McCallum Grant; Tuiono TeanauGRANT McCALLUM (National—Northland): It's with a great privilege I rise to speak on this bill the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. And I'd again like to acknowledge the great work of the Education and Workforce Committee.I'd like to acknowledge the work of the current select committee where we have our great chair Katie Nimon. The MP for Napier does great work. She even manages to talk about buses in a speech like this which I thought was quite incredible. Then there is the everywhere man" our deputy chair Carl Bates from Whanganui. He has to tell me he's everywhere but he's everywhere but here right now. And then there is the great MP for Wairarapa Mike Butterick—a man who does actually go everywhere. He works really hard for his people and I would like to acknowledge him. And the other member of the committee on our side of the House is Dr Parmjeet Parmar a list MP for ACT. It's great to have her on the committee as well.Look I think it's important with this bill—I thought I'd start off because the Māori Battalion actually has a very significant part to play in our history. I think it's really important. So what the bill is doing is really establishing and recognising that—helping recognise that and the importance and the history of that. And as was acknowledged by the previous speaker this Chamber recognises a lot of the battles that the Māori Battalion fought in. For example we have El Alamein up behind us Cassino along there. These were great battles. And the members of the Māori Battalion really fought with pride and did their people and our country proud.In fact I've got a few little notes here about the history of the Māori Battalion. It was formed in October 1939. The Government agreed to establish an all-Māori unit and they called it the 28th Māori Battalion. And Māori were eager to prove their equality with their Pākehā comrades as warriors and to earn the full benefits and privileges of citizenship which seems ironic given some of the discussions we have today. Even in 1939 the Māori sense of being accepted as equals with the New Zealanders was marginal which seems quite incredible.The Māori Battalion was organised on tribal lines under tribal leaders. Overall command initially went to George Dittmer a Pākehā professional soldier and First World War veteran. At first there was some resentment towards a European commander but this was rapidly overcome by Dittmer's professional competence and strict discipline. Later in the war the battalion was commanded by a number of Māori officers including lieutenant colonels Tiwi Love Fred Baker Charles Bennett Reta Keiha Peter Awatere and Sir James Hēnare. I think it's a privilege to have you in the House here today sir. Thank you.The battalion trained for three months at the Palmerston North Showgrounds. And on 1 May 1940 approximately 780 members of the Māori Battalion left for Egypt as part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force second echelon. It would be followed by 12 contingents of reinforcements and remain on active service for almost six years. The battalion was diverted to the United Kingdom for the rest of 1940 to help defend southern England.And then into the battles. But actually there were battles in Greece—also up here—Crete and North Africa. In 1941 the battalion departed from England for North Africa. From Egypt it embarked on its baptism of fire: the defence of Greece. After its first battle at Olympus Pass the battalion made an exhausting withdrawal evacuating to the island of Crete. In the Battle of Crete the Māori soldiers developed a reputation as feared opponents in close quarters combat and it was a reputation that continued to follow them through the war.The battalion fought through the North Africa campaigns of 1941 to 1943. It was involved in taking Sollum and Gazala in Libya the breakout of Minqar Qaim in Egypt and the Battle of El Alamein—a truly legendary battle. Against great odds it captured the key features of Tebaga Gap and Takrouna Pinnacle in Tunisa. Second Lieutenant Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu was posthumously rewarded the Victoria Cross for his courage at Tebaga Gap. The battalion is one of the reasons we are here today. The battalion's hard fighting was reflected in its casualty rate: 270 dead and 815 wounded. And every Anzac Day as we acknowledge the sacrifices of all the soldiers that fought in the various wars it's those sorts of stats that really hit home. And once again as we hit Anzac Day we will once again be remembering those battles and the sacrifices.Of its seven commanders during this period two were killed and three were wounded. Initially between 1943 and 1945 they fought in two battles in Italy and the battles were sobering. Its attack on Orsogna in December 1943 was rebuffed with more than 50 casualties. But it was at Casino where two of its company sustained horrendous casualties during a failed attack on the railway station in February 1944. Of the 200 men who started out 128 were killed wounded or captured. The advance on Florence came next followed by fighting around Faenza in December before the battalion took part in the final race to Trieste.With the exception of 270 men who were deployed to Japan as part of the divisionary cavalry regiment the battalion returned to New Zealand in January 1946. Throughout the war they had 15744 people who volunteered. Now that's something you have to remember: it was an entirely voluntary force. While a lot of non-Māori were conscripted to fight the Māori volunteered which I think is something we always must remember. And they performed with distinction both at home and abroad. The total Māori population at the time was just under 100000. More than 3600 men all volunteers served with the Māori Battalion. The battalion suffered 2628 casualties: 649 of them were killed 1712 were wounded and 267 were taken prisoner or were missing. That's almost 50 percent more than the New Zealand average which just showed the quality and the fighting spirit of the men involved. The unit received 99 honours and awards—the highest number among New Zealand infantry battalions.When you hear the history you can actually go and now visit a great display—I'll just bring this one up so I can get this right too. There is a really great display up at Waitangi and the Te Rau Aroha Museum. I commend you all this Easter to travel over the Brynderwyn Hills up to Waitangi—to go and visit and see this great display. It's divided into three galleries and it's really worth going to see—it's very emotional and I commend it to you.Katie Nimon: I've seen it.GRANT McCALLUM: Thank you Katie; I appreciate those comments.I'm just recently in the process of being admitted on to the Waitangi National Trust and the Hon Peeni Henare is a current member of that trust and of course Sir James Henare was one of the last commanders of the Māori Battalion. So it's an honour to be part of that and to be part a little bit of actually helping to bring that history to the people of New Zealand and to the people of the North given the sacrifices all made.So I really look forward to welcoming you all up there over Easter. I think commending this bill to the House is a really important thing to do because of the history of all involved. So I commend the bill to the House. Thank you.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): Thank you to the member and thanks for the invitation. I guess it's your shout!Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time."