Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill

I move, That the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill be now read a third time. Today is a very historic day for Whanganui iwi, for all iwi who look to the river, for the people and the communities of the great region of Whanganui, and, indeed, for our country. It is appropriate that I start off by welcoming the people of Whanganui who are here to mark the passage of this significant piece of legislation into law. I know that some had a particularly early start, and I am really pleased that they are here to share the day with members of Parliament.

In a third reading it is appropriate to acknowledge those who have played such an important role in reaching this stage. Can I start, as I should, by acknowledging all tūpuna who led the way with the first petitions to Parliament as far back as 1873, who have persistently—in every court of this land, including the Privy Council—pursued justice over the years. I have already mentioned this in my first reading speech, but I want to acknowledge the leaders and the trust board members, many of whom have passed away. I particularly remember, as indeed we all do, the late and great Sir Archie Taiaroa, who had such a wonderful vision for Te Awa Tupua.

I want to acknowledge the past negotiation team and river claim presentation leaders who have passed away but have made a huge contribution to this journey. Can I particularly acknowledge the members of the trust board and the negotiating team, some of whom are in the gallery today: Te Tiwha Puketapu, John Maihi, Te Turi Ranginui, Piki Taiaroa, Raumatiki Henry Tūroa, Frana Chase, Beryl Millar, Daryn Te Uamairangi, Nancy Tuaine, and Gerrard Albert. In particular, Gerrard, thank you so very much for bringing this settlement home for your people.

The Whanganui negotiators have been unrelenting in pursuit of this settlement. They brought the wairua of Te Awa Tupua to the negotiating table. They reminded the Crown of its obligations and held it accountable for its actions, and the result is a truly unique settlement. The framework for the river would not have been possible without the support of all iwi with interests in the Whanganui River catchment, and I want to acknowledge their leadership, both collectively and individually. I am delighted to see Sir Tumu te Heuheu in the gallery. I acknowledge his longstanding support.

I also acknowledge the leadership and support of my old friend Tiwha Bell of Ngāti Maniapoto. I am so pleased that Ngāti Maniapoto has recently concluded a memorandum of understanding with Whanganui River, which acknowledges each other’s mana and confirms their shared commitment to working together in the implementation of the framework. I know the Hon Nanaia Mahuta will join with me—we are so pleased that this great iwi, which has shown such generosity of spirit to their neighbours over many years, is now engaged in negotiations. I look forward to that day when a deed of settlement can be signed between Ngāti Maniapoto and the Crown.

I want to reassure those iwi with interests in the river that nothing in these arrangements is going to usurp their mana or the exercise of their customary rights and responsibilities. Te Awa Tupua expressly recognises and upholds the inalienable connection of all iwi and hapū with Te Awa Tupua, and it provides for their active participation in the new arrangements.

Can I acknowledge both the former Prime Minister and the current Prime Minister. These were, at times, tense negotiations, but they were very supportive throughout. I have said many times that the role I undertake as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations would simply be impossible without their support. I acknowledge you, Mr Deputy Speaker—without bringing you into the debate—because we know that you have been the member for Whanganui since 2005, and during your time in the House you have really been a great support for Whanganui and for me as we have worked toward this settlement.

I acknowledge Dame Tariana Turia, mainly because it would be very dangerous not to acknowledge her, but, more importantly, because she has made a wonderful contribution to this settlement as well, and she is a very good friend of mine.

I want to acknowledge the role of local government in supporting this settlement. I have said it before and I will say it again, how very lucky Whanganui was at this critical time to have a mayor like Annette Main. She has played a major role in this settlement, and she is excited by it as well.

Finally, I want to pay my respects to and express my admiration for Dr John Wood, my chief Crown negotiator, He is the one who is the brains behind this settlement on behalf of the Crown. He really is a great New Zealander, and I want to thank him for his ongoing contribution today. And I want to thank all my officials at the Office of Treaty Settlements and the various Government agencies who have contributed.

At the heart of this settlement is the whakataukī: “Rere kau mai Te Awa Nui nei, mai i Te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa. Ko au Te Awa; ko Te Awa ko au.”

[“This great river flows from the mountains of the national park to the sea. I am the river; the river is me.”]

That whakataukī encapsulates the very essence of the river and its people. By 1840 the iwi and the hapū of Whanganui possessed and exercised rights and responsibilities in relation to the river in accordance with their tikanga. A substantial population was settled along the river and its major tributaries, yet within 100 years the Crown’s actions and inactions disenfranchised iwi from their relationship with the river. The Crown, for example, allowed steamers to ply the river, resulting in the destruction of fishing pā, and river gravel was extracted and sold. The Crown did not properly engage or involve iwi in the management of the river, but the iwi stood their ground and fought and fought and fought so that their calls for justice were finally answered.

The whakataukī I recited a few minutes ago, I said it is at the heart of this settlement, but Te Awa Tupua forms its foundation. The legislation recognises Te Awa Tupua as an indivisible and living whole comprising the Whanganui River from the mountains to the sea, incorporating its tributaries and all its physical and metaphysical elements. It recognises Te Awa Tupua as a legal person, with all the corresponding rights, duties, and responsibilities. This really is something very special, and it is already gaining attention both nationally and internationally.

For more than 150 years the iwi have been unwavering in their efforts to have their interests recognised and the health and well-being of the river protected. It is therefore entirely appropriate that the iwi lead the development of the framework enshrined in this bill. However, Whanganui iwi have been very clear that the framework is collaborative and inclusive, and that it both recognises the status and the values of the river and looks strategically to the long term. Although the relationship is inalienable, Whanganui iwi have also sought to work alongside local government, Crown agencies, other iwi, and the communities of the river in negotiating these arrangements.

Te Awa Tupua is at the very centre of the new arrangements, and it is going to ensure that the river is viewed as an integrated whole when any matters relating to or affecting the river are being considered. The integrated and inclusive nature of the framework encompasses not only the iwi and other iwi and hapū with interests in the river but the community generally. So it really is an exciting day for Parliament, because this longstanding grievance is brought to an end by the passage of this legislation, and I very much look forward to working with the iwi on the appointments to Te Pou Tupua and to seeing this wonderful river, which is at the very centre of the central North Island, repaired and regenerated over the years to come.

Not having heard a bell but looking at the clock, I know my time is almost over, so can I thank all iwi representatives for being here today and finish with the great whakataukī: the great river flows from the mountains to the sea. We now have an arrangement that will be an enduring arrangement and is the start of something very, very special. I commend the bill to the House.

Waiata

Tēnā koe e Te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koutou e ngā Iwi o Te Awa o Whanganui, tēnā tātou katoa. Ko tēnei mahi nunui o tēnei rā, ko te kaupapa wheneki o Te Whare mō te kawa o Te Whare Pāremata, nō reira, te wairua tanapū, te kauwae, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Acknowledgments to you, the House, standing here, and to you, the tribes of the Whanganui River, salutations to us all. This matter of huge significance today relates to the policy of this House in regard to the procedure of Parliament, and so to the rearing spirit and to the jawbone, much appreciation to you collectively and to us all.]

Greetings everybody. Because I am the Speaker during this session, I am not allowed to make a speech, but there is another whakataukī that Dame Tariana will agree with and that is that rules are made to be broken. I did not want the give up the opportunity to sit in this place and bask in the reflected glory of the people I care very, very much about and have had the privilege to represent for 12 years, and my clever cousin. So I have chosen to sit in the big chair, and until the intervention of Auntie Julie, I thought I was running the show. Nevertheless, it is a terrific day to be here and a wonderful occasion to celebrate with you.

Mr Deputy Speaker, e tū tautoko ana ahau Te Reo wakamoemiti ka tukuna atu e te tuakana a Tūtehounuku Korako, nō reira e te tuakana, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koe. Otirā, korōria hareruia ki a koe e Ihowa o ngā mano, tūāuriuri, whāioio. Kī tonu te rangi me te w’enua i te nui o tāu korōria, ā, tīhei mauri ora! Mai i Te Rakiura ki Te Tonga, whiti atu ki Te Wharekauri, ki Te Rāwhiti toro atu ki Te Uru, piki ake ki Te Reinga ki Te Tai Tokerau, ngā kokonga e whā o te motu o Aotearoa, tae atu ki Te Awa Tupua e rere nei.

Ka huri atu au ki ngā whānau i raro i te kapua pōuri, nō reira, e ngā mate maha o te wā, hoki wairua atu ki a rātau mā i te wāhi ngaro. Haere atu rā ki tua o te ārai ki te kāinga tūturu mō tātau mō te tangata. Oti atu te wā ki a koutou nō reira e oki, e moe, e moe, ā kāti mō tēnā! Nō reira, e Te Māngai o Te Whare, e piri ana taku mihi atu ki aku whanaunga ki te mihi kua tukuna atu e koe, otirā, ki te mihi mai i Te Minita.

Nō reira, koutou ngā whānau, ngā hapū katoa o Te Awa o W’anganui, anei au tō koutou whanaunga e tuku mihi atu ki a koutou katoa, nau mai, haramai, whakatau mai rā ki Te Whare Pāremata nei, nō reira, tēnā koutou katoa. E tika ana kia tuku mihi atu ki ngā hapū me ngā rohe tūpuna katoa, puta noa i Te Awa o W’anganui i tēnei rā, tēnei rā whakahirahira! Nō reira koutou mā, nau mai, haramai, whakatau mai rā! He tino hōnore tēnei kia tū ake i roto i Te Whare nei ki te tuku kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei pire ātaahua, tēnei pire whakahirahira.

[Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the prayer that the senior member Tūtehounuku Korako gave, and so much appreciation to you, the elder member, but, at the same time, glory and hallelujah to You, Jehovah of the countless thousands, of the innumerable, and of the very numerous. Heaven and Earth are filled with the greatness of Your glory, behold the breath of life! Across from the Stewart Island in the south, over to the east to the Chatham Islands and extending up to the west and to the North Cape in the Far North, to the four corners of the country of New Zealand, including the Supernatural River flowing here.

I turn my attention to the families beneath the cloud of sadness, and so to you, the many deceased of the moment, return spiritually to them of the place unseen. Go forth indeed beyond the veil to the original home for us mankind. The time for you has come to pass; therefore, rest, sleep, and slumber on! Therefore, Mr Deputy Speaker, my tribute is closely aligned with that accorded by you to my relatives but, at the same time, to that one accorded by the Minister.

Therefore, to all of the families and subtribes of the Whanganui River, here I am, your relative, according this tribute to you all. Welcome, come hither to this House of Parliament, and so salutations to you all. It is fitting that I pay you, the subtribes, and all the ancestral areas a tribute throughout the river of Whanganui on this day. This indeed is a real honour to stand up in this House to make a contribution about this beautiful bill, this bill of significance.]

It gives me great pleasure and it is a true honour to stand before this House and speak to Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill before us. I am very much taken by the way in which this settlement has come about. There are aspects within this bill that are quite unique. But first of all, I want to talk not only about the uniqueness of the framework but also about the uniqueness of how the whole process has been used in a very new way. I think it is important to add my mihi to the acknowledgment that the Minister, the Hon Christopher Finlayson, has made to the negotiators. I want to acknowledge the tenacity and, indeed, the courage of the negotiators, on both sides of the table. As someone who has been through the process as a negotiator, I truly do understand the difficulties of that whole pathway.

I want to acknowledge that within the framework of the negotiations there truly has been a paradigm shift in the way that it has been expressed. It is a very difficult and quite fixed process. The process has been fixed not only by the guidelines and the rules but also by the practice up until now—the practice that has seen the aspects and the redress items within a settlement package being redetermined by, I was going to say mātauranga Māori, but mātauranga o Whanganui. That is a very important aspect to acknowledge—for example, te heke ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua [the autumnal descent upon the Supernatural River].

Te heke ngahuru is the first autumn migration of eels, signifying well-stocked storehouses for the winter. The name is said to symbolise the potential of Te Awa Tupua to provide for all who have cared for and protected it as a living spiritual and physical source. You will not find that aspect in any other settlement before today. And this is just one of many.

I want to acknowledge the courage that the negotiators on both sides of the table have taken to redefine how the settlement process can work. It can have a process that is pretty fixed but can be adjusted for the purposes of the iwi of Whanganui. This is an important day. I acknowledge those negotiators who had the foresight to be able to take those concepts and apply them within a framework that is not ours. I have said often in this House that this claims settlement process is flawed; it is a flawed one. But we enter into it for the purpose of providing a better way forward for our future generations. So I want to take that whakaaro, te heke ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua [that thought, the autumnal descent upon the Supernatural River aboard] and apply it to the future—looking forward to the future—and I want to acknowledge all of the rangatahi who have made the journey from the awa to the Parliament Buildings today.

This settlement is for you and future generations. It is important to recognise that this settlement will provide a better way forward for future generations. I should actually leave the main points of what I want to bring up to the words of the people from home. You would have noticed, as I did, that my Facebook feed has been flooded with messages from a whole lot of people from home who have talked about the importance of today. There are messages about wishing everyone a blessed day. I want to add my whakaaro to that as well. There are messages from people who could not make it to Parliament today but who are watching on Parliament TV. I want to acknowledge all of them as well.

I thought I would just read out one message that really captured everything that I wanted to say today. I am borrowing these words from one of my cousins: “Today our awa becomes recognised in its own right.” Ngā manga iti, ngā manga nui, e honohono kau ana, ka tupu hei Awa Tupua.

[Small and large creeks immediately joining together to form the Supernatural River.]

It is a difficult construct for people to come to terms with, but that is the beauty of this journey.

Ngā mihi atu ki a koe Nancy Tuaine mō ngā kupu nei.

[My thanks to you, Nancy Tuaine, for these words.]

I hope you do not mind that I have borrowed them. I also want to acknowledge everyone who has sent messages.

E tika ana kia tuku mihi atu ki a koe e Te Ariki Tumu, ngā mihi nui ki a koe kua tae mai, oti noa, ngā iwi katoa puta noa Te Awa o W’anganui. Nō reira, kāore e roa tēnei tū, oti noa i tēnei wā, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa i runga te tukunga iho ō rātau mā i te wāhi ngaro, ko Te Māngai hei tautoko mai, āianei ake nei, āe!

[It is apt that I acknowledge you, Paramount Chief Tumu. My huge thanks to you for attendance here, alongside all of the tribes from throughout the river of Whanganui. Therefore, I will not be standing for a long time at this point in time. Many thanks to you all in terms of what they from the place unseen have handed down. The Mouthpiece indeed is the one who will support it, now and forever, yes.]

Thank you.

Ā, tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā, tēnā koutou ōku pou, ōku rahi. Tēnā koe e te tungāne, tīmata i te hekenga o ngā roimata i a au e kōrero ana nei, ko te taura whiri o Hinengākau ki ōna tungāne a Tamaūpoko rāua ko Tūpoho.

[So thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and salutations to you collectively my pillars and my numerous! Thank you, brother. Tears began to descend as I was speaking here about Hinengākau’s rope plait to her brothers Tamaūpoko and Tūpoho.]

Today this day of all days I greet the kuia Hinengakau and her brothers Tamaūpoko, and Tupoho.

He muka nā te taura whiri o Hinengākau.

[It is a fibre from Hinengākau’s rope plait.]

We welcome all those who descend from the sacred threads of the interwoven rope of Hinengakau—the rope that binds them together as one. In a legislative sense, the sacred rope connects all those who have descended from Ruatipua, Paerangi, and Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi to take up their customary rights and responsibilities in respect of the Whanganui River. But in a spiritual sense, te taura whiri o Hinengakau connects further beyond to a period when there were close to 200 kāinga whenua on the banks and cliffs of the Whanganui River, with many more other kāinga along the tributaries. We can know of the life-force of that time through the words left by the late Rangitihi Tahupārae.

Ngā manga iti e honohono kau ana, ka hono, ka tupu hei awa, hei Awa Tupua.

[The small creeks that link up accordingly, join up and develop as a river to become the Ancestral River.]

The small streams that run into one another and continue to link and swell until the river is formed—indeed a great river. Today, then, it is our day to acknowledge the great river, Te Awa Tupua.

On 18 March 1994 the late Atawhai Taiaroa stood at Pūtiki Marae, in his role as chairman of the Whanganui River Māori Trust Board, and told the tribunal that the Whanganui iwi are embarrassed after 118 years of making applications to different levels of Government. This is our tupuna awa. This is our ancestor. To come again today to make that same presentation and, as such, they are saying this: “This is it.”

He referred to the petition of Te Keepa Rangihiwinui on the Timber Floating Bill of 1873, and it is the first named claimant, Hikaia Amohia, who died over a century later, in 1991, and all those before, during, and after the passage of legislation that this bill becomes a memorial to. During that first hearing at Pūtiki the people lost one of their kuia, Nanny Lucy, the whāngai daughter of Hekenui Whakarake and sister to Hōhepa Hekenui, two of the original Whanganui River claimants.

Te hunga wairua moves in many ways to remind us of what is important, and with the passing of someone so intimately associated with its origins, this bill wears their tears. It carries their memories. It reflects their dreams. So many have passed, with their lives having borne testimony to the stories that brought us here today. So, in this third reading, I want to dedicate my time to that kuia and all the kuia who have given so much of themselves to keep strengthening the interwoven rope of Hinengakau for this day to arrive.

Ko te wai anake e rere ana, ko te whakaaro tahi ki te whakapono.

[Only the water flows on, the single intention is to the belief.]

The historical claims of Whanganui iwi as they relate to the Whanganui River bear the imprint of all those who have cried over the course of this journey. In 1895 Mereaina Rauangina and 151 other Whanganui women petitioned Parliament “to prevent the operation of the law of Government to remove stones from out of the Whanganui River”. The petitioners objected “so that the Government will not destroy our eel-weirs, our lamprey-weirs, our whitebait dams and the flood currents of the river”.

Seven years ago the beloved kuia Te Manawanui Pauro passed away at an incredible 102 years of age. Her kōrero to the tribunal about the impact of the gravel extraction taken from the river must not be forgotten—gravel extraction that destroyed beds that provided habitat for fish and, ultimately, contributed to the depletion of traditional fisheries.

Ko te tangi a te kuia nei, ka pēwhea aku mokopuna, ka ngaro ngā kai, ka ngaro te mana me te whakaae koe, kia riro i a Tauiwa ngā mana o ō tūpuna i roto i te wai.

[The lament of this elderly woman is what will become of my grandchildren if food and authority disappear should you agree for the European to acquire the powers that our ancestors have in the water.]

“What will become of my grandchildren? The River stocks will suffer and its mana will suffer if you allow tauiwi to take the mana of our tupuna.” In 1996 that same kuia stood at the wānanga at Rānana and told the people: “Ko te ngaro o tō mita, ka ngaro ō maunga, ō awa, ō tūpuna ki te ako i tō mita, ka hokihoki mai, ō maunga, ō awa, ō tūpuna.”

[“With the loss of your dialect, your mountains and rivers are lost. With your ancestors to teach your dialect, bring back your mountains, rivers, and ancestors that are lost.”]

“If you lose your language, you lose your mountains, your rivers, and your ancestors. If you learn your language, you regain your mountains, river, and ancestors.”

All of these messages from our kuia, our wāhine rangatira, are important. They strengthen the substance of the framework: he pā auroa nā Te Awa Tupua [a protracted fortified village that belong to the Ancestral River].

This bill reflects the voices of women: Auntie Joan, Nanny Sophie, Nanny Grace, Nanny Nui, the kuia Julie Ranginui, Auntie Dardanella, Dame Tariana, Nancy—the grandmothers, wives, mothers, and daughters who stood alongside their men, who gave instructions in subtle and bold ways, who supported the kōrero with karanga and waiata, and who sang of the spirit of Te Awa Tupua, mai i Te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa [from the National Park to the sea], who sacrificed and compromised and wept and waited. Their waiata and whakataukī, and their karanga and karakia provide other means to understand te mana o te awa. They help describe the heart and soul from which to interpret te mana o te iwi.

Te Ruruku Whakatupua, as it is expressed in this bill, represents immense forbearance, compromise, and generosity on the part of Whanganui iwi. It represents a loving legacy of more than 150 years to both protect the Whanganui River and provide for the special relationship of the Whanganui iwi with the river—and I say “loving” deliberately. One of the anthems of the river people, “Auē Te Aroha”, embodies the challenge issued by the kuia Moe Ānaera Ruka: utaina ki runga i Te Waka o Te Ora [load it upon the Canoe of Life]—in other words, embark upon the canoe of life.

Pāpā Anatipa, in his book Taku Whare E, shared whakataukī of the marae of Pūtiki, Te Rōpū Kapa Haka or Pūtiki Māori Club: “Pūtikitia te Aroha”—bind together in love. It is an incredibly consistent, compassionate, courageous call for unity, singing, praying, speaking together in love, ever mindful of the messages left from beyond to draw upon the māramatanga and the mobilisation of the people in defiance of Crown actions in relation to the river. Pākaitore—79 days of action, crystallising the anger but also consolidating the resolve of the people to stand strong through it all. The kuia Te Paea Arapata lamented to the tribunal on the loss of customary knowledge:

E ngaro ana te mātauranga ō mātou nei mātua, ka whakaoti katoa te hā i a au Te Māori i te mea, ko au Te Māori, he aroha tōku hoa.

[The knowledge of our parents is missing. Indeed, that will totally complete the tenor within me of being Māori because I am Māori and empathy is my friend.]

Our mātauranga was in decline and our essence as Māori was being extinguished on account of our inherently trusting nature.

Māori culture is a complementary culture, where the voices of women and men shape our story to provide the depth of our kōrero today. I have chosen today to focus on the stories of women, but I could just as easily have spoken of their brothers and their fathers, and both have found physical and spiritual sustenance from the river from time immemorial. Our part in the journey as a select committee has been only a moment of that 150 years that the people have been calling for justice, but although our time immersed in the story is brief, what was undeniable was the profound connection to the Awa Tupua of each and every one who appeared or presented to the Māori Affairs Committee on the river’s behalf. They told us: “Kauaka e kōrero mō Te Awa ēngari, kōrero ki Te Awa!”

[“Do not talk about the River but speak to it!”]

Do not merely talk about the river; speak to and commune with the river. So we too went to the river, a journey where you felt the impact of decades of gravel extraction, pollution, diversion, and losses and suffering and delays and denials, and yet the river still flows on.

Like the many twists and turns of Te Awa Tupua, the journey to reach the final conclusion of this settlement process for the iwi of Whanganui has been one of wonder and splendour, but it has also been tinged with sadness and loss for those who have championed the Wai 167 claim: the late Hikaia Amohia, the late Sir Archie John Te Atawhai Taiaroa, the late Joan Akapita, and many, many others—in fact, too many to mention. As we, the Māori Party, stand in solidarity with them, we treasure and pay tribute to all those who have carried their Te taura whiri o Hinengākau [Hinengākau’s rope plait] into this House and, in doing so, we remember the call: E Te Iwi Māori, puritia kia mau, utaina ki runga i Te Waka o Te ora, ka hoe ai ki te tauranga, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora mai tātau katoa.

[To you, the Māori people, hold it securely, place it upon the Canoe of Life, and then row it to the terminal. Acknowledgments and salutations to you collectively and my appreciation to us all.]

E Te Māngai o Te Whare whati ture, mihi kau ana ki a koe, e ai ki a mātau o Te Nōta, nō roto o Ngāti Hine e mea atu, hara mai taua āhua. Nā reira, mihi kau ana ki a koe mō tō tū ki te mihi atu ki wēnei, ngā tāngata nāu nei i tū hei pononga mō rātau, nā reira mihi kau ana ki a koe e Te Māngai.

“Ā, ēhara taku rangatira i a Kāingaroa he purupuru, he taka. Ka pā tau ake ko hau, ko te tītī, ko te rua, ko te ata tama puru, ko te rangimārie, ko te angaanga titi iho i te rangi, kia pōhutuhutu ki roto i Te Moana-ā-Whiti, te māreretanga taurā here a Pokopoko taniwha ki runga i a Rangiriri. Ka tere, ka rere, ka mimiti te tai ki Taumārere, ka totō ki Hokianga, ka mimiti te tai ki Hokianga, ka totō ki Taumārere, ā, kāti ka tau!”

Tēnei te uri o aua puna e rua nō Te Tai Tokerau; Te Hokianga ka rere atu ki Te Tai Tamatāne, me Te Taumārere, ka rere atu ki Te Tai Tamawahine. E mihi kau ana ki a koutou ngā uri o Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui, tēnā rā koutou katoa. E Te Ariki, Tā Tumu, mihi kau ana ki a koe. Tua atu i a koe, kore au e whakahuahuatia i ngā ingoa, i te mea, mōhio ana ahau ka mahue wētahi. Ēngari, e harikoa ana te kite i te tini ō koutou kua whakarauikatia mai ki raro i te tuanui o tō tātau Whare. Mōhio ana tātau mehemea e hiahia ana mātau ki te whakakī i ngā tūru kei runga rā, me kōrero i ngā take e pā ana ki Te Tiriti. Mehemea e hiahia ana mātau kia whakawātea aua tūru, me kōrero i ngā take e pā ana ki te tāke. Inapō rā nā mātau i kōrerohia i tētahi kaupapa mō ngā take—hā? Horekau he tangata hei mātakitaki, ēngari, e pai ana. Kei konei koutou, kei te mihi atu ahau ki a koutou. Tēnā rā koutou, tēnā rā koutou, tēnā rā tātau katoa.

[Mr Deputy Speaker who breaks laws, I indeed acknowledge you, as we of the Far North, within Ngāti Hine, say, come hither that situation. And so I really commend you for standing up to acknowledge these ones, these persons who you indeed stood as a servant for them. Therefore, I truly acknowledge you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

“And so, my esteemed one, Kāingaroa is not a caulking that dropped off. But I the sooty shearwater, the chasm, the caulked morning, the peacefulness, the head that shines from heaven, and for the kinship link that drops off of the Pokopoko monster upon Rangiriri to splash about in the sea of Whiti. The tide flows, flees, and diminishes at Taumārere; it gushes up at Hokianga, and diminishes at Taumārere, and subsides at last!”

This one is the descendant of both pools of the Far North: the Hokianga flows out to the west coast, and the Taumārere out to the east coast. I salute you the descendants of the supernatural river of Whanganui, acknowledgments indeed to you all. Acknowledgments to you indeed paramount chief, Sir Tumu. I will not mention any other names beyond you, in case I leave out someone. But I am pleased to see the countless many that have assembled here under the roof of our House. We all know that if we want to fill the seats up there, we must talk about matters pertaining to the Treaty of Waitangi. If we want to clear those seats, we must talk about matters that concern taxes. Last night we talked about a matter that related to taxes—but what happened? No one was there watching, but that is fine. You are here, and I acknowledge you collectively. Well done, congratulations to you collectively and to all of us.]

As a descendant of the sacred puna of the Tai Tokerau that is the Hokianga, which flows to what we say is the tai tamatāne, or the male side of the island, and also a descendant of Taumārere, which we say is a river, our puna, that flows to the female side of the island, I greet the descendants of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui. It is a great occasion, and I would like to say that I believe that the bill itself is quite revolutionary. I heard the Minister say that it is an example across New Zealand but also throughout the world—this model that has been proposed to ensure that the best interests of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui are maintained from now into the future.

The fact that we have created a way of making the river an indivisible entity, from the very headwaters down to where it flows out into the sea, encompassing all the catchment areas, I believe is a superb model. We have to make sure that we look after every single part of that indivisible entity. As we have heard Marama Fox say, there is a history of digging the shingle out, and that has ruined the habitats for fish and for the fauna and the flora. There has no doubt been pollution. There has been nutrient run-off. This bill, when it is finalised, will ensure that there is a body that is going to make sure that the best interests of the awa are looked after. Like I say, we have to look after every single bit—the small tributaries, the little lakes, streams, and drains, right out to where the river flows out to the oceans and right up to the headwaters.

