Tirikatene Rino: Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTirikatene Rino: Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 09 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9576. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga):Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker ā tēnā koutou ngā mema o Te Whare Pāremata. E tū taukoto ana ahau i tēnei pire mō Te Reo Māori kia whakahouhia ake te kaupapa mō Te Reo Māori. “Āpiti hono tātai hono rātou te hunga mate ki a rātou āpiti hono tātai hono tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou” tēnā koutou tēnā koutou ā tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and acknowledgments to you members of the House of Parliament. I stand in support of this Māori language and the renewal of the policy relating to the Māori language. “The lines are joined they the dead to the dead and we the living to ourselves.” so greetings salutations and acknowledgments to you collectively and to us all.]I am delighted to be able to speak in support of this very landmark piece of legislation that is having its second reading right now. We have heard in the House tonight “E Te Māngai” [Mr Speaker] and I have heard “harerūia harerūia” [hallelujah hallelujah] and I thought I was in a whakamoemiti Rātana Church service. But certainly it is worth celebrating thus far that we have come to this point to have the second reading of this bill.It has had a long passage. There has been a lot of work that has gone into getting it to this stage. I have only got a short call but I do want to acknowledge the Minister and the ministerial advisory group the members of the Māori Affairs Committee and in particular my whanaunga from the lofty southern mountain Aoraki there Tūtehounuku Karako who led our committee. I was on the committee but only intermittently so I was able to sit in and hear certain aspects as this bill progressed but I know the good work that was put in by the committee as well to ensure the passage of this bill.Can I also acknowledge the specialist translators who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to give a full Te Reo Māori translation to this bill. It is of extra significance as has been mentioned that this is a dual language piece of legislation. If there ever is any raru or doubt or conflict between what translation will prevail Te Reo Māori will prevail. That is very significant. It is only the second piece of legislation in the history of Aotearoa Niu Tīreni that we have had a Te Reo Māori piece of legislation. I support this bill because I support our Reo Māori.Sure there are aspects that were of concern when we did the first reading and I could go into the details but ultimately I think a big issue was around the nexus between the Crown’s relationship—it is the Crown’s obligation to protect our taonga and to promote the Crown’s obligations versus empowering te iwi Māori to champion and to foster and to grow our Reo Māori me ōna tikanga [Māori language and its conventions].So I think that the changes that have been made have improved and clarified that relationship. We have got certain new bodies and strategies that have been set up. I think ultimately this legislation like any new creation takes time to bed in. I think we will ultimately see the hua—the fruits—of this legislation by giving it time. We need to give it time. We need to let Te Mātāwai assemble the old guard and the new for all of them to come together to do their important mahi. We need to let the Crown strategies and all of the aspects of its role and who will be doing that—we need all of that to be teased out. But ultimately we do support this bill and it lays a very good foundation for the next chapter of the fostering of our Reo Māori.Ultimately that is what it is all about. We want this legislation to really be a huge boost to the amount of Māori that is spoken among Māori whānau and right across our whole country. So I do tautoko this piece of legislation I do acknowledge all of the work that has gone into it before and I am looking forward to progressing it through the further stages that we have left in the House. I commend it to the House. Kia ora tātou.