Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Ā tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā koutou aku rangatira Te Arawa waka Ngāti Whakauē Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao nau mai whakatau mai. Nau mai whakatau mai ki Te Whare Pāremata e takatū nei. Āe nō koutou tēnei rā nō koutou tēnei pire. Āe e tū tautoko ana ahau tēnei pire i tana pānuitanga tuatahi.Ka hoki ngā mahara ki a rātou mā kua whetūrangitia āe haere koutou haere koutou. Ā āpiti hono tātai hono ko te hunga wairua ki a rātou āpiti hono tātai hono ko tātou te hunga ora ā e tau nei ki a tātou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Greetings to my leaders Te Arawa canoe Ngāti Whakauē Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao welcome. Welcome to this Parliament standing here. Yes this is your day this is your bill. Yes I am standing in support of this bill on its first reading.The thoughts return to those who have passed on yes go go. And may the connections remain the spirits remain with each other may the connections remain we the living remain with each other greetings greetings greetings to us all.]I'm delighted to be able to speak in support of this historic bill the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Vesting Bill. I'm always delighted to speak on these bills because this bill is just the continuation of a process of devolving ownership back to iwi. What we have seen with Te Puia as I will refer to the institute—yes an iconic institute which has played a very important role in the preservation of our Māori arts and culture and practices and it sits in the most beautiful place in Whakarewarewa. We are just continuing the process today of ensuring that the business I guess you could say—the operations of the institute and all of its associated activities—are vested back to iwi who are all partners in a limited partnership.So this is a significant piece of legislation. It's taken a lot of work to get to this point. As we've heard it's been over 10 years in the making. I want to acknowledge all of those who have led the work that has created this bill. I want to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and all of her predecessors and everyone that's been involved the former and current board of the institute and also most importantly the iwi partners—soon to be new owners I guess—of Te Puia.We know the importance of how Te Puia is a treasured taonga. It is a treasured taonga and one needs to just look around at all of the beautiful houses that we have around the country. Much of the carvings and the artistry and the craftsmanship that have gone into holding up many of our illustrious whare up and down the country have been at the hands of carvers that have been taught and that have gone through or that have been master carvers at the institute. I think of Hone Taiapa and his late wife Mere—who's a Ngāti Hine whanaunga of ours Peeni Henare. I fondly remember them living in Rotorua and my mum as well—in terms of visiting her aunty and her uncle. But those are many of the important tohunga—master carvers—and people that have gone through that special institute.What we're doing today is yes we are vesting the operations and all of those taonga contained within it with the iwi with the limited partnership but we're also ensuring that its role as a national institution and the taonga contained within it are protected on behalf of all of Aotearoa New Zealand. So its role won't change. As has been outlined by the Hon Nanaia Mahuta in fact the role can only be expanded outwardly. When we look at what else is undertaken within Te Puia—and I'm talking about the wonderful tourism operations and the expertise and the commercial experience that abounds within those entities—that has been opening doors internationally in terms of the work that has been done and that carries on within that site.So this is a great day for Aotearoa. This is a great day for the country. We are celebrating the return of a very important taonga to the iwi. When I say that when we look at the limited partnership there are multiple owners and I think for the record that I do want to acknowledge those owners of the limited partnership too: Wāhiao Tūhourangi o Whakarewarewa the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust and the three Ngāti Whakauē hapū of Ngāti Hurungaterangi Ngāti Taeotu and Ngāti Te Kahu o Ngāti Whakaue. Those owners are the owners of the partnership which will be the new owner of Te Puia and so it is an exciting time.I'm looking forward to as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee travelling—I certainly hope we go travelling—up to see this iconic place. Other members could come if they wanted; they might have to check with their whips. But we're looking forward to hearing from the haukāinga and observing this beautiful place and its operations and being able to take it all in first-hand. That's a very important role that we play as the Māori Affairs Committee in this.I don't want to prolong my contribution other than to say that this has been a long time in the making and that the people of Te Arawa Ngāti Whakauē and Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao—they are astounding and very impressive business people in their own right. When I look at the names like Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust that entity would have to be a leading example of a commercial property developer. It is 100 percent Māori-owned and doing some amazing things. So this partnership is well-prepared to be vested in these assets. I've got every confidence that they will be doing some wonderful things in the future and with that I would just like to wish everyone meri Kirihimete and I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora tātou.