Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Otirā e ngā mema o te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa.On Saturday we saw the nation unite around—what has been shared in this House—the success of the Black Ferns with the singing of an anthem by Dame Hinewehi Mohi that at the time was lambasted as a departure from our great anthem. But we saw her comeback—26 years—and it was a celebration. We saw the conclusion of a great match where the crowd sang Tūtira Mai". I want to stand up in response to that member around the vision. Earlier this year we also had the gifting of Matariki which has continued to unite and put New Zealand on an international stage celebrating indigenous knowledge to add to the body of this great nation. I'm standing in support of the Plant Variety Rights Bill and wanted this House to rest assured that this component that we are celebrating is not a divisive measure. It's an acknowledgment of the indigenous knowledge that has sat quite comfortably and I've given you two recent examples where the gifting of a great body of knowledge to the greater good of the nation has unified the nation—it has unified the nation. I know there's been talk in this House about kūmara so I just want to add my little kōrero about kūmara and our tipuna. I come from the mighty East Coast of a tribe called Rongowhakaata and our story is that our ancestor Hine Hākirirangi brought the kūmara to this nation on the great Horouta waka. Hine Hākirirangi was the sister of the captain of the Horouta waka and his name was Paoa. That tuber that she brought tucked under her breast as a way of keeping it moist on that great journey across the mighty Pacific was actually planted in a maunga called Manawarū and it is really at the base of where I live right now in a village called Manutuke just south of Gisborne.And so in terms of acknowledging the passage of this bill and the connections of our indigenous people I'm sharing but one story of how our tipuna Hine Hākirirangi brought the kūmara to this nation. But not only how she brought the kūmara to this nation—acknowledging it was many years ago and things have moved on and things have changed. It's that innate responsibility of manaakitanga of kaitiakitanga of our indigenous knowledge that we gift to the nation. In the passing of this bill we had the opportunity to meet with other indigenous growers—the significance of not only acknowledging that indigenous knowledge but allowing it to be gifted to the nation just like we saw on Saturday night and just like we saw at Matariki.It is not a thing to be afraid of—putting indigenous Māori people in part of our development as a nation is a good thing for this nation. It is not a divisive tool that unfortunately some members in this House always refer to. They look at the glass half-empty as opposed to the full glass. I am pleased to take this short call acknowledging the modernisation of the Plant Variety Rights Bill. I congratulate the Minister also the hard-working select committee that scrutinised this and of course all the submitters. It is a great time to celebrate not just a modern plant variety Act in this country but by association the significance of the indigenous knowledge that is built into this bill. I commend it to the House."