Horomia Parekura: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Horomia Parekura: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:672;Page:18289] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 Following on from the previous discussion on the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill I fear for the freedom of speech in this country. That is what that charter did. Certainly one of the key focuses in the Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill is to embellish the use of our language and to give people the right to choose and to ensure that there is assurance in our language as it was handed down. I could carry on about the television charter and how we started Maori Television and all of those things but I will not. 
The Maori Affairs Committee certainly looked at these stages. We heard from the Southern Whanganui Cluster / Tupoho working group. It strongly felt that the spelling of “Whanganui” should be with an “h”. I certainly commend the select committee for that. Seeing that the bill is about embellishing the language and ensuring that people of Whanganui got what they wanted I want to proceed in our language which I hope abounds with the new Television New Zealand Amendment Bill. 
I rongo matou i te kaha hiahia o te Kaihui Wherawhera take o Whanganui ki te Tonga kia whakaurua te “h” 
ki roto i te pungakupu o Whanganui. I te wa o Hakihea 2009 te 18 ka whakaputaina e te Minita mo Toitu te Whenua tana whakatau ara tua atu i te ingoa “Wanganui” me whakamahia te ingoa “Whanganui” hei ingoa tuturu i raro i te ture. Ko tana ka tumanako mo nga hinonga Karauna i roto i te haere o te wa kia kawea e ratou te ingoa “Whanganui”. He kaha ano hoki to matou hiahia kia whakaurua te “h” 
ki roto i te pungakupu o Whanganui. Na runga i tera ka tutohu matou kia whakatikangia te pungakupu o “Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” ki “Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” kia whakatikaina hoki a “Northern Part of Wanganui Forest” ki “Northern Part of Whanganui Forest” puta noa i te pire. Haunga te “Wanganui” i “Corrections (Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison)”; na te mea te mate hoki e waiho atu roaroa atu te kupu penei tonu te whakatikatika te kaha o te komiti te whakahuri atu. 
[ 
We heard from the Southern Whanganui Cluster working-group that they feel strongly that the spelling of Whanganui should be with an “h”. On 18 December 2009 the Minister of Land Information announced his decision to assign the alternative official geographic names “Whanganui” and “Wanganui” and stated his expectation that Crown agencies would adopt the “Whanganui” form over time. We also strongly feel that Whanganui should be spelt with an “h”. Accordingly we recommend amending the spelling of “Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” and “Northern Part of Wanganui Forest” to “Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison” and “Northern Part of Whanganui Forest” throughout the bill with the exception being “Wanganui” in “Corrections (Wanganui (Kaitoke) Prison)”; the trouble is that the word has been left like that for such a long time that the committee would find it difficult to rectify it 
.] 
We heard from a whole lot of submitters—especially those people from Whanganui—that they felt that their town’s name was bastardised by the removal of the “h”. It took a whole lot of nerve tenacity and commitment by those peoples of W’anganui both Maori and Pakeha who were very supportive. There were some people who sat out on the extremes and believed that that would put everything asunder. I said in my last delivery that it was not too long ago when Naida Glavish the great present Maori leader dared to mention “kia ora” on the telephone exchange and everybody went up into the air. That was what was happening in the broadcasting cartel in this country. People were minimising the delivery of the Maori language and the Maori programmes on both stations because of people’s world view in assuming that Maori language and Maori programmes were a waste of time. 
We had an adjustment when National first came into Government. Some in the management were arrogant enough to suggest that a great time for  
Te Karere  
and  
Marae  
was at midnight or at 1 o’clock in the morning. That is how extreme people had become. But it is pleasing to notice that it is now in legislation. After this period of time it will be moved hopefully by the majority of the House. We will as the Committee be thankful that those people’s wishes in Whanganui have been put to the best test. It is a challenge. It has been a challenge. Even the mayor was really concerned about these issues and the relevance of this. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.