Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill

on behalf of the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: I move, That the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time. Tēnā koutou. He rā nui tēnei mō tātou katoa ngā Māori katoa o Aotearoa nā reira, koutou Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, nau mai, whakapiri mai. Tēnā koe e Doc. Tō kaha ki te haramai i tēnei rangi, tēnā koe, hā, ngā mihi nui ki a koe. Naida, koutou katoa i tae mai nei i tēnei rā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou.

Ko ētahi kāre i konei—haere. Kua hinga rātou, kua tukuna atu, nā reira, kei te mihi tonu ki a rātou ngā mate kua pā ki a tātou i ēnei rangi, i ēnei tau kua pahure ake, ā, kei roto i ō tātou whakaaro i ngā wā katoa. Nā reira, ko Parekura tētahi, ā, i hīkoi i waenganui i a koutou, ā, kua tukuna atu ki Te Kaihanga i te rangi. Anā, kua hinga mai tētahi o Tainui i tēnei rā, arā, ko te tama, tētahi o ngā tamariki a Tom Moana, ā te ahiahi nei ka haere tōna tūpāpaku ki Horahora Marae i roto o Tainui. Nā reira, ngā mihi, ngā tangi ki a rātou kua ngaro atu. Haere koutou, okioki pai mai.

Ēngari, ki a koutou kua tae mai, Ngāti Whātua ki—[Interruption]—Kaipara whānui, hari koa taku ngākau. Kia ora, Naida. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, ngā tamariki mokopuna o Haranui, Rēweti, Kakanui, arā, Araparera, ā, me Puatahi marae, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. He nunui ngā mihi ki a koutou i tēnei rangi kua hara mai nei mai i Te Hiku o tō tātou Ika-a-Māui.

[Greetings to you collectively. This is a great day for all of us Māori of New Zealand, so to you of Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara, welcome, draw closer. Hello there, Doc. I admire your strength to come here today. Well done and a huge welcome to you indeed, to you too, Naida, and all of you who have come here today, acknowledgments, greetings, and congratulations.

There are some who are not here—farewell. They have passed away and have been released but we continue to acknowledge them, the deaths that touched us recently and in years past. They are in our thoughts at all times. Parekura is one of them. He walked amongst you. He has been given up to the Creator in heaven. Now another has fallen in Tainui just today. He is one of Tom Moana’s children, the son whose body will be taken to Horahora Marae in Tainui this afternoon. So tributes and laments to them who are lost from us. Depart and rest well there.

But to you collectively who have arrived here, Ngāti Whātua of—[Interruption]—Kaipara at large, I am elated. Thank you, Naida. Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara, the children and grandchildren of Haranui, Rēweti, Kakanui, and, indeed, Araparera and Puatahi courtyard, salutations and greetings to you all. My tributes to you collectively who came here today from the Tail of our Maui’s Fish are enormous.]

I would like to acknowledge all those who made claims on behalf of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and began this journey. I would also like to pause to remember and pay tribute to those who began the journey but are no longer with us, in particular te rangatira Sir Hugh Kāwharu, ā, me ērā atu, me ērā atu [and so on]. Moe mai koutou ngā rangatira, moe mai rā.

[Rest there, esteemed ones. Sleep on.]

We are here today to complete our consideration of a bill to resolve an injustice that began 169 years ago. It has been a long and arduous journey to get to this point. This bill settles the Treaty claims of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara by giving effect to the deed of settlement that Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have negotiated with the Crown. This bill includes the Crown’s acknowledgment that it breached the Treaty of Waitangi, and it apologises for those breaches and their consequences. This bill also provides for cultural, financial, and commercial redress in compensation for these breaches. He hōnore māku ki te pānuihia ēnei kaupapa nā te mea nā Minister Finlayson tēnei pire ēngari, kua homai tēnei hōnore ki a au nā te mea, kai te noho tahi tātou i Tāmaki—tēnā koutou.

[It is an honour indeed for me to present these matters because this bill actually belongs to the Minister Christopher Finlayson. But he gave this privilege to me because we live together in Auckland—greetings to you collectively.]

In 1992 Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara’s claim Wai 312 was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal, with hearings from 1999 through to 2001. Negotiations began in 2002, but little progress was made until serious discussions began in 2008 with Sir Michael Cullen. He was then the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. It was not until December 2009 that an agreement in principle was signed. Then, finally, in September 2011 Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara signed their deed of settlement. So 21 years later we mark a significant milestone for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara as I move the third and final reading of their settlement bill.

This bill will settle the grievances arising from the Crown’s persuasive and unrelenting land-buying policies that began with the purchase of large tracts of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara land bordering on the upper Waitematā in 1844. The Native Land Court exacerbated land loss by individualising titles, so that by 1900, and within a single generation, Ngāti Whātua had lost 90 percent of their lands in southern Kaipara. The 10 percent of land left for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara was fragmented, uneconomic, and hard to live off. This land loss also meant that the right of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara to uphold their own mana motuhake, to exercise their own rangatiratanga, was denied.