If we imagine the river being a person, we have to look after the whole part of the person. You can guarantee that if you shoot somebody in the head, their feet are going to die as well. It is the same with the river. If we mistreat any one part of the river, it is going to affect the whole river, and that should never be allowed to happen again. We want our children to be able to not just swim in rivers, do bombs off the banks and off the logs, and eel, and do everything that our tūpuna used to do. We do not just want them to be able to wade in rivers and wade in the water. We want them to be able to swim. We want them to be able to do their bombs and swimming and to drink the water, and that is when we know that the river is entirely cared for and loved.

So Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill establishes a framework to look after the awa. As I have said, it recognises the status of the Whanganui River and its tributaries as Te Awa Tupua—an integrated living whole, from the mountains to the sea. It establishes the river as a legal entity in its own right and has its own legal standing. That reflects the view of the river as a living whole and enables the river to have its own independent voice. Of course, that voice is manifested in the two people who will be appointed to the role of Te Pou Tupua. They will be trustees who act on behalf and in the name of Te Awa Tupua and uphold its status and promote its health and well-being. When we talk about the health and well-being of the river we are actually talking about the health and well-being of the people as well.

So the Pou Tupua will be jointly appointed by iwi and the Crown. They will develop a set of Awa Tupua values. This is where I believe this bill is fantastic. It allows iwi to say that “These are the values that we hold for our river.” I do not know that it has happened before—perhaps with the Waikato River settlement—but it is about time that iwi have a real say in the values that they believe our rivers should be managed under. There will be a whole-of-river strategy, and the strategy will be developed by collaboration, including iwi, central and local government, commercial and recreational users, and other community groups. So nobody is being left out here. If anyone stands up and says “Oh, those blimmin Māoris again. They’re wanting to take over.”—no, that is not the case. This is totally inclusive.

The strategy is going to ensure the long-term environmental, social, cultural, and economic health of the river. I just have one little question, or one little thing, to plead: please do not let the economic values or the economic plans override the social, the cultural, and the environmental well-being of the river. That is my plea. The group is going to have ongoing roles in monitoring the implementation of the strategy, providing a forum for raising issues, and reviewing the strategy after 10 years. Again, it is great that it is going to be a living process that keeps getting reviewed and looked after, just to ensure that everything is on track and the river is being cared for as it should be.

There is going to be a fund of $30 million to help look after, as part of the settlement—a contestable fund available to any person or group or entity seeking funding for initiatives related to Te Awa Tupua, and that fund will be administered by Te Pou Tupua. It is great that Parliament has decided not only do we want Māori to have a say on how the river is run and cared for and maintained but actually there is going to be some putea to support those goals and ambitions. It is one thing to say here “Māori, you can do this.”, and then there is no financial support and resource to actually be able to implement all the goals and dreams and aspirations. So I applaud the Government for its putea.

My time is quickly running out, but let me just say that it is a pleasure and an honour to be able to speak. We as Māori have this intense identity with our awa, with our maunga, with our environment, and, as the Minister has said, and it has been said many times on other bills that we have settled, ko ahau te awa; ko te awa ko ahau—as people we are at one and indivisible from our river. So again, I repeat, if we look after our river, then we are actually looking after ourselves and our people.

Nō reira, huri rauna i tō tātau Whare, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora mai anō tātau.

[Therefore, accolades and congratulations to you collectively throughout our House, and my appreciation to us all once again.]

Ā, tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā, tēnā rā koutou ngā pouwaitaka ō tō tātou mātua tupuna. E, ka mea nui ki te mihi atu ki tō tātou Matua Nui i Te Raki, ko Ia te tīmātaka me te whakaotinga o Te Ao katoa. Nō reira, ka mihi au ki Te Kaihōmai ō kā mea pai katoa! Ka maumahara mātou ki a rātou kai tua kua wehe ki Te Ao wairua. E, nō reira e koutou rā, o ia marae, o ia iwi, o ia waka, e haere ruka ki te ara whānui a Tāne, ko tua o te ārai, haere, haere, e haere atu rā!

Ā tēnei te mihi mō Te Iwi o Whanganu, tēnei te mihi ki ngā uri ko Kupe, Haunui-a-Paparangi, Haupipi o Tamatea Pōkai Whenua. Nō reira e koutou rā, e mauria mai ō whakaako ki te kaupapa nunui, mauria mai, mauria mai! Nō reira, nau mai, haere mai, whakatau mai ki Te Whare Pāremata, e huihui takata, a tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa! Tēnei te mihi ki ngā rakatira o Te Whanganui Iwi, tēnei te mihi mō Te Ariki Rakatira o Tūwharetoa, ki a koe e Tā Tumu. Ā, tēnei te mihi mō te rangatira whaea o Te Whanganui, e Dame Tariana, nō reira, ka nunui te mihi.

[Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and greetings to you collectively the pillars of our ancestral forefathers. It is indeed a thing of importance to acknowledge our Great Father in Heaven. He is the beginning and ending of all things in the world. Therefore, I acknowledge the Provider of all good things! We remember those who have departed to the Spiritual Realm. And so to you collectively of each courtyard, tribe, and canoe, traverse the broad path of Tāne to beyond the divide. Go forth, depart, farewell!

I acknowledge the tribe of Whanganui and the descendants of Kupe, Haunui-ā-Paparangi, and Haupipi of Tamatea-Pōkai-Whenua, and so to you collectively, bring forth your teachings to this matter of huge significance. Bring it here, come forth! And so welcome, salutations, pay homage to Parliament, the gatherer of people. Therefore, I salute and acknowledge you collectively, and commend you all. I acknowledge the leaders of the Whanganui tribe and the paramount chief of Tūwharetoa, you, Sir Tumu. I acknowledge you, Dame Tariana Tūria, leading matriarch of Whanganui; the acknowledgment is huge.]

Here we are at the third reading in the final journey of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill. It is indeed my honour and my pleasure as the kaiwhakahaere of the Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori to be able to kōrero in this third reading. My kōrero is very much about the journey that has happened since the bill has come to the House.

This bill is an innovative and world-leading solution to a very complex and, at times, a very, very controversial issue. It is not easy to balance the competing interests of multiple iwi and those other users in the way they appropriately respect the river—tangata whenua and all who now use and benefit from the river.

Before I go into more details on some of the aspects of this bill, which was considered by the Māori Affairs Committee, I want to acknowledge a few of the other key people in this process: first of all, the Whanganui iwi, who have been involved in this process right from the beginning. I also want to thank you for your manaaki, your aroha, and your tautoko to the Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Maōri when we came to Whanganui to hear the submissions, kanohi ki te kanohi.

There is also the leadership, as I mentioned, of the negotiators and the lawyers who have worked on your behalf. I want to acknowledge, as the Minister did, the Crown negotiator John Wood and also his staff, who have played such a key part in this. I also know that in putting together such groundbreaking legislation, there is an important part of this House, a supportive part, that is called the Parliamentary Counsel Office. It had a particularly challenging job, so I acknowledge Briar Gordon for the role that she has played, and her staff, and the assistance that she gave to the Māori Affairs Committee. I also acknowledge the officials of the Office of Treaty Settlements who, again, worked tirelessly throughout this process from the very early stages of negotiation.

I also want to acknowledge the members of the Māori Affairs Committee, and I challenge anyone, particularly from outside this House, who believes that Māori MPs actually do not do a good job here, particularly on these Treaty settlement bills. We are a very, very pragmatic and hard-working committee. What we always have said is “Let’s park our political affiliations at the door and let’s get on with what is the best for our people.”, and this is a reflection, e hoa mā, of the work that we do.

I want to acknowledge also the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, who is no longer actually on our committee, but we miss you and we love you. We do miss you. We miss that very, very sort of passive, but strong, leadership that you have shown—kia ora to you.

Despite the bill being the result of a consultation and negotiation process that has actually already happened, there was real work for the committee to do, and we had to carefully consider some of the complex and controversial issues relating to the bill. I just want to highlight some of the changes that were recommended by the Māori Affairs Committee.

In particular, there were concerns that were raised about the reference to some groups as hapū—groups that would consider themselves to be iwi in their own right. What has happened here is that part of the foundation on which the bill is built is a report from the 1950 royal commission of inquiry into the bed of the Whanganui River, which defined those groups with an interest in the river. Parts of this bill that refer back to that report will continue to refer to groups such as Ngāti Uenuku and Ngāti Hauā as hapū. However, that is in no way an indication of how those groups should be referred to. To make sure this is clear, we have recommended an amendment to state that Ngāti Uenuku and Ngāti Hauā may be viewed as iwi within the broader context of the Whanganui iwi.

Another issue we encountered was the fact that this bill requires the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations to be responsible for appointing a Crown representative to Te Pou Tupua. However, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is a role that will not exist indefinitely. In fact, thanks to this Government’s actions in progressing the Treaty settlements efficiently, it is a role that may cease to exist sooner rather than later. So for that reason we recommend an amendment that after the first nomination by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, future nominations will be the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment. We chose the environment portfolio as the most appropriate place for the responsibility to rest because Te Awa Tupua is a freshwater body that falls under the management of the Resource Management Act. We also recommended that when we make such nominations, the Minister for the Environment should be required to consult with the Minister for Māori Development, the Minister of Conservation, and any other relevant Ministers.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the architect of this incredible piece of legislation. I have been to a number of conferences offshore and all they want to hear about is our Treaty settlement process. When I cite this particular bill, they are in absolute awe as to how we have actually associated a river—a mighty river—with, and given it, the identity of the person, and also as to the fact that that river is such an important and intricate part of people’s lives, indigenous Māori and non-Māori, and they want to know how we have actually made that work. So I want to absolutely acknowledge the Minister, Chris Finlayson.

