Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. Tēnei te mihi nui wharahirahira ki te Komiti Māori o te Pāremata. Kotahi rau rima tekau ngā tau o te Komiti Māori. E mihi ana ki ngā Komiti Māori tawhito me te Komiti Māori o tēnei wā tēnā koutou katoa.[This is a very important acknowledgment of the Māori Affairs Committee of Parliament which has been in existence for 150 years. I wish to acknowledge all past committees as well as the current committee thank you all.]It's an absolute delight to be able to speak in the special debate as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee in the last Parliament. I want to endorse all of the contributions that have been made today. It is a taonga the Māori Affairs Committee.The Māori Affairs Committee and its work traces the history of Aotearoa the legislation which has come through this House—good and bad—the Māori Affairs Committee obviously played a part through those processes and so it has traced that journey. I do acknowledge the mamae and I do think of our ancestors past when we walk through these hallowed halls and we go past Matangireia. All of those Māori politicians of yore we have connections to. Every Māori has a connection to those politicians and the work that they have done through their time right the way up to the present. So there is a rich history of this committee. Yes the 19th century and the 20th century it was a lot of grievances. There were tumultuous times as we know in Aotearoa. Petitions such as Harete's tupuna and my own grandfather who presented the petition of 40000 Māori in 1932 under TW Rātana for the statutory recognition of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi. That is really the root of the mahi of the Māori Affairs Committee it's being able to advance that Treaty journey that we have as a country.From those days we moved to the 20th century. We must celebrate the significant achievements that have been achieved particularly over the past close to 50 years. I think of the landmark work of the Treaty of Waitangi Act and the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal which enabled the Government to actually address and accept responsibility for its actions and breaches of the principles of the Treaty right through to what we have today which is we continue the work to try to revitalise the Māori economy to deal with those inequities through passages of legislation recapitalisation of our iwi driving resources through the likes of Matua Willie Jackson and his good work. The work is ongoing; it is continuing.I'm very proud that we are carrying the torches at this time of the race. The work of the committee is special. It isn't just Māori too. All politicians from all parties in this House are members of the committee. Great contributions have been made in my time. I think of members like Chester Borrows and Jonathan Young they were great members who made very good solid contributions to really help the mahi of the committee. So it's not just a Māori committee although it is the mahi that we do to really advance the Treaty journey as I say. I want to in my short time that I have—I like to say that I brought a bit more decorum back to the proceedings of the committee from JT and Willie's time. There were no punch ups. There were no scuffles. There was plenty of hākari plenty of feasts that we had. Every week we were having great kai from all around the country. So I'm pleased that I was able to bring that to the committee during my tenure as chair. But the work does continue it is serious mahi. It is a privilege that we are able to do and to try and move the needle forward on Treaty matters for Aotearoa.I do want to spend the remainder of this time just to acknowledge the members past and present who have sat on the committee.Nō reira e mihi ana ki ngā mema hōnore katoa kua noho mai ki te Komiti Māori o Te Pāremata. Me pēnei te kōrero hoki wairua mai hoki wairua mai koutou ngā mātua. Nā koutou i kawe te rama nā koutou i kawe te kaupapa o te Komiti Māori. Ka nui tō koutou tokomaha kua hipa te tahi rau rima tekau ngā tau. Āpiti hono tātai hono. Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate. Āpiti hono tātai hono. Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Therefore I wish to acknowledge all the honourable members who have sat on Parliament's Māori Affairs Committee. Let us say this to our predecessors: come back to us in spirit. It is you have carried the torch. You who have carried the initiatives of the Māori Affairs Committee. And there have been many of you in the past 150 years. The lines are unbroken. Let the dead rest with the dead. The lines are unbroken. Let the living be with the living. Greetings one and all.]