Paraone PitaPITA PARAONE (NZ First): Tēnā koe anō Mr Assistant Speaker. Tautoko i ngā mihi i mihingia ki ēnei o ngā hunga mai i a Ngāti Pūkenga kua tae mai nei ki waenganui i a tātou i te ata nei; ēngari ki a au nei e tika ana kia tuku i ngā mihi ki te rangatira a Te Awanui-ā-Rangi nā te mea i te wā i puta mai tēnei pire i roto i Te Whare i te tuatahi i konei a ia i haere mai ki te tautoko i tēnei pire. Nā reira ahakoa e mōhio nei i a tātou kei te ngaro atu tana tinana ki te tirohanga kanohi e mōhio ana au kei konei tōna wairua e rererere haere ana. Nā reira e kara haere hoki atu ki te kāinga tūturu mō tātou mō te tangata! Nā reira kua ea te wāhi mā te hunga e wairuatia i te rā nei ka hoki mai ki a tātou te hunga ora ā tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you once again Mr Assistant Speaker. I endorse the acknowledgments accorded to these ones of Ngāti Pūkenga who have arrived here amongst us this morning; however to me it is fitting that condolences be accorded to the esteemed Te Awanui-ā-Rangi because when this bill appeared the first time in the House he was here and came to support this bill. Therefore even though we know that his body is lost from view I know his spirit is here flying around. So friend depart and return to the original home for us mankind! The part for those who were spiritualised today is therefore done I come back to us the living acknowledgments to you collectively and my appreciation to us all.]It is a pleasure to stand on behalf of New Zealand First and participate in this debate on the Ngāti Pūkenga Claims Settlement Bill. Can I say that we have heard in this House this morning of the history pertaining to Ngāti Pūkenga and its establishment of an embassy as my tuakana Kelvin Davis the MP for Te Tai Tokerau quite eloquently stated. I just want to say that because of that connection my darling can also claim descent from Ngāti Pūkenga. She is probably wondering why she has not claimed it more vigorously than her Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhitanga.Nā te mea kua tae kē i ā tātou i te rā nei nā kua tau kē te kerēme o Ngāti Pukenga ēngari i a mātou i roto o Ngāti Hine Ngāpuhi kei te haere tonu. Ēhara i te haere; kei te whawhai tonu kia ahatia? Ēngari wēnā te āhuatanga o ēnei tūmomo mahi i ngā kerēme; korekau he hīkoi māmā nā reira kia ahatia?[Because we have already arrived here instead today the Ngāti Pukenga claim has now been settled but we in Ngāti Hine of Ngāpuhi are still going. It is not a journey; it is a fight and it is still going but what business is it of ours? However that is the situation in regard to these kinds of tasks about claims; it is not an easy journey therefore what does it matter?]In making reference to a particular tribe who is yet to settle I notice that Ngāti Pūkenga has a population at the last census of 2175 members. While on behalf of New Zealand First I support this bill it is with some envy that my particular tribe has still yet to settle No. 1 and No. 2 the Paraone whānau is in excess of 5000. I can tell you that and yet we cannot even get a claim through. So it is with some envy—and perhaps I should invite the Minister back to the North to talk to the Paraone whānau of that particular tribe and we will certainly help the Minister to make a settlement in that regard. But I digress.The other thing—I just want to remind us that it has been almost 4 years since the signing of the deed. I suppose while it may sound a long period of time I think in terms of the overall process that is not too bad. Of course the important thing is that the story of Ngāti Pūkenga and the history of their claim to the Waitangi Tribunal is publicised and articulated to the rest of us. I can recall when it was first introduced into the House that we had a visit from a local primary school. The Māori Affairs Committee had as one of its agenda items the recognition of the various land battles referred to as the New Zealand Wars and whether or not they should be added to the education curriculum and taught in schools.This particular claim is about a military engagement not initiated by the iwi but initiated by the Crown in the face of having had members of their iwi sign the Treaty of Waitangi and yet having to suffer the consequences of that Treaty breach at that time. I would suggest that the Ngāti Pūkenga Treaty settlement claim has a sad part about it in terms of the effect that that engagement had on Ngāti Pūkenga. As we read the history of Ngāti Pūkenga they had skills. They had the skills of a warrior tribe. They also had the skills of being able to converse to communicate with the unseen—in other words they had priestly skills which a lot of other iwi did not have to the same extent that they had.As a consequence of that skill handed down from generation to generation you will see that this particular claim is a testament to the skill that the Ngāti Pūkenga negotiators have to be able to negotiate with other cross-claimants and to be recognised by other claimants in their claims. So I think that ought to be acknowledged to see that Ngāti Pūkenga are able to carry on with those skills. That is why acknowledgment has been given to the passing of Awanui Black because of the skills that he had. I know that he was a fierce advocate for Te Reo Māori. In fact he sat on the board of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori language commission when I was the acting CEO. He made it quite clear to me where his interests lay. I do not have too much to say other than to commend this bill to the House. I look forward to the third reading of this claim. Kia ora.