Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Associate Minister for Crown/Māori Relations): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe otirā ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. Ōku rau rangatira mā ngā hapū e te iwi o Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Mātangi Rau Māhia Waikaremoana hoki nau mai nau mai hoki mai. Nau mai hoki mai i runga i te kaupapa whakahirahira te pānui tuarua o tō koutou pire nō reira kei te mihi kei te mihi kei te mihi.[Thank you to Madam Deputy Speaker as well as to the members of the House greetings to you all. To my leaders the hapū and iwi of Te Wairoa Hōnengenenge Mātangi Rau Māhia and Waikaremoana welcome welcome. I welcome you on your return for this very important occasion the second reading of your bill. I greet you and acknowledge you.]I'm pleased to rise and make a contribution in the second reading of this bill. Can I just say that in this House I have stood and spoken with a lot of passion around legislation to do with Māori land alienation and no better can I reflect on the passion of talking about that than in this particular iwi's situation. Approximately 600000 acres according to the negotiator Johnny Whaanga in the Te Arawhiti Truth and Reconciliation Report was lost by these people and I want to take the time of the House to just give a chronological order of the land loss that these people suffered. Between 1864 and 1868 the Crown purchased 83000 acres. In April 1867 some Wairoa Māori agreed under duress to cede 42000 acres to the Crown. In 1867 and 1868 the Native Land Court awarded ownership of numerous Wairoa blocks to a maximum of 10 individual owners. Since 1870 the Crown has compulsorily taken more than 500 acres for public works purposes from the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. In 1875 the Crown acquired 178000 acres of land near Lake Waikaremoana and then by 2001 we have it recorded that approximately 90 percent of the population of Wairoa did not live in that rohe. Over 600000 acres were taken from these people by the actions of the Crown and so there is a story behind why I have stood so passionately against law that this House passes that may lead to further land alienation from Māori people. Despite the people losing so much land I want to acknowledge the huge contribution they have made to the fabric of this country in terms of leadership and in terms of their tīpuna going to war for this nation and that is no better reflected than in Sir James Carroll a noted leader from these people. Despite land loss they were able to contribute under his leadership and he will go down in the annals of this House for the extensive contribution he made to the fabric of New Zealand. I just want to reflect on Sir James Carroll or as he was commonly known Tā Timi Kara. I want to talk about him being an interpreter and a land agent first and foremost. He was first elected to the Eastern Maori seat in 1887. He was the Acting Colonial Secretary—which is now known as the Minister of Internal Affairs—from 1897 to 1899. He was the first Māori to hold the Cabinet position of the Minister of Native Affairs from 1899 to 1912. He was highly regarded by the Liberal Party and was also the Acting Prime Minister in 1909 and 1911. So unfortunately for our Hon Winston Peters and our Hon Kelvin Davis we had the member in this House who was the first and foremost Acting Prime Minister. Sir James's legacy will go on and it's important that I reflect and acknowledge him as we read the second reading of this bill. I want to also reflect despite this iwi losing so much land the contribution they gave in the war efforts of this nation. Despite losing land and becoming literally landless in their own rohe they were also contributing to the war effort in the First World War and the Second World War. I want to acknowledge those who are in the gallery whose tīpuna went away and fought on behalf of this nation. I want to acknowledge Nuk Korako the former chair of the Māori Affairs Committee who talked about the Hereheretau farm. We need to take ourselves back and say that here was a people particularly the people of Whakakī and their land was taken to be a Māori Soldiers Trust for all the Māori soldiers that came back to this country as they returned from the war effort. At no time did the people of Whakakī enjoy any benefits from the land that was taken from them and to this day it's still a burning issue for the people of Whakakī. I want to acknowledge the former chair saying in his address that it is still an important issue that must be sorted out for the people—the hapū—of Whakakī but also with the Māori Soldiers Trust to ensure that they at least have representation on that trust because I know that is a very dear matter to the people of Whakakī. I also want to thank the submitters that came to the select committee that we had in Wairoa. I don't want to repeat what the former chair acknowledged but I do want to ensure that the Hereheretau farm is addressed—though obviously not in this bill. It's one of those ongoing issues that we do need to come to and I'm sure with the newly appointed Treaty Minister we'll get that opportunity or—I don't know—we might kick it to the new Minister for Crown/Māori Relations potentially so that we can get that matter sorted. I want to acknowledge the new Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Andrew Little. I want to acknowledge the former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson for the work in ensuring that we get this bill here. There was a challenge there I heard in the Hon Chris Finlayson's earlier contribution Minister Little and it may be that we have to get you on the golf course to see if you too can get a hole in one. Maybe we'll get two holes in one because we have higher standards over here on this side of the House. But I do want to acknowledge the work of the former Minister and I look forward to the work that the current Minister is going to do. So there are a couple of issues around the hapū definitions. I want to say that we have to be very careful as Crown officials that we don't take the onus of interpreting who makes the hapū cut and who doesn't make the hapū cut. In this particular settlement that was very clearly expressed to us at the hearings of the hapū wanting to be included and of course the post-settlement group had no issue with those particular hapū being included. It's a cautionary note to all us members in this House that whakapapa is the domain of hapū and iwi and the Crown needs to be guided by that. Look I'm pleased that we are getting to the final readings of this important bill. I want to acknowledge the negotiators particularly John Whaanga and Tāmati Olsen. I want to acknowledge our chairman of the post-settlement group Leon Symes—who is in the gallery—and of course Pieri Munro and I also want to acknowledge the aunties who have travelled all the way down from Māhia to join in this second reading. It is indeed an honour to stand here in support of this important bill but more importantly to stand as the local member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti to acknowledge you here today. I do commend this bill to the House and look forward to its third and final reading.No reira e te iwi tēnei te mihi aroha tēnei te mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[So to the iwi I express my compassion and appreciation to you all. Greetings greetings greetings to you all.]