Street Maryan: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Street Maryan: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17822] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to speak again in this debate on the Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill. This time I do not wish to traverse the history the settlement process the creation of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust and all of that background material because I have done that before when speaking to this bill. I want to focus very tightly on the title because that is what we are talking about. 
When I was a child growing up in New Plymouth we learnt to say “Wanganui”. We came from New Plymouth and we did not know better so we said Wanganui. It was Wanganui Prison and Wanganui Collegiate School—not too much difference. We learnt to say that name as “Wanganui” but over the course of the intervening decades clearly the re-emergence and the reassertion of te reo have made people more sensitive to the way that things are expressed and to the way that Maori words are pronounced. We have got to the point now where the people around the Whanganui area have clearly asserted causing some rancour in the area that they wish to have the name “Whanganui” with the “h” in it and to have it pronounced in the way that the Hon Tariana Turia pronounces it frequently in the Chamber. It is pronounced as “W’anganui” rather than “Whanganui” which may relate to another part of the country and another expression of Maori pronunciation. 
But what I find interesting about this issue is that the Maori Affairs Committee in its report was really quite decisive about why this spelling should change. I will just quote from its commentary for a moment: “We heard from the Southern Whanganui Cluster Working Party that they strongly feel that the spelling of Whanganui should be with an ‘h’. On 18 December 2009 the Minister of Land Information announced his decision to assign the alternative official geographic names ‘Whanganui’ and ‘Wanganui’”—without the “h”—“and stated his expectation that Crown agencies would adopt the ‘Whanganui’ form over time. We also strongly feel that Whanganui should be spelt with an ‘h’.” 
There are a couple of interesting things about that. The Minister for Land Information in fact in announcing his decision did so in the time-honoured tradition of Ministers who wish for things to be not noticed. He announced it on 18 December just before Christmas hoping that it would fall into the abyss and that he would not be subjected to the kind of debate and disapproval that had been characteristic of the argument about the name in Whanganui. But the implication from the Maori Affairs Committee report is that the Minister felt strongly about the use of this name. If he had felt strongly about it then he might have released a decision earlier than 18 December 2009. However the select committee said: “We also strongly feel that Whanganui should be spelt with an ‘h’.” I welcome that. I do not believe for a moment that that was the Minister’s position and that the Maori Affairs Committee was simply adding its weight to it. However we have the spelling now as it stands with the “h” in it. 
When we look around the country we see it is quite clear that there are dialectical differences within te reo that require different pronunciations. In the South Island where I live now we talk about Kai Tahu instead of Ngai Tahu and we talk about Aoraki instead of Aorangi. The “ng” sound is replaced with a “k” sound so there are dialectical differences. But here the Maori Affairs Committee has been quite emphatic about recommending the amending of the spelling of Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison to Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and the northern part of Wanganui Forest to the northern part of Whanganui Forest. I hope for the sake of the  
Hansard 
 that the distinction between the spelling with the “h” and without the “h” is clear from my pronunciation. I hope that is of assistance to the  
Hansard 
 recorders. 
The other thing of interest is not only the spelling used in the title but also something that is quite difficult. It is the business of an on-account settlement and the deed of on-account settlement which is part of the title Whanganui Iwi (Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Wanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill. If we go to the definitions in order to read an explanation of the title we find that clause 4 in Part 1 “Preliminary provisions” defines “deed of on-account settlement as being “the deed of an on-account settlement of historical claims of Whanganui Iwi in relation to the Whanganui Kaitoke Prison and part of the Whanganui Forest between the working party on behalf of Whanganui Iwi the trustees of the Pakaitore Trust and the Crown dated 31 July 2009 and as amended from time to time”. In other words the title reflects the settlement. The title tries to describe those parts of the Whanganui area that are now being handed over to Whanganui iwi in settlement of breaches of the Treaty that have occurred over time. 
So we come to the title of the bill which describes exactly what the bill contains but also has a reference that I as a student of language in a former life find to be really interesting. I think that when the Minister for Land Information took up his portfolio he did not expect there to be such agitation— 
Grant Robertson 
: A crisis. 
Hon MARYAN STREET 
: —crisis argument and debate around the word and the name as there have been. Michael Laws was attacking the proposed spelling change and really ramping up Pakeha agitation about te reo a Maori renaissance and a Maori assertion of Treaty settlement obligations. The Minister did not want to be caught in the middle of all that. In the end he released his decision on the name a few days before Christmas so that anybody who was at all interested might well have missed it. 
I welcome the bill. I look forward to its progress and movement to its third reading. Thank you.