Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:672;Page:18289] 
Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill 
In Committee 
Debate resumed from 6 April. 
Clauses 1 and 2 ( 
continued 
)  
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 Following on from the previous discussion on the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill I fear for the freedom of speech in this country. That is what that charter did. Certainly one of the key focuses in the Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill is to embellish the use of our language and to give people the right to choose and to ensure that there is assurance in our language as it was handed down. I could carry on about the television charter and how we started Maori Television and all of those things but I will not. 
The Maori Affairs Committee certainly looked at these stages. We heard from the Southern Whanganui Cluster / Tupoho working group. It strongly felt that the spelling of “Whanganui” should be with an “h”. I certainly commend the select committee for that. Seeing that the bill is about embellishing the language and ensuring that people of Whanganui got what they wanted I want to proceed in our language which I hope abounds with the new Television New Zealand Amendment Bill. 
I rongo matou i te kaha hiahia o te Kaihui Wherawhera take o Whanganui ki te Tonga kia whakaurua te “h” 
ki roto i te pungakupu o Whanganui. I te wa o Hakihea 2009 te 18 ka whakaputaina e te Minita mo Toitu te Whenua tana whakatau ara tua atu i te ingoa “Wanganui” me whakamahia te ingoa “Whanganui” hei ingoa tuturu i raro i te ture. Ko tana ka tumanako mo nga hinonga Karauna i roto i te haere o te wa kia kawea e ratou te ingoa “Whanganui”. He kaha ano hoki to matou hiahia kia whakaurua te “h” 
ki roto i te pungakupu o Whanganui. Na runga i tera ka tutohu matou kia whakatikangia te pungakupu o “Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” ki “Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” kia whakatikaina hoki a “Northern Part of Wanganui Forest” ki “Northern Part of Whanganui Forest” puta noa i te pire. Haunga te “Wanganui” i “Corrections (Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison)”; na te mea te mate hoki e waiho atu roaroa atu te kupu penei tonu te whakatikatika te kaha o te komiti te whakahuri atu. 
[ 
We heard from the Southern Whanganui Cluster working-group that they feel strongly that the spelling of Whanganui should be with an “h”. On 18 December 2009 the Minister of Land Information announced his decision to assign the alternative official geographic names “Whanganui” and “Wanganui” and stated his expectation that Crown agencies would adopt the “Whanganui” form over time. We also strongly feel that Whanganui should be spelt with an “h”. Accordingly we recommend amending the spelling of “Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” and “Northern Part of Wanganui Forest” to “Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” and “Northern Part of Whanganui Forest” throughout the bill with the exception being “Wanganui” in “Corrections (Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison)”; the trouble is that the word has been left like that for such a long time that the committee would find it difficult to rectify it 
.] 
We heard from a whole lot of submitters—especially those people from Whanganui—that they felt that their town’s name was bastardised by the removal of the “h”. It took a whole lot of nerve tenacity and commitment by those peoples of W’anganui both Maori and Pakeha who were very supportive. There were some people who sat out on the extremes and believed that that would put everything asunder. I said in my last delivery that it was not too long ago when Naida Glavish the great present Maori leader dared to mention “kia ora” on the telephone exchange and everybody went up into the air. That was what was happening in the broadcasting cartel in this country. People were minimising the delivery of the Maori language and the Maori programmes on both stations because of people’s world view in assuming that Maori language and Maori programmes were a waste of time. 
We had an adjustment when National first came into Government. Some in the management were arrogant enough to suggest that a great time for  
Te Karere  
and  
Marae  
was at midnight or at 1 o’clock in the morning. That is how extreme people had become. But it is pleasing to notice that it is now in legislation. After this period of time it will be moved hopefully by the majority of the House. We will as the Committee be thankful that those people’s wishes in Whanganui have been put to the best test. It is a challenge. It has been a challenge. Even the mayor was really concerned about these issues and the relevance of this. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chair. Harikoa ana ahau ki te tu ake ano ki te korero mo tenei pire e pa ana ki te Whanganui (Kaitoke) Whare Herehere. Ahakoa ko tenei taku taima tuawha hei tu ake hei korero e pa ana ki tenei kaupapa e pai ana tena i te mea e tika ana kia whakahonoretia te iwi o Whanganui i runga i tenei kaupapa. Na reira he mea pai tenei. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Chair. I am pleased to stand once again and to address this bill about the Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison. Even though it is the fourth time I have risen and spoken to this that is fine because it is right that the Whanganui tribe be honoured on this. So this is wonderful 
.]  
It gives me great pleasure to stand yet again to talk about the Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill. It is only my fourth call on this particular bill in the Committee stage and each time has been a pleasure. It is such an in-depth bill and in particular this whole issue around the “h” in “Whanganui”. I know that many people will be wondering why we have to spend so much time talking about the “h” in the word “Whanganui” but such I feel is the cost of defending democracy. We have traversed the topics and I will let everyone know—we will put people out of their misery—that this is the last call I believe from the Labour Party on this highly important bill. It is important that it goes through the House forthwith so that the people of Whanganui iwi can actually reach the stage where justice will be served and this whole issue will be laid to rest. 
I will just touch on the whole “h” issue once again and the issues around it such as the way that the Mayor of Whanganui at the time Michael Laws was so adamant that “Whanganui” should not have the “h”. It was really sad to see the way he treated a group of schoolkids from Otaki Primary School who wrote to him to explain that they believed the “h” should be included in “Whanganui”. It was sad to see a person in his position as Mayor of Whanganui malign these kids by saying that their teachers and their parents had put them up to writing the letters and that they should concentrate on the things that really matter such as preventing Maori child abuse as if these kids are part of the cause of Maori child abuse. I thought his arguments were quite ridiculous and quite rude to a group of kids and to a group of parents who I believe were doing the right thing in talking to their children about the issues relating to themselves and to Maoridom. I think that those parents should be congratulated on taking such an interest in their children’s education. 
I did briefly pass the Attorney-General Chris Finlayson a few minutes ago. He asked why Labour was “buggerising around with this bill”—those were his exact words—and I said to him that such is the emphasis that the Labour Party places on democracy we will give this bill our full attention. But to be perfectly honest it is time that we moved on from this as I said earlier so that the people of Whanganui can move on with their settlement and justice can actually be done. 
Paul Quinn 
: We won’t hold them up any longer Kelvin. 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: It would be really great if my colleague over there Paul Quinn—we spent so much time together in the Maori Affairs Committee—and also Simon Bridges decided to stand up and pay tribute to the people of Whanganui over this issue but I know Mr Quinn will be saving himself for great oratory later on in the evening. Of course as members on this side always do we are looking forward to the contribution that Mr Quinn can make to this Parliament. We understand how eloquent he is and what a great orator he is. He brings so much talent to this Parliament. It is a pleasure to have served on the Maori Affairs Committee that oversaw this bill at the time. Kia ora. 
Clause 1 agreed to. 
Clause 2 agreed to. 
Bill to be reported without amendment presently.