Logie Jan: Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 19 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:8343. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green): I have got to firstly acknowledge that it feels like quite an honour to be able to speak this evening to this bill the Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill in its third reading. I also want to acknowledge that it is very easy to forget in this House sometimes the mana that the different members of this House carry with them. Listening to this debate so far I have been reminded indeed of the mana carried by so many members of this House. There are people with some very deep links to Waitangi. I want to acknowledge the chair of the Waitangi National Trust Board Pita Paraone who spoke previously and all of those who share whakapapa with the families on this board. I also want to acknowledge my colleague David Clendon who spoke earlier who has family members who signed the Treaty both for the Pākehā settlers and for the tangata whenua. That is I think something worth acknowledging.Personally I think that I feel a sense of grievance on some levels that I did not learn about the Treaty or its history in my time of going through school. It was only when I went into the workforceinto the community organisation working for Women’s Refuge that I learnt about our history.There is the amazing example that the Treaty is for us and the rest of the world of the vision if the Treaty was fully realised of how it is possible for peoples to live in partnership and dialogue to resolve difference to ensure that identities and cultures are able to be realised.The role of fundamental connection to the land and sovereignty that is within that document is I think an extraordinary thing. After learning that history I just have such a sense of privilege about having a place to be in this country through that document that I really really wish everyone in this country would get access to that learning to be able to have that same sense of belonging and place and responsibility that is held within the Treaty.What we are debating here in the third reading are some changes to the Waitangi National Trust Board that are positive. It is really nice also after days of urgency and an undermining of the democratic process to actually have accordance within this House and to see what can happen when a democratic process goes through and when people’s voices are honoured and principles of partnership are realised. It is a good feeling and this House feels different now from how it has in the last couple of days.I do want to specifically acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee for the work that it has done on this bill. My understanding is that it really listened to the submitters and to the concerns that were raised by the Māori families about the fact that up to this point the three non-Māori family members have been represented by three members on the board whereas four Māori families were represented by only one member. The Waitangi National Trust Board the symbol of partnership and nationhood for us should fundamentally recognise that sense of partnership and that was not being realised. The committee worked through the detail of that and worked with the Parliamentary Counsel Office to be able tofind out that this bill could realise that vision in changing the structure and the membership of the board. That is a great thing. That is what select committees can do when they are functioning really well. I give credit to the chair and all of the members of the select committee for really engaging with that and doing honour to the intent of the legislation and the vision of the Treaty of Waitangi.I do also feel compelled to mention as has also been mentioned that it is the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty—[Interruption] Are you sure Mr Assistant Speaker?The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): The member has a 5-minute call which she has used.JAN LOGIE: I am not sure that is—my understanding was that it was an extended call because it was not being split Mr Assistant Speaker.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I will let the member run. It is a—JAN LOGIE: Fascinating contribution!The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): —new arrangement. In fact what we will do just in the spirit of doing everything properly—I seek leave for the member’s speech to be up to 10 minutes having taken 5 minutes already. There is no objection to that.JAN LOGIE: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I may not take the full 10 minutes. It is the 175th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the 79th year of this trust Act. I also recognise that it is 2015 and that He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni was signed on the lower marae on the Waitangi grounds in 1835. So this is a very significant year for us as a country. It is not often enough acknowledged I think the role of He Wakaputanga around establishing us as a nation and that sense of Māori taking the leadership to say to the world: “This is our country. This is a country that you need to deal with as you would deal with another nation. This is not just a land for you to come and do what you will with.” It was an expression of tino rangatiratanga that put this country in I think a very strong position for going forward and that enabled the later signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi which I sayagain gives us all that place to stand if only we fully lived up to the principles in it.On that note and again noting the mood in the House the Green Party is very pleased to be able to end this sitting period in supporting a bill that improves democracy relinquishes some control from the Crown and acknowledges our nationhood and partnership between Māori and non-Māori. Kia ora koutou katoa.