Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā nei te mihi atu ki a koe otirā ki Te Whare. Ki a koutou ōku whanaunga e noho nei e mātakitaki nei i ngā nekehanga o Pāremata mai i te wā pātaitai mai i te pōhiri i te ata tae noa atu ki te mutunga o tēnei wāhanga mā koutou nei te mihi atu ki a koutou aku pou aku rahi e hui ā-kanohi nei tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou. Kai te tuku whakaaro ki a rātou kua mate mai i ngā tau kua hipa atu rātou i tīmata te kawe i tēnei haerenga rātou i tīmata te whawhai mō te whenua. Ēhara i te mea nā rātou anake engari kei te pirangi au ki te mihi atu ki a Matua Rangiharuru Fitzgerald Matua Tānenuiārangi Te Aweawe whaea Kura Te Rangi Baker whaea Ruth Harris and whaea Kararaina Tait. I te tīmatatanga o tēnei mahi ora katoa rātou ora katoa rātou tae noa atu ki tēnei rangi. Ko tātau te hunga ora nei ko tātau te hunga e tutuki nei i ō rātou nā wawata ā te whawhai tonu te kawe tonu i tēnei o ngā take nā reira kai te mihi.He uri tēnei o Rangitāne ki te Wairarapa he uri tēnei o Ngāti Kahungunu hoki kāore e taea te whakawehe! E ai ki tōku kaumātua tō tātau whanaunga a Uncle Kuki koirā tāna ki a au: He waewae tōu Marama kai roto i ngā waka e rua kāore e taea te pēhea." Nā reira kai te pīrangi au ki te tuku mihi atu ki a ia i tēnei wā ahakoa ko Te Manawatu tēnā he whanaunga katoa tātau ki tā Te Wairarapa nā reira ka mihi! Tēnei rohe o Manawatū ka tīmata ki te awa e whaiwhai haere i te awa tae noa ki Rangitīkei Tararua Ruahine tae atu ki Te Tai Hauāuru me Te Ngutu Awa o Manawatū.Ka huri pea ki te reo parāoa mā tātou katoa kia marama ai tātau.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker I acknowledge you but at the same time the House. To my relations seated here and observing Parliament procedures from question time and the formal welcome this morning including the conclusion of this session for you I truly commend you collectively my pillars my vast number gathered here face to face I applaud you.I think about those who have passed away in years past who began this journey who began the battle for the land. It is not as though they were the only ones but I do want to pay a tribute to Mr Matua Rangiharuru Fitzgerald Mr Tānenuiārangi Te Aweawe Auntie Kura Te Rangi Baker Ruth Harris and Kararaina Tait. At the beginning of this task they were all alive all of them right to this day. We are the ones alive now we are the ones that are fulfilling their aspirations still fighting and still carrying this one of the matters therefore I salute you.This one is a descendant of Rangitāne at Wairarapa and also of Ngāti Kahungunu both are inseparable. According to my elder and our relation Uncle Kuki that is what he said to me: "Mārama you have a leg in both waka nothing can be done about it." Therefore I want to pay a tribute to him at this time; even though that is Manawatū we are all relations to the Wairarapa and so I acknowledge it. This region of Manawatū starts at the river and follows it until it reaches Rangitīkei Tararua Ruahine until it reaches the mouth of the Manawatū River on the west coast.Perhaps I should revert to the flour language for all of us so we can understand.]As with many Treaty settlements those who begin the journey are not always the ones who end the journey. Those who begin the journey to right the wrongs of the past and dedicate their lives to ensuring that their people have a better future—our whānau who take up this struggle and the whawhai do so not for themselves but for their descendants for those who are still yet to come for their tamariki for their mokopuna ngā uri whakaheke [the descendants].We have already acknowledged those who have lost the struggle along the way and are not here ā-kanohi but are here ā-wairua tēnei rā [not here in person but are here spiritually today]. In the submission from Rangitāne o Manawatu Settlement Trust it acknowledged the recent passing as well of Ngāti Mairehau hapū representative Pōtaka Tāite in April of this year. His loss is undoubtedly felt the most by his beloved wife and children and we read how Pōtaka was a man steeped in his tikanga and cultural practices which were part of his daily life. Like many others he was active in the affairs of his hapū from a very early age. His mother Kararaina Tāite was a founding member of Tānenuiarangi Manawatū Inc. and a negotiator for the Rangitāne o Manawatu Treaty claims until her passing in 2012. Pōtaka a speaker at the Rangitāne o Manawatu deed of settlement signing was there and was genuinely looking forward to the future of Rangitāne o Manawatu and he brought his own sense of passion. His loss like the others is still keenly felt. Rangitāne o Manawatu has been working towards settlement with the Crown since 1998—1998—when Tānenuiarangi Manawatū Inc. gained a mandate to represent the iwi in negotiations. From 1859 to 1866 a Crown purchase of over 500000 acres of land in which Rangitāne o Manawatu had customary interest was made. In July 1998 the Crown and Rangitāne o Manawatu signed terms of negotiation which brings us to this point. It is with a heavy heart again today that we acknowledge that we are unable to succeed or to progress to the third reading which would have happened tomorrow. It has been well canvassed. We are well aware of the political game playing that has ensued which has put this on hold. I apologise on behalf of this House to our whānau that the game playing of this House has interrupted what has been a long and determined struggle to come to your final day—your final day iwi o Rangitāne o Manawatu—when we could put these things aside and start to move on. One of the things we discussed at length and heard submissions on was around the Tangimoana Crown Forest Licensed Land and 113 to 117 Fitzherbert Avenue Palmerston North which will now be transferred to Rangitāne o Manawatu on the settlement date. We heard people making cross-claims in the area and some of the debate that ensued was about who lives there now who lived there when and where is ahi kā? It reminded me in fact of the debate that happened often from settlers and the Crown when they came and settled this land: "If you do not live on it it cannot be yours. If it does not surround your house then it is free for us to have." That was the similar debate that happened for the Crown forest area.On settlement Rangitāne o Manawatu will have the option to—we will get that—purchase with a deferred selection period of 2 years from the settlement date 10 sites within the Rangitāne o Manawatu area of interest. That again is somewhat dismaying to me that actually the Crown can gift land for next to nothing to a university an education institution or a charity but yet when it comes to settlement when negotiations ensue we have to pay for that land to get it back after it was taken unjustly in the first place. So we come to this point and in the spirit of trying to move on—in the spirit of trying to move on—Rangitāne o Manawatu have taken up the challenge to settle now and to progress into the future and do all the things all the dreams and fulfil the aspirations of those who have not made it to this point who have passed on in the struggle and the fight and left it to those ā-kanohi [here in person]. Koutou kai te ora tonu ka tutuki tēnei ki roto i ō koutou nā ringa kai roto i ō koutou ringa te tutuki o ō rātou nā wawata. Nā reira ōku whanaunga hari koa taku ngākau te kite atu i a koutou katoa e noho nei ki runga i ngā tūri o Te Whare kei te mihi atu ki a koutou. Hihiko te hinengaro hihiko te wairua tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai tātou katoa.[To those of you who are still alive this will be fulfilled through your hands the fulfilment of their aspirations are therefore in your hands. And so my relations I am delighted to see you all sitting on the seats of the House and congratulate you. The mind and spirit are inspired so well done and accolades to you collectively my appreciation to us all.]"