Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National—Whanganui): E Te Mana Whakawā e te mana wahine ka mihi nui te mihi ki a koe.[Madam Deputy Speaker may I extend a warm acknowledgment to you in your capacity as Speaker.]Madam Deputy Speaker I acknowledge you as you're seated there in the Chair on this very auspicious day. We've heard in the House today the acknowledgment to Kate Sheppard New Zealand's premier suffragette—125 years.Every day is a revelation and in many ways too a celebration of life—life that we have here in Parliament. So I acknowledge the movement the women's movement that is here. In so doing I'm also reflecting on the words of Dame Jenny Shipley this morning. She was talking about Kate Sheppard sailing from afar beyond the horizon not knowing what was there. I acknowledge also my Scottish my Irish my Celtic ancestry. Kate Sheppard was from Scotland; she sailed to Aotearoa New Zealand. However Aotearoa New Zealand is the land that I was born in and as my cultural identity it is what has shaped who I am. Suffragette day today and the women's vote is recognition of women's rights and placement under the Westminster system. So I'm just going to turn and reflect upon my tupuna my women ancestors. I come from a small village at the mouth of the Whanganui River Pūtiki. Rere-o-Maki—a tupuna a mana wahine a wahine rangatira—was one of five women who signed the Treaty of Waitangi. She gave birth to Te Kēpa Rangihiwinui—Major Kemp he became known as. He gave great military service to our colonial nation and the shaping of it. He became in his later stages of life a great leader for his people in resistance of many of the wrongdoings that had gone on in the colonial actions taken against the people of Whanganui and Taranaki. So I'm going to fast track forward. I think it's important to acknowledge and celebrate today but also because of the cultural heritage that I come from that is part of my DNA. We have many great leaders. We remember them. We celebrate them. Speaking of having many great leaders last weekend I was back in Hāwera and there was the celebration and unveiling of two VC recipients Harry Laurent and John Grant for their service during World War I. Being immersed in my community it is important to give acknowledgment to those who have given service in the shaping of our nation as it is today. Talking about the shaping of our nation I also come from tribal ancestral lineage of Ngāti Apa. Ngāti Apa has also given birth and placement to our first Māori woman MP Iriaka Ratana—on 29/11/1949 she was elected in the Western Maori seat. Another who has been embraced by Ngāti Apa was our first Māori woman Cabinet Minister Whetū Tirikātene-Sullivan. Ngāti Apa is proud to have embraced these women who have contributed to the shaping of our nation. Another tupuna of Ngāti Apa is Dame Tariana Turia. She founded the Māori Party as we know when she crossed the floor. Dame Tariana Turia spoke at the Whānau Ora hui last week which I was delighted to be in attendance at with the support of two of my colleagues. I was also delighted that the attendees noted the National Party's attendance and recognised that the National Party with the Māori Party had given the shaping and the formation of Whānau Ora. With the limited time that I have left I refer to what was notably commented on at the Whānau Ora hui and I refer to the words of Dame Tariana Turia in her speech: I believe that our greatest responsibility should be to insist that any definition of well-being without mentioning Whānau Ora is fundamentally flawed. I invite the Government to reflect on that and when there is the formulation of policy around well-being to take it back to our families. Whānau Ora is the origin of that. In conclusion I am again privileged to attend next week the Māori Women's Welfare League—their celebration their gathering. It is 67 years that they've been in the making. This is an organisation about wāhine Māori but they also embrace the importance of whānau. Kia ora.