Whaitiri MekaMEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe otirā e ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. It is a great day today. It is a great day not because Labour has gone up 10 percent in the polls or because the leader is now neck and neck with the Prime Minister but because we are here honouring the passing of the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā (Wairarapa Tamaki nui-ā-Rua) Claims Settlement Bill. I am very honoured to lead Labour's part in supporting this bill.Tini whetū ki te rangi ko Rangitāne ki te whenua". Ko Kurahaupō te waka ko ngā uri whakaeke o Whātonga nō reira ōku rau rangatira mā e kui mā e koro mā nau mai hara mai nau mai hara mai nau mai hara mai. ["Like the multitude of the stars in the sky so is Rangitāne on the earth." The canoe is Kurahaupō the descendants are of Whātonga so to my esteemed ones and others of a hundredfold the elderly women and menfolk welcome and come hither welcome and come hither welcome and come hither.]It is indeed a privilege—as all Treaty bills in this House are particularly at the third reading—to stand and honour what has transpired here today. No better do I want to place on the record than the history of Rangitāne. Rangitāne's story begins with the arrival of the Kurahaupō waka. One of the principal chiefs aboard this waka was Whātonga. His descendants eventually migrated south from Māhia Peninsula to settle much of the lower North Island and the top of the South Island. The tribes associated with this waka included Rongomaiwahine Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi Rangitāne o Manawatu Ngāti Apa Muaūpoko Ngāi Tara Ngāti Kuia and Ngāti Tū Mata Kōkiri. Whātonga moved to what we know as the Hawke's Bay area and built a pā which he named Heretaunga. This later became the name adopted for the larger Hawke's Bay area. Oral tradition speaks of Whātonga embarking on a journey of discovery after displeasing his wife Hotuwaipara. She had cut her hand on a nohu a rock cod that he had caught on a fishing venture. This incident led to their first son being named in remembrance of the event Tara-ika meaning fish spine. Whātonga's journey brought him to the Wairarapa for the first time. He settled for some time at Rangiwhakaoma Castlepoint where he built a pā called Mātiriē or Mātira which was situated where the current lighthouse stands.From here he journeyed down to Whanganui-a-Tara up past Kāpiti Island and Horowhenua before moving inland up the Manawatū River and Te Āpiti Manawatū Gorge. It was at this point that he first laid eyes upon a vast virgin forest that stretched beyond his view filled with giant native trees. It was of such splendour that he gave it his own name Te Tāpere Nui ō Whātonga or the Great Domain of Whatonga. It is from this once great forest that Pūkaha / Mount Bruce remains as one of the last significant stands of native bush.Whātonga had two sons to two separate wives and it was the descendants of these two half-brothers that eventually spread to occupy the lower North Island or Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui. The first-born son was Tara-ika known more commonly as Tara. Tara gave rise to the tribe known as Ngāi Tara that lived for many centuries in the Wellington and West Coast areas. Tara gave his name to the Wellington Harbour which is known as Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Great Bay of Tara. His name is also commemorated in the Tararua mountains that divide the Wellington region and is taken from the saying "Ngā waewae e rua ā Tara" or "The spanned legs of Tara" meaning that his people had a foothold on either side of these ranges.The second son of Whātonga was Tautoki born to Reretua. Tautoki gave birth to a son called Tānenuiārangi otherwise known as Rangitāne. Rangitāne had two wives. His first wife Mahue bore a son called Kōpūparapara and it is from this ancestor that Hāmua is derived. Four generations after Rangitāne came Hāmua. Hāmua became the eponymous ancestor or originator of the Ngāti Hāmua hapū which was and remains the paramount hapū of Rangitane-o-Wairarapa. Ngāti Hāmua has survived through to today with other Rangitāne hapū to remain the tangata whenua o Wairarapa.Of course Rangitāne is not the only iwi to lay claim to the Wairarapa. Ngāti Kahungunu shares the role of tangata whenua in the Wairarapa. Ngāti Kahungunu hapū trace their lineage back to the Tākitimu waka that also arrived at Te Māhia some time after the Kurahaupō waka. Over time these people moved into the Wairarapa area from Heretaunga and integrated with the Rangitāne hapū. Today many of the Māori people living in the Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua area can trace their whakapapa or lineage back to both these tribes.I have stolen that introduction from the website of Rangitāne ki Wairarapa so ngā mihi ki a koutou. I read it to inform and share in the House the connection between Rangitāne and Kahungunu. I want to share a story of my grandmother. Some of our people in the audience will know an auntie of mine Kahu Pene. Many years ago before my auntie passed she was going to another one of these many hui that we have back home between Rangitāne and Kahungunu. So she picked up my grandmother Ruru Heta Robin thinking that she had my nan's votes when it came to voting for Kahungunu. To her dismay at the hui my auntie told me that when it came to voting my grandmother voted for Rangitāne. She voted for Rangitāne. That to me was a reminder of the kohutanga that we have between Kahungunu and Rangitāne. To my kinsmen and kinspeople and our iwi who are in the audience today I mihi to you all for being here and witnessing this historic moment.I will not transcend what the Minister ably talked about in terms of the package. All I wanted to raise as I did in the second reading—I notice the Minister did ask me to stand during the Committee stage—was the report that came back from the select committee. That talked about the shared redress and whether that has been taken care of. I leave that there not to disrupt the day but just to acknowledge that there was a report that came back from the select committee that mentioned that. I did not believe that it needed to be changed within the bill but it was definitely a question still left unanswered about the crossover shared parts between Rangitāne and their neighbouring iwi. Maybe the chairman or members on the opposite side can shed some light on that.In the closing moment it is important to acknowledge absolutely the hard work first and foremost of the iwi—for your perseverance in keeping faith with this process. Being reduced from 100 percent landownership to 3 percent is unbelievable. Time and time again we hear the same stories in this House that iwi in good faith entered into agreements with our early settlers and the promise for return and at the end of the day we are left landless—we are left landless. Three percent is all that was left.I want to acknowledge the iwi for their patience—for the original claimants Jim Rimene Manahi Paewai. I want to acknowledge the negotiators Jason Kerehi Mavis Mullins Richard Jones Tīpene Chrisp and of course I want to acknowledge the Hon Rick Barker the Crown negotiator here the officials the Minister and of course the hard work of the Māori Affairs Committee and the many submitters who submitted throughout this process.It is time for Rangitāne—a period of reconciliation for yourselves between the Crown and iwi hopefully with iwi to iwi some reconciliation. It is time to reset and it is definitely a time to regain the mana that we have paid over these years and years as Rangitāne people.Nō reira e Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnei te mihi ki a koutou otirā ngā iwi ngā whanaungatanga tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Therefore Mr Assistant Speaker I acknowledge you collectively but at the same time accolades and well done to you collectively and to all of us.]"