Henare Tau: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill 
Henare Tau: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill 
[Volume:672;Page:18725] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
:  
Te mea tuatahi ki aku rangatira a tena koutou i o koutou haere mai i tenei ra a ki te whakarongo i nga rupahu ki nga awangawanga ki nga korero noa iho no reira ano te mihi ano te aroha ki a koutou katoa. Ngati Pahauwera Ngati Maniapoto tena koutou. Tena koutou i o koutou haere mai. 
[ 
Firstly greetings to you my chiefs for coming here today to listen to mistruths concerns and idle talk. So acknowledgments and kind regards to you all once again. Greetings to you Ngati Pahauwera and Ngati Maniapoto. Thank you for coming. 
]  
I will not take long with your issues because they are straightforward and it behoves the Maori Affairs Committee to get on with the job and make sure that you are all happy with the work we have done. It is with some trepidation— 
John Boscawen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I heard fewer than 15 minutes ago from the Hon Tau Henare that it is against the rules of the House to address members of the gallery. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I have already ruled on that matter. The member will resume his seat. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: It just goes to show that the difference between me and that member is that I have respect for this House and I have respect for tikanga and kawa. What that member has is not anywhere near the respect that these people who have come here deserve. 
Before I was rudely interrupted I was going to say that it is with some trepidation that I stand to talk about the Ngati Porou settlement. Being a son of Ngapuhi married to a daughter of Porourangi and having children and mokopuna who tatai to both I do not want to offend any of the aforementioned. One thing I will say and this is for every submitter who will submit to our select committee is to make it clear that our select committee is not here to work out boundaries or work out whakapapa. That is the job of the experts. That is the job of other people in their daily work. If I have anything meaningful to say to Ngati Porou it is this: do not forget those people who have actually put their hands up and said “We don’t agree.” Do not forget them. Do not forget those who fought against the Crown and people know who I am talking about. Do not forget those who stood up and fought against the Crown but by virtue of a belief they were on the losing side. Do not forget them. 
Whenever I get to have a wee bit of a holiday in Ngati Porou territory— 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Can’t fish! 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: —I am still looking for that elusive 29-pound snapper—I am reminded of the fact that Ngati Porou has a huge history and has what I consider to be a place in New Zealand society that warrants people like myself to doff their caps to certain outstanding events in this country’s history. It is with those words that I congratulate the team of Ngati Porou for not only signing on the dotted line with the last Government but also signing on the dotted line with this Government. I do not think I have ever heard of a Treaty settlement signed by two Governments and having the iwi pretty much happy with their work. 
Like I have said in this House time and time again it is an opportunity for the country to move to a better place when we sign and deal with these issues. I am very proud to be a New Zealander to be a Maori and to be of some help in where we are going as a nation. So I do not care whether ACT votes for or against these bills. I do not care whether ACT is here or not. Ngati Porou does not care whether ACT votes for or against their bill; Ngati Pahauwera does not care whether ACT votes for or against their bill; and I am pretty sure Ngati Maniapoto does not care whether ACT votes for or against their bill. What we do now stands us all in good stead for the future. My hope is that my boy who is at Toihoukura at the moment is looked after by Ngati Porou—I am sure he is. I have not heard that he is not. 
It is interesting to hear some people in the House talk about citizenship and the price of citizenship which the people of Ngati Porou know so well. It is funny that in the last couple of days and in this House not so long ago Maori have been accused of having a privileged life. Well if the life that some Maori are living is privileged then somebody has to go and look in the dictionary again to see what “privilege” really means. There are so many of our people who are still wasting away in prisons on the dole queues and here there and everywhere except the real good places. 
I can say without trepidation and without too much of a song and dance that if I was to be born again I would want to be born exactly where I am today. I would want to be who I am—a Maori and damned proud of it. I am proud that we are doing things like Treaty settlements acknowledging our past and trying in some way. It can be through the joint management of a river instead of throwing up our hands and thinking “Oh my God the world will end because there is a joint management arrangement between Tainui and the Government because Ngati Porou will have a say over the Waiapu and because Pahauwera will have a say over the Mohaka.” because the ceiling will not fall in. We should not listen to the diatribe that comes out of that member’s mouth and the diatribe that could lead to a worse place for this nation. I wish that ACT would stick with the economy and what it thinks it knows about the economy rather than the stuff that is citizenship. The people in the gallery and the people here are about citizenship. This is our country—not his not theirs but ours. Kia ora.