Davis KelvinKELVIN DAVIS (Labour—Te Tai Tokerau): E Te Māngai o Te Whare whati ture mihi kau ana ki a koe e ai ki a mātau o Te Nōta nō roto o Ngāti Hine e mea atu hara mai taua āhua. Nā reira mihi kau ana ki a koe mō tō tū ki te mihi atu ki wēnei ngā tāngata nāu nei i tū hei pononga mō rātau nā reira mihi kau ana ki a koe e Te Māngai.Ā ēhara taku rangatira i a Kāingaroa he purupuru he taka. Ka pā tau ake ko hau ko te tītī ko te rua ko te ata tama puru ko te rangimārie ko te angaanga titi iho i te rangi kia pōhutuhutu ki roto i Te Moana-ā-Whiti te māreretanga taurā here a Pokopoko taniwha ki runga i a Rangiriri. Ka tere ka rere ka mimiti te tai ki Taumārere ka totō ki Hokianga ka mimiti te tai ki Hokianga ka totō ki Taumārere ā kāti ka tau!"Tēnei te uri o aua puna e rua nō Te Tai Tokerau; Te Hokianga ka rere atu ki Te Tai Tamatāne me Te Taumārere ka rere atu ki Te Tai Tamawahine. E mihi kau ana ki a koutou ngā uri o Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui tēnā rā koutou katoa. E Te Ariki Tā Tumu mihi kau ana ki a koe. Tua atu i a koe kore au e whakahuahuatia i ngā ingoa i te mea mōhio ana ahau ka mahue wētahi. Ēngari e harikoa ana te kite i te tini ō koutou kua whakarauikatia mai ki raro i te tuanui o tō tātau Whare. Mōhio ana tātau mehemea e hiahia ana mātau ki te whakakī i ngā tūru kei runga rā me kōrero i ngā take e pā ana ki Te Tiriti. Mehemea e hiahia ana mātau kia whakawātea aua tūru me kōrero i ngā take e pā ana ki te tāke. Inapō rā nā mātau i kōrerohia i tētahi kaupapa mō ngā take—hā? Horekau he tangata hei mātakitaki ēngari e pai ana. Kei konei koutou kei te mihi atu ahau ki a koutou. Tēnā rā koutou tēnā rā koutou tēnā rā tātau katoa.[Mr Deputy Speaker who breaks laws I indeed acknowledge you as we of the Far North within Ngāti Hine say come hither that situation. And so I really commend you for standing up to acknowledge these ones these persons who you indeed stood as a servant for them. Therefore I truly acknowledge you Mr Deputy Speaker."And so my esteemed one Kāingaroa is not a caulking that dropped off. But I the sooty shearwater the chasm the caulked morning the peacefulness the head that shines from heaven and for the kinship link that drops off of the Pokopoko monster upon Rangiriri to splash about in the sea of Whiti. The tide flows flees and diminishes at Taumārere; it gushes up at Hokianga and diminishes at Taumārere and subsides at last!"This one is the descendant of both pools of the Far North: the Hokianga flows out to the west coast and the Taumārere out to the east coast. I salute you the descendants of the supernatural river of Whanganui acknowledgments indeed to you all. Acknowledgments to you indeed paramount chief Sir Tumu. I will not mention any other names beyond you in case I leave out someone. But I am pleased to see the countless many that have assembled here under the roof of our House. We all know that if we want to fill the seats up there we must talk about matters pertaining to the Treaty of Waitangi. If we want to clear those seats we must talk about matters that concern taxes. Last night we talked about a matter that related to taxes—but what happened? No one was there watching but that is fine. You are here and I acknowledge you collectively. Well done congratulations to you collectively and to all of us.]As a descendant of the sacred puna of the Tai Tokerau that is the Hokianga which flows to what we say is the tai tamatāne or the male side of the island and also a descendant of Taumārere which we say is a river our puna that flows to the female side of the island I greet the descendants of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui. It is a great occasion and I would like to say that I believe that the bill itself is quite revolutionary. I heard the Minister say that it is an example across New Zealand but also throughout the world—this model that has been proposed to ensure that the best interests of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui are maintained from now into the future.The fact that we have created a way of making the river an indivisible entity from the very headwaters down to where it flows out into the sea encompassing all the catchment areas I believe is a superb model. We have to make sure that we look after every single part of that indivisible entity. As we have heard Marama Fox say there is a history of digging the shingle out and that has ruined the habitats for fish and for the fauna and the flora. There has no doubt been pollution. There has been nutrient run-off. This bill when it is finalised will ensure that there is a body that is going to make sure that the best interests of the awa are looked after. Like