Henare PeeniHon PEENI HENARE (Minister for Whānau Ora): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Ka tīmata ahau ki roto i te reo Māori ka mutu ko te hiahia kia huri atu ahau ki te reo Pākehā ā taihoa ake nei. E tautoko ana i ngā mihi kua utaina ki runga i Te Rohe o Te Wairoa ōna hapū ōna mana ōna kāwai hekenga kua tau ki runga i te tāhuhu o Te Whare i te rā nei.E te pāpā e Piere e hoki atu ngā mahara ki a rātou kua ngaro atu ki te pō ki roto i te tau kua pahure ake nei mai i te pānuitanga tuatahi o tēnei pire tae noa mai ki tēnei wā. Tangi hotuhotu te whatu manawa ki a rātou kua ngaro atu ki te pō haere haere haere.Ka whakahokia mai ngā rārangi kōrero ki a tātou te hunga ora e ōku rangatira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora tātou katoa. Pai te whakarongo atu ki ngā kōrero a tōku matua nei a te honore Tararā nei a Shane Jones. E harikoa ana te rongo atu i ngā whakapapa me ngā hītori hei tuitui i a tātou katoa i runga i te whakaaro nui o te whakapapa. Ka kī atu ahau ki a koutou e ōku whanaunga anei te uri a Te Wera Hauraki kua roa rawa e noho ki roto i a koutou. Ka pupuru tonu e tōku whānau i Te Nihoniho te taonga hohou rongo i tukuna atu e koutou ki tōku tupuna a Te Wera Hauraki e hia tau ki muri. Nō reira haere mai haere mai haere mai kati. Ka huri atu ahau ki te reo tuarua.[I acknowledge you Mr Speaker. I will begin by speaking in Māori and it is my wish to conclude in English soon. I endorse the acknowledgments given to Te Wairoa its hapū its mana and lineage who have graced this House today.Piere my thoughts return to those who have passed during this year since the first reading of this bill up until this moment. My heart grieves for them farewell to you all.I return my discussion to us the living; to you my leaders I acknowledge you all. It was pleasing to listen to my uncle the honourable Dalmatian Shane Jones. I enjoyed listening to the origins and history that connects us all together through our whakapapa. I say to you my relatives here I stand before you as the descendant of Te Wera Hauraki who for a very long time has been amongst you. My people still hold the treasure Te Nihoniho the treasure of peace that you gave to my ancestor Te Wera Hauraki those many years ago. So welcome welcome welcome. I will now speak in the second language.]It is probably more for the benefit of the new members of the House that it's important that we actually take the full calls on these bills in particular in the second reading so that new members see we are duty-bound to give rigorous debate and analysis to such an important issue for the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and of course for the House here and members across the House. It's in that vein that I want to turn to some of the matters that were raised to the Māori Affairs Committee in the process of the hearing of submissions. I was unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony that was attended by the member Jo Hayes and of course the former Minister the Hon Christopher Finlayson in the year just gone. I was in fact with my good colleague here the Hon Meka Whaitiri at the unveiling for her father who passed the year previous.I want to acknowledge the member the Hon Meka Whaitiri for her work on—and she mentioned it in her contribution—Māori land ownership and the ability to use the resource for our own means to make sure that the benefits that come from such lands and such resources actually go to the people who are the descendants of those who either held the land or gifted the land for a particular reason and it's in this vein that I talk about the station Hereheretau. Members across the House talked about the need to nurture leadership to grow leadership to make sure that the seeds first of all that are sown with bills such as these the fruits of those seeds can actually be harnessed be utilised to grow for future generations.I found it interesting in my discussion with the Hon Meka Whaitiri how for many years scholarships that came from the station of Hereheretau actually for the most part didn't go to the descendants of those who held the land before it was given to help the soldiers who returned from World War I. That's an important fact to remember—which is why the contention which is why the submissions on this particular matter and the urging of this House if I can to make sure that whatever happens with te Hereheretau into the future long after we're gone we actually remember that it is there for the benefit of the descendants of those who actually gifted the land. It's an important point to remember.I also want to turn to the issue that I've raised many many times in this House and I think it's just as relevant in my time in Opposition as in my time in Government and that is the pitfalls of legislation in dealing with whakapapa. My colleague the Hon Meka Whaitiri mentioned the pitfalls when we look to legislation to define who we are—to define who is a hapū to define who is an iwi—and the member the Hon Shane Jones mentioned it in his former life as the fisheries commissioner and as a man who did a great deal to get the fisheries settlement across the line. He mentioned of course my people of Ngāti Hine. And I'm proud to say that after many years of litigation we now find ourselves on the census and on the pathway to becoming our own iwi which by definition—by the way that's the census next year. So all of you Ngāti Hine out there please get on and tick that Ngāti Hine box. But if you look at the purposes of the legislation and the definition of what a hapū and what an iwi are you'll find that most of us and in particular in my case of Ngāti Hine met that particular set of terms many many years ago—many years ago. You needed to have marae you needed to have an eponymous ancestor you needed to have a large natural grouping and you also needed to have the agreement of surrounding iwi. Well I'm sure most Māori in this particular House today will say Aye I've got a marae. Yes I've got a marae. Yes I've got a natural grouping. Yes I've got an eponymous ancestor. And by crikey my neighbour had better agree."These are the pitfalls that legislation forces Māori into and it's a shame. But I am encouraged by the work of many of the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and other tribes across the country who actually want to work together and reconnect legislation aside. And that's an important thing to remember. We do that by way of waiata wānanga mahi tahi working together for the benefit not of our generation but of our tamariki mokopuna. I've seen a pēpē up in the gallery and it's for them we do this particular job.I won't go on too much longer because the House has already canvassed many of the issues that have come from this but I want to reiterate my point in particular in the second reading for new members: let's make sure we give these bills the rigorous debate and the respect that they deserve acknowledging too that Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and the whānau from Te Wairoa have come a long way to hear the House debate these particular bills and make sure that at the third reading the bill that we started with in the first reading will be stronger will be more robust to ensure that future generations will reap the benefits sown in these readings.So without further ado I look forward to this bill progressing and once again acknowledge all of those whose fingerprints are over this bill both in this House and of course in and amongst the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. Kāti ki konei. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou.[I conclude here. Thank you all.]Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.Bill read a second time.The House adjourned at 12.13 p.m. (Wednesday)"