Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): He mihi tuatahi e ngā mate i waenganui i a tātou. Ko Lee Smith. Ko Tame Taurima. Ko Chiquita Pōhatu. Ko Mariana Seymour mā. E ngā mate o te wā kāinga o te motu haere haere haere atu rā. He mihi tuatahi te iwi o Parihaka. Ōku rau rangatira mā. E kui mā. E koro mā. Nau mai haramai hoki mai ki o tātou Whare.[Firstly to those who have passed on and are amongst us: Lee Smith Tommy Taurima Chiquita Pōhatu Mariana Seymour and others. To those who have passed from home from throughout the country rest in peace. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the tribe of Parihaka. My distinguished leaders welcome welcome on your return to our House.]As the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti I am absolutely honoured to take a small call on this significant bill Te Pire Haeata ki Parihaka / Parihaka Reconciliation Bill. Back in the mid-1980s a young 22-year-old started a role in what was then called the Māori Perspective Unit of the Department of Labour in the building just behind us the Charles Fergusson Building. That unit morphed into what was called the Community Employment Group and it was in that time that I worked in that group that I came across Amokura Panaho and obviously the late Hon Parekura Horomia. So apart from being his chauffeur/driver and travelling around the country one of the first places we visited was Parihaka. So I want to acknowledge Amokura and the introduction that she availed to Parekura and I with the late Te Miringa Milton" Hohaia of the small bit of understanding that we got of Parihaka a thriving community. In its time I would call it the metropolis capital of Aotearoa New Zealand. It had its own banks it had its own flour mills and it had thriving communities where the people were operating as we were in that period of time. I just want to acknowledge the gracefulness the patience the giving of the people of Parihaka as we honour them through the passage of this bill in its third and final reading. Those times that we learnt about Tohu and Te Whiti can only be described as a community of people that were before their time. Their contribution to this nation the debate and the processes that they have maintained and upheld I want to acknowledge in my small contribution this afternoon and no better than in the legacy statement. There are two parts that I expressly want to acknowledge and one is phase 1 in the legacy statement in Schedule 2 which talks about the period between 1813 and 1840 called the upheaval—the violent upheaval from 1813 to 1840—and to recognise that a lot of our iwi around the motu have mamae that happened before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. There is no mechanism in which we can express the hurt that many of us suffered and so I want to acknowledge the foresight the intelligence and the strategy behind this bill and the people of Parihaka to bring those issues that we are acknowledging through this legislation today. So I want to acknowledge phase 1—the upheaval. We all have a story in iwi around the country. In my iwi of Rongowhakaata when a certain ship came in 1769 we called it the collision. So we're telling our story that wasn't dissimilar to yours of the upheaval—the violent upheaval. We're calling it a collision because as we know it wasn't a good exchange and we need a place in which we acknowledge that. So I want to acknowledge in this bill phase 1—the upheaval. For the other parts I don't have time in my one minute left in this contribution to the debate but I too want to acknowledge phase 9—the aspirations of Parihaka. This is a beautiful piece of work and I wish that I had the opportunity to read the Māori component of the legacy statement because the Reo is so beautiful and I know we've got Reo experts up there. I want to acknowledge you for the beautiful way the Reo has been used in the legacy statement and the English translation doesn't do it justice. But in terms of phase 9—the aspirations of Parihaka—it's a beautiful message to leave to our future generations. So all those of Parihaka descent to all the kuras around Parihaka—Taranaki whānui—they should be made to read the legacy statement as part of their curriculum. That's my challenge. I honour you today. I salute you. Tēnā koutou katoa."