Halbert ShananSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Can I open this afternoon and just acknowledge Harete Hipango and her return today in Parliament from this side of the House and how wonderful it is to have another Māori member of Parliament join us in this kaupapa and this journey.Nō reira e te tuahine nau mai hoki mai e te whanaunga o Whitikaupeka tēnā rawa atu ki a koe kei raro i te pūtake te ruruhau o tō tātou maunga. He maha ngā pā ngā kāinga ngā urupā ngā kōiwi ngā mahinga kai pā tuna taunga ika mai i Kakaramea ki Ōkaro Rotomahana Te Ariki Maura Tapahoro tae atu ki Te Kāhao o Rongomai Te Auheke o Tionga Te Awa o te Atua.[Therefore sister welcome back my kin of Whitikaupeka many greetings to you at the base of under the shelter of our ancestral mountain. There are many fortified villages villages graveyards bones cultivations eel weirs and fishing grounds from Kakaramea to Ōkaro Rotomahana Te Ariki Maura Tapahoro to Te Kāhao o Rongomai Te Auheke o Tionga Te Awa o te Atua.]Beneath the base the shelter of our mountain there are many fortified villages homes human bone burial caves cultivations eel traps and fishing grounds from Kakaramea to Ōkaro Rotomahana Te Ariki Maura Tapahoro to Te Kōhao o Rongomai Te Auheke o Tionga Te Awa o te Atua. E ngā rangatira o tēnei iwi Ngāti Rangitihi ngā māreikura ngā whatukura ngā tāngata katoa ka mihi atu ki a koutou nau mai haere mai tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[From Kakaramea to Ōkaro Rotomahana Te Ariki Maura Tapahoro to Te Kōhao o Rongomai Te Auheke o Tionga Te Awa o te Atua. To the leaders of this tribe Ngāti Rangitihi the supernatural females and males all the people I acknowledge you all welcome welcome greetings greetings greetings to you all.]Can I acknowledge the work of the negotiators our rangatira that are here today who stood firm by their commitment to achieve the best settlement that they could for their iwi Ngāti Rangitihi and we thank all of our whānau from Ngāti Rangitihi for their overwhelming support of the settlement and I hear very clearly the journey that has been made to lead up to today but also the steps that we still need to make over the Māori Affairs Committee process to get it through this House. I start my kōrero today about why race relations in this country are so important. This bill is all about acknowledging our past so that we can move on together in partnership. Aotearoa New Zealand has shifted and it has been a great strength of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our settlement process in Aotearoa that there has been today great cross-party consensus and support for the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. I acknowledge the work of Doug Graham and Chris Finlayson and the work that they did to advance this process just as much as I pay tribute to our own: the mahi of Sir Michael Cullen and the Hon Andrew Little. I also acknowledge the challenge of recent weeks in this House—since I came into this House in October—and the challenges that we have faced as Māori MPs and that's why it has been so sad on many occasions to see this consensus that we have today being chipped away in recent times. We've had whistling about He Puapua a report written independently of the Government which provides the expert opinions on how New Zealand could give effect to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—the same declaration which this House signed up to. It was seen—the suggestion of the new Māori Health Authority—as racist and separatist; when in Government others started Whānau Ora for exactly the same reason—the recognition that monocultural delivery of health of hauora and social services has not worked for Māori and that by Māori for Māori services deserve to be given a chance resourced and a chance to work. And we've seen the racism online and out on the streets as a result of this. They're tired old tricks at play and today this kōrero the pūrākau the story of Rangitihi their journey is an opportunity for us to connect and come into consensus and a way forward. It acts as a reminder for all of us of why partnership is important in the future of Aotearoa New Zealand. This bill aims to settle historical grievances for Ngāti Rangitihi and their claims with the Crown and our whānau here in Labour are committed to completing all of our historic Treaty settlements as outlined in our manifesto. But this bill is intended to give certain effect to matters contained in the deed of settlement which was signed on 5 December in 2020 by the Crown and by Rangitihi and I acknowledge that today. But I also want to take time to put on record and remind this House of the journey of Rangitihi to get to this point and recite certain parts of history. In 1820 Ngāti Rangitihi doesn't have much contact with Pākehā. By 1840 Ngāti Rangitihi were part of a Te Arawa inter-hapū hui that agreed not to sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi or accept the authority of the Crown at that time. During the 1840s and 1850s this iwi successfully engaged with the emerging colonial economy. Following inter-iwi conflict in the 1850s Ngāti Rangitihi worked to maintain peace in their rohe. In 1864 Ngāti Rangitihi decided to join a Te Arawa force fighting alongside a Crown contingent that defeated my relations in Te Tai Rāwhiti in support of the Kīngitanga. In 1865 to 1872 Ngāti Rangitihi forces assisted the Crown against Paimarire forces and other iwi including supporters of Te Kooti. The Native Land Court granted Ngāti Rangitihi a 300-acre block to settle these claims and several other blocks to reward the military service that their people gave so willingly to this country. In 1870 to 1890 the Native Land Court investigated the area where Ngāti Rangitihi claimed interests. The court system involved significant costs for Ngāti Rangitihi particularly for surveying. Although the iwi rangatira protested the outcomes of many court decisions the Crown largely ignored the complaints. These continued and what we see is devastated by the effects of the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption Ngāti Rangitihi had to sell land that they may have otherwise wanted to retain. By 1900 they were virtually landless. And therein lies the effects of land confiscation of Te Tiriti not being honoured. But despite the challenges that this iwi has faced they are here today sharing their grievance—a reminder and an acknowledgment to this House that we have more work to do. We are still on a journey across that bridge; race relations is still a work in progress.But I want to acknowledge Ngāti Rangitihi today—the work that you continue to do. I look forward in the Māori Affairs Committee to hearing more about your story and no doubt my tupuna Henare Bennett—that we cross paths and that we get to whakawhanaunga at some point.Nō reira e mihi ana ki a koutou te iwi o Ngāti Rangitihi tēnā rawa atu ki a koutou.[Therefore I greet you all the tribe of Ngāti Rangitihi greetings to you all.]I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.