Waititi RawiriRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Oh what lovely people. Kia ora tātou. Kia ora tātou i tēnei rā. Tēnā tātou kua whakawhāiti nei i runga i te āhuatanga o tēnei o ngā pire. Kua rongo atu awahau i ngā kōrero o ngā taha e rua ā kua rongo atu anō hoki i te nati o te kakī o tērā o ō koutou tāngata i a au mō te kore e haramai i te wā tika. Engari rā kei te tino tautoko mātou i tēnei. Engari he mea iti noa tēnei i runga i te huarahi tika mō te whakatōpū nei me te whakanui i ngā whenua Māori. Koinei hoki te hiahia a Te Ururoa Flavell i roto i ōna rā. Ko tōna hiahia mō Te Ture Whenua Māori ko Reipa e aukatingia i a ia i tōna mahi engari kei te mihi atu rā mō te iti nei o tēnei o ngā pire kia whakatikatikahia i ngā reiti e ngaua kinotia i wā tātou whenua Māori i roto i ngā tau maha ki muri nei. Koinā hoki te take kei te tū au.Kei te tū au anō hoki ki te kōrero i ngā kōrero tika hāngai tō ki ngā mahi e reitingia e tākengia i wō tātou whenua. I whakatūngia te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tau 1865. Ko tōna mahi matua he whakahaere i ngā utu whenua Māori mō te Karauna. I te 1882 ka ara mai te Native Lands Ratings Act ki runga whenua Māori ka kitea i te rerekētanga a ngā reiti ki runga i ngā whenua Māori ki tā te whenua Pākehā. Toru rau paiheneti te kaitā a ngā reiti ki runga whenua Māori atu i ngā whenua Pākehā. Ka tiki ake awahau i ngā kōrero o taku tipuna a Tuta Nihoniho i roto i tōna haka i tuhingia i te tau 1870. Pō ngā rā pō ngā rā!Ka tataki mai te Whare o ngā ture ka whiria.Te Māori ka whiria.Ngau nei ōna reiti ngau nei ōna tāke āhaha.Tē taea te ueue.[Greetings all; greetings on this day. Greetings to all gathered here for the purpose of this bill. I have heard the opinions of both sides and have also heard the rebuke from your colleague for not arriving on time. However we fully support this bill. But this is only a small step on the correct path for the consolidation and increasing of Māori land. This was the wish of Te Ururoa Flavell during his time. His aspiration for the Māori Land Act was thwarted by Labour at the time; however I still acknowledge the small step forward in this bill which seeks to rectify rating issues that have badly affected our Māori lands in the past. This is the reason why I am standing. I also stand to talk directly and specifically about the rating and taxing of our land. The Māori Land Court was established in 1865. Its main role was to organise payments with regards to Māori land on behalf of the Crown. In 1882 the Native Lands Ratings Act was passed and it highlighted the difference in ratings of Māori and Pākehā land. Māori land rates were 300 percent higher than those of Pākehā land. Now let me refer to the message of my ancestor Tuta Nihoniho delivered in the haka he composed in 1870.The shadows fall the shadows fall!There is chattering in Parliament.And Māori are being plaited as a rope.Its rates and its taxes are biting.Its teeth cannot be withdrawn.]I did mention in the first reading of this particular bill that while the changes in this legislation present a huge step forward and will benefit many Māori land owners we must not stop here. Te Paati Māori's vision is the reassertion of our mana motuhake and our tino rangatiratanga over our own affairs our own people and our own lands. This bill is a positive step forward and put forward and championed by Te Ururoa Flavell and Te Paati Māori as part of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act reforms. And I do want to acknowledge at that particular time Labour's resistance to that particular bill. I also want to acknowledge though that this is a step forward because this is actually a section of that particular bill that we are addressing today.And so I mentioned a haka that was written by my ancestor Tuta Nihoniho in 1870 where he talks about: The shadows fall! The shadows fall!There is chattering in Parliament.And Māori are being plaited as a rope.Its rates and its taxes are biting.Its teeth cannot be withdrawn. Alas!The land will be destroyed!The laws are spread-eagled—not Paul Eagle—over it!Nā ngā mema rā te kōhuruNā te Kāwana te kōheriheri.Ka raruraru ngā tureKa raparapa ki te pua tōrori.[The members have done this black deedAnd the Governor has pulverised us.The laws of the land are confusedFor even the tobacco leaf is singled out!]And that was written in 1870. And today we are able to address part of this Act that continues or that continued to steal lands from Māori.And so we do justice by our ancestors who signed the Treaty of Waitangi. We do justice by the many who shed blood over this land to hold on to it. So Te Paati Māori is proud to stand here today and support this bill but we are expecting to go further than that. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member's time has expired.