Horomia Parekura: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14390] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Kaiwhakahaere o te Whare. E mihi kau ana i a ratou katoa o Raukawa ratou o Te Arawa mai i Maketu tae atu ki Tongariro. E mihi kau ana ki te rangatira te Heuheu me ratou ma o Tuwharetoa. Na te mea i roto i a koe e mihi kau ana ki a koutou o tera taha nga kanohi Maori. E rekareka atu i tae atu tatou i te wa nei ki te whakawhitiwhiti atu tenei mahi roroa atu. E mohio atu tatou mai ra ano e tuku atu nga tupuna ki a tatou te tikanga o te awa te tikanga o te whenua me te tikanga o te ao katoa. Na te pai o te take nei kei te whakawhitiwhiti atu nga iwi e tae pai atu i te otinga mo tenei mahi roaroa atu.  
E tautokotia atu nga korero a Tariana mo te ahua o te awa nei. E mihi kau ana ki a ratou e kore i konei pera i a Atawhai pera i a Jim nga tangata e whai atu a muri a tenei take. E tae atu tatou ki wetahi o nga roia i korero atu mo te awa i reira ke a Archie ma. No reira e mihi kau ana ki a ratou. Kare hoki te mahi nei he mahi hou. Kare hoki atu te mahi nei mo te tau anake. E roaroa atu te pirangi a wetahi o tatou hei whakatikatika. No reira tena tatou. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker of the House. I acknowledge all those of Raukawa and of Te Arawa from Maketu to Tongariro the chief te Heuheu and those of Tuwharetoa. Because you were involved I also acknowledge the Maori members on that side of the House. I am delighted that we have now come to the time that this longstanding process is dealt with. We know that historically the ancestors handed the traditions of the river land and of the entire world down to us. And because this matter is a good one the people are consulting with each other to ensure that this lengthy process is settled amicably.  
I support Tariana’s remarks about the nature of this river. I pay tribute to those who are no longer here like Atawhai and like Jim—people who worked on this matter in the past but have since died. We include some old soldiers who talked about the river—Archie and others were there. So I acknowledge them. This process is not a new one; it is not for just a year. Some of us have wanted it resolved a very long time ago. So greetings to us. 
] 
The member who just spoke Rodney Hide preaches one thing in one city and town for one lot of people then goes on and paraphrases ridiculously about something that more than just modernising allows us to manage ourselves as a nation going forward into the future. I am proud that it is Maori people from Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa who have the gumption to ensure that co-management becomes a reality. 
Here is a member who preaches zero tolerance and sticks up for all his buddies. Here is a member who goes down to my Pakeha relations in Canterbury the Rutherfords and makes sure they have plenty of water for their land and thinks nothing about it. Then when Maori try to ensure that the river—something that they have travelled on that they have wandered on—is looked after the member starts all his mumbo-jumbo and tries to scratch that redneck itch. That is outrageous I say to Mr Hide. It might be a long way up for me to climb but it is a long way down for you to slide in that sense. It is disgraceful. 
I want to tell you about the river. Mihi atu ki te Kingi Tuheitia. [ 
I acknowledge King Tuheitia. 
] I want to tell you about the importance of the river. It was the democracy and the practices of this country for generations that polluted the river and made it so unsafe to swim in made the dam water stink and made it undrinkable. It was your democracy that did that. It was the organisations that allowed Maori to come to them to talk to them or advise them when it suited them. That is what the councils generally did. The voting system in respect of those structures ensures at times that people who have an attachment to the river be it culturally socially or economically are marginalised because of our systems. What is so wrong about subsets in the legislation of local authorities being made to stand up and to ensure that they cater for everyone? 
Maori did not dream this up just this year. They have been trying to do this for years and years. My tupuna in November 1858 went to Pukawa to talk with the Tuwharetoa people the Raukawa people the Te Arawa people and other tribes in this country to talk about the waterways and how they were being treated. That is a long long time ago I say to Mr Hide. 
I am pleased that the present Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson has followed on from what previous Ministers in this Parliament—namely Michael Cullen and me—signed up to 2 years ago in agreeing to try to organise a structure to consolidate the vision and the strategy. It has certainly come a long way forward. 
This bill gives effect to the deeds agreed between the Crown and Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi by which all parties agreed to a co-governance framework for the Waikato River. That is fantastic governance. That is commitment by people who sometimes do not agree amongst themselves. They put aside a whole lot of differences to ensure that there is a commonality—that is the river and what it meant to them traditionally and means to them in modern times. That is something to be saluted. Mr Hide stands up and tries to say that it is ramrodding it is divisive and it is nasty legislation. He will not concede. He will wait until the next time he stands up in the House to cry huffy-puffy to Tariana and say “I apologise.” You should apologise right now Mr Hide. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was ignoring this to help the flow of the member’s speech but he was demanding that you apologise; I think he means me. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Yes I did try to intervene. The member cannot bring the Chair into the debate. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That member should apologise to Maoridom and to the rest of the people who care about the river. He should apologise to this fine Minister Christopher Finlayson who has enough gumption even though he is a Pakeha to carry on and do the right thing by Maori. He has done well but his co-partner is messing around trying to ensure that there are ructions around this bill. Shame on that member! 
I tell Mr Hide that local authorities have not necessarily ensured that Maori issues have been taken care of and he knows that. I am glad that Mr Len Brown became the Mayor of Auckland because it may bring some sense to it. He has made an effort to understand Maori issues. Mr Hide says that this bill will put asunder all local authority legislation and that it does not respect the law but I say he ain’t respecting the lore. Why not give it a shot? Raiha Mahuta said in the early 1980s that the river was polluted and she talked about native trees growing on the side of the river a long long time ago because her people had talked to her of it a long long time ago. The simple statement that was coined was that the fish should be replenished that they should be healthy enough to be eaten again that our elders should be able to bathe in the water and that the water should be clean. What is so bad about that? 
That member is huffing puffing and blowing about this bill being disrespectful to local authority legislation. Mr Deputy Speaker knows coming from an area where the river supplies water for dairy farms water for agriculture and water to bathe in that it is polluted. It is a mess. I tell Mr Hide that the thing to be remembered is clearly Maori want to clean up the river. The aspects of environmental adjustment are upon us. We continue to say that we are clean and green. 
This is an important bill. It is a wonderful bill. It shows that Maori as I said before even though they differ can come together. Strangely the churches never used to agree and they would not come together. Strangely the councils do not agree but this agreement should be supported by the councils. I say do not scratch the itch do not demean this great legislation. Get on board row one’s waka down it and get a good feeling out of it. That is what this partnership is about. It is about ensuring that Maori get what is rightfully theirs. It is about ensuring that other people can share in and care for the river and that future progress is not stormed upon by unnecessary platitudes from people like that member.