Foster AndyANDY FOSTER (NZ First): Taranaki whānui tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. It's humbling to stand here and to look at the gallery here and to recognise the representatives of the eight iwi of Taranaki whānui to see you here on this important day. I want to acknowledge not only you who are here today but also those who have gone before. Obviously this has been the result of many many years of work and I particularly want to acknowledge those who have passed on who are not able to be here at this historic day and to recognise them.I also want to acknowledge the long and the painful history that has been behind this that goes back more than a century and a half now to the confiscations of the 1860s and to recognise generation after generation of Taranaki whānui over that period of time. This is about saying that that was wrong and we are here as the representatives of the people of this country to say sorry that was wrong and we need to put that right. That is what this legislation is all about. It is about putting right generations of doing things wrong and it wasn't just about the taking of land; it was also on reading the history about the preventing of reconnection to the land and reconnection to the maunga. That was wrong. So it wasn't just that one-off wrong but wrongness over generation after generation after generation and the connection—I know we all feel that. The connection to our mother Earth to Papatūānuku is a powerful thing for all human beings. To be disconnected from that land that you value the most that you love the most that you connect with the most—that is a painful thing. So again I say on behalf of my party—on behalf of New Zealand First who stands here to support this legislation—that we are sorry for that disconnection and for that pain that has been caused over so many years.Look even as a Pākehā boy I know that if you talk about the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand there are some landscapes which are particularly special which we all know the stories of and the story of Taranaki is absolutely one of those stories. The idea of personhood for Taranaki is a really really important one and it's the personhood in a sense that goes after the personhood and the recognition that was granted to the Whanganui River because it was Taranaki that made that long journey from the central North Island down the Whanganui River to be where Taranaki stands today. So I think it is appropriate that we do that together: the connection between Whanganui River and Taranaki maunga.It's a privilege to be able to just say a few words here as we take this important step forward to correct wrongs of the past and to be able to walk forward together on this journey as this bill goes through the House over the next few stages. I don't think there's a lot more that I wish to say other than that I think the summary of the historical background says it very very poignantly and pointedly. For generations Taranaki maunga and its surrounding ranges have been the central pillar for the iwi the hapu and the whānau of Taranaki. The mountain has long been an honoured ancestor a source of physical cultural and spiritual sustenance and a final resting place. So it is not just a mountain; it is a spiritual ancestor and I think that makes it so so important that we come to this point to fix the wrongs of the past and be able to walk forward together. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.