Marcroft Jenny; Kuriger BarbaraJENNY MARCROFT (NZ First): E te Pīka tēnā koe tēnā tātou katoa. E tū ana ahau he uri nō Te Tai Tokerau ki te mihi atu ki ngā uri o Ngāti Paoa. Ka nui aku mihi maioha ki a koutou Ngāti Paoa tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. Ka mihi ahau hoki ki ngā rangatira o Ngāti Paoa. Ko Morehu Wilson moe mai moe mai moe mai rā e te rangatira. Hauāuru Rāwiri tēnā koe tēnā koe tēnā koe. Ka mihi ahau ki a tatou kua tae mai ki te tautoko te kaupapa o te rangi nei. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Madam Speaker greetings to you greetings to us all. I stand as a descendant of the Northland nation to acknowledge you the descendants of Ngāti Paoa. I'd like to express my grand salutations to you Ngāti Paoa. Thank you thank you thank you all. I also acknowledge the esteemed leaders of Ngāti Paoa. Morehu Wilson farewell farewell farewell dear leader. Hauāuru Rāwiri greetings to you sir. I'd like to acknowledge us all who have arrived here today in support of this matter. Thank you thank you thank you all.]It is a privilege and a humbling experience to ever be involved in this House and speaking to claims settlement bills and this is no different—the Ngāti Paoa Claims Settlement Bill. New Zealand First stands in support of the bill and in support of Ngāti Paoa.I began my mihi mentioning Hauāuru Rawiri and also Morehu Wilson. Morehu was the historian for Ngāti Paoa who passed away two years ago and I feel as this is the first opportunity I have spoken to this bill to acknowledge him and also the fact that he was a St Stephen's old boy. So my colleague the Hon Shane Jones also a St Stephen's old boy wanted me to acknowledge that as well. Also must acknowledge all of the people who turned out for Paoa over the many many many years—decades in fact—over a very difficult period over those years. Decades trying to get back on your feet. This is a milestone another step forward towards being back on your feet.But now it's really important so that the young people of Paoa know who they are and this is a step in terms of their history moving forward. The aspiration that the next generations—that the young people—will be healthy and will be wealthy so that they have full-spectrum health and wealth as it will come and flow once the settlement process is concluded.I'd like to acknowledge the Ministers and there have been three of them who have shepherded this bill. It started off with the Hon Christopher Finlayson then through to the Hon Andrew Little and now sits with the Minister the Hon Paul Goldsmith. So hopefully we can bring this in for a landing very soon—you've waited far too long. I'd just like to mention the Hon Peeni Henare who mentioned the overlapping interests in Tāmaki-makau-rau. That is something that all of us who live in Auckland in Tāmaki are aware of. Through research and learning more about Ngāti Paoa I was able to see more of that picture in in terms of how difficult it has been to get to this stage in the House today.Acknowledging the Māori Affairs Committee and the work that you have done considering submissions from 351 interested groups and individuals and you heard oral evidence from 25 submitters. In a little moment I will come and swing around to a couple of those submissions which I feel are really important and so I want to acknowledge them in the House shortly.Ngāti Paoa are mana moana people. I have been told that I have seen it I believe it and I really want the House to understand what that means. I can give you an example today of what mana moana people mean. We have this invasive seaweed called Caulerpa which is inhabiting and strangling the seabed in the Hauraki Gulf. Ngāti Paoa took it upon themselves to reach out. They found an incredibly unique way to try and smother that nasty little critter—that nasty pest—and so with the help of Bremworth have rolled out pure wool mats on to the seabed to suffocate. That is really something which could end up being a lifesaver for the Hauraki Gulf so I'd like to applaud all of your people who've been involved in that. That in fact could be something that we could take internationally and you have been part of that. That is something absolutely worthwhile looking forward.Mahurangi is one of your areas. I'm currently a resident and have been for the last 20-odd years in Matakana. Because I grew up in Rotorua whenever I say I'm from Matakana they go Oh Matakana Island." No! Matakana ki Matakana. So it's wonderful to also have that connection with you.When I look at some of the detail of the bill—and I won't really go into too much because a lot of that has been traversed already—what I would like to speak to is: I've worked in a council in Auckland and during my time there the Ngāti Paoa settlement was in select committee and the council was obviously involved with some of this land which has been returned to Ngāti Paoa. So they've made some submissions which I'd like to acknowledge—the council—and I hope that they have been a willing partner in sharing in the process of acknowledging the grievances and then the redress that is part of this Treaty settlement. So well done Auckland Council.I did really enjoy my time that I was in the Auckland Council working with John Hutton and also with the Māori team which was led by Herewini Te Koha. They were a great team and also I got to know fairly well one of the councillors Corinne Leone—one of Ngāti Paoa's rising stars—and she also submitted on the bill. She wanted to tautoko the leadership of Ngāti Paoa Iwi Trust and that basically was in their hands to speak on behalf of all of the people to support the bill for the iwi.I have a very dear friend from broadcasting who's also Ngāti Paoa: Mihingarangi Forbes who I absolutely respect and admire.Hon Member: Good lady.JENNY MARCROFT: She is a very good lady absolutely. She wanted me to include as part of my submission something which she has had a lot of mamae—it's been part of her journey—and that is around the reo. Mihi's great-grandmother Paerau Anaru Te Whetū died at age 48 from heart disease caused by childhood rheumatic fever. Her daughter who's Mihi's grandmother Nora Forbes died at 58.Now Nora was the last native speaker of te reo in Mihi's line. Her son Mihi's father is bereft of his language. None of his eight siblings speak their native tongue. Of the 20 grandchildren just two of them speak te reo Māori and Mihi is one of them. Te reo Māori has enriched her life; it has given her access to her whakapapa to Ngāti Paoa history; and with te reo Māori she's able to stand proudly in Tāmaki-makau-rau as tangata whenua. So I mihi to you: ngā mihi. Now the trauma of loss of language is something that I know from my whānau and this is part of the journey of healing which comes through these Treaty settlement bills. We can put a stake in the ground. We can say "That was then; this is now." and we can move forward collectively as a people together.Finally in concluding part of Mihingarangi's story her uncles now sit in the second row while the next generation holds the paepae. The beautiful voices of her aunties are not heard at the gate. They know how to host obviously—they were raised to welcome but not on the marae. Their karanga is silent. So I am hopeful that it is Mihingarangi's voice that fills that space and of her children that will come after her.So it's time Paoa begins to heal; to revive Ngāti Paoa reo their customs tikanga specific to their hapū. In conclusion in the House today as Parliament puts its politics to the side—which is quite a relief from time to time—once again we're able to be a living part of an example to the world of how to resolve historical grievances.So with the second reading of the Ngāti Paoa Claims Settlement Bill today marks that next step forward towards the aspirations of the people of Paoa: to reaffirm the prosperity and holistic well-being of their people. It's an honour—it is a privilege—to bring the Ngāti Paoa Claims Settlement Bill on its second reading in for a landing. I commend this bill to the House. No reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. Just before I call the next speaker I understand for purposes of broadcasting in the House that the Speaker always has the microphone and I didn't want to interrupt the last speaker. But when we have specific guests in the gallery I'm not sure that members understand how much their voices carry around the House—certainly comes up here. So could we just keep conversations to a bit of a minimum around the House because I'm sure it just isn't helpful in the House. Thank you. This is a split call and I now call Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke."