Sio William: Te Pire mō Te Reo Māori / Māori Language Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSio William: Te Pire mō Te Reo Māori / Māori Language Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 07 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10358. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): Talofa. I apologise in advance for launching my canoe into the middle of this debate. I feel the sails of my canoe have been opened up because of the passion and the spirit and I think the genuine desire by all members of the Committee to contribute to this debate. I stand to give a perspective on this debate from my Samoan eyes.I support wholeheartedly the effort that has gone into this bill. I support all and any effort to protect Te Reo Māori. I do so from that perspective because we have a connection to Māori and as Pacific peoples we also value ensuring that our languages are protected and passed on to the next generation. It is their heritage. We call it a masima—something that is sacred something that is a gift from God. This is language. But also the connection for Samoa is the names that were mentioned earlier by other speakers: Apirana Ngata and Māui Pomare. It was those elders who came to the aid of some of our ancestors who were imprisoned in Mt Eden Prison in the days when New Zealand administered Samoa. For those reasons I am moved to say and convey a contribution to this debate.I have listened to Minister Finlayson convey his remarks on the proposal put forward by my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta about the need for an apology. I accept that there is probably a lot of work that has gone into it but I am going to say an apology is so important before we can move on in unison. I will tell you why. When New Zealand administered Samoa there was a time when the New Zealand administration sent teachers to Samoa and they taught “Pokare Kare Ana” in the Māori language to Samoan students. We feel quite strongly also that they were in the wrong.Hon Te Ururoa Flavell: It was a good song.Su’a WILLIAM SIO: It was a good song but it was so out of place. There was an understanding that it was as if we did not have our language. I am aware—and we do not need to go into the detail at this point in time—of the injustices that took place when you had the powers of that time trying to control things around this region.So an apology is important. Whenever there has been an argument—and I suggest to this House if you have had an argument with your partner wife or whoever—you cannot move forward until you say those words “I’m sorry.” and it is those words that have a healing effect if we are going to get things right.I want to give a warning to the Minister Te Ururoa Flavell. You know our time in this House is fleeting Minister with all due respect. You are now in the seat of the Minister who has all the powers of the National Government to be able to make things happen. When you are no longer in that seat you will have missed the opportunity. The reason why I am so proud of the fact that we are debating the need to protect and ensure that the Māori language is sustained throughout all centuries in the future is that when we travel as representatives of Aotearoa New Zealand—and the nation of Samoa knows this—the first words I try to speak are Te Reo Māori.There is no country other than New Zealand where Te Reo Māori is lost. We all speak English. It is difficult to undertake the kāranga in English—it feels like: “Welcome welcome.” There just is not the spirit and heart in: “Come on in come on in.” You can only say “Come on in.” at a certain time. There is no spirit; there is no heart in it.And so I am appealing to Minister Te Ururoa Flavell. I think irrespective of our political alignments this is the particular issue that unifies New Zealand. I agree with some of my colleagues. Māori are the caretakers or the guardians of the language but I think if we are all guardians of the language we need to make sure in order for it to be protected that it is given out to everybody else.