Fleming GregGREG FLEMING (National—Maungakiekie): Tēnei taku tino hōnore anō i tēnei rā te tautoko tēnei pire. [It is my absolute honour again to support this bill.]Mr Speaker when I was first elected to Parliament and was asked what select committees I would like to serve on the one that I asked for was the Māori Affairs Committee and obviously also the Petitions Committee in order to serve under your chairmanship sir—such a fun committee that one. E rua ngā take o taku pātai e pā ana ki te tono mō te pire ki te Māori Affairs committee. Tuatahi te rongo te tangi o te reo o te whenua i ngā wā katoa kāore he mea anō kāore he mea reka ki te reo taketake. [There are two questions regarding the bill to be considered by the Māori Affairs committee. Firstly it's the continuous hearing of the language of the land there is nothing like it nothing as soothing as the indigenous language.]And that is what we hear all the time in our work. So to have heard so much of the reo of the whenua and of the rangi today has been an incredible joy and that is perhaps the most sweet part of the joy of serving in this House. The second one was that the primary work of the Māori Affairs Committee is whai atu te whakapūāwaitanga o ia iwi ia hapū. E maha ngā tūranga mō tērā momo whai atu. [for every tribe and subtribe to thrive. There is a lot of opportunities for that pursuit.] One of those pathways is settlements. In preparation for this work and as I've continued to want to improve and to expand my understanding of it I've read extensively and I take every opportunity that I have to meet and talk to everyone and anyone who has experience in this area. Last week I had the opportunity to visit with Whakarewa outside of Motueka which was one of the first areas to settle of sorts. It was in the mid-1980s and what was $8 million worth is now $300 million worth of assets including owning Tohu Wines a most excellent acquisition. On Saturday I was with a couple of the other members from the House as we celebrated the opening of another Tauhara housing project in Auckland by several of the Tāmaki-based iwi. My first direct encounter was the one that my colleague Rima Nakhle detailed and that was with Whakatōhea. In all of these it was an incredible honour and incredibly instructive and incredibly sobering. It reminds me of what several members have made clear tonight which is that these settlements are in no way an equal return for the mamae and the hōhā that was inflicted. What they are rather is a starting point and we have seen that so many times in recent years in this country. Again previous speakers have spoken to some of the financial and the asset returns from that and that is what gives me great hope for this bill. Again as has been noted eloquently by members on both sides of the House this is the will of Ngāti Hei as it has been the will of each of the iwi that have settled. They want to look forward they want to take the settlement that they have negotiated in good faith and they want to build their future from it. They want to pursue the development and the whānuitanga o tō rātou mana Motuhake. Koirā te ngako o te ture tuarua o te Tiriti o Waitangi ko te tino rangatiratanga o ia iwi ia hapū. Ki ōku whakaaro tēnei huarahi o te whai atu o te treaty settlement process that is te tino whāinga. [the full approach of their sovereignty. That is the true essence of the second article of Te Tiriti o Waitangi it is true sovereignty of every tribe every subtribe. I believe this pathway of te Treaty Settlement process supports that notion.] Nā reira it is my pleasure and my honour to commend this bill to the House.