Finally, it has been an incredible privilege to chair the Māori Affairs Committee, to be a part of those wonderful people who make it up, and then also to be part of the process of passing this really world-leading piece of legislation. I say to all of our Whanganui iwi members, whānau tautoko, all of you, you should be proud—and I know you are—of this piece of legislation, and as proud as we are to be able to assist this legislation and to try to make it better, which is our role as members of the Māori Affairs Committee.

Finally, I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Kia ora.

Ngā mihi o te rā ki a koutou, ā, e ngā manuhiri, Te Whanganui Iwi, ngā Hapū, ngā kaitiaki katoa o Te Awa Nui, ā, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Salutations of the day to you collectively and to the visitors, the Whanganui tribe, the subtribes, and to all the guardians of the great river. Acknowledgments to all of you.]

Before I begin to address the business before us, with your indulgence, I would just like to put on the record of the House an acknowledgement of the passing of a remarkable New Zealander. Maggie Lawton, who was a scientist, a businesswoman, a policy maker, and later in life a politician—a member of the Otago Regional Council—sadly passed away a day or two ago. She was a leader—a leader of a sort that not only sets high standards but then enables people to meet those standards. She was a proud mother, with reason to be proud, and, above all, she will be remembered for her leadership and for her commitment to the well-being of this country and all of those people in it.

Ki ngā mate e whā, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai i roto i Te Ringa o Te Atua, haere, haere, haere rā. Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate, te hunga ora ki te hunga ora, mauri ora.

[To the four deaths, sleep, rest, and slumber in the arms of God. Depart, go forth, and farewell. Let the dead remain among the dead, and the living among the living. Let there be life.]

To return to much happier matters, it is a great pleasure and it is a privilege to speak on behalf of the Greens in support of this quite remarkable piece of legislation. The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations referred to it as historic, and it is historic in many ways, not only for at least partly putting right the harm that has been done to Whanganui iwi, and, indeed, to the awa over many years, but also to the extent to which it does break new ground or strengthen our commitment to embedding Te Ao Māori into Pākehā law. That is a remarkable step. It is remarkable progress.

In one of my former lives I was fortunate to be a lecturer. I taught in resource management. One of the tasks we set our students quite early on in the programme was to challenge them, in a sense, to understand their own world view—the way in which they interpreted and saw and understood the world. It was thin ice for academics to be challenging young people at that level, at that very fundamental level, about their values and beliefs. But the purpose of it, in part, was to enable them to recognise and to strengthen their awareness that although they had a particular world view—a product of their culture, of their upbringing, of their whānau, and of all of those things that influence us as human beings—the people with whom they would engage in terms of their professional career would also have a particular and a unique world view. It was endeavouring to help those students understand the importance of respecting and understanding other people’s, as well as their own, positions.

One of the key challenges we put to our students was to ask them about their understanding of the relationship between humans and the non-human world. Given that many of them came from a Pākehā, predominantly Western, cultural background—a very rational, dare I say it, world view—often they would see human beings as separate from the rest of the world, from nature, from this thing we call the environment. We did not seek to prove those students wrong, but we certainly wanted to challenge them so that they could explicitly state something about those assumptions and those beliefs. For many of them there was that sense of dualism, of people being separate from the rest of the natural world.

One of the readings I would require of students was an article written in 1972 by an American legal academic called Christopher Stone, and it was called “Should Trees Have Standing?—Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects”. To say it was controversial at the time would be an understatement. The proposition was that, yes, we routinely assign rights to human beings, but that changes over time. At one time women had many fewer rights than men, if any, indeed. Some women would argue that has not changed dramatically. For many people the notion of assigning rights to non-human entities was a step too far, and yet they would understand—or accept, rather—that corporations, that companies, and that trusts could have the rights of a natural person. So it ought not to have been, but it turned out to be, rather difficult—“unthinkable” was the word he used—for some people to accept the proposition from this Christopher Stone, who was, as I say, an American legal academic in 1972.

He said this: “I am quite seriously proposing that we give legal rights to forests, oceans, rivers and other so-called ‘natural objects’ in the environment—indeed, to the natural environment as a whole.” In academic circles, legal circles, and political circles that was a bombshell. It was deemed laughable, ridiculous, and unworkable. It is interesting that I think for indigenous people, not least of all Māori, there is no such barrier to assigning legal rights and agency and personhood to natural objects, because we as Māori understand we are linked through whakapapa to those elements in the landscape. We are linked through whakapapa to our mountains, to our rivers, to our moana, to our forests. So that barrier to the understanding or the acceptance of what this bill does has never really existed in the same way.

I think it is remarkable that this bill does embed one of the fundamental beliefs and values of Te Ao Māori: the notion of connectedness with the natural world, and human beings as part of it. It embeds that deeply into statute, into New Zealand law, in the same way that Te Urewera Act did. I think that as well as being significant and important as an empowerment of Te Ao Māori and Māori beliefs, it is also a very powerful assertion of tino rangatiratanga, the notion that we Māori, as others will, will determine our own futures, and that we should allow the non-human elements of our world—in this case, the river—to also have a hand and a say in asserting their own futures. This legislation, I believe, will lead directly, assuming a happy outcome in terms of implementation, to a restoration of the mauri of our largest river, a river that is one of the most significant features in this country, and in our cultural world, as well. I would be so bold as to quote Gerrard Albert, the negotiator of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, who said that “The point is to approximate at law what the river is to us in custom and kawa: a living tupuna, not an inanimate, lifeless resource to be used without regard to its mana.”

I think it is true to say that any person who sits alongside a river or sits quietly in a forest will hear the voice of that river, will hear the voice of that forest. In a more pragmatic sense, and a more practical sense, the river will require a human voice, and this legislation does allow for that: Te Pou Tupua, the human voice of the river. When we are making decisions—I shall call them the mundane but critically important decisions—about resource allocation, about land use, and about policy, the river will have a very powerful voice directly in those negotiations, in those discussions, and in that decision making. It will be a Māori voice and a Pākehā voice, and that is as it should be.

I think there is enormous potential in this not only to heal the harm that has been done but also to help New Zealanders who may not yet understand the significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the importance of embedding Te Tiriti and its articles and its purpose deeply into all of our law, into all of our thinking, into all of our decision making. The great winner, I believe, in this legislation will be Te Awa o Whanganui. It will be the people of Whanganui. It will be all of us. It enhances the mana of this Parliament to pass legislation of this sort. There are no losers, I believe, in the passing of this legislation, and that is something one cannot always say about bills we put through this House.

So, finally, I will simply acknowledge—and others are far better qualified than I to name them, so I will not—those living and those who have passed who have fought long and hard to bring us to this point when we can appropriately recognise the mana of Te Awa o Whanganui. Kia ora.

Tēnā koe, Mr Deputy Speaker, tēnā anō hoki tātou o Te Whare nei. I tautokongia ngā mihi i mihingia ki a koutou ngā iwi o Te Awa o Whanganui i taemai nei ki te whakarongo, ki te mātakitaki i ngā kōrero a ngā tāngata i kawe mai i tēnei kaupapa ki roto o Te Whare nei. Māku e mea atu ki a koutou, kia aroha mai, aroha mai ki a au nā te mea, kua pau kē ngā kōrero i ngā tāngata i tū ake i mua i a au. Wēnā te mate i a mātou o Aotearoa Tuatahi, ahakoa he rōpū iti nei, i tēnei wā e noho ana mātou i tēnei taha o Te Whare ēngari mēnā ka kaha ana tā koutou aroha ki a mātou i te mārama o Hepetema e tū mai, ā, kei neke atu i a mātou ki tērā taha, kia ahatia? Ahakoa i pēnā, kei roto i a au ētahi o ngā kōrero e hiahia ana kia puta mai ki waenganui i a tātou i te rā nei.

[Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and salutations once again to us of this House. I endorse the tributes accorded to you collectively, the people of the Whanganui River who have arrived to listen and to watch the contributions by the people who brought this matter into this House here. I will say to you collectively to empathise with me and to pity me because all that has to be said have been exhausted by those who got up before me. That is a problem we of New Zealand First have to contend with because we are only a small party, and at this time we are sitting on this side of the House, but if your empathy for us is really strong in the September that is coming, you might shift us to that side. So what can be done about that? Even if the situation is like that, I have some things within me that I want to air amongst you today.]

I just want to also add to the contributions made by my fellow colleagues on both sides of the House today, and say that we in New Zealand First will certainly support this bill because it is a unique one. It is unique in the sense that it creates what we call a special entity, and in this case it is Te Awa Tupua—the Whanganui River.

When I stand here at this time I am mindful of a number of people who have passed on who have been responsible for initiating this particular claim, this particular legislation, and in that regard, I want to acknowledge Te Atawhai Taiaroa.

Te Atawhai Taiaroa nā te mea, i te wā ko ia tētahi āpihā mō Te Rohe o Whanganui, mō Te Tari Māori, i a au tetahi o ngā āpiha i roto i Te Tari Māori i roto i Te Tai Tokerau, e kī nei te kōrero, i mahi tahi i ā māua. Nā reira, ka nui ngā mihi, me ērā atu o ngā mātua, ngā kuikuia i āwhina ki te kawe atu i tēnei kaupapa, kia tau te kerēme i te rā nei. Tū atu i tēnā, e hiahia ana au kia mihi atu ki Te Ariki mai i Te Whare o Tūwharetoa, nā reira ngā mihi ki a koe e Tumu! Tua atu i tēnā i a Gerard, i a Tihi me John, horekau e kite atu i a koe e te tuahine Tariana ēngari, mēnā kei konei koe, ka nui taku mihi ki a koutou.

