Ririnui Mita: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — First Reading 
Ririnui Mita: Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:14018] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
:  
A kati ake kia ora tatou i roto i te Whare nei. Hoi ano ra wahi tuatahi maku tenei na ki te tautoko i nga whakaaro ki wa tatou mate huhua. Tena o wa tatou rangatira i hinga ai i roto ra i Te Tai Rawhiti te papa o tenei o tatou a Parekura o te rua tekau ma waru. He tangata toa i roto i te Pakanga Tuarua. Nana i hoki mai ki tana whanau ki tana rohe ki tana marae ki tona hapu ki tona iwi kia mahi i nga mahi e pa ana ki nga rangatira o tera wahi. Pera ano i nga mate kua hinga atu i te motu. Kihai tenei i te wareware i a ratou me o ratou mahi rangatira i waenganui i a tatou. Otira waiho ratou kia moe. 
Tu noa iho tenei ki te whai wahi i te korero a te Minita Maori e pa ana ki te pire kua karangahia nei ko Te Takutai Moana. Otira ki te Kaihautu tu ana taku whanaunga mai i Te Tai Tokerau a Shane Jones ka tahaetia wetahi o waku korero e pa ana ki tena Whare wairua kai te tu mai ra ki te Pa o Ratana me Te Rere o Kapuni e kia nei ko Te Rere me nga wairua heke iho nei mai te Maunga o Taranaki. Ka hui ai nga poropiti katoa i reira hai aha? Hai whakaarohia i nga tu ahuatanga e whakamamaehia i a tatou te iwi Maori mai i te taenga mai o te toimahatanga te kapua pouri mai i tawahi ki a tatou katoa. Hoi ano ra tenei te mihi ake ki a ia otira ki a tatou. 
A na te Minita Maori i whakarangatira ai to tatou reo i roto i te Whare e pa ana ki te pire. E tika ana maku e whai wahi i a ana korero kia tu tonu mai ra te mana o tenei taha o te Whare. Hoi ano ra ahakoa i tutu mai ra i nga mema o roto i te Whare ki te korero o ratou korero e pa ana ki te pire kai waenganui i a tatou me te hitoria o te pire korerohia. Te ahua nei kua ngaro te riri ki waenganui i a tatou. Tae mai hoki tatou ki roto i te Whare a ka riri katoa matou i te ahuatanga o nga mahi o nga tangata o roto i te Whare i nga tau kua taha ake nei. Ka tu mai wetahi o tatou ana ka tau iho nei tenei mea te humaria ki runga i a tatou ka ngaro. Hoi ano ra kai te kimi kai te whai wahi au i tetahi korero maku i te mea ko au tetahi i hara mai ra i runga i te pukuriri. Hoi ano ra me ki ra kua ahua pai kia tau te rangimaria ki a tatou. 
Hoi ano ra e tika ana me korerohia tatou i te hitoria o tenei take e pa nei ki te takutai moana. Ahakoa ra mihi ake ana au ki te Minita nana i haria mai te pire ki roto i te Whare. Te tohu nei na kai te tautoko ia i te pire o tera kawanatanga o te tau rua mano me te wha. Taku titiro karekau he rereketanga kai roto i te pire i haria mai ki roto i te Whare. Kai te ahua orite tonu i taua pire. He aha te tohu ki a tatou? Kua tika ra te mahi o tera kawanatanga? Te mahi o tenei kawanatanga ahua tinihia pea engari ka tautokohia. I tenei wa maku ki a koe kai te Minita Maori waiho ra te mamae o te ao tawhito kia moe. I ahei tonu tatou tatou katoa kia haere whakamua. Hoi ano ra kai te mihi ake ra me tena o wa tatou tuahine a Tariana. Kua korerohia nga korero e pa ana ki tana weheanga i te Ropu Reipa kei te pai. Koina nga mahi o nga tau kua taha ake nei waiho ki reira. 
Me te mihi ano ki te katoa. Kua horahia mai ra o ratou whakaaro ahakoa wetahi kare au i te whakaaea ko te nuinga o nga korero e tika ana e pono ana. Hoi ano ra na runga i tena mihi ake ki a tatou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to us in this House. First of all I must endorse the thoughts in respect of our many deaths in particular one of our leaders who has passed away in the East Coast an uncle of one our political colleagues Parekura and a member of the 28th Battalion. He was a warrior in the Second World War and returned to his family region courtyard subtribe and tribe to carry out the work concerning the leaders of that place. Similarly I acknowledge the passing of others of the country. I will not forget them and their chiefly work amongst us. Indeed allow them to rest there.  
I have stood up merely to take part in the address by the Minister of Maori Affairs about the bill called Te Takutai Moana. On the other hand Mr Deputy Speaker when my relative from Northland Mr Jones stood up he stole some of what I wanted to say about that spiritual house standing at Ratana Pa and about Te Rere a Kapuni a waterfall referred to as Te Rere. As well I wanted to talk about the spirits that came down from Mount Taranaki. All the prophets assembled there and for what purpose? To deliberate over the different kinds of situations that have hurt us the Maori people when the weight and extreme grief of it all descended upon us from overseas. But I acknowledge him and indeed all of us.  
