Coffey TāmatiTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Can I just echo the sentiments of the previous speaker Harete Hipango in that when we consider Treaty settlement bills actually there's been a lot of work that has gone into them prior to them actually showing up at the select committee stage. The signing of the deed of settlement actually gives us a very clear mandate about what's been agreed to—as you well know having previously sat on the Māori Affairs Committee Mr Speaker.However tuatahi akeKo Rangitokona i tohe rangiKo Rangitokona tokona i tohe ātāKa tū ta pou ki ru pakira o tā rangiKi ru pehore o tā rangiKa tū ta mēmēa-a-nukuKa tū ta mēmēa-a-rangiKa tū ta kahi-a-nukuKa tū ta kahi-a-rangiKa tū ta pouTa pou ka tū ta pou ta pourangiMe rongo.Rangitokona holds up the skyRangitokona props up the dawnThe pou stands against the baldness of the skyIt stands against the bareness of the skyIt stands; a thought against the earthIt stands; a thought against the skyIt stands; a wedge against the earthIt stands; a wedge against the skyThe pou standsThe pou stands - the pou of the skyMe rongo.It's been an educational experience being part of the consideration of this Treaty settlement bill trying to wrap your head around the struggles that the Moriori imi have been through over the past hundred-or-so years has been significant. I hope that the passing of this bill when we get to that point helps to correct some of the historical wrongs that have been done but also the historical record. I think that it is absolutely coincidental and perfect that next year as we start teaching our own Aotearoa New Zealand history in our schools that this become part of that experience as well. Many of the children of New Zealand need to have that record put straight because when I was in primary school I too heard of the Moriori becoming extinct of them being wiped out and as I saw with my own eyes when we went over there as a select committee it is absolutely not the case.One thing that I was aware of though is that with the taking of the land with the dispersement of the people the Moriori imi aren't actually all located on the Chatham Islands like you might expect; yes there are some but many have made the migration and they are now living in Christchurch or they're living in the Hawke's Bay or they're living in the Wairarapa or they're living in other parts of Aotearoa because of what happened there in that incredibly historic event which is going to hopefully be taught in our schools as of next year.Can I acknowledge the pleasure that it was to travel to te Kōpinga marae and to the imi that welcomed us to the Hokotehi Moriori Trust for looking after us to Maui to Susan to Grace to Thomas Lanauze and to everybody that welcomed us with open arms I thank you for that. I also just acknowledge the spirit in which the hearings were conducted on the marae.I want to talk about the incredible complexity involved in this particular settlement and it is complex because of the overlapping interests on the Chathams; arā ko Rēkohu arā ko Wharekauri. The Moriori imi and the Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri iwi have an identical area of interests which overlap 100 percent completely encompassing the entirety of the islands. So because of that the Crown has sought to develop a couple of pieces of legislation and also to develop a third one to settle all the settlement interests on the Chatham Islands. The Crown has also entered into an agreement with Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri for shared redress which is also going to be important and we should see that in a third piece of legislation. It was hoped that this legislation would actually be introduced into the House at the same time; unfortunately that hasn't been able to happen like that. But we hope that one day very soon Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri will also have their settlement under way here in the House and we'll be processing that at the same time through our Māori Affairs Committee. Previous speakers have talked about the visit to Te Ana a Nunuku which if anybody in this country ever gets the chance—and now is a good time—head over to the Chatham Islands; they would love to host you and look after you. And if you are privileged like we were when we went over we got a guided tour to Te Ana a Nunuku. It is a cave with limestone carvings etched all around its entrance. They were done back in the days they are traditional they are historic but unfortunately they have been degraded and there has also been some graffiti as part of that.One of the submissions that we heard through this process was a call for us to protect it as much as we could through this process. Unfortunately it falls outside of the remit of this bill but we did do some due diligence before we came to that conclusion. That being we got made aware that a council's district plan could include heritage orders to protect the heritage qualities of a particular place or structure. We sought information from the Chatham Islands Council to find out if that had been considered as a means to protecting the cave. We understand that the council's resource management document does not protect the cave. The council said that as part of its district plan review extensive consultation was carried out and the cave's protection was not raised. We also understand that the council does not intend to make changes to the district plan to protect the cave. So we sought another option out. We contacted Pouhere Taonga—Heritage New Zealand—and we asked them what they might be able to do. They told us that the cave could and should be added to the New Zealand Heritage List and if it was then if it would gain a higher level of protection. So what happened there was Pouhere Taonga went off and spoke with Moriori spoke with Ngāti Mutunga when they visited last year and we understand that they are currently waiting for an application to have the site added to that Rārangi Kōrero—or the Heritage List. One of the things that complicates that is that there is not necessarily support from the majority landowner of the site where Te Ana a Nunuku currently sits and for any kind of progress to be made in that area there has to be support from landowners from imi and from iwi. We heard through some of our submitters that actually—I mean one submitter talked about how it wasn't even the right cave. That submitter talked about the fact that there was another cave there and she believed that the other cave was Te Ana a Nunuku. So there are still issues to be cleared up there. But what we do know is that the committee saw with our own eyes the tradition we saw with our own eyes the graffiti and the degradation and we implore the relevant Government departments that can help in that area to be able to do so.Speaking of help we also spoke with some submitters who said You need to acknowledge ta rē Moriori." So we went to the Māori Language Commission and we had a conversation with them. We said to them "What do you think?" We were informed that both ta rē Moriori and te reo Māori are derived from the same proto Polynesian language. However ta rē Moriori and its variations developed independently from te reo Māori due to the isolation of Moriori on the Chatham Islands. We understood that it would take an Act of Parliament to make it an official language just as te reo Māori was made an official language under the Māori Language Act 1987. We spoke with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori—the Māori Language Commission—about what exactly they could give in terms of support to be able to revitalise ta rē Moriori and they indicated to us that that funding would be made available to te imi Moriori if they chose to pursue it to be able to revitalise their language the way that they see fit.During our visit we heard the language being spoken by submitters and we recognised the passion that Moriori have for the recognition and revitalisation of their language. We believe that it is not for our committee to determine as part of this process whether or not it should be reflected through the legislation but we do agree. We agreed across the House that it should absolutely be supported and again we encourage the relevant partners to work with Moriori to ensure that it is.It has been an experience and it's not over yet. So to all of the submitters that came to the committee—those 13 that made oral submissions the many more that made written submissions without being heard orally—we thank you for the time that you gave to the committee. To the Hokotehi Moriori Trust we thank you for your manaakitanga to us as a committee when we went over there. Also a shout-out for the food. You can't go off this conversation without talking about the hospitality via the kai. There was plenty of crayfish. There was plenty of paua. It was a very plentiful occasion. But actually what it showed was that the future looks bright for our imi Moriori. For that reason I commend this bill to the House."