Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga): Kia ora Madam Speaker. Tēnā koe e te Whare. Madam Speaker and those in the gallery it's always good when we're in the House to deal with a Treaty settlement bill of historical grievance because we know then that we're really getting somewhere and we've almost reached a point when the redress and the resolution of the grievance is done. I note that effectively for all of these Treaty settlements that have gone through the House over now—what is it?—30 or so years some of the settlement doesn't require legislation; some of it does. Here as we often see there'll be all manner of legal things: protocols statutory acknowledgments deeds of recognition vesting of cultural redress of properties and commercial redress—and all of that is here. And in a sense like I say it's always good to speak on such bills. I wouldn't say they're perfunctory—they're not. They're always special to the iwi that is before the House through the bill for their redress and there's always injustice and there's always these things that we talk about and we recognise as important to iwi. But it's a privilege to speak on this bill—a special privilege—on this Moriori Claims Settlement Bill because like the ACT member Nicole McKee I confess I didn't know accurately what had happened here. It is—and you can use quite a number of superlatives really—a remarkable poignant painful story and part in our history that New Zealanders Māori and non-Māori should know in terms of what happened to the Moriori people on the Chathams—not exclusively there of course—as we call them today. I won't recount in detail but as is listed in the law—I think that's quite a special feature—if you like it gives the formal imprimatur stamp of approval of this Parliament in terms of the egregious injustices that happened. But we have a people who were egalitarian peaceable offering hospitality to outsiders who were then attacked with some 300 dying. Those who survived were enslaved to manual labour. Then there was no Crown action despite the years that rolled on even through the 1850s.The Moriori people sought protection from the Crown from the State. The issues and the injustice—and I mean it's just not a word we would think we would be using in this Parliament about our own country post-1840 but—the slavery continued. We saw it go before the Native Land Court which perpetuated further injustice. Sadly at around this time that wasn't uncommon for the Native Land Court where some 97 percent of land went to Māori but only three percent to Moriori. In 1901 the population from pre-contact being at least 2000 people—as I say egalitarian peaceable people living together in harmony. In 1901 there were only 31 it is recorded in this law. I agree with Rawiri Waititi that in a way whilst it's not for me to judge it's for those here today in the gallery to do so. The worst of all is actually that for these people there was the added indignity of being portrayed as extinct and racially distinct from and inferior to other people and in particular Māori. Schools in New Zealand—it seems remarkable to say this today in 2021; maybe not so remarkable—actually taught this inferiority. That's what we saw. And the myth continued. I confess it was sort of roughly the story at a level that I understood as a child and what a shameful blot that is on a people on Moriori. Today we acknowledge it as a Parliament and this law that we are putting through acknowledges it. It's right that in this bill there is the acknowledgment. It is there for all to see today tomorrow and into the future. There is an apology of—well the bill actually says deep remorse" and of course other redress that has been touched on. So I for one confess that I learnt a lot in thinking about this bill. Whilst there are many Treaty settlement bills that have come through this House it's a privilege to speak and be part of this particular one. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa."