Tolley AnneHon ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast): E ngā mana e ngā reo e ngā iwi o Ngāti Porou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. It's an absolute pleasure for me to stand and speak in the House. As Deputy Speaker it doesn't happen very often because you're the person of Parliament and you cannot preside over a bill that you are involved in. So it's only on very special occasions that I get the opportunity to speak and today is one of those very special occasions. When Māui first hauled up the North Island from the oceans the first to emerge was the point of Mt Hikurangi the sacred icon for Ngāti Porou. It represents for them their independence and it represents for them their unity and of course Māui is fundamental to Ngāti Porou's history because he binds them to the beginning of human existence and to their rohe. And I want to acknowledge today the significance of that history.I want start by paying tribute to a great Ngāti Porou leader and a great parliamentarian Sir Apirana Ngata whose words continue to echo around these halls so many years later. I also want to pay tribute to Apirana Mahuika—Uncle Api as we all knew him. He was another great leader for New Zealand but more particularly for Ngāti Porou and for Tai Rāwhiti as a whole and it was an absolute privilege to know him. He began the journey that we are legitimising here today. I also want to acknowledge the Hon Parekura Horomira who faced some pretty difficult times from his own people but at all times showed leadership and a desire for the very best for Ngāti Porou to have their rights acknowledged. Can I acknowledge Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou chairman Selwyn Parata and the other senior Ngāti Porou leaders that have travelled here today. The homeland of Ngāti Porou is the most easterly region of the North Island and its boundaries are set in Te Runanga o Ngāti Porou Act 1987. It's mountainous with the Raukūmara Range; it's hilly and those hills are covered with forestry and with mānuka producing some of the best honey in the country—probably in the world Ngāti Porou would claim; and there is sheep and beef farming and of course Whangarā B5 wins prizes year after year after year for high-quality farming. It has a magnificent coastline that is blessed with abundant kai well looked after by Ngāti Porou but its greatest asset of course is in Sir Apirana Ngata's words He tangata he tangata he tangata." I'd also add on to that probably Ngāti Porou women who are known to be independent forthright highly effective leaders—and of course here in the National Party we've experienced one of those for quite some time and she's greatly missed.We're here today at last to legislate recognition of Ngāti Porou's customary title and rights over the foreshore and seabed along the coastland of their rohe. It's been a long journey to get here and that's been outlined by both Minister Little and my colleague the Hon Chris Finlayson. The National-led Government inherited the foreshore and seabed legislation that caused such dissension among both Māori and Pākehā and it is a tribute to many on the Labour benches who have acknowledged that they got that wrong.But Uncle Api had negotiated a deal with the Labour Government because of his desire to have that long history recognised and those rights bestowed upon Ngāti Porou. Then he courageously—let's not overlook the courage it took and the generosity of spirit—set that to one side and agreed to wait whilst the incoming National Government replaced that piece of legislation with the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act which would then allow the bill we are debating here today. I'm not going to go through all the details of that because that's long been talked about and negotiated and there'll be many many more hours negotiating those—I have no doubt. But it does confer all the rights that deserve to go with customary title and it devolves the responsibilities of allowing the public access to parts of that coastline.Now we all know that there will be all sorts of fears and assumptions made about the worst things that can happen and I've already got people coming into my office saying "We won't be allowed to swim and we won't be allowed to fish." and all these things. We know we're going to have that and we know that there is going to be some dissension even with Ngāti Porou but we will persevere. We will get through. Gisborne people know and respect Ngāti Porou and we will sensibly reject outside interference. The history supports that confidence. The Crown and Ngāti Porou over the years have had a pretty positive relationship and I know that that will continue.Even if you look at recent history in 2015 the Gisborne District Council signed an agreement with Ngāti Porou—the joint management agreement over the Waiapū catchment. The Waiapū River is of not quite but almost as great a significance to Ngāti Porou as Hikurangi. That agreement gave Ngāti Porou along with the Gisborne District Council the ability to jointly perform or exercise any of the local authority's powers functions or duties—so that sharing of decision making over a natural resource in order to get better outcomes for all our people and for the environment. Again into my office I have people saying "This was terrible." and "How could this happen?" Well actually the sky hasn't fallen. The rivers are still running. The people are still there. The mountains are still there. Life goes on but it goes on in a better way.And then just last month Ngāti Porou and Air New Zealand signed an agreement—a partnership agreement to generate economic growth for the whole of Tai Rāwhiti not just for Ngāti Porou. I note the people that have come down today—I hope you wrote into the bottom of that "more air flights between Gisborne and Wellington". It would be really really helpful. But that is the status and the trust and the confidence of the Crown of Government with Ngāti Porou. So I want to congratulate all those who have been responsible for getting this new mandate and the legislation to this House.Someone said there's a time and place for everything; well this is now the time. This is now the time to recognise as I said at the outset that Ngāti Porou through Māui are bound to this rohe. They have lived and loved they have toiled and rested they've fished and hunted along those shores uninterrupted—well you know actually some of us have gone there intermittently because we also love that coastline and want to go and visit it from time to time. But Ngāti Porou have lived there have established themselves in that part of the world and it is time to recognise that in law with all the rights and all the responsibilities that go with that.So I'm delighted to support this first reading of Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Bill (No 2) and I commend it to the House. Kia ora tātou."