Te Ururoa Flavell: Sad farewell for dear friend

Tena tatou katoa.

Firstly, I want to pay my respects to Tank Gordon. He was a respected coach of the Kiwi team and overseas teams. After spending some time overseas, Tank returned here to work among our own and became one of the leaders within Te Wananga o Aotearoa. They paid the ultimate tribute to him before his final journey. Rest well dear friend.

I was fortunate to attend the recent Te Arawa pride games hosted by Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa. What a huge battle among the teams. It was great to see our confederation together and in the end, it was Ngati Rangitihi who took it out. Awesome work. I came second in the Badminton doubles. I don't know how that happened, but I suspect the ref was perhaps one-eyed, which is why I came second. In the end, however, it was a successful weekend overall and great to have things resurrected after a recess. I want to congratulate the organisers and workers of Te Papa Takaro, well done.

This coming Easter, I will be torn between all sorts of activities including unveilings, sports, hui and parliamentary work. Despite all the commitments, hopefully we still remember the basis of Easter.

Last week, we had Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare arrive in Parliament to witness the end of their settlement claim.

I was fortunate to have been invited by Ngati Manawa to their celebratory dinner prior to Parliament and it was quite emotional to see the photos of those who first put the claim forward, such as Bill Bird.

Bill was the great advocate for Ngati Manawa, consistently challenging the Crown position and never deviating at all from his focus.

It was sad that they could not be there to witness what their hard work had accomplished. Bill would always say "land lost, land returned".

The Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill provides the financial base the tribes will need into the future, however, in regards to ownership of land, those are matters still yet to be resolved.

 

Tena tatou katoa

I te tuatahi, me tuku i nga poroporoaki ki a "Tank" Gordon. Ko ia te kaitohutohu, kaiakiaki i te tima "Kiwi" me etahi atu tima riiki i tawahi i nga tau kua hipa, a, i hoki mai ki waenga i a tatou ki konei mahi ai. He tangata tenei i ngakaunui ki Te Wananga o Aotearoa, a, na ratou ia i whakanui i mua o tana hikoi whakamutunga. Haere koutou ko to tira e hoa.

Na, ka huri ki a tatou te hunga ora. Ka nui aku mihi ki te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa mo te pai o te whakataetae hakinakina i tu inatatanei. Katahi te pakanga ko tera!! I kitea ai ko te whanuitanga o to tatou waka o Te Arawa, a, ko Ngati Rangitihi i waimarie!! Kia ora ra koutou. I tuarua maua ko aku hoa i nga whiringa toa i te whakataetae "Badminton". He karu arotitaha to te kaiwhakawa koia nei au i tuarua ai!! Heoi ano, ko te mea nui, kua ara ake ano te kaupapa nei, mai i te moeroa ki te whai ao. No reira, ki nga ringa raupa o Te Papa Takaro, ka rawe hoki.

Ka toia au ki uta ki tai a te Aranga e haere ake nei. He hura kohatu, he hakinakina, he hui, he mahi paremata te korero. Na te nui o nga kaupapa, ka ngaro pea ko te putake o te Aranga.

No te wiki kua hipa i eke atu a Ngati Manawa raua ko Ngati Whare ki te Whare Paremata mo te wahanga whakamutunga o to ratou kereme. Noku te waimarie i tonoa au e Ngati Manawa kia kai tahi i mua o te hui i te Paremata, a, i reira, i kitea ko nga whakaahua o te hunga na ratou tonu nga kereme i kokiri i te wa ia ratou. Koia nei te aroha, i te mea, e kore ratou e kite i te whakatinanatanga o a ratou mahi. Ko Bill (Waiparera) Bird tetahi. Koia te tohe o Ngati Manawa i te wa i a ia, a, ko te hoariri o te Karauna. Ko ta Bill, "riro whenua atu, hoki whenua mai," na, kaore te tangata nei i kotiti i tera whakaaro. Ko te Pire o Ngati Manawa raua ko Ngati Whare he timatanga a moni nei ki te paerangi, a, kei te noho tarewa tonu te take mana whenua. No reira, kaore ano nga take katoa kia oti noa.

I welcome your feedback. Email: mpwaiariki@parliament.govt.nz Post: PO Box 12028, Rotorua 3045 Phone: 07 3503261