[Te Atawhai Taiaroa, because when she was a Māori Affairs official for the Whanganui region, I had one of these Māori Affairs officials in Northland. It could be said that we worked together. And so my accolades in regard to that are huge; plus for those other parents and those other elder womenfolk who helped to progress this matter along, and for the claim to land here on this day. Further to that, I want to acknowledge the paramount chief from the House of Tūwharetoa. So acknowledgments to you Tumu! Furthermore, I acknowledge Gerard, Tihi, and John, I cannot see you, sister colleague Tariana; if you are here, my acknowledgment to you collectively is a huge one.]

I just want to acknowledge that this bill is a recognition of the Crown’s obligation, which is that the iwi is able to exercise its right to its cultural obligations to the river, and this is what this bill allows the iwi o Whanganui. When I say “iwi”—when this case came before the Māori Affairs Committee, there was some discussion around the use of the word “iwi” but, in particular, the word “hapū”, which was used by Hekenui Whakarake before the royal commission of inquiry into the bed of the Whanganui River in 1950. I am not surprised that that tupuna alluded to the word “hapū”, and not “iwi”. Those of us who have studied anthropology—particularly New Zealand anthropological history—will know that the word “iwi” is not a Māori word. It was initiated by those early anthropologists just to be able to describe a number of hapū. So the Māori Affairs Committee—and I am not quite sure at the time whether that was the reason that we changed it, but it made it very easy for us to ensure that those respective hapū were, in fact, recognised as iwi as part of the legislation.

This bill also has the support of the local body. As part of the questioning that we had with the officials involved with this bill, we asked whether the payment of $430,000 to the Horizons Regional Council was to be considered part of the quantum. We were advised accordingly that, no, this was not part of the quantum, and it was to be paid by the Crown to the regional council as a contribution towards the cost of establishing Te Kōpuka and developing Te Heke Ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua—the river strategy. This payment is not part of the quantum payable to Whanganui iwi and is not counted as settlement redress, and I can say that the Māori Affairs Committee was certainly happy to hear that.

I also want to say that the bill will reverse what has been described as the disenfranchisement of the iwi of the river, and it recognises Te Awa Tupua as a legal person. There will be expectations of the collaborative and inclusive working together with all the other groups that are involved with the river, but I do ask the question: how will this new arrangement be affected by the proposed Resource Legislation Amendment Bill? I think that will be something that people will need to consider once the terms of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill are either confirmed or, certainly, debated in this House.

It also indicates a willingness on the part of Te Awa Tupua to work with all those having an interest in the river, and it is a settlement that is certainly unique. We have heard people say that there is interest in the arrangement that this bill brings, not only from other iwi but from other entities from around the world. So it certainly shows the willingness of not only the Crown but, more importantly, the iwi of Whanganui to accept a new way of administering and looking after their river.

I just want to conclude by saying a little whakataukī that I have taken licence to change a little bit. It is: Tuia Te Rangi i runga, tuia Te Papa ki raro, ka rere haere Te Awa o Whanganui ki waenganui, nā reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora mai anō tātou.

[Bind the sky above, thread the earth below, the Whanganui River flows in between and so, accolades and congratulations to you collectively, and my appreciation once again to us collectively.]

Tēnā koe, tēnā koe, ā, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou ngā whānau o Te Awa o Whanganui, nau mai, haere mai ki te rā whakahirahira.

[Thank you, thank you, and a huge acknowledgment to you collectively, the families of the Whanganui River. Welcome, come hither to the highly important day.]

Kia ora, Mr Deputy Speaker, and kia ora to the whānau o Whanganui. I am really pleased to take a call in the final reading of Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill today. I am really privileged to do this, because it has been a long time coming, as my colleagues have said in their contributions in the House today. I do want to acknowledge our Tā Tumu te Heuheu and our Dame Tariana Turia. It is right and respectful to do that at the start of my speech, and I am really pleased to see you both sitting here listening to the contributions today.

My contribution is going to be brief. It always is on a third reading, mainly because the longer we talk, the longer you wait to actually have your bill given Royal assent. One of the kuia who I do want to acknowledge, who passed away, is Auntie Dardi Metekīngi. I knew her prior to going to Whanganui, to the district health board (DHB). She was the kaumātua—the kuia—for the Whanganui DHB at the time, and she passed away last year. I am going to read out today one of the contributions that she made towards the awa, because I thought it was rather poignant that she said these things before she passed. She considered the awa, and said: “The awa is a beautiful thing. You need the people. It lives with the people. It’s part of who you are, like a soul partner, sharing everything with you, and it gives it back to you. You don’t get strength from what you see but from what you believe. These things that nature has given us are our inheritance, are our whānau, and that tells us—that tells us—that the awa is an entity. It always has been. It never ever was never ever an entity for our whānau of the Whanganui awa.”

I just say for the people in this House here, our members of Parliament, that if ever you get a chance to be able to cross the Whanganui River, at any point of its journey from Hinengakau all the way down through to Tūpoho, and if you sit and you stop and you listen, I am sure that you will hear the voices of our tūpuna as they are singing that wonderful waiata that I have fallen in love with. The words are: e rere Te Awa Tupua [flow the Ancestral River].

And, with that, I commend the bill to the House. Congratulations. Kia ora.

James Shaw—a 5-minute call on behalf of the Green Party.

E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe. He mihi aroha ki a koutou ngā uri o Te Awa o Whanganui, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and a loving acknowledgment to you, the relatives of the Whanganui River. Well done, congratulations, and accolades to you all.]

I am Pākehā. My ancestors are from Ōpōtiki, where Whakatōhea are tangata whenua. I asked for the honour to be allowed to speak to this bill. As Kaiārahi o Te Rōpū Kākāriki [Leader of the Green Party], I asked to be allowed to speak to this bill because it contains a gift for Te Ao Katoa [the entire world].

When I first ran for the leadership of the Green Party, just over 2 years ago, I was talking about the notion of legal personhood for natural features. Patrick Gower, a journalist, dismissed the idea as “human rights for snails”. So I hope he is listening to the debate this morning.

In my time I want to acknowledge and thank all of those who have made this possible. I would like to speak particularly to the recognition of legal personhood of Te Awa Whanganui. I want to recognise what a gift it is that you have given to all of us. I would like to start by acknowledging the people who have made all of this possible—the hapū and tūpuna rohe of Whanganui iwi. You are the tangata whenua and the kaitiaki of Te Awa Whanganui. I acknowledge everything that you have passed through, the sacrifices you have made, and the injustices you have suffered, which have brought us to this point. As Pākehā I honestly cannot even begin to imagine what it is that you have been through, on your journey to this point.

I do want to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee and the chair, Nuk Korako, for the work that they have done to bring us to this point; the officials; and the negotiators on both sides, who have done, I think, superb work in creating this bill. I would also like to acknowledge the Hon Chris Finlayson, the Minister responsible and also the Attorney-General of this country, for shepherding through a conservative Government what is actually a pretty radical legal notion—the idea that an environmental feature would have legal personhood. I asked him, in the middle of an election campaign—I said: “How did you get that through Cabinet? I would have thought there would be some resistance.” He said “Oh, it’s a very interesting legal notion.”, and simply wandered off. In other words, I do not think they knew what they were signing up to!

Ko au ko te awa; ko te awa ko au—I am the river; the river is me. Obviously, this is such a deeply spiritual and cultural notion to Māori and to the people of the Whanganui River that this bill gives such recognition to. I would like to speak to what it means for an environmental feature in Aotearoa to have legal personhood. It means that the river itself has the right not to be polluted. It has the right not to be degraded. It has the right not to be overdrawn before it can replenish itself. And that is an extraordinary idea—that the river has that right, in and of itself, not to be polluted, not to be degraded, and not to be drawn down before it can replenish itself.

My colleague Pita Paraone asked what the interaction is between that idea and the Resource Management Act. As you will have the power of attorney, I urge you to use it because it is going to be fascinating to see how this idea of legal personhood actually plays out in New Zealand. That right not to be polluted or degraded I think should be tested. We want to see what that looks like, because that is going to be a great day.

In so doing, it sets a precedent for all of Aotearoa and also for te ao katoa. So I want to thank you. I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for what you have sacrificed and what you have been through to give this gift to all of us. This is not just for the people of Whanganui. This is a gift for all of Aotearoa and for the world, and I acknowledge you for that. Thank you.

Ā, tēnā koe, Mr Deputy Speaker, e rau rangatira mā ko tēnei taku mihi ki a koutou katoa, ā, kia ora mai tātou.

[And so thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. This is my acknowledgment to you all, esteemed ones and others of a hundredfold. My appreciation to us collectively.]

It is a pleasure to speak to this, the third reading of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill. Today we have heard this bill called revolutionary and unique, and I want to call it extraordinary. I want to extend on the concept of personhood that the member James Shaw just talked about, because here today we recognise a river and its catchment as a legal entity, a legal person—Te Awa Tupua, under the framework of Te Pā Auroa nā Te Awa Tupua.

Te Pā Auroa itself has seven components: Te Awa Tupua, Tupua te Kawa, Te Pou Tupua, Te Heke Ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua, Te Kōpuka nā Te Awa Tupua, Kia Matara Rawa, and Te Korotete o Te Awa Tupua. Some of these elements are governance and operational components, but it is Te Awa Tupua that joins the physical and the metaphysical, “an indivisible and living whole, comprising the Whanganui River from the mountains to the sea, incorporating all its physical and meta-physical elements”—a legal person with all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person. This is such a breathtaking step that extra steps were required with the standard legislation-making process.

