Street Maryan: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
Street Maryan: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:665;Page:12806] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tena koe e te Whare. Nga tangata whenua o Raukawa Ngati Tuwharetoa Nga Iwi o Te Arawa ki te awa tena koutou tena koutou. Nau mai haere mai. Tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to the House. To the Raukawa and Ngati Tuwharetoa local people as well as the river subtribes of Te Arawa greetings to you greetings to you and welcome welcome. Greetings to you all 
.] 
It gives me great pleasure to rise on behalf of the Labour Party in support of the Minister in her introduction of the Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill. This bill is part two of a substantial process that has taken a long time. I wish also to add my recognition and that of Labour to those who have worked for this outcome but who have not lived to see it. I pay special respects to them. 
This is a very significant moment. The introduction of this legislation honours an undertaking made by the Crown in a deed of settlement in 2008 when Dr Michael Cullen had the privilege of being the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. He negotiated this agreement and signed the agreement on 4 September 2008. The Minister who has had the responsibility of being the shepherd and the guardian of this agreement through to this point the Hon Christopher Finlayson has made some changes to the legislation that I think represent improvements. I am quite happy to acknowledge that. 
In its original agreement there was provision for a number of statutory boards and what we have in this agreement now is a single authority as opposed to half a dozen statutory boards that were going to participate in partnership with the Crown in the restoration of the health and well-being of this river. I think that is an improvement and I acknowledge the Minister for that. I think it will be important that each of the iwi who have an attachment and connection to this great river ensures that they are able to participate in the process that this legislation enshrines which allows them to indeed have that oversight of and participation in caring for this river as envisaged by this legislation. 
The Waikato River from its beginning to its end has nourished and supported countless people for numerous years. There is no doubt that it is the source of life. It runs through one of the most productive areas of our country and our country is productive because of it. To watch the gradual atrophying and pollution of this great river must have caused tangata whenua in particular some considerable distress. I welcome this deed and the structures behind it and the participation of iwi in the true partnership that will see the restoration of the health of this river. It is indeed a great taonga. 
I remember once watching a documentary made by the Topp Twins who took a trail of the Waikato River from its very beginning to its mouth. Some of it they did on a surfboard and some of it they walked where the water was not deep enough. It was a documentary in the style in which the Topp Twins make documentaries. But it was informative and spoke volumes about the significance and the contribution of this great river. 
In the course of debating the other legislation to which this relates the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act I referred to the fact that it is not beyond the wit of anybody in this country to recognise the value of such a life-giving thing as a river. It does not matter whether we come from different ontologies from different world views. It does not matter whether we see things in the same terms. The shared and common understanding is that this river is a taonga. This river carries life from its beginning to its issuing into the sea and it deserves protection it deserves restoration for all who benefit from its progress. This great river needs help and that is the great task in front of all of us who share an interest in it. This great river needs repair. This partnership in the legislation before us will provide a consistent and engaged way of making sure that this river is restored. 
Although the Minister has already quoted some of the comments from both the Te Arawa River Iwi Trust chairman Roger Pikia and the Ngati Raukawa Settlement Trust chairman Chris McKenzie it is worth recognising and repeating them because it is in this deep sense of something important happening here that we gather to support this legislation. These people who have travelled to Wellington to support the first reading of this bill understand exactly what their leaders have said today. Mr Pikia said that the first reading this moment that we are engaged in now marked the final stage of a process to give effect to a partnership between river iwi and the Government to provide protection and nurturing of the national taonga that is the Waikato River. 
This is a model that is worth repeating. This is a way forward in Labour’s view and I know that the Minister—in fact both Ministers who are here tonight—share this view that this is a way forward that this is a way of engaging in a genuine partnership with obligations and commitments that stick with goals that are shared and with methods that are participated in equally in order to recognise and carry forward the application of the Treaty of Waitangi in Aotearoa New Zealand. 
I welcome this first reading. I congratulate the Minister the Hon Tariana Turia on her first reading speech and the heart—the personal connection—that goes into this legislation. I can only imagine what it means for the Minister to have that very close connection with the people with the country and with the river and to be able to lead off in this debate. I recognise also the Minister Chris Finlayson who will participate in this debate I am sure and all that that represents from both of those people and the participation of the Crown and iwi in the management of this taonga. Kia ora.