Henare Tau: Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 26 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:4059. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Te mea tuatahi kei a koutou aku rangatira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. Mihi kau atu au ki te tuahine o taku hungarei e takoto mai ra i roto i te rohe o Ngati Porou i te marae o Awatere. No reira e Mere haere atu ra haere atu ra. 
[ 
The first thing is to acknowledge my leaders; greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all. I pay a tribute to the sister of my mother-in-law lying in state there in the region of Ngati Porou on the Awatere Marae. So farewell Mary farewell 
.] 
I have been given the privilege of winding up so that sort of cuts out what I was going to say. I know it is a ploy by my mate over there Parekura Horomia. I do want to pay salutations not only to our brilliant Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Treaty negotiations team from the Office of Treaty Settlements but also to my colleagues on the Maori Affairs Committee who I think have done a sterling job. I also want to pay due respect to the Hon Parekura Horomia who back in the day when he was a wee bit younger used to come to my office as Minister of Maori Affairs. He would eat everything in the kitchen and leave nothing in the bar but I tell the House and tell the nation that you could not get a better advocate for Maori. Quite frankly the House has been well served by my colleague’s time in the House and his advocacy. But we also had some discussions about how we thought the world should run. It was just like when my uncle used to come to our house and talk to my old man until about 4 o’clock in the morning and they would basically solve the world’s problems as well. It must be a trait of Maori to go through that as mates as cousins as friends as whanau. 
I am not going to dwell too much on the inner workings of the settlement in this Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill. Suffice it to say that this has been a momentous day. When was the last time the nation saw Parliament give its time over to the settlement of Treaty agreements? When was the last time we had a sitting from 9 o’clock to 6 o’clock ostensibly on Treaty settlement bills? I thought to myself and said to myself earlier in the day: “Is this a good thing or is this a bad thing? Are we ghettoising the Treaty settlements by putting them on one day or are we giving them their fair due?” I believe it is the latter—that we are giving part of our history part of our story due recognition in the House of Parliament. 
 And actually it is not the House of Parliament; it is the House of Representatives. That basically means to me that it is the House that is our visitors’ House—it is the House of Representatives. It is the House where we stand and deliver on all manner of things in a representative role for the people outside. It is a wonderful wonderful day to have you all here especially I suppose knowing where Tamanuhiri is as well. It was only very recently that I got to stand on the shores of Muriwai contemplating my career in politics and whether it was maybe going to go for another 3 years or maybe end abruptly. I was lucky. It went on for another—well it is going on for another 3 years. 
I have said for the last 2 weeks that this is all about the tapestry the brilliant tapestry of New Zealand’s history and I do echo what the Hon Parekura Horomia says about the naming what it actually means and where it lies in the hearts of the hau kainga the home people. But I also feel for my mate who was sitting here who is related to those Youngs and to Nicholas Young. As for whether that is true or not I mean like he says I think it is a good story and I will be telling that story around the nation as well—that Young Nick’s Head was named after his tupuna. Like I said whether it is true or not most of us know—most Maori know—of its true name its real name and pay due respects. 
Here is something else to ponder: regardless of whether land is given back returned or whatever when we drive past it even if it does not belong to us any more we still say “See that piece of land over there? That’s ours.” I think that is a good thing. I think that if we can pay due recognition and if we can pay what we owe in the final analysis that is a great thing for this history and other nations around the world can have a look at us. I want to take that and refer to the Black Hills of Dakota where in the 1860s there was a treaty between the indigenous people and the Government of the USA stating that they would have tino rangatiratanga over this block of land the Black Hills of Dakota. They signed the treaty and one day somebody found gold and that was it. And you know for ever and a day it even went as high as the Supreme Court to say how the treaty was broken. 
The agreement that Tamanuhiri has is with the Crown. Make no mistake: every one of us sitting here today is the Crown. It is not just the Government; it is the Opposition as well—those people are the Crown. My advice throughout the debate has been to watch out for the hawkers and the shysters but also to watch out for the Crown. Watch out for the Government because in its wish to take the country forward it might slip up now and then or it might trip over now and then. It is a good idea just to keep a watching brief on what we do as the Crown. So that is another piece of advice. 
I will not go on too much longer other than to say: nga mihi nunui ki a koutou katoa nga uri o nga aitua o Ngai Tamanuhiri. Tino hari taku ngakau i kite au i a koutou i roto i toku nei Whare i to Whare no reira tena koutou tena koutou. Kua pai ta koutou haerenga ki te hau kainga a muri i tenei korero no reira nga manaakitanga nga aroha ki a koutou katoa tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai tatou katoa. 
[ 
I acknowledge you greatly descendants of Ngai Tamanuhiri disasters. I am particularly pleased to see you here in my House your House so greetings and salutations to you collectively. All will be well for your return home following this address so blessings and compassion to you all greeting greetings and greetings to us all 
.] 
Bill read a third time. 
Waiata