Jones Shane: Second Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Jones Shane: Second Readings 
[Sitting date: 16 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:559. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 I te tuatahi me mihi whanui atu ki o tatou huanga o tatou matua whakarauika mai ki Te Upoko o te Ika ki roto i “te ana o te raiona”. E kara ma koutou no Te Tai Rawhiti ahakoa kowhiti noa atu nga marama noho tonu mai ana koutou i waenga noki i a matou na reira e kara e koa ana te ngakau. Tena koutou nga kanohi pakeke huri noa ki nga iwi e whai panga ana ki enei kereme meinga nei ko Ngati Whare Ngati Manawa o tatou huanga i te taihauauru i roto i te whare tatai o Maniapoto huri atu ki te whitinga o te ra Ngati Pahauwera Ngati Porou tena koutou. Ehara koutou i te iwi tauhou ki tenei Whare. Otira ko taku he mihi atu ki a koutou. Tautoko hoki i te reo atu i to tatou Minita ki a koutou ki a tatou na te menemene mai ai koutou ki nga Maori katoa i roto i tenei Whare kaua ki ta koutou kotiro a Hekia anakenake. Na reira tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
An extensive welcome in the first instance to our relations and parents gathered here in Wellington in “the den of the lions”. Those friends from the East Coast you have remained there amongst us for many months we are really pleased about that. Acknowledgments to you the adult faces and those tribes with interests in these claims Ngati Whare Ngati Manawa our relatives to the west in the ancestral house of Maniapoto turning to the place where the sun rises Ngati Pahauwera and Ngati Porou greetings to you collectively. You are no strangers to this House and I welcome you sincerely. I also endorse the sentiments expressed by our Minister to you and us collectively. So cast a smile upon all the Maori members in this House and not just upon your girl Hekia alone. Greetings to us all 
.] 
I rise to make a short contribution. What we have ended up doing here is an unusual innovation in terms of the rules of Parliament. We have been able to conflate several bills into one session. I am told that it is an initiative known as a cognate. A cognate as you know is something very familiar to the Maori people because it means your blood your whakapapa.  
It is good to see that after a long period of time we are finally seeing the end of the Treaty settlement process for these particular tribes. Sir Doug Graham made his contribution. We made our contribution and I will be the first to admit that it could have been improved upon. Dr Cullen—that peerless parliamentarian—towards the end of our time certainly sped things up so we have got no hesitation whatsoever in supporting the current Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations to expedite the claims.  
I think it is important that we remind those of our matua and supporters from the various iwi who are here this evening that there are other issues confronting you not the least of which those who have vested interests in the ongoing administration and utilisation of rivers and waters associated. That is a big issue that stands in front of us. But please do not make an unsubstantiated bare political plea that Maoris own the water. Please be sophisticated enough to bring back evidence and bring back claims that bear strength that we have vested interests in the future in the rivers of Pahauwera and the rivers of Ngati Porou and the rivers of Maniapoto that cannot be misconstrued or abused as we suffered the last time when David Garrett was here and sought to make fun of the Waiwaia Accord when this legislation went through its first reading. I took a little pleasure in reminding him after he made those foul remarks—completely gratuitous—about the Maniapoto and Tainui people that it was not long after that that a kehua leapt out of the depths of that water and swept him from this House. So bear that in mind; these matters of Treaty and Maori spirituality are not to be trifled with. I must myself remember to do as I say and not just talk about it.  
On the elements to do with Ngati Porou we have two senior members of the Ngati Porou tribe—at least two—and a young man over there with his whakapapa from Ngati Porou. I think those of us from the north often thought that the tribe that learnt best how to deal with successive Governments was Ngati Porou but when I look at the handsome settlement the Arawas have walked away with they have not done too bad themselves. Unfortunately the truculent spirit that pervades the Ngapuhi tends to keep them at the margin but time will tell whether or not the missionary spirit of goodwill and peace will ever rise to the top of the Ngapuhi political psyche. But that is for another night.  
This is an evening when small tribes such as Ngati Whare Ngati Manawa in obscure parts of Aotearoa Ngati Pahauwera with their long-vested interests in their river and Maniapoto one of our largest iwi with that heroic and very rich heritage of resistance and providing indeed security for Te Kooti in his time and Tawhiao are making progress on this particular part of their claim the Waipa River. So I join with my colleagues in not only wishing the supporters well but reminding them when we take it to the next stage please do not look for us your Maori MPs to uncritically support calls that we own the water without a substantial and robust basis for us not only to prosecute that claim but to secure the endorsement of our Pakeha fellow citizens. Tena tatou katoa.