Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā otirā ki Te Whare anei te mihi atu ki a koutou āe he maha ngā kōrero kua puta mai i ngā rangi kua hipa atu i ngā tūru e wātea nei. Kei hea rā te hunga o Pāremata nei ki te whakarongo ki tēnei kōrero tēnei kōrero hōhonu nei tēnei kōrero tuatahi nei? Well kei konei a Māori mā wētahi o ō tātou whanaunga o tēnā o tēnā o ngā pāti heoi anō rā koirā te wero ki a tātau katoa! [Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker but at the same time to the House here is a congratulatory remark to you collectively and yes many comments have been made over the past days about these empty chairs. Where indeed are the ones of this Parliament to listen to this address of depth and a first-time one? Well Māori members are here some of our relations of that one of the parties and of that one of the parties are here but once again that is the challenge indeed for us all!]To understand who maintains the mana of the Whanganui River one must return to its source to hear the ancient first. Pūhaina a Tongariro e rere nei i W'anganui ko te wai inu tēnā o Ruatipua inu ai! [Tongariro erupted where W'anganui flows. That is the water that Ruatipua consumes!]The wisdom of the river is found through two primary tūpuna Ruatipua and Whairangi-i-Te Whare Toka. Ko ngā wai inuinu o Ruatipua ēnā ngā manga iti ngā manga nui e honohono kau ana ka hono ka tupu hei awa hei Awa Tupua.[Those are the drinking waters of Ruatipua small and large streams that join together to become a river as Awa Tupua.]For many New Zealanders a connection to our rivers is a treasured part of our identity. It reminds us of summers gone by of recreation and pleasure and of childhood memories and adventures on rapids. But to the people who fill our galleries today there is something more. A river runs through their veins: a river of whakapapa of sacred significance a river that brings together the genealogies and legacies of a people who have swum washed played prayed dived paddled and travelled Te Awa Tupua as the central artery of their tribal heart.The people are drawn to the river to cleanse and purify to bless and heal or to give strength and resolve: For Te Kuia Peeti while growing up [she stated that] the river was 'the life-blood of my life'." It had a wairua and she contended that it healed purified and sustained. Today then marks a significant day because it recognises the significance of the dual-ownership of this spiritual connection to Te Awa Tupua an ownership located in two key principles. "Te Awa Tupua mai i te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa—an integrated … view of Te Awa Tupua … from the mountains to the sea;" and "Ko au ko te awa ko te awa ko au—the health and wellbeing of the Whanganui River is intrinsically interconnected with the health and wellbeing of [its] people."E ngā iwi o Whanganui we are truly making history. This will be the first time that this nation has by legal definition as has been stated here today recognised the Whanganui River Te Awa Tupua as a legal identity reflecting an indivisible and living whole. That history we make today reflects the courage of those champions of the Wai 167 claim: the late Hikaia Amohia the late Sir Archie John Te Atawhai Taiaroa the late Joan Akapita and many more—Rangipō Metekīngi and others but if I go into them I will be here all day so: others! But it is a history that stretches way beyond any other settlement or legislation that has ever been heard in this House. The Wai 167 claim tabled on 14 October 1990 was the latest in over a century of petition and submission dating back to 1887. That is right—1887 when Paora Tūtaawha and 66 others petitioned the Parliament of that day complaining that steamers were destroying their fisheries and their eel weirs. The legacy is with us today in every word.The whakataukī that I spoke of earlier refers to the drinking fonts of Ruatipua the small and the large streams that flow into one another and continue to link and swell until the river is formed Te Awa Tupua. At the second reading one can truly feel the river flowing through the submissions we heard and the synergy created by many voices coming together as one. One of the truly awe-inspiring features of this bill is to bring so many often contrary voices into one unified chorus. We heard from the mayors and chief executives of the Whanganui Ruapehu and Stratford district councils and the Horizons Regional Council. They told us of a willingness of local government to work collaboratively with the Whanganui iwi and the Crown with each other and with the communities giving effect to the bill collectively. They welcomed the innovative nature of this legislation particularly the river as an entity represented by Te Pou Tupua.The Quaker settlement told us that it was truly significant to have formal recognition of the Whanganui iwi's world view at the heart of the Awa Tupua bill. It encouraged us to remember the promises of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and it set out an expectation of coexistence living together acknowledging our differences but sitting together side by side the foundation of a plural society. We were told that "We now have the opportunity to make this shared quest a lived reality." The New Zealand Conservation Authority promoted the value system of Te Awa Tupua as being able to inform and strengthen the collaborative management of the national park as a living cultural landscape. Ngāti Rangi Trust celebrated the fact that once enacted into law Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill in its view set a new global benchmark for the restoration and preservation of significant waterways. It concluded that it looked forward to supporting the Whanganui iwi relations in the years ahead to bring life to the aspirations of the many pakeke who have fought for the awa over countless generations.Even Horizons Regional Council told the Māori Affairs Committee that its relationship with the Whanganui iwi has ebbed and flowed over time. As the settlement of the Whanganui River has developed so too has their relationship. It told us that the bill speaks to the aspirations not only of Whanganui iwi but also of the communities that interconnect with the river and provide strong mechanisms to assure the mana of Te Awa Tupua is upheld and enhanced. These are but a selection of the 30 or so multiple voices singing as one to advance Te Pire o Te Awa Tupua (mō Te Whakataunga o Ngā Kerēme e pā ana ki Te Awa o Whanganui).It is important that we acknowledge the sacrifice and suffering of Whanganui iwi who have endured the sustained misuse and exploitation of their ancestral waters over several decades. Fourteen Whanganui chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in May 1840 and since that time the Crown has systematically undermined the Whanganui River the Whanganui iwi and their interests in the management and use of the river. History will never be erased or forgotten. But today marks a significant turn in the tide of a new opportunity a change to the lens through which people interact with and make decisions affecting Te Awa Tupua. The kuia Julie Ranginui told the Tribunal in 1994: "The river for me is like my mother is like my father. The river is my grandfather my grandmother it's my tupuna."In schedule 8 of the bill we are introduced to more than 240 identified ripo or rapids their names protected and maintained by the hapū associated with each of those ripo between Taumarunui and the mouth of the river. We recall the connections to some 143 marae once vibrant communities that shaped the river life and a life still cherished by their descendants. The people of the awa hold that each ripo of the Whanganui River is inhabited by kaitiaki that are particular to each hapū. The iwi and the hapū of the Whanganui look to these kaitiaki for guidance in times of joy despair and uncertainty for guidance and insight that they can provide—a sacred lineage an intimate connection between the river and its people.In the 23 seconds I have left I just want to quote this from Niko Tangaroa: "The river and the land and its people are inseparable. And so if one is affected the other is affected also. … The river is the heartbeat the pulse of our people. Without the Awa we are nothing and therefore I am reminded of the korero when one of our elders Taitoko Tawhiri said of the river if the awa dies we die as a people. Ka mate Te Awa ka mate tatou Te Iwi." We have a chance to restore Te Awa Tupua to its life-giving essence and in doing so to gift back to the people their rightful obligations and responsibilities to the river that runs through their veins. The Māori Party is proud and indeed humbled to support this bill respecting their vision their generosity and their remarkable persistence. We commend this bill to the House."