A regulatory impact statement is not typically required for a Treaty settlement process. Treaty settlements are generally exempt from the regulatory impact assessment requirements, unless the settlement affects existing regulatory requirements. The Te Awa Tupua framework is a novel redress, and its implementation will require altering decision making under existing regulatory frameworks, and so a regulatory impact statement was required.

The key legislation that the river interacts with, as a legal person, are the Resource Management Act, local government Acts, conservation legislation, fisheries and forests Acts, the Biosecurity Act, and the Land Act. In its full expression, then, when considering the river as a legal entity, a person, interactions with legislation must recognise and provide for the physical and metaphysical elements of the river and the values of iwi, or have particular regard for the physical and metaphysical elements of the river, and the values of iwi.

I want to further reflect for a moment on the recognition of the river as a legal person. Is this the first time a physical entity has been given these attributes—the attributes of personhood; legal attributes in New Zealand? No, it is not. It is actually the second such Act. On 27 July 2014 the Te Urewera Act recognised Te Urewera National Park as “a legal entity” with “all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.” So this is not the first time, but it is the first time that a river has been given the legal status of a person, with all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.

With personhood comes the privilege of citizenship, and I contend here today that the Whanganui River now joins the Urewera lands as legally the oldest living people in New Zealand. The Latin concept of jus soli is still the fundamental concept of citizenship in America and indeed was in New Zealand until 2006. It guarantees birthright citizenship to the land where you draw your first breath and become a life. How appropriate, then, that the river be recognised as a person, that its first breath be here in Aotearoa, that its unalienable birthright be recognised under jus soli, which in Latin also translates into “the rights of the soil”—how appropriate.

In summary, iwi have been the voice that, together with the Crown here today, breathes legal life into the river as it before you has breathed life into your tūpuna and those still to come. I am privileged here today at this third reading to record this moment, to reflect on the physical and the metaphysical becoming one in law, and the opportunity for this iwi and hapū to move forward. I wish this iwi and this hapū well with their stewardship and commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare, kua riro māku nei te taha o Te Rōpū Reipa ki roto i tēnei te pānuitanga tuatoru o tēnei pire e whakakapi. E haere tonu ana ngā mihi ki a koe e te pāpā e Tūtehounuku Korako, i whakaritea nei i tō tātau huihuinga mai i te tīmatanga o te awatea tae noa mai ki tēnei wā. Ko te manako, ka tau tonu mai ngā manaakitanga o Te Kaihanga ki runga i a tātau kua whakakāhui mai nei, nō reira e mihi atu ana au ki a koe.

E tangi tonu ana ahau ki ngā tini aituā o te wā nei kua wahaina mai e Te Minita me ngā mema o Te Whare nei i ngā aituā ki roto i ngā wiki, marama, tau kua pahure ake nei. E te whaea, e Rose, ka kite atu ahau i a koe ka hoki ngā mahara ki tō hoa, ki tōku pāpā ki a Morvin. E tangi tonu ana tēnei, tana tamaiti, ki a ia kua ngaro atu ki Te Pō. E te tuakana e Che, te kitenga atu i a koe me te whānau, ka hoki ngā mahara ki te pāpā ki a Tahupārae. Nā runga i tērā, ka kī atu ki a koutou, nau mai, haere mai ki Te Whare o Tahupārae i ōna rā. Kāti ake ki ngā aituā maha o te wā nei, kotahi tonu te kōrero, haere mai, haere. “Tupu mauri ora ki Te Whei ao, ki Te Ao Mārama, tiheiwā mauri ora.”

E aku rangatira ka whakahokia mai ngā rārangi kōrero ki Te Ao Tūroa nei. Ki ngā tāngata kei roto i Te Rūma Nui o Te Whare Pāremata kīhai i whai tūru i te ahurewa mātakitaki, e mihi atu ana ki a koutou. Kāti, koutou e noho mai nā ki ngā pātū o tō tātau Whare i te rā nei, e mihi atu ana tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. Kei taku Ariki, kua kōrero mai nā e tōku tuakana a Kelvin i te kōrero a Tarakukū i a ia i runga i te kāinga o Tāpeka ki roto i Te Pēwhairangi. Tuituia mai te mana o tō tupuna a Te Iwikau ki ngā kōrero o tēnei Whare i te rā nei, kei taku Ariki, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou.

Huri tū atu ki a koe e Te Whare o Pōtatau. Ka kite atu ahau i a koe e te tuahine, ka rere atu ngā mihi nui ki a koe. I āta tauira mai tō iwi, tō Whare, i te mana o Te Awa o Waikato, ki tēnei te mana o Te Awa o Whanganui, e mihi atu nei, tēnā koutou.

Kua rangona ahau i te ingoa o Te Kahurangi a Tāriana. Kei tōku tuarā i tēnei wā, e Te Kahurangi, e te whāea, harikoa ana au kua whakawhiti mai koe ki tēnei taha o Te Whare! Kāti e mihi atu ana au ki a koe e te mema tawhito o tō tātau Whare, te kaikawe i ngā kaupapa o tō kāinga, otirā, o Te Motu whānui e mihi atu ana au ki a koe.

Huri tū atu ki te taha Pākehā e Te Koromatua o Wanganui e Hamish. I kite atu ahau i tō mata ki roto i Te Matatini, kua tae mai i te rā nei e mihi atu ana au ki a koe. Ko koe te whakatinanatanga o te nuinga, o te rahi o ngā kupu kai roto i tēnei pire. Kia kaua e riro mā Ngā Iwi me Ngā Hapū anahe te mana whakahaere o Te Awa; ko konā tonu Te Pākehā, tērā hoa o Te Tiriti o Waitangi i whakamanahia i te tau 1840. Kāti e mihi atu ana au ki a koe e Te Koromatua, tēnā koe.

Ka tahuri atu ahau ki te pire nei. E tika ana ki roto i te pānuitanga tuatoru me patu kutu te tangata nei, arohaehae i ngā kōrero kei roto, i ngā mea kaupapa kei roto i te pire nei. I roto i te rārangi tuatahi ka kite atu ahau i tētahi hapa kei roto i Te Reo Māori. Anei hoki: “Kua āta tirohia e Te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori Te Pire a Te Awa Tupua”. E kīa nei, ko tōna tikanga, ko ngā kupu kei roto i te tūtohutanga, anā e ōrite ana ki te ingoa o te pire nei arā ko “Te Pire o Te Awa Tupua”. Kāti, ka waiho nā atu tērā whakaaro mā Te Whare hei whakatikatika ā tōna wā. Kāre e kore ka kitea whānuitia ki roto i te roanga ake o ngā kōrero, e aua. Ēngari ka waiho nā atu mā ngā āpiha hei whakatika.

Kāti, kua puta mai ētahi kōrero e pā ana ki ngā taniwha o Te Ture. Ko tētahi ko te RMA e kōrero nei e Te Motu whānui. E tika ana te kōrero a Te Ūpoko-hoa o Te Rōpū Kākāriki, me whakamātautauhia e tātau i te mana o tēnei pire, o tēnei ture, ki roto i ngā Kōti o Te Whenua nei. Ainī tātau ka kite mehemea, ka whai mana, ka whai huruhuru ngā kōrero kei roto i tēnei pire. Tēnā pea mā tetahi atu taniwha, arā, ko te RMA, hei ngahoro, hei waipuke, hei tāmi ki raro i ngā kōrero o tēnei pire, ā taihoa ake nei tātau ka kite. Ā, taihoa ake nei ka kite!

Nō reira, ko te tangi atu ki Te Iwi e pae nei: kia mataara, kia mataara, kia mataara. Kai pōhēhē koutou, kua oti te haerenga o tēnei kaupapa—kāhore, kāhore, kāhore! Ko te hiahia e te tuakana e Che, ki roto i ngā tau maha kei mua i a tātau, ka rangona whānui i ngā waiata, i ngā haka e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa, mai i tōna orokohanga tae noa mai ki tēnei wā ā taihoa ake nei, ka kitea ki runga i te ātāmira o Te Matatini, anā, i whakakāhui ai i Te Ao Māori ki roto i ngā wiki kua pahure ake nei; ka ora tonu ai te kōrero mō tēnei pire, ka ora tonu ai ngā manako o tēnei whakatupuranga mō ngā uri whakatupu e haere ake nei. Nō reira, koinā te wero nui kei mua i a tātau e Te Iwi Māori.

Kua āta tauira mai e koutou te mana o Te Awa o Whanganui. He wero tēnā ki ōku ake o Te Tai Tokerau! Kua kōrero atu Te Whare mō te mana o ngā puna waiora o Te Tai Tokerau, o Hokianga, o Taumārere. E Te Minita, e Te Hōnore Christopher Finlayson, ka waiho nā atu tēnā whakaaro māu. Ā tōna wā ka kōrero koe ki ngā rangatira o Ngāpuhi, o Te Tai Tokerau, ko te hiahia, kia kaua tātau e wareware ki Te Poutiriao o Rangiriri kei roto i a au o Taumārere ā taihoa ake nei. E Te Iwi kua tangi te pere!

