Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister for Māori Development): Tuatahi e mihi ana ki a koutou Ngāti Maru kua tae mai nei i tēnei wā ki te whakarangatira i a mātou he Hōnore nui ki te tū i mua i a koutou i tēnei wā tēnā koutou ā tēnā koutou tēnā anō tātou katoa. Madam Speaker it's good to have the whanaunga from Taranaki here.[Firstly I acknowledge you Ngāti Maru who have come here at this time to honour us. It is a big honour to stand before you at this time greetings greetings greetings to us all. Madam Speaker it's good to have the kin from Taranaki here.]It's good to have the whanaunga from Taranaki here as we get into this first reading. I was having a look over the agreement and I want to get into some of the intricacies of it I suppose in the third reading but the joint management agreement I think in terms of the river is an area that pleases me very much—and I'm sure it does all Māori members. The ironic part of it is it comes at a time when all kaupapa Māori issues are being critiqued very unfairly by the Opposition in this House. It's really good when I listen to the previous speaker Joseph Mooney because when we come to times like this we get a very humble and supportive Opposition. But when we talk about co-management and co-governance we get an Opposition talking about apartheid separatism and racism. It's ironic actually—just half an hour ago—how the temperature changes and the tenor changes as our people come into the House. These very phrases of co-management and even co-governance take on a different form when we get into this type of setting. Our Opposition gives us a lot of tautoko and a lot of support but in previous times they're intent on scaring Aotearoa in terms of Māori issues and they'll do anything to increase their vote including making allegations to us in terms of how we uphold tikanga. That's the latest allegation in terms of this Government: apparently we're major supporters of the Mongrel Mob. I say today on record: it's not a matter of giving support to the mob which we will not do; it's about upholding our tikanga which we will always do. It's something we must continue to uphold and we must make those points at every opportunity in kaupapa Māori settings and situations and not all of a sudden get all hōhonu and forget what's going on around us. This is about kaupapa Māori at all times. The Opposition needs to be aware of that—not all of a sudden forget all the terrible things that they've been saying about Te Ao Māori over the last few weeks. It is a disgrace what is happening in this House and happening outside. Constant allegations about kaupapa Māori tikanga Māori and te reo Māori and all of us Māori members are getting sick of it—are getting tired of it. So I say to our whanaunga here today: I'm glad you're here because you can move these messages on. Because it's not just about our settlement bill; it's about where we are going today in Te Ao Māori. This settlement—I want to say what's so scary about this settlement bill? You see the proposed joint management agreement is very clear: the Waitara River Committee was established by the New Plymouth District Council and it's going to give an opportunity to Ngāti Maru to oversee the river—oh that must be racist and separatist! That must scare all of New Zealand because that's what the joint management agreement says but if you listen to the Opposition: You watch out for those Māoris they're trying to take over." This is something that's been agreed on with National Party people and all we're doing is upholding it. I was reading through it because I was trying to think what is so scary about all our agreements. What are we doing today that we were doing differently a few years ago? The reality is that we're not doing things too much different; we're just rolling things out. And that's what a brave and courageous Government should do. And this bill is a bill that has to be rolled out and takes into account the history that Minister Little talked about the history of the Native Land Court that Kiritapu Allan knows all about—knows all about—that broke down our culture that set out to break down every part of Māori society. That was the history of the Native Land Court: break down these communists break down our whānau settings break down the principle of how we lived. We know this. Kiritapu knows this. Harete Hipango knows this. Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer knows this. We come here to fix these wrongs. They used to call this—I think David Williams; what did they call it Kiritapu? I'm just looking back on what they called it. Judith Binney described the Native Land Act as an act of war and they described the Native Land Court as a strategy to take and disable and dismember Te Ao Māori. That's what we're talking about today. That's what we're talking about today and we're rectifying all that but we must remember that this is part of the whole fight for justice and partnership in terms of New Zealand and Aotearoa. I'm proud of the work that we've done and I'm proud of the work that the previous Government did. Let's not forget that. Let's remember that the next time we start criticising kaupapa Māori. I ask all our speakers today to take that into account when they have their kōrero. I'll make a further contribution in the third reading. Kia ora anō tātou katoa."