Ferris TākutaTĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori—Te Tai Tonga): [Authorised te reo Māori text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.][Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]So I rise to speak to this third reading of the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. Rather than traverse the ground that's already been covered well I'll focus my contribution on the importance of retaining the legacy and history of the 28th Māori Battalion. And not only the 28th Māori Battalion but the native contingent of World War I—the early Māori and other Pacific Islanders of the time who were sent to World War I to fight for King and country.But some of the things that come with the story with this kōrero—and I'm quite sure this'll be news to many in this House but our tīpuna our great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers were sent to World War I to work and to defend our country but this House couldn't conscionably send them to be soldiers who were armed with a musket. This House couldn't in good conscience sent a brown Māori man from Aotearoa halfway across the world to fight an enemy who was seeking to destroy them with a gun and let him shoot that Pākehā enemy. That's the genesis point of this conversation. So our tīpuna went and were logistics runners and trench diggers in World War I. And many of them found their way to the front line of fighting in World War I and the New Zealand Government subsequent to World War I came to the realisation that Māori were indeed a force that they could utilise in wars in the future.The unfortunate thing about World War I Māori participation in World War I didn't come for free. It wasn't openly gifted. It wasn't agreed to. There was fierce debate about Māori participation in World War I primarily because many of the kaumātua alive at the time were alive during the New Zealand Land Wars—had lived through the New Zealand Land Wars which were not only 40 50 years before. So if they were children or young people during the Land Wars they were alive in World War I and they were part of the resistance in the debate around World War I.Unfortunately—well fortunately I suppose leading up to the conclusion of World War I there were many guarantees made by the New Zealand Government about how Māori returned servicemen would be treated. Unfortunately none of them were upheld. And that left a very sour taste in the mouth of te Iwi Māori with regards to participating in wars.So roll on World War II and the rise of the Māori Battalion. And we all know the Māori Battalion were coveted led by foreign generals as a force that you could only wish to have. And they won significant battles that led to significant gains for our country. But again there was significant debate whether or not Māori should participate in World War II. And Āpirana Pōmare Te Rangi Hīroa they all had to put their necks on the line when it came to garnering support from te Iwi Māori because there was fierce opposition. The Waikato kuia Te Puea Hērangi led a staunch defence and many others that we shouldn't participate in that war. But once again the New Zealand Government came with a long list of guarantees that would be made to Māori only to have them fail again.One of the greatest disservices the Government handed out to Māori was exclusion from the land balloting system. And by the turn of 1950 nearly 800000 acres of land had been forwarded on to returned servicemen Pākehā and zero to returned servicemen Māori. Māori were excluded from the rehabilitations post - World War II. They were excluded from the RSA. They didn't get the returned serviceman pension. All of these things played out and all of these things are the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal case for returned veterans right at this moment.So Māori have sacrificed a lot to give to the country but we still find ourselves at the end of every negative statistic more than 100 years later. So that's the contribution and I'd like you to think about that as we move through all of the other things that this House has to consider. So on the basis that the bill is good and it provides good opportunities for Māori and our Pacific whanaungas we support the bill. But we hope and pray that the retention of this history and kōrero remains in our country remains in our schools and this is a good thing for it. So we commend the bill to the House.