Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Tuatahi e mihi ana ki a koutou Te Arawa i tae mai nei i tēnei wā. He hōnore nui ki te tū ki mua i a koutou i tēnei wā. Nō reira e mihi ana ki a koutou i whakarangatira i a mātou i tēnei wā. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Firstly I would like to acknowledge you Te Arawa who are here today. It is an honour to stand before you at this time. Therefore thank you for honouring us today. Greetings to one and all.]No doubt iwi have been looking forward to this for generations and as our Minister for Māori Development said earlier we're very pleased and proud that mana whenua of the Whakarewarewa Valley are finally assuming ownership of Te Puia and the institute. Of course while this is not a Treaty settlement all the stresses and strains of the iwi and hapū negotiation and all the problems have been part of this and we understand that. I feel I'm equipped to have a bit of a kōrero about it since I have a house just outside—well in the village basically. Tāmati Coffey: Tania's?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: So—no it's both of our houses. Being part of the whānau I feel it's appropriate I have a bit of a kōrero because having watched the hapū and iwi politics over the years it's been quite fascinating actually—quite fascinating.But first of all I want to say thank you to Rino Tirikatene and the Māori Affairs Committee who tread delicately through all the different problems that were raised through the process. We know how difficult these processes can be particularly in the Treaty settlement process where one hapū or one group think that they should have this and they should have that. Our concern is that the whole process should be equitable. I'm not sure if it is but it was for the majority of people who voted and supported the kaupapa.I will say though having watched those Māori iwi politics through the years it'd be a good day one day if that gate was open and everybody embraced both sides. I've got a key actually and I might be able to help out. But I always felt watching my wife's whanaunga down there struggling away that there should've been more support from the Crown in terms of the village and I hope that we can get there. We've got through COVID we've got through a lot of things and everybody are whanaunga and it would be wonderful if we can get to the point where hapū politics our own politics don't affect us in terms of actual common sense. It saddens me actually having watched it over the years.But in terms of the model we have today I salute everyone who's played a real part in terms of this model in regards to where we are now because I think back to my whanaunga Pine Taiapa who played such a major role in Te Arawa in terms of helping and supporting carvers. I remember what made him tick and it was all about the preservation of our culture of tikanga of rangatiratanga. I salute the aspirations of Pine Taiapa and of the kuia Emily Schuster in all the work that she has done in terms of all the weavers and the work that she had done in terms of upholding the culture. I think of Kuru Waaka and all that great kōrero that we all used to hear down there and his aspirations for young people and for the culture and for the tikanga.So when I look at Te Puia I don't look at it as just a tourism attraction. I look at it as an example of Te Arawatanga tikanga tino rangatiratanga and I salute you in terms of your progress in regards to that. But I want us to remember I suppose on this day those great mentors those great tohunga who played such a role in terms of the preservation of our culture in terms of the preservation of their culture and their aspirations that we had to retain what we had. If we never had them we wouldn't have had the carvers we have today. We wouldn't have had the weavers we have today. We wouldn't have the culture we have today. So when we look at Te Puia it's a wonderful model. We got there. Things are getting better. The gate's going to open one day and everyone's going to complement each other and support each other and there's going to be resources spread right across the spectrum. But my hope is that we honour the aspirations and the dreams of those tohunga who laid the base not just for Te Arawa but for Te Ao Māori. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou tēnā koutou ā tēnā koutou tēnā nō tātou katoa.