In respect of this bill the Minister of Maori Affairs has done our language proud. It is apt that I make a contribution to follow up his address and to keep this side of the House to the fore. Even though various members of the House have stood up and expressed their views about the bill among us is the history of the bill to be talked about. It appears that the anger among us has disappeared. I was angry as well when I came into the House; we were all angry about what people in the House did in the past. But when some of us stood up this thing called goodwill prevailed over us and the anger disappeared. However I am still participating and looking for something to talk about because I was one who came here in anger. But let us say that I am feeling somewhat better and allow goodwill to prevail over us. 
It is right that we debate the history of the foreshore. But regardless of that I acknowledge the Minister who brought this bill into the House. This signifies that she supports the 2004 Act of that other Government. To me it still looks a bit like that other Act. What does that signal to us—that what the other Government did was right? Although this Government has made some changes it will be supported. At this point I say to the Minister of Maori Affairs to let the pain of the past rest in the past. We agreed all of us to move forward. But I acknowledge him and this sister of ours Tariana. Her departure from the Labour Party has been talked about; that is fine. What has happened in the past should be left in the past. 
I acknowledge everyone. They have placed their views before us. Some I do not agree with but the majority are correct and true. Because of that I commend us all. 
] 
It would be very hard to take a call in the first reading of the Takutai Moana bill as I call it without making some reference to a little bit of history. Firstly though I say that we on this side of the House support the bill. We will support it to go to select committee. I am excited that the Attorney-General has decided that this bill will go to the Maori Affairs Committee. The Maori Affairs Committee will hear submissions from all around the country hopefully; we will put in place a process to ensure that happens. I think 2011 is a bit too far away for it to come back to the House; in my view there is no reason that it could not be done in a shorter time frame. Nevertheless it is another opportunity to revisit some of the issues. It is a rare opportunity and I consider myself fortunate to still be in the House today to discuss the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill for a second time because some of the issues that were raised during 2003 and 2004—because of the political pressures of the time which were highlighted by the Hon Peter Dunne—were not able to be addressed at that time. This is a good opportunity for us to revisit those issues. 
I congratulate the Minister. His support for the bill tells me that the previous Labour Government got it right; there is no doubt about that. The previous Labour Government got it right. Regardless of all the hype and emotion about the trips up and down the country by some—many of them in this House—at the end of the day there are very few changes in this particular bill apart from perhaps the title of the bill and a few process issues. 
Other changes were recommended by the Hon Dr Michael Cullen during the submissions process. We are very glad and excited that the Government conceded that Dr Cullen was considered to be an authority—if not the only authority—on these matters and that the Government has decided that those recommendations forwarded by the Hon Dr Michael Cullen on behalf of the Labour Opposition were taken into account. 
Simon Bridges 
: He’s not God. 
Hon MITA RIRINUI 
: I thought I heard the member for Tauranga say that that is not right. He has only been here for 5 minutes. You never know; he will learn something over time. He will learn a bit more over time. 
It was a very difficult time. As Shane Jones described it was a hair-raising experience. It was for many of us who were sitting out on the forecourt of Parliament listening to the haka and the chants that we were told were coming from as far away as the airport. There were not 50000 people; there were 20000 according to the official police count. Notwithstanding that point it was as Shane said a very very hair-raising experience—in my case a very unforgettable experience. I say that because regardless of who they were—Shane Jones referred to nga momo tangata katoa o te ao; I believe the Minister referred to them as well—and regardless of their ethnicity religious persuasion and all those things that make us different from each other that great mass of people came all the way to Wellington to Parliament in order to express a point of view about a very very important piece of legislation. I am not saying they all understood what it was about but I will say that today we see good legislation. But it falls well short of what those people were promised at that time. 
Putting that aside—and I thank the Hon Peter Dunne for his comments—I say that this is an opportunity for every political party in this House to come together to resolve this longstanding pain in the proverbial. That is what it is—a pain in the proverbial. I believe that we can resolve it as responsible people in this House. I do not agree with the ACT member David Garrett. I appreciate that he has a strong point of view but I just do not agree with him. You see sometimes the best way to resolve these issues is in the back rooms of Parliament. When he speaks of grubby deals in the back rooms of Parliament it shows me how much respect he has for Cabinet because that is where these deals are done. They are done by a proper process that is controlled strictly by the  
Cabinet Manual 
 and we consider the people who represent us in Cabinet to be honourable people regardless of our personal views of them. If the member is saying that we should not settle foreshore and seabed customary interests for Maori in back rooms or in Cabinet is he suggesting that we take all this stuff including Treaty settlements and negotiations away from Cabinet and Parliament into the courts? I can tell him now that there will be no settlements—there will be no settlements. They are not grubby deals; the people who have come to represent the interests of their particular groups are honourable people. 
This is also an opportunity for me to acknowledge Parekura Horomia and Nanaia Mahuta some colleagues who stood with me shoulder to shoulder out there on the forecourt of Parliament. I mention the Hon Dover Samuels. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: JT. 
Hon MITA RIRINUI 
: I acknowledge the Hon John Tamihere and I acknowledge the Hon Parekura Horomia.