Horomia Parekura: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — First Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — First Reading 
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Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 E tuakeano au ki te mihi akeanoi a koutou Hirini ngatupakeke o te wahii a koutou e tae kaha akeanoikoneiituimuai te kaupapa e Joe koutou e Hune koutou katoa tena koutou. 
[ 
I rise once again to acknowledge you all Hirini the elders Joe Hune for the part that you all had a hand in as well as the strong presence shown here at the reading of this bill greetings to you all 
.] 
To the learned elders and the people who have come here today I thank them very much. I thank the previous speakers for the support they have shown for this bill which proposes the establishment of a new governance entity for Ngati Awa. My honourable friend Nanaia Mahuta has certainly summarised the essence of this bill very well. People have said this has taken too long and that Ngati Awa would have done better if they had been there. Well they were not. There are certainly people who want to mirror the progress of Maori through the narrowness of companies that are accountable only to their owners and their directors and that issue is not too dissimilar to that. 
Stephen Franks 
: What about trust? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I want to make sure that the trust that I have in the leaders of Ngati Awa and in the people who have been quite clear on their succession plan and their progress towards it are the reasons why I have sponsored this bill. The days of Maori being patronised and looked down on—dare I mention it at times by this bastion of supposed knowledge—are over. 
This bill is about freeing up people to do what they wish to express themselves and to undertake development for their people—those who are here now in contemporary times and those who are about to come. Most certainly the distrust that is espoused at times by people who are over-endowed with legalistic constraint is something that I always shudder at. It is more important to understand that Maori people know what they want. The people of Ngati Awa have put a lot of effort into this bill and they sure as hang know where they need to go. They do not need to hang on to the apron strings of a Minister of Maori Affairs or of anyone else. I have faith in their courage. I appreciate and recognise that they want to do the best that they can for their people. I remind the member Stephen Franks who is trying to interject that they are no different from his companies which look after themselves. 
I wish to reinforce that the new entity will provide a structure that is accountable to its beneficiaries—to the people. The benefits that have been squared off are the benefits that were tuku-ed to those people not to that member and to everybody else who wants to keep this issue in the quagmire of deficit and deceit. This bill is about Ngati Awa going forward. It has to be about transparent decision-making procedures and a dispute resolution process. There are ups and downs amongst the iwi and at times there are tensions. That is no different to the situation of a whole lot of Pakeha companies which try to take one another over. 
Stephen Franks 
: Exactly! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Let us not make believe that those things only happen in certain people’s cultures. 
It is most certainly more important to understand that the new entity and the settlement it will administer are major milestones for Ngati Awa. I respect and pay real recognition to Ngati Awa for its patience. I am proud to support Ngati Awa through my sponsorship of the bill and I remind that member and other members that they need to watch this space because Ngati Awa is going forward. It is not that the iwi has stopped. However this legislation should help Ngati Awa to determine and define the better way forward for its people. I am confident that Te Runanga o Ngati Awa will continue to prosper under the new structural arrangements. I commend this bill to the House. 
Bill read a first time.