Meager JamesJAMES MEAGER (National—Rangitata): Kia ora Madam Speaker. It's a pretty tough job sometimes to follow speakers who are fluent in the reo and who have such deep history and knowledge such as the Hon Peeni Henare and my colleague Greg Fleming but it's a privilege for me to stand up and speak to my very first Treaty settlement bill. Actually this morning I had the privilege of subbing in to the Māori Affairs Committee well chaired by my colleague Rima Nakhle in the absence of our permanent chair Dan Bidois. I just wanted to acknowledge the chair Dan and give him a hearty congratulations on the arrival of his baby boy Noah this week. He's off looking after mum and baby so I'm sure we just send him all of our love and aroha for that.The Māori Affairs Committee—my first experience with them today. An amazing committee—a committee which spends the vast bulk of its time righting the wrongs and repairing history and working collegially and I think you see in the contributions made across the House today and in other bills like this that that is reflected in the work of that committee. So I just want to acknowledge the privilege of being on that committee this morning.Can I mihi to Whakatōhea whanaunga in the gallery tonight present with us to witness this next step. My eyes are a little younger than Greg Fleming so I can say Jason you are the handsome one so I'd just like to acknowledge your presence here. But I did want to say that we do salute you. We acknowledge you being here with us tonight and just wanted to say that we know that nothing will ever totally repair the damage that's been done in the past but this is a first step in what I think is the right direction.Many have traversed the history of mistreatment. It's been well traversed tonight. It's worth stating once again for the record that Whakatōhea once had a thriving economy and robust political structures. However it was the invasions and confiscations of the Crown that devastated their lands their economy and their leadership leading to significant loss. It was the State and the Crown that confiscated land. It was the State that established native reserves confiscated from Ngāti Rua forcing members of other Whakatōhea hapū to relocate there. It was the State and the Crown and their education system which strongly discouraged and barred the use of te reo and the use of their language so we must never forget who is responsible and who are the ones here who are providing this apology. It's this deed of settlement that represents the conclusion of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims addressing those injustices from the Crown's actions before September 21 1992.It's on the record that this settlement contains financial and commercial redress and cultural funds of around $100 million and I'd like to just point out to Whakatōhea that my own iwi Ngāi Tahu back in 1997 themselves had a settlement of around $170 million and have now accrued an asset base of over $2 billion so I'd just like to say that with this there is a pathway forward. There is a pathway forward to providing for your people.So in acknowledging the wrongs of the past this settlement sits as a vital step towards healing the deep pain that has been inflicted upon Whakatōhea. It recognises the immense suffering caused by the Crown's actions from invasions to land confiscations. The settlement is not merely a formal gesture but it is a profound acceptance of historical truths that pave the way for genuine reconciliation.We on this side of the House and I think we across the Parliament are proud to see yet another Treaty settlement moving forward—proud of the history of this House in settling claims. We will all hopefully work together to continue to settle claims for every iwi so that every iwi has the opportunity to move forward and provide for their people.Finally in closing I'd just like to acknowledge the work of the Hon Christopher Finlayson who kicked off this particular Treaty settlement and the work of Ministers Andrew Little and of course the Hon Paul Goldsmith for their work in continuing it forward as well. I'm very proud to say that I stand here and commend this bill to the House.