Nō reira, hei whakarāpopoto ake, hei whakakapi ake i tēnei taha o Te Whare e kōrero ana mō tēnei pire e mihi atu ana au ki a koutou. Ko te manako, mā te wāhi ngaro koutou e tiaki i a koutou e hoki atu ana ki ngā wā kāinga puta noa. Kia mōhio mai koutou, i te ata nei i tīmata mātau ki Te Pākau o Heretaunga, mō te kaupapa o Ngā Hapū me Ngā Iwi o Te Wairoa. Ka mutu te pānuitanga tuatahi o taua pire, ka kake ake mātau i Te Maunga Tapu o Tongariro ki roto i Te Pito o Te Whenua. Ka tiro atu ki Te Pākau o Te Tai Hauāuru, ko Te Awa o Whanganui e tere atu nei, kāti ki a tātau e hui ngātahi ana, e ōku mātua, e ōku rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātau katoa.

[Salutations to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, now that it has been left for me to conclude the contribution by the Labour Party in this the third reading of this bill. Tributes continue to be made to you, father figure Tūtehounuku Korako, who organised our getting together and delivered a prayer in regard to the beginning of the day to this moment. The hope is that the acts of generosity of the Creator continue to descend upon us who have gathered here, and so I thank you.

I continue to grieve for the myriad of deaths of the present moment that have been brought here by the Minister and members of this House in regard to those that have occurred during the past weeks, months, and year. Auntie Rose, seeing you brings back memories, as well, of your husband and my fatherly figure, Morvin. This one, his boy, continues to mourn for him who has been lost to the void. Elder sibling Che, when I spotted you and the family, memories also went back to the fatherly figure Tahupārae. And, because of that, I say to you collectively, welcome, come hither to Tahupārae’s House during his days. Enough in terms of the myriads of deaths regarding this moment, there is only one thing to say to the dead, come forth and go! “Nurture a life force that is well in a natural and enlightened world, behold the breath of life!”

My esteemed ones, I will bring the statements of the contribution back to the enduring world here. I acknowledge you collectively, the people in the Grand Hall of Parliament who were not able to find a seat in the gallery. And so to those of you seated around the walls of our House today, I acknowledge and thank you collectively. My paramount chief, my senior member Kelvin there, mentioned a story about Tarakukū when he lived at the Tāpeka settlement in the Bay of Islands. Thread in the authority of your ancestor Te Iwikau into the debate in this House today, and so, to my high chief, I acknowledge you and you collectively, my appreciation.

And now I turn to you, the House of Pōtatau. I spot you sister cousin, and huge acknowledgments fly in your direction. Your tribe and House clearly demonstrated the validity of the Waikato River against that of the Whanganui River, for which I commend and congratulate you collectively.

I have heard of the name Dame Tariana. At this moment Dame, auntie, it is on my back and I am very delighted that you have crossed over to this side of the House! And so I really pay a tribute to you, the former member of our House, the bearer of policies relating to your home but at the same time of the nation at large, I thank you.

Turning to the English side, to you, the Mayor of Wanganui, Hamish, I saw your face at the National Māori Performing Arts Festival, and now that this day has arrived I am extending a greeting to you. You are the embodiment of a larger part and of a greater part of the words of this bill. Do not leave the administrative body of the river to just the tribes and subtribes alone; Europeans, that partner of the Treaty of Waitangi which was mandated in 1840, are still there. And so I acknowledge you, Mr Mayor, greetings.

I turn to this bill. In the third reading it is right that this person must kill lice, must critically discern comments and policy things inside this bill. I saw an error in the Māori language in the first line, and here it is: “Kua āta tirohia e Te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori Te Pire a Te Awa Tupua”. According to its convention, these words must be the same as those in the recommendation, namely “Te Pire o Te Awa Tupua”. And so I will leave that thought for the House to address in due course. Without a doubt, it will be seen widely and have many comments, goodness knows! But I will leave that for the officials to deal with.

Well, some comments have emerged about the monsters relating to the Act. One such is the RMA, as it is referred to by the country at large. The comment by the co-leader of the Green Party is right, in that we must discuss the legality of this bill and act in the courts of this county. We will see in time whether the comments in this bill will be effective and secure outcomes. Perhaps some other monster RMA will undermine, flood, or smother the comments of this bill, we will see in time what will come of it. We will see in time!

Therefore, the cry to the tribe seated about: be awake, alert, and vigilant. Do not mistakenly assume that the journey of this proposal has ended—no, no, no, it has not! The desire, elder sibling Che, is that in the many years that are before us, songs and posture dances relating to this matter from its advent right up to this moment in time will be seen on the stage of the National Māori Performing Arts Festival, where Māoridom flocked to in the weeks just gone by; that the conversation for this bill and the aspirations of this generation and for those to come will remain alive! Therefore, that is the big challenge before us, the Māori people.

You have carefully demonstrated the integrity of the Whanganui River to us. That is a particular challenge indeed to mine of the Far North! The House has spoken about the life-giving waters of the Far North, Hokianga, and of Taumārere. To the Minister, the honourable Christopher Finlayson, I leave that thought for you to ponder over. In time you will speak to the leaders of Ngāpuhi and of the Far North. The hope is that we do not forget the spiritual guardian of Rangiriri within me of Taumārere River in the future.

People, the bell has rung! And so to summarise and to end the contribution of the House about the bill, I commend you collectively. The hope is that that unseen place will look after you as you return to your homes throughout. You need to be mindful of the fact that this morning we began with Te Pākau of Heretaunga in regard to the matter concerning the Wairoa tribes. After the first reading of that bill, we climbed the sacred mountain of Tongariro and into Te Pito of Te Whenua. We looked at Te Pākau of Te Tai Hauāuru and the river of Whanganui flowing by, and so to us assembled here together, my parents and leaders, salutations and acknowledgments to you collectively, and my appreciation to us all.]

This morning we have prepared a number of whakataukī, people have made a number of references, and here is another one: give him an inch and he will take a mile. It was suggested by my whip that no one would complain if I broke the convention and took the last speech, so here goes.

I wanted to take this opportunity to look up to the gallery, at these people from Whanganui and along the awa, and to acknowledge that it is a privilege to continue walking alongside you. Many people talk about members of Parliament who come to Parliament from their electorates and gradually fall under the influence of this place, forget where they have come from, and forget about the influence in respect of their electorates. My experience has been totally counter to that. I have found that the influence of you people, the influence of people from Whanganui, has had a greater and greater impact on me personally in my renaissance as a Pākehā New Zealander, and bears more influence on the House as that influence has grown.

One of the things that has become obvious to me, and it has been mentioned this morning, is that the river is fundamental to the health of Whanganui, and it is testament to our environment and the health of us as a nation. The health of our environment means that we will have a healthy nation. You cannot have an economy without an environment, particularly in this country, and we should never get that order back to front.

My friend Marama talked about talking to the river and not about the river. I think that what we have learnt from the theme of dealing with the environment and our own health is that we should never take things for granted. On a number of occasions I have canoed on the Whanganui River. Just when I have been taking the river for granted, it has given me a little flick and I have found myself getting wet. So I no longer do that, in spite of the greenery that I left on the right rock, to appease the taniwha. Nevertheless, that is the way it is. And so it is with people—in the same way, we should not take people for granted. People are not a commodity; people are to be respected, to be represented, to be advocated for, to be loved, and to be cared for. To neglect that is to incur peril upon ourselves.

I also want to remark on the influence that Whanganui people and Whanganuitanga has had on New Zealand as a whole. If we think back to Waitangi Day and the Rt Hon Bill English’s speech at Ōrākei, he thanked the people for the protest that they had made at what we call Bastion Point, the pou that those people put into the ground, and the influence that the protest movement has had over those intervening years. So it has been with Pākaitore. When we think about where we find ourselves today, I wonder whether we would be here without those experiences at Pākaitore. I am looking up to the gallery, at the crowd and the faces that I never knew previous to those events. I hear people saying—I hear Pākehā saying—that you have reinvented yourselves into stateswomen and statesmen, and I do not think that that is correct at all. I do not think you have changed a bit; I think that what has changed is us. I think that you have had an influence on us as New Zealanders, and the level of expectation that we now have as to the rights and wrongs of the kawa around tikanga.

My son is living in Canada. His mate is a schoolteacher, trying to teach these little Canucks how to play rugby—perish the thought. Part of their education is to learn about the All Blacks, obviously, but also incorporated into that is for the children to understand the haka. My son, who is Samoan, came to me to approach what the protocol is around him talking to Canadian kids about the haka. He never would have done any of that—it would not have entered his mind to even consult on whether or not it was appropriate for him to do it, and, if he was to do it, how he should teach it and who he should acknowledge, etc., etc. So it is with us. To think, Annette and Ken, not long ago we were all arguing about an “h”, and now it does not have an “f”-ing thing to do with Whanganui.

I also want to acknowledge the Hon Chris Finlayson—I have skited about our blood relationship since we discovered it, in the early days of our time here in Parliament—and the esteem that we all hold him in, and I know that you do too. Today we have heard a lot of talk about this very novel approach of according the river a legal personality. I am surprised that I have not seen more of you scratching your heads, just saying: “Oh yeah, at last.” Here is another whakataukī: back to the future. The fact is that the river has a personality and has always had a personality. Now it is Pākehā who are waking up to that realisation. It is no less sensational, though, that it was my cousin who got Pākehā to understand what you have known all along.

I also want to acknowledge those—I will not try naming them all, as they have been many times this morning—who have gone before, those people who have made their contributions known, and who are not acknowledged for that fact, and the legacy that they have left with us, not only with you as hapū and iwi and us as the people who live in the location, but with us as a nation of peoples.

The future health of the river will be self-evident, as will the future health of the people. So it will be with the strength of this resolution and the acknowledgment of the personality that is Te Awa Tupua. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Bill read a third time.

Waiata

The House adjourned at 12.18 p.m.