Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): I know today everything is all about the sheep and although I have some sympathy for Mr Parker and the report that has been put out that is not what I am going to talk about; I am going to talk about something else. I am going to talk about a very significant day in New Zealand history. I am going to talk about 28 October. People are looking around right now going: 28th of October? What the heck happened on the 28th of October?". It was actually the anniversary of my maiden speech—but no that was not the historic day. Well history is yet to tell but hey. The 28th of October is also my wedding anniversary and although that is rather significant—28 years "Nice ring." "Thank you darling I bought it for myself and said that this is what you got me."—that is not the historic day. The 28th of October is in fact the day on which we remember He Whakaputanga or the signing of the Declaration of Independence which made this country its own sovereign State—well recognised it at least in the eyes of the British because they were the ones who drew it up. We already knew it was a sovereign State. We did not need anybody to tell us; we lived here. Anyway the 28th has now been made a historic day that everyone in this nation is going to have the pleasure of celebrating together as a nation because it is time that we grew up. It is time that this nation recognised its history—with all its warts with the good and the bad and with everything that has come from it since and how that then impacts upon our future—because 28 October has now been set aside as the day that we will remember in time immemorial the Rā Maumahara for our land wars. That is correct. I have to recognise the petition from the Ōtorohanga students who came here to Parliament because this certainly was the impetus that convinced the Minister the Hon Maggie Barry that yes something needed to be done. There on the forecourt of Parliament she committed to that crowd of people—all of those waka tauā [war canoe] that came in and did this massive haka on the forecourt—that she would commit to finding a day and finding a way forward to ensure that all of New Zealand remembers the Land Wars. Thousands of people—in fact more we understand than died in both the First and Second World Wars from New Zealand—were killed during the Land Wars or the civil war that saw the establishment of this nation. It saw the confiscation of lands and it saw the rise of the peaceful protest here in Aotearoa with Te Whiti and Tohu Kākahi that then inspired Ghandi and Martin Luther King. On 5 November instead of celebrating terrorism and instead of celebrating a terrorist act where somebody tried to blow up Parliament and for years they burned an effigy of this man and thought that that was fun—what a fun night out that would be—let us celebrate "Parihaka Day" and remember what went on here. These are the scars that are left upon our nation. I travelled to Ngāruawāhia this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the koroneihana of King Tuheitia and on one of those celebration days there was a gifting back of land that was taken after a battle at Rangiriri—the first of its kind. While I was there on the forecourt of Māhinarangi on the ātea a kuia looked at me and said: "Marama it's easy to find where the battle sites of Aotearoa are. The road goes straight through them." There is no hallowed ground no place to remember no plaque no grave and no memorial. But now we have a day on 28 October where we as a nation can grow up open up and discuss the issues that have plagued us all in the settling of this nation and that is te rā maumahara te rangi e whakamaumahara atu i ngā pakanga o tēnei whenua [the day of remembrance the day that commemorates the wars of this land]. That is our speech. It is not sheep but it is important and I look forward to celebrating the Rā Maumahara in the future."