Henare Tau: Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6689. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 E aku rangatira me Ngati Whatua i haere mai nei i tenei ra tena koutou. He wa potopoto tenei mihimihi ki a koutou na reira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you my leaders and Ngati Whatua who came here today. This salutation is but a brief one to you collectively so acknowledgments congratulations and well done to you all. 
] 
As a boy born and bred in Ngati Whatua land born and bred in Otara in my formative years—what that means is when I was young—a lot of my time was spent running around Boot Hill learning to be a protestor hanging out with Joe and Rene. I mihi to Sharon Lance and Terry who were some of my best mates. I remember a number of parties at Joe’s. In fact that is where I met my wife for the first time so thanks Joe. Thank you Rene. 
Hone Harawira 
: Poor girl. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: You see the problem is that when somebody interjects they are going to get it when they speak. 
I will not talk for very long because this is a most happy day—a most happy day. My heart goes to Grant because that is an indication of the occasion of the work that has gone into getting here—not just getting on a plane or a bus or in a car or whatever to get here physically but to get here over 150-odd years. The journey has been long; the journey has been hard. No one is saying that the journey is even going to be easy starting tomorrow. It is hard because of the things that my colleague Mr Clendon talks about and that my colleague Mr Twyford talks about. It is hard to be Maori in your own country and that is a sad indictment on this country. But what is a good indictment on this country is days like this. 
What is good about days like this is that we can firmly focus on the future. Is leadership not a wonderful thing? From a carpenter a chippy a builder to a person who leads the struggle up on the point to becoming a member of Parliament and now to see my old mate in the House as a kaumatua and as a former member of Parliament. I think that is quintessential New Zealand. 
Hone Harawira 
: Ooh! 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Did you hear that? Mr Harawira is going to have to go and get himself a dictionary. It starts with “q”. 
When we look at world history and we look at Wounded Knee and places like that Takaparawha will be amongst those stories of asking how could anybody treat a people like that. I suppose we have the benefit of growing up where we do not treat people like that any more—thank God. I can only say—as I suppose Ngapuhi in terms of my genealogy—thank God they moved Parliament away from the north. We might have suffered the same sort of carry-on. 
My heart is filled with emotion and I suppose the one thing that I can say is: “Thank you Ngati Whatua for letting me stay in Auckland.” It is not a glib sentiment. It goes to the heart of tangata whenua. It goes to the heart of mana whenua. You know I was born and bred in Otara at 42 Harwood Crescent and went to Bairds Primary School—or Bairds Mainfreight Primary School now—Bairds Intermediate School and Hillary College. I have got to say that I learnt a lot of my lineage from my cousins who lived in Otara. I found out where I was from. I am very proud of my lineage. But I am very proud of the fact that I also know whose land I am on whose whakapapa I borrow every day to go to work to go to meetings and to greet people. So I do thank Ngati Whatua. Maybe we should be thinking about that sort of thing in the big scheme of things in a new New Zealand as we go forward because this just adds to the big story that is New Zealand’s history—that is New Zealand’s new history. 
I am also adamant that our examples and our history can be used overseas to help other people forge a new land and a new understanding in their own lands. You know one of the things that is amazing is when we travel around the world and we go to conferences and we are sitting there in a conference and then some Maori at the back gets up and then there are a whole lot of Maoris who get up and either sing a waiata or have their say. We on the international stage as a people should pat ourselves on the back because we do have influence overseas and we do have influence here. 
Briefly on the select committee process I was outraged at some of the comments by some of the people who were opposed not to the settlement but to a small piece of land—a small piece of land. Considering that there are 66 million acres of land in this country and—I was just going to say we own only 3 million but that is “we” as in all of us Maoris. They had the cheek to quibble about 1.5 or whatever it was. How many acres? 
Hon Member 
: 3.6 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: It was 3.6 acres they wanted to quibble about because they did not want Maoris to have the opportunity to build a big whatever and then onsell it. It was a quibbling amount of land. It was a small piece of land in the big scheme of things. It was about moving Ngati Whatua and New Zealand forward. All those people in Devonport who came to our select committee hearing—do you know what they moaned about to the media? That I called people “bro” and that I called people “chief”. That is what they moaned about. For goodness’ sake wake up those sorts of people because they are the ones who damage this country not these people and not us. They are the ones who damage this country’s reputation around the world—not us not the people who sit there and try to work out a deal over 150 years and take the treatment that Ngati Whatua have taken. 
I was in the Wiri wool store working very hard as an 18-year-old in 1978 when the Point blew up and they came in and used the army and the police. It was a sad sad indictment on this country’s history but I tell you what. That sort of action stiffens the back and the resolve of the people to fight for justice. 
Hoi ano anei nga mihimihi nui ki a koutou katoa e aku hoa e aku tuakana e aku teina ranei. No reira tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai tatou katoa. 
[ 
Accordingly here are some huge congratulatory tributes to you all my colleagues elder or younger siblings. Therefore accolades and acknowledgments to you collectively and an appreciation to us all. 
]