Davidson MaramaMARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. Ngā uri o Rua Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira e ōku rangatira koutou katoa tēnā koutou. Tēnei te uri o Te Tai Tokerau me Te Tai Rāwhiti e mihi kau ana e mihi aroha ana ki a koutou katoa i tae mai nei i noho nei i tēnei Whare tēnei rā whakahirahira. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai tātou katoa.[Greetings to you Mr Speaker. The descendants of Rua Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira my leaders all of you greetings to you. I am a descendant of Northland and the East Coast greeting unreservedly and with love all of you who have come here who are seated in this House this important day. Therefore greetings greetings greetings to you all.]An Aotearoa that acknowledges her wrongs is an Aotearoa that sets an enduring foundation of justice for her future for everyone. An Aotearoa that even knows her own true history in the first place is an Aotearoa that inspires us to know each other better and to work together for the benefit of everyone.It is with immense humility and admiration for Rua Kēnana and his descendants that I stand today as the Crown to support this long-overdue pardon to herald the start—and only the start—of the Crown righting its wrong. In essence in 1916 there was an unjustified Crown invasion into a small pacifist community that left two men dead—one being Rua Kēnana's son Toko Rua and another young man of Maungapōhatu Te Maipi.I have my son sitting here among all of you ngā uri o Rua today in this House. I am pleased that he is able to be here to sit amongst us on this historic day and I particularly want him and all our nation's mokopuna to understand the importance of what happened at Maungapōhatu.In that invasion after a series of injustices and the invasion that was subsequently then carried out the Waitangi Tribunal report called this an unjustified invasion carried out with excessive force". If that wasn't enough—the resulting miscarriage of justice around the undue detentions the arbitrary arrests and the unreasonably long trial with all charges being dismissed and yet Rua being imprisoned for 18 months for morally resisting what was an immoral arrest in the first place. We must properly acknowledge the harm of what all this injustice did for the people of Maungapōhatu in that time and on the generations since.We heard from submitters to the Māori Affairs Committee mostly all descendants of Rua Kēnana who were overwhelmingly in support of this bill. I wanted to quote in particular the submission from Ngawaiata Turnbull who helps to sum up some of the mamae carried through from the generations to today. In the submission: "Generations of whānau suffered this attack and then the following stigma passed down through the years has weighed heavily on the health wellbeing and lifestyle of Tama Kaimoana Iharaira. The mental emotional physical and spiritual wellness of Tama Kaimoana of Iharaira has suffered through the years of alienation from our lands and the loss of customary intellectual properties."It is important to put right at the forefront the voices of ngā uri o Rua the voices and the descendants of the generational harm that happened to that community and to those people. So I acknowledge all of the submissions written and kōrero that came to us to further express what the dismantling of that community did—that community that many people had helped to build with blood and sweat and tears and to build with the commitment to the wellbeing of their people and of the land. I acknowledge the importance of confronting the Crown wrong in all its ugliness to hopefully learn from it. As descendants said in their submissions to us now is the time for our voice to be heard.We were reminded of how the stains of injustice still exist among the whakapapa of Maungapōhatu and we were reminded for example of how Rua's mokopuna set against him. Something that was said constantly in submissions was "Kia kitea e te ao te weriweri o Te Karauna."—so the world can see the offences of the Crown.So today is not just about restoring the mana and the dignity of Rua Kēnana of Maungapōhatu of Iharaira but it is also about being honest and upfront on the wrong of the Crown.I'm really really clear that this bill is only the start—he tīmatanga noa iho [it is just a start] albeit a long overdue one. Many submissions call for us to go further to rectify the harm suggestions that do fall outside the scope of this actual bill. But Mr Speaker if you'll allow it I would like to share my support for the call from some of those submissions around what else is needed. For example we heard a call for public awareness raising for private and public apology forum around the motu—Rua Kēnana history in schools definitely has to be a thing—a memorial to Rua Kēnana letters of recognition and financial compensation.I think the kōrero that must stay on the table is one that asks: what will it take to truly restore justice to hohou te rongo [to make peace]? What is required of the Crown to rebalance the harmony for a positive Tiriti justice relationship with the descendants of Rua Kēnana?So again I take the guidance of the descendants to sum up the importance of what this bill does do. "Kia wetekia te kino" was what we often heard in the submissions—to release the wrongdoing. The bill alone cannot restore the mana of Rua Kēnana but an enduring commitment from the Crown to an equal partnership is what will hold us all in good stead and so our nation's children can see Aotearoa is a country that embraces our lessons. There is no need to fear justice is what Rua Kēnana has taught me. There is every reason to hold justice tight.The bill actually says in the part of the apology that the Crown unreservedly apologises for for example the lasting damage and the deep hurt shame and stigma. That is a starting point that I know means a lot to everybody here in this House today and to many more who aren't able to be here in this House.I was not able to come to the pōwhiri and the welcome today for our manuhiri from Maungapōhatu and Ngā Uri o Rua. But I was able to watch my good friend Jos Wheeler's photography and video work to see you carrying in the photos and the images of those people who are no longer with us today who have helped to bring this incredible mahi to fruition. So I was there with you today thinking of you all day today and I am coming to Maungapōhatu this weekend. I am incredibly rapt and I am bringing my tamariki because they need to know this story. I am going to ask Nika to give my office some clear instructions on how to get there because Google apparently doesn't know the way either.I am incredibly excited to be coming to Te Urewera for the first time in my life and for such a historic occasion for us to really get serious as a country about how we truly uplift us all collectively to honour our past and to go forward with a future that acknowledges its truth and brings us together to work together for a future that can uphold the mana of all of us. Tēnā koutou katoa."