Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga): Well it's great to commemorate 150 years of the Māori Affairs Committee. I was on it for a term and that makes me—according to the briefing on the committee in its 150 years—one of the 341 members of it. I can remember in that term which would have been 2008-11 touring marae a lot of kai a lot of kai moana touring all over the place—places I've never been before frankly.I just want to say it's funny because the Hon Willie Jackson has stolen a bit of my thunder there—I had a very similar experience to him. I can remember in addition to the Treaty settlement work some very important work—seminal work actually—the work on smoking the tobacco inquiry. I can remember about that. It was independent. The Ministers would get very nervous about it and old Tau Henare who some of us will remember he was chairing it. He didn't give a stuff what the Ministers thought; he was going to do whatever he thought would get his name in the paper in that inquiry.Of course as my friend Harete Hipango has said what's also true is there behind the scenes was Dame Tariana Turia and also—a real force actually—someone I got to know well on the committee Hone Harawira. It was interesting because a bit like Willie said I probably came in with the opposite views and values and principles to Willie Jackson but seeing guys like Hone Harawira—who I still obviously disagree with on probably many if not most things—I could see his genuineness that he was concerned about the issues. Actually I still say that that report in terms of my backbench experiences in Parliament and the one I was involved with on alcohol were a couple of the most important things I've been involved in. But still when I think about the work when it comes to tobacco I also identify with what Willie Jackson says because I can remember Tau Henare was the chair of the committee. He would get so angry he'd be swearing at members; I thought he was going to beat them up or punch them—yeah we won't go there Mr Speaker! And then I can remember on occasion he would literally just—he was so angry he'd walk out and suddenly I was the chair. And there'd be Parekura Horomia there yelling at me in te reo—I had no idea what he was saying and here was this young whippersnapper who just wanted to be a Cabinet Minister and wasn't really sure what to do about it all.But it was a good committee; it was a real learning experience for me. I already made the point but whether it was Parekura Horomia or whether it was Hone Harawira or whether it was Tau Henare there were some great characters on the committee who I learnt a lot from. As has been said the whanaungatanga—it ran differently than other committees. Other committees—obviously I suppose Western committees we'd say were more formal and it was more adversarial. But on this one one was expected to be not like that and to be more collegial and dare I say it friendly although as I say sometimes the passions ran very high on it.I just want to note what Tāmati Coffey said. In a way it may seem like a superficial point not the most important point given the substance of the work on the committee. But I do think when I think of the Māori Affairs Committee over the years—and not just over the years and not when I was on it but even today—of the rooms. It seems to me that first one which I think I'm right to say was built and put together in the 1920s and then the next one the larger one with the windows facing the forecourt in the 1990s—these to me are the rooms in this place that have the most mana. Funnily enough having been here 13 years I don't know Parliament that well. I don't actually walk around and see the various parts of it. But if I'm doing a tour if there's a Simon Bridges tour going they are always top of my list for people to see because they are special; they have mana.I want to reflect very briefly on the work. Obviously the lion's share of it these days is the Treaty settlement bills. But that's been a process where it's non-contentious it comes with the spirit of wanting to improve those laws and do the best for iwi. Just on that note I would note that it's appropriate that today my iwi has signed a deed of settlement Ngāti Maniapoto and that's a great day after some 30-something years I think in the making—obviously much longer than that in terms of the grievance and the mamae there. But I'd just note that that's a real achievement and I commend Minister Andrew Little for that work and being the Minister who got Ngāti Maniapoto to deed of settlement stage.So it's a unique committee; 150 years is a great achievement. It's had much more prominent members on it dare I say it than Willie Jackson or me with the likes of Apirana Ngata and many others. Long may that continue. It's a proud part of this Parliament; it's a proud part of Aotearoa New Zealand's culture and fabric.