Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. What a pleasure it is to be the final speaker on this the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. There is a sense of excitement in here as there always is when we talk about Rēkohu / the Chatham Islands / Wharekauri and what excites me most is that finally I am getting every single member in this House excited about a small part of the Rongotai electorate but also of Te Tai Tonga where Rino Tirikatene and myself represent the good people of Rēkohu. I want to just acknowledge that despite this excitement there is pain and can I acknowledge all those who identify as Moriori and those who are about to go on their journey to identify themselves and say Hey I too am Moriori in the karāpuna and all of those who have gone before."I want to just also acknowledge everyone involved as the last speaker. There have been many. I say I'm privileged for a good reason because in the Banquet Hall there is a small part of the Moriori community here—not everybody. I had hoped to look around the green leather seats up top and see it full and I'm sure though that they too would have liked that as well. But we have the Moriori negotiating team. It's not all members but we have of course Māui Solomon who has been mentioned in many a speech. It's been his life's work backed up strongly by others who have been part of that negotiating team on both sides. Tom Lanauze isn't here as is the claims manager Susan Thorpe but I did see Grace LeGros there I saw Paul Solomon there and I saw the back-up team who have been with them all the way.These settlements are no easy feats and Māui reminds us of that when he speaks. He outlines the pain as it's taken so long. I've got a document here that outlined the deed of settlement signing ceremony which I was privileged to attend back in February of 2020 at Kopinga. On the Crown side Dame Fran Wilde is there with the team from Te Arawhiti and I mention them because as we know these things take a long time. They take perseverance and so they are part of the process too. I want to acknowledge those Ministers who have been here before like Dame Annette King; the Hon Chris Finlayson who helped and who was the former Treaty negotiations Minister; and of course our own Hon Andrew Little who has led this through to its completion. Some of you may not know that there are others on the island who have played a key role. We've heard about Alfred "Bunty" Preece—the late Bunty—but also Alfred Preece a former mayor; the current mayor Monique Croon; and the Chatham Islands Council. There have been many leaders many people on-island and it was great to see the new members of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust. They will become the entity that takes this forward and that's why I'm most privileged. Often I get the honour of going across to the Chatham Islands / Rēkohu and I'm reminded how warm they are to receive me. Every trip has meant some new experience. What I most enjoy is when I get to visit the primary schools. They have three. One of those and the biggest is Te One School and I'm constantly enlightened by their demands. They are small but important. One child Brodie who's now a little bit bigger and is boarding at St Bede's said to me once "If you could do one thing Mr Parliamentary Member that's bring me a peanut slab." and so my trips there have been to bring some mainland food of goodness to them. Whilst we're outside the gifting season and the Kilbirnie KFC doesn't quite cut it it does remind me how the little things really matter. For me the little things that come back to me are the fact that they in some way have I guess a trilingual experience—English Moriori and Māori—and they've got the most fascinating school song. But that is for another day.But I extend that warmth to the experiences that people on the Chathams open their doors to me. They educate me a little bit more. I might get two different stories but what I do generally get is that this is the feeling of Moriori people and this is what happened and this is why this is so important. So today we are capturing everything we can through this settlement but can I just say to you that there is so much more. That's the excitement I talked about when I stood up and I heard several people say "Look something that's not seen is their commitment to many things and one of those things is the environment." Right now on-island there is a project called Recloaking Rēkohu. That's their commitment to looking after what we've often seen and that's the kopi tree art. For those that get the privilege of going to Hāpūpū reserve there there's no longer those trees where the art is and that's happened during my short time as the member. They're big into tree planting. One of the things I most enjoyed when I took over representatives from Trees That Count the Project Crimson Trust and I saw the enthusiasm that members had in terms of planting trees regenerating the land and making sure it was sustainable for the future not to mention—and dear I say it one of my favourite people there is Loretta Lanauze. She's actually the chef Mr Bridges. So she's the chef at Kopinga Marae cooking up to fine perfection in true Moriori style the pāua the crayfish and the many other delights that some members here have experienced. My point there is they are on that journey already. Settlement in approval stages or not they've started they are moving and they are doing a good job and every week there is someone from Rēkohu needing some help—just like any other constituent for those of us who are electorate MPs—who comes through the office and we have dedicated resource and communication lines into the island. There's only 12 phone lines and the internet's not too flash but any day now the first mobile phone call will be made and I'm hoping the Hon David Clark will take that call with Her Worship the mayor there—Hon Simon Bridges: No he'll be mountain biking.PAUL EAGLE: —and just show that we are moving. There could be a cycleway trail too but that's for another day.But those hui at Kopinga are about ta rē Moriori the language revitalisation. They hui often at that marae and this is all part of their revitalisation in a sense for all Moriori people: having a place a tūrangawaewae that they can call home. So when people do return home there is a whare Loretta's cooked the warm healthy kai for them and they have history being told. We saw Tamati Coffey give a wee snippet and I bet you Heather Beaton has been working hard there on the app and Spotify to make sure using technology to truly transmit literally their language their values and what makes Moriori strong.Can I say I know the next stages for them are going to be in ensuring that the governance of the island truly reflects the partnership with both Moriori and Māori. I know that our governance review being led by the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and the Hon Jan Tinetti will allow them to truly be in a position to make decisions for the future of Rēkohu Rangihaute and the other islands that make up the Chatham Islands group for ever and ever. As I bring this speech to an end can I finish just by saying thank you to the Māori Affairs Committee for shepherding this report through. I know it was a truly significant experience for many and as I said at the start I'm hoping every single member now understands a little bit more when they hear about the Moriori / Chatham Islands / Wharekauri. Kia ora.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time."