Davis KelvinHon KELVIN DAVIS (Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti): Tēnā rā ko e te Māngai o te Whare. He taku hōnoretanga tēnei ki te tū ki te kōrero mō te pire mō te hararei tūmatanui mō Matariki.Hei tīmatanga kōrero māku e Rangi tēnā rā koe ko koe te kaihautū o tēnei kaupapa nāu nei mātou o Te Kāwanatanga i arataki i roto i tēnei kaupapa. Haramai te āhua o ō mōhioranga te hōhonutanga te whānuitanga o ō pukenga ō mōhioranga e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa arā mō Matariki. Taku tino pōuri kia rongo ai i ngā kōrero whakahāwea o te Āpitihana e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa. E ai ki a rātou he hararei noa iho engari ko mātou ko tātou he kaupapa nui tēnei hei whakanui i a tātou o Te Ao Māori ō tātou tino tūpuna ō tātou tikanga ō tātou kaupapa wērā tūāhuatanga e kore e taea te Āpitihana te whakaine kei roto i ō rātou ake whakaaro. Nā reira e Rangi mihi kau ana ki a koe mihi kau hoki ki te kāhui i mahi tahi i a koe pērā i a Rereata i a Hoturoa i a Jack i a Pauline i a Victoria Ruakere wērā tohunga o Te Ao Māori kei roto o wēnei kaupapa. Nā reira tino ataahua ngā mahi nā koutou i mahia. Kua rongo ahau i tētahi o te Āpitihana e tūwaharoa ana ki a koe i a au e kōrero ana. Tērā tētahi āhuatanga o te whakahāwea o te Āpitihana ki tēnei kaupapa.Nāu nei i kī mai ki ahau e Rangi ko tēnei kaupapa he kaupapa hei hokinga maumaharatanga me hoki whakamuri me whakaaro whakamua hei takatū mō te tau hou e tū mai nei he wā hoki tēnei hei āta noho hei āta whakaaro.Nā reira i runga i wērā tikanga o ō tātou tūpuna e tika ana kia huri ngā whakaaro ki te tau kua pahure ake nei me rātou kua wehe atu i a mātou arā ko wērā ngā ingoa i whakahuatia e te tuahine rā i a Kiritapu arā ko te māmā o Willie Tā Harawira Gardiner arā ko Moana wētahi o rātou kua huri tuarā ki a mātou. He wā tika kei roto i ō tātou tikanga kia whakaarohia kia maumaharatia i a rātou nā reira rātou ki a rātou ko tātou ki a tātou tēnā rā tātou katoa.[Greetings Mr Speaker. This is my honour to stand and to talk to this bill regarding the Matariki public holiday. To begin I acknowledge Rangi you were the helmsman for the initiative steering us of the Government through this issue. Your knowledge the depth the breadth of your skills and the knowledge on this subject that is Matariki is unparalleled. I was very saddened to hear the belittling remarks of the Opposition about this initiative. They think this is just a holiday but for us for all of us it is a big issue a celebration of the Māori World of our important ancestors our customary practices those things that the Opposition cannot measure under their philosophy. Therefore I acknowledge you Rangi and I acknowledge the group that worked with you those such as Rereata Hoturoa Jack Pauline Victoria Ruakere those experts from the Māori World in these fields. From that was produced some beautiful work. I heard one of the Opposition yawning at you while I was speaking. That is one feature of the degrading behaviour of the Opposition towards this issue.Rangi you told me that this time is a time to remember to look back and to look forward and to prepare for the coming New Year it is also a time for peace and reflection. Therefore under the practices of our ancestors it is right that we look back to the previous year and to remember those who have left us those whose names were spoken by my sister Kiritapu there the mother of Willie Sir Harawira Gardiner and Moana are some of those who have passed on. It is an appropriate time under our customary practice to think about and remember them and so let the dead be with the dead and let the living be with the living greetings one and all.]I would like to start my English contribution in this debate by first of all acknowledging Rangi Matamua who has been our guide throughout this whole kaupapa of determining how te hararei tūmatanui o Matariki should go. And one of the things that he was most adamant about through the development of this was that this was not just a holiday; this is about the celebration of us as Māori—in fact as us as New Zealanders. This is something unique to Aotearoa that we can revel in that we can enjoy that we can use as a nation-building opportunity.Instead what we get from the Opposition are words like this—in fact I'll quote Harete Hipango The National Party does not diminish the importance of Matariki."; all we have heard today is the diminishing of Matariki. Paul Goldsmith in his contribution said that this is just throwing treats around. He said "It's just another public holiday." They haven't listened to anything that Māori have said about Matariki. Another member of the Opposition said "We will celebrate Matariki but it is a mistake." Another member of the Opposition said that this is a luxury. These sorts of comments are as we say in Māori whakahāwea. Whakahāwea means to belittle to despise to show contempt to degrade to undermine and that is all we have heard from the Opposition—the belittling the despising the degrading and the undermining of something that is really important to Māori.They have just reduced it to a commodity—it is all about money. Well let me tell you what the tourism industry was saying during COVID in the meetings I had with them—listen up. The hospitality and the tourism industries were actually asking for more three-day weekends because they know that when there are three-day weekends people do travel around the country they do spend and it does grow the economy. But the Opposition of course are in denial because in their minds this is all about money and a day off. They haven't listened to anything that Māori have said.Simon Watts: No you're not listening.Hon KELVIN DAVIS: That member over there who has nothing to say other than stupidity needs to stand up and talk to Māori go into our context our spaces our places and hear what it actually means to Māoridom. This whole country doesn't just run on Pākehā time. This is about us as a nation doing something together and enjoying and lifting up Māoridom our tikanga. Simon O'Connor in his speech earlier was probably one of the worst. One of the things he said was that we shouldn't use Matariki because it's a Māori name. He explored the use of the term "the seven sisters"—because a Māori name is not good enough for Matariki but an English term is. Then he played around with "Pleiades"—I think is the word. So a Māori word is not good enough to use; English: maybe. But then he said he wants to use a Greek term because we can all relate to Greek mythology and the Greek gods—that it's so important to us. Here's the clincher: then he said maybe we could use—and I think this must be a scientific name—Messier 45 and sounds messy too when he's saying it. He said it is a name that is more neutral.This shows how much contempt the National Party has for anything Māori. They want to neutralise our culture our tikanga our kaupapa. How can any member of Parliament stand here and say "How about using this as a neutral name?" neutralising Māori tikanga Māori language Māori kaupapa? That does describe the attitude of the National Party yet Harete Hipango said the National Party does not diminish the importance of Matariki. They all then set about diminishing everything about Matariki. They don't want to use the Māori name. They want to just talk about it being a public holiday as if it's just—takahia kia noa takahia kia noa [just belittle it just belittle it].They don't want to celebrate anything that's Māori. But they want to stand in the Māori seats of course so we hear—they want to stand in the Māori seats. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to holding their track record up against them when they stand in the Māori seats and this belittling of Matariki is just another example of the track record of the National Party having nothing good to say about and no support whatsoever for anything that's Māori and it's a disgrace on them.But let's come back to Matariki and what we're all going to enjoy on 24 June. There is going to be a build-up to the day. There is going to be a celebration down here at Te Papa. It is going to be a celebration for all New Zealanders and I invite the National Party to come down and be part of something that's bigger than their narrow minds and their narrow thinking.This is going to be something that in years to come is going to grow. It's going to become even better and a greater part of what is Aotearoa New Zealand's culture and history and I'm very proud to be part of a Government this has finally recognised a day that we can celebrate as a country but a day that is definitely Māori."