SpeechHon NICKY WAGNER (National): Tihei mauri ora! Te Whare e tū nei tēnā koe. Te papa e takoto nei tēnā koe. Ngā mate haere haere haere. Ngā reo ngā mana tēnā koutou katoa. Kei te kōrero ahau mō te pānuitanga tuatahi o Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill.[I stand. The House that stands before us greetings. The ground that lays before us greetings. Those who have passed rest in peace. The spokespeople the people of authority greetings to you all. I am speaking to the first reading of Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill.]I'm very pleased to be able to see this bill being introduced today during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Also today we celebrated as has been noted te huranga o te tohu whakamahara ki ngā pakanga i Aotearoa—the unveiling of the New Zealand Wars commemorative plaque. It's of great significance that we now recognise the New Zealand Wars and the men and women who fought in them here in Pāremata Aotearoa. I particularly like the fact that the plaque is in a very prominent position above the doorways and I think it's looking really good.That we now very keenly and actively celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori—the Māori Language Week—when in the past young Māori speakers were chastised by their teachers for speaking Te Reo that we prominently commemorate the New Zealand Wars and of course even the name of those wars has changed over the years in our Parliament and that this bill to pardon Rua Kēnana the Tūhoe prophet is being introduced into the House today shows just how far we have come and how much has changed in New Zealand over the years. In the 21st century we are a far more understanding inclusive diverse and tolerant society. We expect a better fairer and culturally richer quality of life and that is to the benefit of all of us—this generation and the generation to come.In fact New Zealanders reading the story of Rua Kēnana from over a century ago find it very difficult to understand how he could have been so badly treated by the Crown and that they could have used such force to arrest him. Bringing 70—70—armed policemen to invade Maungapōhatu and in the process killing his son Toko Rua and Te Maipi Te Whiu and wounding other Māori and that four policemen were also injured just seems incredible and all wrong to us today. Indeed the Waitangi Tribunal in 2012 determined that the Crown used excessive force in arresting Rua Kēnana and that that arrest was unlawful because it happened on a Sunday.There's no doubt that 2 April 1916 was a dark day in New Zealand's history and had terrible consequences for Rua Kēnana and his whānau and beyond that the followers of the Iharaira faith he founded. All suffered that day and all their descendants have suffered from the consequences ever since. I think all New Zealanders were supportive when the Crown represented by the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell and the Hon Christopher Finlayson went to Maungapōhatu marae in September 2017 to sign an agreement with the trust representing the whānau and the followers of the faith to progress the pardon of Rua Kēnana—a pardon promised 101 years late a pardon long overdue. For all that time Rua Kēnana was in the eyes of the law a criminal. But now is the time to change that. Today we introduce a bill that will ensure him a statutory pardon. Nothing of course will erase the violence and the horror of the Maungapōhatu invasion that April Sunday in 1916 but at least now the Crown has apologised and within the bill is a declaration to restore the character to restore the mana to restore the reputation of Rua Kēnana his descendants and the followers of the Iharaira faith that he founded. New Zealand will be a better place now that this miscarriage of justice this historic wrong has been recognised and an apology made. Many things have gone wrong in our country over the years and people have suffered but I know that New Zealanders today are keen to right those wrongs. Hopefully as they are recognised we can find ways to make amends to apologise and to heal some of the hurt so that we can move forward together. I commend this bill to the House during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori.