Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Ā tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. E hika kāore au i te paku hiahia ki te whai atu i taku whanaunga a Peeni i roto i te whanau Heta i Te Reo Māori mō taku hē me aku hapa i tō tāua Reo ēngari anō kai te pirangi au ki te tū ki te mihi atu ki a koutou ō tātou hononga whakapapa i roto i te whanau Heta koira tāku.Anō nā ki tēnei o ngā pire kia whakahokia ētahi aha? Pūtea tikanga ngā mea e hiahia ana koutou ki te hāpai kai te hoki atu ki a koutou ahakoa te mamae te uaua. Ki a mātau te paku o ngā rawa ka hoki atu ki a koutou ēngari kua tae ki tēnei wā nā reira kai te mihi ka tika.[So thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Heavens above I do not really want to follow up on my relative Peeni in Māori in regard to the Heta family not one bit because of my faults and shortcomings in our language but I do want to rise and acknowledge you in regard to our genealogical connections to each other in the Heta family genealogy that is what I really want to do.I also want to address this bill to return what to you? Funding and correct procedure elements that you want support with in regard to the things that are being returned to you despite the pain and difficulty experienced. From our perspective the resources that are being returned to you are so minimal but that aside you have reached this point therefore it is fitting that it is indeed recognised.]I thought I might just go over exactly what is going on in this bill for the benefit of those watching it and for our whānau. The bill is sponsored by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson. As we have said this morning they are getting pretty good at negotiating—they do not like giving away too much anymore. We used to try to get a few things in there back in the day and we have got better as negotiators for whānau but the Crown has also got better. So we acknowledge the Minister—hard fought for some of the settlements hard fought. The bill gives effect to the deed of settlement that was entered into in December 2015 but the agreement in principle was signed in 2007. The mandate was signed in 2001.It has taken a long time to get to this point and between 2007 and 2013 the negotiations that stalled were around the Stony Creek Station. We finally got to an outcome where it brings us forward but it was an issue of contention in the Māori Affairs Committee and we debated it hotly to see whether we could find some other way to get it done. The settlement is made up of a package that includes a historical account acknowledgments an apology cultural redress and financial and commercial redress. The benefits of the settlement will be made available to all members of Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa ahakoa ka noho ki hea [regardless of where they are living].The Crown apologises—and sometimes even the apology is hard to hear—and although it is appreciated it does little to address the issues. But the people are resilient. We have seen it over and over again. We are still here we are still fighting and we will push on apology or not redress or not but it does go some way to try to rectify the taumaha that we find ourselves sitting under or that the whānau find themselves sitting under.So the cultural redress—let us just touch on that for a little minute. The cultural redress provides recognition of the traditional historical cultural and spiritual associations of Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa with places and sites owned by the Crown within their primary area of interest. This allows Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa and the Crown to protect and enhance the conservation values associated with these sites. Sometimes even that is hard to bear—there is a cultural redress but the Crown still owns it. But at least we are acknowledged in it in some small way.The settlement provides for the vesting of 15 sites though back to Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa subject to a few conditions. A statutory acknowledgment recognises an association between Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa and a particular site and enhances Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa's ability to participate in resource management processes—a step forward. The Crown offers statutory acknowledgments over four sites for which this can happen. The deed of recognition can be provided over sites where acknowledgments have been offered. So a deed of recognition says that Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa will be acknowledged in this place—thanks for that! It is hard but thanks for that.There is something called an overlay classification". It provides a very high degree of recognition and acknowledges Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa's spiritual cultural historical and traditional values in respect of that site and that has got to be a step forward. Actually there are wāhi tapu across the nation that you know are not acknowledged. We talked about some of our Land Wars sites. I was there at the koroneihana when they returned that whenua of Rangiriri and the kuia said to me: "Marama you know when it's Māori land: the road goes straight through it. When the road is straight that was Māori land; when the road is curly it's going around somebody's farm." So even though it is hard sometimes to understand the recognition of these wāhi tapu at least now we have it. We can articulate it and we can start to tell those stories of why these places are important. So those classifications—they use all these flash words but I am just trying to explain what they mean to us in significance. We can tell our stories.So the financial and commercial redress—you know this is where it starts to bite a little bit. It is $6.2 million in lieu of the Crown's commitment in the 2007 agreement in principle to maintain the stock at Stony Creek. So $6.2 million—it just seems so insignificant today compared with the generations of loss. And although we appreciate it we also acknowledge that it is the koha of the people back to the nation that we did not demand more. But to think that since 2001 and the mandate—and that is despite the years of bringing it to that point with the research and those members of the whānau who have passed away coming to this day—it has been 2001 the mandate 2007 the deed and all the way now to 2016. It has been a long time coming which makes the fact that we cannot be celebrating its end tomorrow somewhat harder to accept. We have heard all the debate this morning—I will not go back into it although I am tempted.But whānau I recognise that you are here and appreciate all of those who are not here who have not made it through those 15 years since the signing of the agreement in principle who have not made it to this point through the stalled negotiations and who have not made it to this point since they started preparing the claim. I want to recognise them.Nā tātou te hunga tutuki i ō rātou nā wawata. Mēnā ka haere ā-kanohi ka kite ā-karu ā ka kōrero ā-waha ka rongo ā-taringa ā-wairua hoki ki te whakapono o ngā kupu. Kai te pīrangi au ki te mihi atu ki taku hoa a Peeni taku hoa mahi o te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori kua tautohetohe kua wānangahia ngā take e pā ana ki a koutou kua whakarongo anō hoki. Kua tae ki tēnei wā kia tutuki ngā wawata hei ture. Kāre i te mutunga; ā wai ake rā ka whai tētahi rangi anō hai tutuki ā-ture nei ēngari i tēnei rā ka neke kētia. Nā reira kai te mihi ki a koutou ōku hoa mahi tēnā koutou kia ora mai tātou katoa.[We are the ones who fulfilled their expectations. If one goes physically one sees and hears firsthand and spiritually as well the truth of the words. I want to thank my friend Peeni a fellow member of the Māori Affairs Committee that debated and deliberated and listened as well to matters related to you collectively. This point in time has been reached whereby aspirations are fulfilled and enacted. It is not the conclusion; in time a day will come to hand when it is effected but it will be passed instead today. Therefore I commend you and my fellow colleagues collectively my appreciation to us all.]"