Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): Ā tēnā koutou; tēnei te tū ake ki te tāpiri aku mihi ki ērā i whakatau i a koutou i raro i te korowai o te ngākaunui mō tēnei tutukitanga nō reira Whanganui iwi tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.[And so acknowledgments to you collectively; I rise to add my tributes to those who paid homage to you under the cloak of dedication for this achievement therefore to you the Whanganui tribes I commend you all.]I have listened carefully to the contributions today and in fact since this particular bill was introduced into the House. It got me reflecting on a number of things. As I am not from the area I had to go back to when my relationship began with the Whanganui River and how it enriched the way in which I thought about my own river.I went back—what—some 18 years to my first opportunity to experience Te Awa Whanganui. Successive visits since then really started to embed within me—when you hear the saying Ko te awa ko au; ko au te awa."—the sense in which a people have a relationship to their river as an entity and more than that as an ancestor and more than that as a being that infuses an essence and a perspective in the way that you look at things.In this term there have been two settlements that have been innovative in their approach to understanding how we might think about our relationship to each other and to the environment—our care of duty of stewardship and of kaitiakitanga towards nature. Those two settlements are Te Urewera and this one Te Awa Tupua. Why? Because to a large degree infused within the components of the settlements they take two very simple notions rākau in the Urewera settlement and wai in this settlement and urge a different conversation towards the way in which we think about our custodial care for our environment.That is really exciting for settlements yet to come. I would hope that a number of iwi who are yet to settle take on board the approach and the type of conversation—the new conversation space—that is being created by these two settlements. It is exciting and it is an opportunity. It urges people into a different space of responsibility vis-à-vis rights and it urges people to take a longer-term view towards what it is going to take to ensure that our custodial care and obligations as kaitiaki will ultimately benefit our taiao—and yes our people but our taiao—so that future generations can reap the rewards of that.With that said I thought about certain aspects of the settlement and I actually used the opportunity as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee to again comment on the innovation of Treaty settlements at a water symposium. I commented on alongside our own Waikato River settlement this one as well in particular as a model for the future. Why? Because Te Pou Tupua—the relationship between the Crown and Whanganui iwi to have custodial care for the river like a baby to have a conversation about its well-being like you would a child to think about the external environment within which that child is being raised the broader community and to think about the relationships that need to be integrated into a long-term solution for looking after the care and well-being of this child or this tupuna mokopuna or tupuna. I thought Te Pou Tupua whose genesis has been in Whanganui provided an interesting and innovative framework. I think it provides a common point of approach that many can draw from. Again having a strategic plan is something that is important to Te Kōpuka the collaborative group that oversees the way in which that strategic plan can be implemented and I thought that was excellent.When we think about the river as a system those in the upper reaches the mid reaches and the lower reaches having Te Karewao as a group of locally selected elected representatives will ensure that they can take a catchment-based approach to the health and well-being of those very unique parts of the river system. Again it is very innovative and provides a different space for conversation engages the community at a wide point and absolutely ensures that the iwi are front-row centre to shaping the conversation around Te Awa Tupua. Those values and attributes are really important to keep in mind when you are thinking about decisions going forward.All of these things hinged together were actually very difficult to understand at a select committee level when we read this settlement on paper. But when we heard the submission and the intent we started to piece together I guess a picture of what is trying to be achieved. I think we have only slithered across the top of the intent and there is something much deeper here that is happening. We will see the fruits of this I believe in the next 5 to 10 years. And if this contribution is what it is intended to be it will shape a very different conversation between Crown and iwi between local government and iwi between the rest of the community and iwi and actually between the corporate sector and iwi. Why? Because the custodial care of our taiao is very important.I commend the work of the negotiators. It is evident certainly from what I can see that the stewardship of care by which those guiding hands of those who have gone past is infused in everything that this settlement represents. I am sure they will be very proud of the negotiators who have carried this settlement forward. The Minister made mention of Briar Gordon. She is exceptional when it comes to putting together the legal framework in a way that stays as close as possible to the intent of the deed of settlement. We have had many times when we have ourselves tried to kind of find our way through the conversation with Briar Gordon as a member of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and she has brought the total sum of her experience into every Treaty settlement that she passes her hand over with the first being the Ngāi Tahu settlement right up until this settlement 20 years later. So you have had the very best parliamentary counsel legal drafter have hands on this legislation. It may not be everything but it is certainly an advancement—again I can only comment from a place of knowing—on previous river settlements into a very innovative space.I also want to thank Minister Chris Finlayson. You have been overly ambitious in my view in terms of pushing us on time frame. The chair of our select committee will attest to the fact that we have tried to keep working through these settlements in a respectful manner and in a conscientious manner but in a manner that will help iwi like Whanganui get on with it—get on with it and do what you need to do to make this all that you need it to be.The chair of our select committee commented on a couple of concerns but can I have on the record again—because it abuts the area that I represent—the interests of the upper catchment. At the end of the day words cannot supplement relationships but what is very evident about this settlement is that it absolutely relies on relationships. So although iwi like Maniapoto may be concerned I hope that the undertakings of the settlement will allay some of their greatest concerns but I know—I know—that what will actually make this work in a way that has mutual advantages will be the relationships. And for this settlement ultimately to be effective it is all about practical living relationships to give effect to the intent of the legislation which is to have a stewardship of care for a most beautiful river in our country. Nō reira he iti tāku me kī kia tuitui ki ngā kōrero i mua i ō tātou aroaro i tēnei rangi ki a tātou katoa.[Therefore my contribution is a brief one let us say as a thread on to the contributions before us all on this day.]I am very humbled to be able to support the second reading of this settlement. Tēnā koutou."