Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Otirā e ngā mema katoa e te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. I'm very much pleased to take a call in support of Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill and can I commend my colleague the Hon Kiritapu Allan for presenting this bill in its first reading in such an eloquent way particularly in our reo rangatira so ngā mihi kia koe te tuahine.This is a short bill in the sense that it's got two parts and four schedules. The unique part of it is that it's written in Te Reo and English and that should be acknowledged. But in my quick research in preparation for supporting this bill I looked at New Zealand's very last public holiday and it may be of interest to members that the last public holiday came from the Waitangi Act 1960 which declared 6 February as Waitangi Day but unfortunately there was no public holiday. That was put through under a Labour Government under the then Prime Minister Walter Nash. It wasn't until 1973 that we saw the first implementation of the public holiday associated with Waitangi Day then under the Labour-led Government of the Rt Hon Norman Kirk in 1974. Unfortunately some will say it was called New Zealand Day not Waitangi Day. But it wasn't until—and here's the interesting thing for my Opposition members—1976 under the Rt Hon Robert Muldoon Government that New Zealand Day was changed to Waitangi Day. So my message to our Opposition is that you have played an incredible part in building the relationship between Crown and Māori in this nation in so far as public holidays are concerned.What I wanted to do is address some of the issues that the previous speaker Scott Simpson spoke on. I was listening right up to about five minutes into the speech because I thought we might have had the Opposition across the line. I really did. He had us all going on this side that the National Party might be supporting this significant piece of legislation but alas it was not to be. It was not to be. No surprise there. When I did listen intently to that member to see what the issue was the only issue I got was cost—cost. Now for the future speakers on this bill but particularly my message to those that may be at home and looking to submit on this bill—and I encourage them to do that—is that we have two public documents that are available when we debate this bill. One is called the departmental disclosure statement and the other one is the regulatory impact statement and they're both on the Table in front of us. There was some allusion to the cost to businesses by that member—around $400 million. He's right the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) advice in the departmental disclosure statement talks about that but what he forgot to mention was the benefits. He forgot to mention the benefits so let me mention the benefits as per the MBIE report.It's about recognition and celebration of Te Ao Māori. It's about strengthening the Māori/Crown relationship. It's about whanaungatanga close connection between people and whānau. It's about revitalisation of Te Reo Māori. It's about reaffirmation of our connection to the natural environment. It's about increased wages for employees working on the public holiday. It's about increased tourism and spending and additional leisure time for employees and their families. If we're going to tell the story let's tell the entire story. So I encourage members on that side to have a read of the departmental disclosure statement. Where it talks about the impact on businesses I want to draw the House's attention to the regulatory impact statement—again on the Table in front of us. I want to acknowledge the extensive external consultation that has gone about with this bill particularly with Business New Zealand and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. It's interesting to note the comment from the tourism industry where they say—and I want to use their quote—that they noted that visitor spending over a long weekend is two to three times a standard weekend because it gives people the incentive to take a trip to other parts of New Zealand". So I'm really disappointed that the member from the Coromandel doesn't actually value tourism in the Coromandel. Because on this side of the House we actually welcome tourism to our neck of the woods whether it's the mighty Tai Rāwhiti or whether it's from Te Matau-a-Māui because they come and not only do they come but they spend—they spend. So I want it really clear in standing in support of this bill that we recognise the financial benefits from this public holiday bill as well as some of the challenges and costs that's prevailed in some of our business sector.This is the first reading. It is going off to select committee and we are assured that a full six months will be given to this bill so all New Zealanders—all New Zealanders—can have their say on this particular bill. I want to just encourage people who may be watching this to absolutely submit because I'd like to hear what people's views are whether it's the business people or whoever feels strongly about what we are debating in the house at the moment.For the time I've got remaining I want to acknowledge those who have consistently celebrated Matariki around the country. I particularly want to acknowledge by own iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu who has been for approximately 15 years celebrating Matariki each and every year across the six taiwhenua. They've done it and embraced local communities Māori non-Māori Pacific people to their celebrations of Matariki. I want to acknowledge not only the iwi but councils throughout Kahungunu through the six taiwhenua. I think the fireworks has always been the appeal to the Matariki celebrations across the rohe of Kahungunu and it got so inspired by people's participation that I do know Wainuiōmata invited them to come over and run their fireworks celebrations down there and also Auckland City Council. So I want to acknowledge all iwi throughout the country who have celebrated—and continue to celebrate—the importance of Matariki and what it means for our people. Each iwi as we know has their own interpretation of Matariki sees Matariki at different times and I just want to acknowledge the cradling the nurturing of the meaning of Matariki for our hapū and our iwi across the country.This is an exciting piece of legislation we're debating here at first reading. It goes towards the merging strengthening of our relationship between the Crown and Māori. It does allow us to share with the rest of this nation as we have done on numerous times something that is significantly important to us as Māori. It is part of our DNA it is part of our mātauranga Māori and I'm pleased to be on this side of the House standing in support of acknowledging a piece of our identity our Māori identity our Aotearoa New Zealand identity and sharing it with the world. Because I can see that this will be another attractor for a lot of our people domestically and international to come and celebrate the joys of Māori mātauranga here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I commend the bill to the House."