Shaw JamesJAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. He mihi aroha ki a koutou ngā uri o Te Awa o Whanganui tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and a loving acknowledgment to you the relatives of the Whanganui River. Well done congratulations and accolades to you all.]I am Pākehā. My ancestors are from Ōpōtiki where Whakatōhea are tangata whenua. I asked for the honour to be allowed to speak to this bill. As Kaiārahi o Te Rōpū Kākāriki [Leader of the Green Party] I asked to be allowed to speak to this bill because it contains a gift for Te Ao Katoa [the entire world].When I first ran for the leadership of the Green Party just over 2 years ago I was talking about the notion of legal personhood for natural features. Patrick Gower a journalist dismissed the idea as human rights for snails". So I hope he is listening to the debate this morning.In my time I want to acknowledge and thank all of those who have made this possible. I would like to speak particularly to the recognition of legal personhood of Te Awa Whanganui. I want to recognise what a gift it is that you have given to all of us. I would like to start by acknowledging the people who have made all of this possible—the hapū and tūpuna rohe of Whanganui iwi. You are the tangata whenua and the kaitiaki of Te Awa Whanganui. I acknowledge everything that you have passed through the sacrifices you have made and the injustices you have suffered which have brought us to this point. As Pākehā I honestly cannot even begin to imagine what it is that you have been through on your journey to this point.I do want to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee and the chair Nuk Korako for the work that they have done to bring us to this point; the officials; and the negotiators on both sides who have done I think superb work in creating this bill. I would also like to acknowledge the Hon Chris Finlayson the Minister responsible and also the Attorney-General of this country for shepherding through a conservative Government what is actually a pretty radical legal notion—the idea that an environmental feature would have legal personhood. I asked him in the middle of an election campaign—I said: "How did you get that through Cabinet? I would have thought there would be some resistance." He said "Oh it's a very interesting legal notion." and simply wandered off. In other words I do not think they knew what they were signing up to!Ko au ko te awa; ko te awa ko au—I am the river; the river is me. Obviously this is such a deeply spiritual and cultural notion to Māori and to the people of the Whanganui River that this bill gives such recognition to. I would like to speak to what it means for an environmental feature in Aotearoa to have legal personhood. It means that the river itself has the right not to be polluted. It has the right not to be degraded. It has the right not to be overdrawn before it can replenish itself. And that is an extraordinary idea—that the river has that right in and of itself not to be polluted not to be degraded and not to be drawn down before it can replenish itself.My colleague Pita Paraone asked what the interaction is between that idea and the Resource Management Act. As you will have the power of attorney I urge you to use it because it is going to be fascinating to see how this idea of legal personhood actually plays out in New Zealand. That right not to be polluted or degraded I think should be tested. We want to see what that looks like because that is going to be a great day.In so doing it sets a precedent for all of Aotearoa and also for te ao katoa. So I want to thank you. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have sacrificed and what you have been through to give this gift to all of us. This is not just for the people of Whanganui. This is a gift for all of Aotearoa and for the world and I acknowledge you for that. Thank you."