Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Tēnā koe Madam Assistant Speaker. I am delighted to add my contribution in support of this bill the Tasman District Council (Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme) Bill. Yes this is a very welcome bill. Can I acknowledge the member who brought this bill to the House the Hon Dr Nick Smith and all the other local members: Maureen Pugh the Hon Damien O'Connor and of course yours truly—myself—who are local members. In fact I can proudly say that the entire water storage lake of the Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme is in Te Tai Tonga my electorate so I too am very proud to stand in support of this bill.Can I acknowledge also the Governance and Administration Committee for the thorough work that they've done with assistance of officials in doing some fine-tuning of the bill at select committee stage and also being able to hear from the many submitters that took a keen interest in this bill.This as we have heard is a long time coming. This project has been desperately needed in the Waimea district for many many years and in particular to support and assist the vibrant horticultural sector that is there. I've heard many contributions tonight talking about the boysenberries that are produced through the take from the Waimea and I can attest that they are truly wonderful boysenberries. They are absolutely enormous. If you ever get the chance to go there they are enormous boysenberries and they make a pretty nice boysenberry schnapps as well.There are a lot of businesses—whether it's in the forests the wood product processing sector dairy interests farms and also obviously the horticultural sector—that will greatly benefit from this scheme. Likewise the Nelson city as well will also benefit—Richmond and the other parts of the Nelson city. So it's a long time coming.It's a very welcome project. Sure there has been a lot of opposition from certain parts but when you think that there have been over 200 public meetings on this project—I think 200 public meetings is a pretty good thrashing of the issue. I want to acknowledge the Tasman District Council led by His Worship Richard Kempthorne and his team of councillors for being bold and for moving on making sure that we can pass this legislation so we can get this project under way.As the member for Te Tai Tonga I represent and am very proud to represent all of the Māori that reside in the district concerned but also those members of the great tribes of what we call Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Māui—the prow of the canoe the waka a Māui. So I'm very very proud to represent all of those wonderful tribes of the north and their descendants that are on Te Tai Tonga roll and I want to just highlight the point that actually there is only one specific iwi that actually has land interests which are directly affected by this scheme and that iwi is Ngāti Kōata.I was talking to Ngāti Kōata today—their board members. They are absolutely 100 percent supportive of this scheme and what's good for iwi what's good for Māori is actually good for the region and good for the country. So they are 100 percent supportive of this scheme and the other iwi in Te Tau Ihu whilst they might not have actual land interests which are impacted by the scheme they are supportive as well. They have been supportive prior to the bill's introduction and I am sure they will be extra supportive once they are able to fully take in the extra belt and braces as Dr Nick Smith has mentioned which gives those iwi which have rights of first refusal under their settlements in Te Tau Ihu—those rights are preserved on the occurrence of this scheme being decommissioned.So with the preservation of those rights I am certain that there will be wholehearted iwi support. In fact it did come through at the last Te Wai Pounamu Te Tau Ihu iwi leaders' meeting and I'm sure that is just a mere formality which needs to be followed up prior to the final readings of this bill. So Ngāti Kōata are absolutely behind this 100 percent.Interestingly there isn't actually too much historical Māori land in the Waimea—that's another story I won't go into—as opposed to the Motueka-Nelson reserves and the likes. But there actually isn't what you would call historical or traditional Māori lands present day in that area apart from Ngāti Kōata and their lands which were former Crown forest licensed lands which they acquired under their settlement. So as far as Ngāti Kōata are concerned they wholeheartedly support this. They are leasing their lands into the scheme and they also have a board seat on the company which will be operating the scheme. So they are very excited as to what the future will hold for them and the benefits that will accrue to the region as a result of this storage and the Waimea scheme.So this is good for Māori and this is good for the local iwi. It does have the support of the iwi and there are eight in the top of the South right over from Rangitāne and Te Ātiawa Ngāti Kuia Ngāti Rārua—there's a lot of iwi right across the top of the South so it's important that we do ensure that those that have the rights of first refusal are given due regard for that.One interesting point that's just come to mind is that as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee we deal with a lot of Treaty settlements and these rights of first refusal which are usually granted over commercial property only last for 175-odd years. So in this instance those rights will be held in abeyance I guess until the future possibility which might eventuate hundreds of years maybe down the track whereby the water scheme is decommissioned in which case those rights are preserved. So I do acknowledge the officials and the select committee for incorporating that into the bill and I think it shows the honour of the Crown in making sure that they do honour those rights of first refusal arrangements. So I commend the inclusion of that in the bill.Just to conclude yes this is a wonderful piece of legislation. This scheme will have huge benefits for the region whether that's economically but also the ecology of the river. Mrs Pugh was correct: this is all about the river—the mauri of the river. By ensuring that we have this water storage and that we can get consistent flows it's good for the river good for the district and good for the country. Kia ora tātou.