a true honour to stand before this House and speak to Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill before us. I am very much taken by the way in which this settlement has come about. There are aspects within this bill that are quite unique. But first of all I want to talk not only about the uniqueness of the framework but also about the uniqueness of how the whole process has been used in a very new way. I think it is important to add my mihi to the acknowledgment that the Minister the Hon Christopher Finlayson has made to the negotiators. I want to acknowledge the tenacity and indeed the courage of the negotiators on both sides of the table. As someone who has been through the process as a negotiator I truly do understand the difficulties of that whole pathway.I want to acknowledge that within the framework of the negotiations there truly has been a paradigm shift in the way that it has been expressed. It is a very difficult and quite fixed process. The process has been fixed not only by the guidelines and the rules but also by the practice up until now—the practice that has seen the aspects and the redress items within a settlement package being redetermined by I was going to say mātauranga Māori but mātauranga o Whanganui. That is a very important aspect to acknowledge—for example te heke ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua [the autumnal descent upon the Supernatural River].Te heke ngahuru is the first autumn migration of eels signifying well-stocked storehouses for the winter. The name is said to symbolise the potential of Te Awa Tupua to provide for all who have cared for and protected it as a living spiritual and physical source. You will not find that aspect in any other settlement before today. And this is just one of many.I want to acknowledge the courage that the negotiators on both sides of the table have taken to redefine how the settlement process can work. It can have a process that is pretty fixed but can be adjusted for the purposes of the iwi of Whanganui. This is an important day. I acknowledge those negotiators who had the foresight to be able to take those concepts and apply them within a framework that is not ours. I have said often in this House that this claims settlement process is flawed; it is a flawed one. But we enter into it for the purpose of providing a better way forward for our future generations. So I want to take that whakaaro te heke ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua [that thought the autumnal descent upon the Supernatural River aboard] and apply it to the future—looking forward to the future—and I want to acknowledge all of the rangatahi who have made the journey from the awa to the Parliament Buildings today.This settlement is for you and future generations. It is important to recognise that this settlement will provide a better way forward for future generations. I should actually leave the main points of what I want to bring up to the words of the people from home. You would have noticed as I did that my Facebook feed has been flooded with messages from a whole lot of people from home who have talked about the importance of today. There are messages about wishing everyone a blessed day. I want to add my whakaaro to that as well. There are messages from people who could not make it to Parliament today but who are watching on Parliament TV. I want to acknowledge all of them as well.I thought I would just read out one message that really captured everything that I wanted to say today. I am borrowing these words from one of my cousins: Today our awa becomes recognised in its own right." Ngā manga iti ngā manga nui e honohono kau ana ka tupu hei Awa Tupua.[Small and large creeks immediately joining together to form the Supernatural River.]It is a difficult construct for people to come to terms with but that is the beauty of this journey. Ngā mihi atu ki a koe Nancy Tuaine mō ngā kupu nei.[My thanks to you Nancy Tuaine for these words.]I hope you do not mind that I have borrowed them. I also want to acknowledge everyone who has sent messages.E tika ana kia tuku mihi atu ki a koe e Te Ariki Tumu ngā mihi nui ki a koe kua tae mai oti noa ngā iwi katoa puta noa Te Awa o W'anganui. Nō reira kāore e roa tēnei tū oti noa i tēnei wā ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa i runga te tukunga iho ō rātau mā i te wāhi ngaro ko Te Māngai hei tautoko mai āianei ake nei āe![It is apt that I acknowledge you Paramount Chief Tumu. My huge thanks to you for attendance here alongside all of the tribes from throughout the river of Whanganui. Therefore I will not be standing for a long time at this point in time. Many thanks to you all in terms of what they from the place unseen have handed down. The Mouthpiece indeed is the one who will support it now and forever yes.]Thank you."