Sharples Pita: Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 22 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14166. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I moveThat the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill be now read a second time. Tēnā tātou e hui anō nei i roto i tēnei Whare. Tēnā koutou katoa. Tangohia te taura i taku kakī kia waiata au i taku waiata. Ko te karanga a Mokomoko kia rangona tōna reo e te motu kia puta ai ōna whakaaro ōna wawata tōna riri tōna aroha kia kitea ai he tangata tonu a ia. Koia taku karanga taku mihi hoki ki te whānau a Mokomoko i tēnei rā whakahirahira. Tēnā koutou. Kai te tangitonu mō ngā hara a te Karauna ki a rātau ēngari i te rā nei kei te mihi ki tā rātau mahi whakarangatira i a tātau katoa.Kongā mahi a te Karauna ki a Mokomoko ko aua mahi anō rā ki a tātau katoa. Nā te taura tārona i tōna kakī a Mokomoko i mate ai ā tōna reo i ngū ai kātahi ka murua ngā whenua o te iwi o Whakatōhea whānui o te waka o Mātaatua ā ka tīmata te korekore haere o ō rātau reo tīpuna. Otirā ko te whānau i tino mate i te whakamā ko te whānau a Mokomoko. Nā te whiu o te ture tō rātau tipuna i patu ka waiho tōna whānau mā te whakamā e patu. Tēnā koutou. Kua kōrero mai rātau mō te nohongū i roto i te pōuritanga me te taumahatanga mai rā anō i te tāronatanga o Mokomoko tae noa mai ki ēnei rā.Ki te whakaaro ake tātau ki te ngaro haeretanga o ō tātau reo tō tātau Reo Māori huri noa te motu tērā ka kīia kua tāronatia tātau katoa ki ngā taura here o te ture a te Kāwanatanga. Ka ngaro Te Reo Māori i roto i ngā kura i ngā reo irirangi i ngā tari Kāwanatanga. Kāhore tō tātau Reo e whai mana e whai wāhi ki roto i te Kāwanatanga o tēnei whenua. Kāhore Te Reo o ō tātau tīpuna i rangona i roto i tēnei Whare Pāremata. E te Māngai nō tēnei rā tonu kua huri te ao. Kua tae ki te wā mā te whānau a Mokomoko tātau katoa e whakatika. Nā te kaha akiaki o te whānau i te pire e kōrerotia nei i tuhi ki Te Reo Māori reo Pākehā hoki kia rite tonu ngā mana o ngā reo e rua. He tuatahitanga tēnei mō te Whare Pāremata. Nō reira me kī nā te whānau a Mokomoko te taura i tango i taku kakī kia whakaputa kōrero au i Te Reo Māori mō tēnei pire whakamana i taua reo hei whakamana hoki i a Mokomoko rātau ko tōna whānau i tēnei Whare i tēnei rā. Tangohia te taura i taku kakī kia waiata au i taku waiata.[Greetings once again to us gathered in this House. Greetings to you all. Remove the rope from my neck so I may sing my song. That was Mokomoko’s call so that his voice could be heard by the nation his thoughts aspirations anger and empathy could emerge and he could still be seen as a human being. That indeed is my call too and my acknowledgment as well to the Mokomoko family on this momentous day. I applaud you the family. I continue to grieve over the transgressions inflicted by the Crown on them but today I commend the whānau for what they are doing to make us all better off.What the Crown inflicted upon the Mokomoko family was also inflicted upon us all as well. It was the rope that strangled his neck that killed Mokomoko and silenced his voice. Then the lands of the Whakatōhea people at large and of the Mātaatua canoe were confiscated and the beginning of the gradual loss of the language of their forefathers began. It was the Mokomoko family that suffered greatly from the humiliation. It was the exercise of the law that killed their ancestor and left his family to suffer in humiliation. My sympathy to you the family. They have spoken to us about remaining silent in a state of despondency and severe illness from the time of Mokomoko’s execution to the present day.If we consider the gradual loss of our language of our Māori language throughout the country it could be said that we are all being strangled by the binding ropes of Government law. The Māori language was lost in schools on radios and in Government departments. Our language did not have official status and involvement in the Government of this country. It was not heard in this House of Parliament. But from this day the world has changed. We have reached the time when the Mokomoko family will put everything right for all of us because this family strongly urged that this bill being debated here be written in Māori and English as well so that both languages have equal status. This is a real first for Parliament. Let us say therefore that the Mokomoko family removed the rope from my neck so I can express my views in the Māori language about this bill which will restore the integrity as well of Mokomoko and his family in this House today. Remove the rope from my neck so that I may sing my song.]“Take the rope from my throat so that I may sing my song.” Have the strength to speak up and the truth will not be silenced. I quote a great leader of Te Whakatōhea Mokomoko. He was arrested tried convicted and finally executed by the Crown on the morning of Thursday 17 May 1866 at Mount Eden stockade in Auckland. While in prison Mokomoko composed that waiata which has since become a guiding philosophy for generations of his whānau. I think it is so important.I would like to now thank the Māori Affairs Committee for considering the bill and attending hearings at Waiaua Marae Ōpōtiki—Mokomoko’s final resting place. The committee recommended that the entire bill be translated into Te Reo Māori. I commend and support the recommendation wholeheartedly. The committee also noted the whānau request for an expanded historical narrative concerning the treatment of Mokomoko during 1865 and 1866 and an apology to be included. I will address the House on these matters perhaps in the third reading debate. Ēngari kei te mihi au i te komiti Māori ā me te whānau a Mokomoko.[But I commend the Māori Affairs Committee and the Mokomoko family.]This is a first—to have a bill presented in the House in the Māori language and in doing so they are leading us New Zealand in this institution. Who knows where next—where Te Reo Māori can be the official language to carry such serious things as this? In my third reading speech I will talk about Carl Völkner the events that happened the shame. I would just like to say this: I support this claim 100 percent. I have seen the pain I have heard the mamae i roto i te karanga i te marae rā me te wero me ngā kōrero i puta mai i roto i ngā kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei take[hurt in the formal call of welcome at that courtyard over there and the stories that emerged about accounts relating to this matter]. Kua kawea tēnei mamae mai i tērā wā tae noa ki tēnei rangi. Nā reira ki ahau nei he kaupapa nui tēnei pire. Kei te tautoko au.[This hurt has been borne from that time to this day. So to me this bill is of huge significance. I endorse it.]I support this bill but I also support Minister Finlayson that the opportunity be given for this bill to be heard as a separate bill belonging to the whānau a Mokomoko. Nō rātau te mamae. [The hurt belongs to them.] The hurt has been from those closest to them and therefore they should be allowed to stand in their own right and have this bill for themselves so they can relate face to face with the rest of the world particularly their extended whānau and neighbours. I have no right to say that—however I have. Nā reira he mihi tēnei ki a koutou kua tae mai i tēnei rā.[Therefore this is a conciliatory acknowledgment to you who have arrived here today.]Thank you.