Paraone Pita: Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 24 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11229. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker tēnā anō hoki tātou. Ka nui ngā mihi ki a koutou e noho nei ki te tautoko mai i te kaupapa nei. E mōhio ana au mai i tērā rau tau tae noa ki te wā nei ko tēnei tetahi o ngā taumahatanga e noho ana kei runga i a koutou he aha ai? I ngā mahi kikino a Te Karauna ki a koutou o Te Awa. Nā reira ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou i te rā nei.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us all as well. Much appreciation to you seated here in support of this matter. I know that since the last century and right to the present time this has been a burden on you and why? Because of the injustices inflicted upon you of the river by the Crown. So congratulations to you today.]When Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill first came on to the Order Paper I went home that night and I thought of two people in particular and in so naming them I am not being disrespectful to those who have carried this kaupapa from last century through to the present time. One was Nik Tangaroa. I knew him in Auckland as an active member of the union and he was a good fella to have on your side. The other one—it was not until he was knighted that I came to know what his full name was—I always knew as Archie Taiaroa. Archie and I worked for the Department of Māori Affairs in a time when we actually looked after our people in a way that we do not necessarily see today. But that is another issue.Ka nui taku mihi ki a rāua ahakoa kāre rāua i noho ā-tinana i waenganui i a tātou i te rā nei ēngari kei te maumahara i a rātou. Nā reira moe mai kōrua e Nik e Archie me rātou mā e noho nei i te kāpunipuni o ngā wairua. Nā reira kua ea te wāhi mā koutou ka hoki mai ki a tātou te hunga ora tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou.[I have a huge appreciation for those two. Even though both are not here physically amongst us today I reminisce about them. So sleep there Nik and Archie in the place where spirits inevitably end up. And so the part for them has been satisfied. I come back to us the living: greetings acknowledgments and well done to you collectively.]Listening to the previous speaker Metiria Turei I think she made some telling points when we talk about the river as a living being. She made mention of legislation or the law actually catching up with tikanga. When she said that I thought of the fisheries settlement—particularly that part surrounding the Kermadecs. It passed through this House. Everyone was happy because the protection of our fishing rights was ensconced in legislation and then over recent weeks things about the legislation seem to have been forgotten. So although I and New Zealand First support this legislation I think it is incumbent on all of us those of us who sit in this House and those of you who have come sitting in the gallery to ensure that we never ever see the river lost to us again.This settlement is a little bit different from other settlements because it comprises two deeds. The first deed is to establish the river as a separate legal entity. It provides for two river guardians the development of a strategy for river well-being the vesting of the Crown-owned parts of the bed in Te Awa Tupua and the establishment of funds to support the activities of these entities. In the second deed where the historic account is agreed to the Crown makes acknowledgments and apologises. There is cultural and financial redress for the Whanganui iwi. So in all there is the settlement redress of $81 million the funding for Te Korotete of $30 million for the health and well-being of Te Awa Tupua for Te Pou Tupua $200000 per annum for the next 20 years—and I would recommend that they capitalise on that fund and take the $4 million now rather than wait every year for the next 20 years—and for Te Heke Ngahuru $430000 for administration costs.The good thing about this—and I think she was acknowledged—is that the Mayor of Whanganui is in attendance. Given the history between the council and local iwi over recent years I think it augurs well to know that we have the support of the local body in terms of the future of the river. I just want to acknowledge that and have that placed on the record of Hansard.When I think about the Whanganui River I recall first hearing the saying “The river is me and I am the river”. I thought that we in Ngāti Hine were the only iwi who subscribed to that notion when we talked about our traditional river Taumārere-herehere-i-te-riri. I think it was Mr Davis who talked about swimming in the local river and learning more about one another—oh I think it was the member for the Māori Party. Having been brought up in a place called Mōtatau I can remember doing the same thing and when she said about knowing about others I thought: “Hey they must have been just like us. We go for a swim no clothes and we know what everybody is about.” And those are some of the histories surrounding our rivers—learning about one another in more ways than one I might add but also realising how important the river has been to our tūpuna.As a young person going to Bay of Islands College and learning about Māori history I can recall seeing photos of tāua holding tuna and the caption saying that these were on the Whanganui River. Again I liken the Whanganui River to our traditional river of the hau kāinga of Taumārere-herehere-i-te-riri. I welcome this opportunity of contributing to this debate but also having this bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee because it will give people the opportunity to express their view as to whether they support or oppose the bill. If they do then it gives them the opportunity to articulate as to why. Having said that I commend the bill to the House. Kia ora.