I say we have to look after every single bit—the small tributaries the little lakes streams and drains right out to where the river flows out to the oceans and right up to the headwaters.If we imagine the river being a person we have to look after the whole part of the person. You can guarantee that if you shoot somebody in the head their feet are going to die as well. It is the same with the river. If we mistreat any one part of the river it is going to affect the whole river and that should never be allowed to happen again. We want our children to be able to not just swim in rivers do bombs off the banks and off the logs and eel and do everything that our tūpuna used to do. We do not just want them to be able to wade in rivers and wade in the water. We want them to be able to swim. We want them to be able to do their bombs and swimming and to drink the water and that is when we know that the river is entirely cared for and loved.So Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill establishes a framework to look after the awa. As I have said it recognises the status of the Whanganui River and its tributaries as Te Awa Tupua—an integrated living whole from the mountains to the sea. It establishes the river as a legal entity in its own right and has its own legal standing. That reflects the view of the river as a living whole and enables the river to have its own independent voice. Of course that voice is manifested in the two people who will be appointed to the role of Te Pou Tupua. They will be trustees who act on behalf and in the name of Te Awa Tupua and uphold its status and promote its health and well-being. When we talk about the health and well-being of the river we are actually talking about the health and well-being of the people as well.So the Pou Tupua will be jointly appointed by iwi and the Crown. They will develop a set of Awa Tupua values. This is where I believe this bill is fantastic. It allows iwi to say that "These are the values that we hold for our river." I do not know that it has happened before—perhaps with the Waikato River settlement—but it is about time that iwi have a real say in the values that they believe our rivers should be managed under. There will be a whole-of-river strategy and the strategy will be developed by collaboration including iwi central and local government commercial and recreational users and other community groups. So nobody is being left out here. If anyone stands up and says "Oh those blimmin Māoris again. They're wanting to take over."—no that is not the case. This is totally inclusive.The strategy is going to ensure the long-term environmental social cultural and economic health of the river. I just have one little question or one little thing to plead: please do not let the economic values or the economic plans override the social the cultural and the environmental well-being of the river. That is my plea. The group is going to have ongoing roles in monitoring the implementation of the strategy providing a forum for raising issues and reviewing the strategy after 10 years. Again it is great that it is going to be a living process that keeps getting reviewed and looked after just to ensure that everything is on track and the river is being cared for as it should be.There is going to be a fund of $30 million to help look after as part of the settlement—a contestable fund available to any person or group or entity seeking funding for initiatives related to Te Awa Tupua and that fund will be administered by Te Pou Tupua. It is great that Parliament has decided not only do we want Māori to have a say on how the river is run and cared for and maintained but actually there is going to be some putea to support those goals and ambitions. It is one thing to say here "Māori you can do this." and then there is no financial support and resource to actually be able to implement all the goals and dreams and aspirations. So I applaud the Government for its putea.My time is quickly running out but let me just say that it is a pleasure and an honour to be able to speak. We as Māori have this intense identity with our awa with our maunga with our environment and as the Minister has said and it has been said many times on other bills that we have settled ko ahau te awa; ko te awa ko ahau—as people we are at one and indivisible from our river. So again I repeat if we look after our river then we are actually looking after ourselves and our people.Nō reira huri rauna i tō tātau Whare tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai anō tātau.[Therefore accolades and congratulations to you collectively throughout our House and my appreciation to us all once again.]"