Henare Tau: Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Tau: Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 09 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17160. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TAU HENARE (National):Te Arawawaka Te Arawa iwi nau mai. Haere mai ki tōku Whare tautohetohe nō reira ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou Te Arawa waka Te Arawa iwi.[Welcome to you the canoe and tribe of Te Arawa. Welcome to my House of debate; so a massive congratulations to you collectively.]I will not go over what everybody else has said. In fact I will talk about something completely different which is par for the course for me. But I do want to put this into a relationship with the first bill that we spoke about this morning which was the Waitangi National Trust Board Amendment Bill. Although we fall over ourselves talking about Waitangi and how it is the jewel in the crown and about what we have to do history cannot be just about the good parts. History cannot be about how lovely people may have been or may not have been. History is about the warts and all—all the bad stuff as well. History is nothing without a certain amount of heartache. This is why these occasions in New Zealand and in New Zealand’s Parliament are essential for the growth of a nation. It is the fact that we tell those stories about what the past has done to the indigenous people.I am always thrilled to bits to be a player on the field in this game that we play because my kids are growing up my mokos are growing up and I want them to be proud of New Zealand’s history and that includes Te Arawa history and other people’s history as well. But I also want my children and my mokos to know what the journey was like getting there. For us in this House and particularly for the Māori Affairs Committee—I take my hat off to the select committee because of the way it does its job because of the speed of our committee. Speed is not necessarily dangerous. Speed is because we want to get to a position whereby we allow Te Arawa to make the decisions which they rightfully deserve to do. Speed for our select committee is all about making sure that we hurry up and get to the next one. There are so many that they pile up behind each other; it is not that we do not do justice to them.I think that our committee out of all of the committees in the House does justice to every bill because there is a feeling of what each bill actually means. It is not like passing some sort of rates bill about Tasman and when that happens that is it. When we do our work when we finish our part of our work we know that it is a continual struggle and is part of that big story of Te Arawa.I am mindful that when we pick up the book the old book Te Arawa: A History of the Arawa People by Stafford who knows whether in 50 to 100 years they will write about this process in the updated version of the book. If we can play our part in that history then I think that we have done a pretty good job.I do want to mention one thing before I sit down because we have got only a short time. Who would have thought even 10 years ago that a Pākehā Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations from the National Party would stand in this House and talk about things like taniwha? That is the development that a nation goes through. You know it was not so long ago that people used to—and in fact some of them still do—laugh at those sorts of stories. But on the other side of the world they have the Loch Ness monster which makes millions of dollars out of the tourism budget every year.This country is growing up and it is growing up fast. The more babies that we have the quicker we are going to grow up. We MPs pat ourselves on the back but I want to congratulate Te Arawa and Māori in general on having the foresight for having the strength to actually go to battle for years and years and years and never ever letting go of the history—never ever letting go of who they are and who the nation is. I personally think that Māori have a great ability to see who the nation is whether it is 5 years from now or 20 years from now.The last thing I want to say—and it is very very heartfelt—is that I have had the opportunity to travel the world and I have got to say that Māori are the best indigenous race on this earth. This is only because—and I am not boosting anybody up—the fight continues and continues and continues. It is the one way that we keep ourselves alive—well one way our culture keeps itself alive. So I not only thank Parliament I not only thank the community but big thanks to Te Arawa. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai tātou katoa.