Paraone PitaPITA PARAONE (NZ First): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker tēnā anō hoki tātou o Te Whare nei. I tautokongia ngā mihi i mihingia ki a koutou ngā iwi o Te Awa o Whanganui i taemai nei ki te whakarongo ki te mātakitaki i ngā kōrero a ngā tāngata i kawe mai i tēnei kaupapa ki roto o Te Whare nei. Māku e mea atu ki a koutou kia aroha mai aroha mai ki a au nā te mea kua pau kē ngā kōrero i ngā tāngata i tū ake i mua i a au. Wēnā te mate i a mātou o Aotearoa Tuatahi ahakoa he rōpū iti nei i tēnei wā e noho ana mātou i tēnei taha o Te Whare ēngari mēnā ka kaha ana tā koutou aroha ki a mātou i te mārama o Hepetema e tū mai ā kei neke atu i a mātou ki tērā taha kia ahatia? Ahakoa i pēnā kei roto i a au ētahi o ngā kōrero e hiahia ana kia puta mai ki waenganui i a tātou i te rā nei.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and salutations once again to us of this House. I endorse the tributes accorded to you collectively the people of the Whanganui River who have arrived to listen and to watch the contributions by the people who brought this matter into this House here. I will say to you collectively to empathise with me and to pity me because all that has to be said have been exhausted by those who got up before me. That is a problem we of New Zealand First have to contend with because we are only a small party and at this time we are sitting on this side of the House but if your empathy for us is really strong in the September that is coming you might shift us to that side. So what can be done about that? Even if the situation is like that I have some things within me that I want to air amongst you today.]I just want to also add to the contributions made by my fellow colleagues on both sides of the House today and say that we in New Zealand First will certainly support this bill because it is a unique one. It is unique in the sense that it creates what we call a special entity and in this case it is Te Awa Tupua—the Whanganui River. When I stand here at this time I am mindful of a number of people who have passed on who have been responsible for initiating this particular claim this particular legislation and in that regard I want to acknowledge Te Atawhai Taiaroa. Te Atawhai Taiaroa nā te mea i te wā ko ia tētahi āpihā mō Te Rohe o Whanganui mō Te Tari Māori i a au tetahi o ngā āpiha i roto i Te Tari Māori i roto i Te Tai Tokerau e kī nei te kōrero i mahi tahi i ā māua. Nā reira ka nui ngā mihi me ērā atu o ngā mātua ngā kuikuia i āwhina ki te kawe atu i tēnei kaupapa kia tau te kerēme i te rā nei. Tū atu i tēnā e hiahia ana au kia mihi atu ki Te Ariki mai i Te Whare o Tūwharetoa nā reira ngā mihi ki a koe e Tumu! Tua atu i tēnā i a Gerard i a Tihi me John horekau e kite atu i a koe e te tuahine Tariana ēngari mēnā kei konei koe ka nui taku mihi ki a koutou.[Te Atawhai Taiaroa because when she was a Māori Affairs official for the Whanganui region I had one of these Māori Affairs officials in Northland. It could be said that we worked together. And so my accolades in regard to that are huge; plus for those other parents and those other elder womenfolk who helped to progress this matter along and for the claim to land here on this day. Further to that I want to acknowledge the paramount chief from the House of Tūwharetoa. So acknowledgments to you Tumu! Furthermore I acknowledge Gerard Tihi and John I cannot see you sister colleague Tariana; if you are here my acknowledgment to you collectively is a huge one.] I just want to acknowledge that this bill is a recognition of the Crown's obligation which is that the iwi is able to exercise its right to its cultural obligations to the river and this is what this bill allows the iwi o Whanganui. When I say iwi"—when this case came before the Māori Affairs Committee there was some discussion around the use of the word "iwi" but in particular the word "hapū" which was used by Hekenui Whakarake before the royal commission of inquiry into the bed of the Whanganui River in 1950. I am not surprised that that tupuna alluded to the word "hapū" and not "iwi". Those of us who have studied anthropology—particularly New Zealand anthropological history—will know that the word "iwi" is not a Māori word. It was initiated by those early anthropologists just to be able to describe a number of hapū. So the Māori Affairs Committee—and I am not quite sure at the time whether that was the reason that we changed it but it made it very easy for us to ensure that those respective hapū were in fact recognised as iwi as part of the legislation. This bill also has the support of the local body. As part of the questioning that we had with the officials involved with this bill we asked whether the payment of $430000 to the Horizons Regional Council was to be considered part of the quantum. We were advised accordingly that no this was not part of the quantum and it was to be paid by the Crown to the regional council as a contribution towards the cost of establishing Te Kōpuka and developing Te Heke Ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua—the river strategy. This payment is not part of the quantum payable to Whanganui iwi and is not counted as settlement redress and I can say that the Māori Affairs Committee was certainly happy to hear that. I also want to say that the bill will reverse what has been described as the disenfranchisement of the iwi of the river and it recognises Te Awa Tupua as a legal person. There will be expectations of the collaborative and inclusive working together with all the other groups that are involved with the river but I do ask the question: how will this new arrangement be affected by the proposed Resource Legislation Amendment Bill? I think that will be something that people will need to consider once the terms of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill are either confirmed or certainly debated in this House. It also indicates a willingness on the part of Te Awa Tupua to work with all those having an interest in the river and it is a settlement that is certainly unique. We have heard people say that there is interest in the arrangement that this bill brings not only from other iwi but from other entities from around the world. So it certainly shows the willingness of not only the Crown but more importantly the iwi of Whanganui to accept a new way of administering and looking after their river. I just want to conclude by saying a little whakataukī that I have taken licence to change a little bit. It is: Tuia Te Rangi i runga tuia Te Papa ki raro ka rere haere Te Awa o Whanganui ki waenganui nā reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai anō tātou. [Bind the sky above thread the earth below the Whanganui River flows in between and so accolades and congratulations to you collectively and my appreciation once again to us collectively.]"