SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): Kia ora. He ata ki runga he ata ki raro he ata ki te whakatūtū he ata ki te whakaritorito he ata whiwhia he ata rāwea he ata tānga.[The dawn light appears above and below the dawn light is happening and the dawn sprouts morning is here the morning wraps around the morning has struck.]The dawn light appears above and below and creates the bright red morning light. Its warmth blankets the land emerging the gifts of a new day whose symbolism inspires resilience and draws us to new pathways new horizons and new opportunities. Ngā uri o Ngāti Maru nau mai haere mai ki te pānuitanga tuatahi o koutou pire Ngāti Maru Taranaki Claims Settlement Bill.[To the descendants of Ngāti Maru welcome welcome to the first reading of your bill Ngāti Maru Taranaki Claims Settlement Bill.]I open with the words of Maru Ora expressed within Te Hiringa Taketake the deed of settlement ratified and signed 27 February 2021 at Tarata.Ngāti Maru my kōrero to you today is to whakanui to whakamana to celebrate the passage the first reading of your bill through to its final journey the third reading and Royal assent into law. I am not standing here to politicise other kaupapa; I am here to celebrate what we are gathered here for today. For today—Tuesday 6 July 2021—emerges the gifts of a new day where upon Ngāti Maru draws to and now strides new pathways reaches for new horizons and seizes new opportunities. Tihei mauri ora.I stand and I call as uri as a descendant of Whanganui with ancestral lands and waters connecting relationships whanaungatanga to Ngāti Maru Taumatamahoe Whitianga Te Awa Tupua.I speak as a member of Parliament for the National Party returned with a list of much to do and much to give and serve. Today I stand and I speak privileged to account for this moment in time historic; to reflect and to account for past accounts; to acknowledge and to apologise. Ngāti Maru has endured and continues to endure the journey across generations and across the generations has generated much in the way of grievance injustice mamae long overdue now due the time to put right the wrong the wronged and the wrongdoing reconciling the past into the present and forward into the future with hope aspiration and potential to be realised those new horizons.The legislative pen at this first reading through to the Royal assent is to not erase the history but to inscribe into law; not to forget not to rewrite but to put right the his and the her stories ngā pūtakenga kōrero [the sources of narratives]; to ink and atone for the blot and the blight of historical actions and omissions the hara to heartfeltly and properly remedy and make right to make just. In the time of today this first reading I've outlined the purpose of what a first reading is about. It is the introduction of the bill to the House for it to proceed to select committee for further evidence kōrero to be shared to be listened to for the members of the Māori Affairs Committee which I return to this House with the privilege to sit and reside there to take that into full account as we bring the bill your bill back into the House for the second and then into the third readings. This first reading however is the opportunity and it is the opportunity for all political parties irrespective of their stance and views around other politics of the day but the unique aspect of your bill and our Treaty settlement bills is that we unify. We unify because we recognise we acknowledge we apologise and we atone for the wrongs of the past to put right moving forward into the future. So the first reading in this House which is a chamber of remembrance it is a chamber of all those who have lived lives and given their lives for what they hope to fulfil for our lives in the present and moving into the future. This Chamber is one to reflect on what our purpose is and what we strive to contribute give and gain. So as I say the first reading and going into Royal assent Treaty bills are very unique and special—and they should be because our nation has been forged and founded on many wrongs many injustices and it is our duty and obligation and responsibility now as members of Parliament to aid in making this right in making this just in making this proper.I now turn to acknowledge significant persons involved in navigating the journey of negotiations for Ngāti Maru. We always mention our Ministers and that is appropriate but front of mind and top of mind for me is always our people who carry the heavy burden and mantel of leadership and responsibility. Anaru—I see you up there—Anaru Marshall and kaumātua and the trustees you know who you are and I will name you at another reading because my time is limited and I have still much to get through. But I acknowledge those present today for your presence is a gift from our tūpuna you as uri we come from our tūpuna and many of them do not survive the endurance of the journey that they have started for us and we continue and then through to our mokopuna and into the future. So I acknowledge the past the present you are that gift from our past and you are the gift into the future for our mokopuna. I acknowledge you all. I mention also appropriately Te Arawhiti for the work that is done there in bridging those differences and bridging and forging help forge the pathway moving forward with hope with positivity with potential and with aspirations to be fulfilled.This bill will be broken down and addressed by speakers to follow the components of it. But essentially Ngāti Maru as you well know your bill comprises three parts. Part 1 sets out the purpose. That purpose talks of your historical accounts and that being inscribed scripted into law so that it is never forgotten. The deed of settlement your deed of settlement has the fuller account. In returning to this House I have sat down and I am reading and I have made the correlation of some of my whakapapa to Ngāti Maru whenua. When I was at home on the weekend my kāinga is beside the Whanganui River and I was reflecting not just on the journey that we of Whanganui have been with Te Awa Tupua but the journey that you have embarked on and the relationship that you have connecting to Te Awa Tupua. My reflection on the weekend was speaking to one of our Te Pou Tupua with Tariana as whanaunga we talk—when I go home we talk constantly; not the politics but the whakawhanaungatanga so intrinsic as to who we are where we come from and where we move forward to. So I acknowledge the whakawhanaungatanga that is shared amongst us.In the short time—just a quick chronology because I will address it for next readings—the acknowledgements there are 16 of them that I have noted in the bill and also critically the apology which I will speak to at the third reading. But to wrap up to say that the journey started in 1865 with the land confiscations and it transpired through to the negotiations commencing and navigating from the late 1980s through to the agreement in principle on 20 December 2017 the deed of settlement on 27 February this year and today with this first reading. It is a privilege for me to address the House but more significantly and importantly Ngāti Maru. Tēnā tātou katoa. I commend the bill to the House.