Henare Tau: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Third Reading 
Henare Tau: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14737] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Te mea tuatahi anei taku mihi ki a koutou e aku rangatira e aku tuakana. E te iwi Tuwharetoa Raukawa Te Arawa nga mihi nui nga mihi nui nga mihi nui. 
[ 
In the first instance my acknowledgment to you my chiefs and elder brothers. Huge enormous and immense greetings to you the people of Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa. 
] 
It is a wonderful event when people turn up to Parliament to hear the third reading for the passing of a bill that is particular to their area and particular to the whole Treaty settlement process. They do not turn up just to have a jack they do not come just to have a cup of tea and they do not come just to have a few parliamentary biscuits and what have you. They come to see a bit of history. They come to see the job being done. They come to see that final hurdle that has been put in their way over the years overcome. So I am very pleased that the gallery is full of te hau kainga and of the significance that their presence gives the House today. 
I congratulate the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson. National made a promise on the campaign trail that we would try our best to settle all Treaty claims by 2014. I think we have done a pretty good job with the help of our colleagues across the way in getting there. Let us say we are on track. 
This particular Treaty settlement is not only about the restoration and protection of the Waikato River but also as we have often talked about in this House the issue of partnership. I suppose the country has been dying to see what partnership really can look like. I think that the Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill and the parent legislation go some way—in fact a long way—towards showing the nation that partnership can work that co-management can work and that partnership is nothing to be scared of. It is something to behold when for years and years we have been told that partnership cannot work how easy it is if we just give a little on both sides. I am not saying that the other side should have given too much. 
I think the most important part of what we will do today does not concern the details in the bill but it is about that mere fact of partnership. I am lucky to be the chair of what I consider to be a very very good committee. The wealth of knowledge on the Maori Affairs Committee from the Opposition the Greens and my colleagues on this side of the House makes the job pretty easy. 
Yes we lose our rag now and then and that is all part of the drama of this place. But there is nothing better than going to a place to listen to the home stories and to involve ourselves just for a brief moment in time in the whakapapa of that place in the stories of that place and in the humility of that place. 
So on behalf of my colleagues on the Maori Affairs Committee I also thank the officials. They have a thankless job and I know that they have stones thrown at them from all sides. I pay a special thanks to the Office of Treaty Settlements for its help for the committee to get through its business in such a worthwhile manner. So without further ado ano te mihi ano te aroha ano te kaha ki a koutou katoa nga morehu o nga aitua tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
My gratitude sympathy and courage to you all once again the survivors of misfortune. Greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all 
.]