But the people of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara survived, and although it has been a long journey, they are here in this House today, pumping, seeking justice, and taking ownership of their own destiny. Some also are here in spirit. An injustice that began in 1844 with the Crown takeover of vast tracts of lands in the upper Waitematā will soon be addressed by this Parliament, the people of Ngāti Whātua, and the people of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. All those things the families of Haranui, Rēweti, Kakanui, Araparera, and Puatahi have lost due to the actions of the Crown can never be totally restored, and yet today Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara seek to settle their grievances with the Crown. We need to recognise that. In coming to this agreement to resolve past grievances, we honour all of our ancestors. Importantly, we also honour our descendants and we plan for the future.

I stand to acknowledge Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, whose tenacity and leadership will soon see settlement for the hapū and marae of southern Kaipara. I commend the trustees of the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Committee and the trustees of Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara Development Trust for their passion and commitment. They have shown incredible leadership by working alongside other iwi and hapū of Kaipara, Tāmaki-makau-rau, and Hauraki.

The support of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara people for the settlement negotiated on their behalf is clear. Two ratification processes held in August 2010 and August 2011 returned approval rates of 96 percent and 92 percent respectively—amazing. The Treaty settlement journey for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara has taken over 21 years, and although it is not possible to provide full restitution to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara for the losses suffered, the settlement redress provided for in this bill seeks to recognise the seriousness of their grievances and build a positive foundation for the future generations of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

The Hon Tau Henare made the point in the last settlement speech that perhaps New Zealand leads the world in terms of actually trying to do something to reconcile with its indigenous people. We looked at what is happening in America and other places—there are still signs up saying that Sitting Bull was a treacherous Indian, and things like that. We have moved forward, and it is really good to see. It is not just a mere apology; at least there is some real effort to embrace what happened in the past, own it, and make some sort of recompense for that. So we are really happy to be part of this process today.

The legislation before us is much more than a new law; it is a history of a people and it is the future of a people. What was taken from these families can never be replaced—90 percent of the ancestral lands can never be replaced—and yet here they are, willing to settle with the Crown. I acknowledge the sacrifice, pain, and injustice. I thank Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara for their leadership, generosity, and mana, without which we would not be here today. I believe this settlement will support the healing of the relationship between Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Crown, and I hope that the apology, which forms part of the settlement, will also assist with the healing. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara acknowledges that the Crown’s apology represents its commitment to build a positive relationship with them and to honour its obligation under the Treaty for the good of this and future generations.

This bill acknowledges Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara’s relationship with their whenua. As part of this acknowledgment, nine reserves and conservation sites of significance will be transferred to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara as cultural redress. These sites include Atuanui Scenic Reserve, Mairetahi Landing, Mauiniu Island, Moturemu Island, Tīpare, Makarau, Makarau Bridge Reserve, Parakai, and Ten Acre Block Recreation Reserve. This settlement will be a key step in allowing the iwi to move forward economically and culturally. The $22.1 million plus interest through their settlement and financial redress, including the transfer of Woodhill Forest, will provide Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara with an ability to focus on and develop their future. I am very proud to stand and support this bill. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Ngā whakamoemiti ki a Ihowa o ngā mano, matua, tama, wairua tapu, he whakahōnore ki ngā anahera pono, ko te māngai anō hei tautoko mai aianei āke nei, āe. E te tini, e te tā o ngā maunga whakahī o Kaipara, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. Nau mai, haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata e takatū nei. Nau mai ki “Te Ana o te Raiona”. Ka nui te harikoa o te ngākau kua hara mai tātou i tēnei wā. Nō koutou tēnei rā. Ko tēnei te rā whakahirahira, harihari koa te ngākau. E aku rangatira, e te āpōtoro, e Doc, ka nui te mihi ki a koe. Ki a koutou e te whānau, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Praise to Jehovah of the multitudes, father, son, and the holy spirit. Honour the faithful angels. The spokesperson will support once again now and for ever, yes. To the many and the elite from the illustrious mountains of Kaipara, greetings and salutations to you collectively. Welcome, come hither to Parliament standing here in readiness. Come hither to the “Den of the Lion”. I am full of joy that we have come here at this stage. This is your day. This is an outstanding day and the heart is rejoicing. To my esteemed elders and to the apostle, Doc, I am full of admiration, and to you the family, salutations, greetings, and congratulations to you all.]

This is a very historic day today, and I am so delighted to be able to speak at the final reading of the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill. This is such a historic day. I think I might adopt the tone of our Minita over there, Pita Sharples. We do not need to go through all the formalities. I know that I would like to acknowledge the history and the whakapapa and the significant achievements of the rangatira of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara—I have spoken a lot about that in my earlier speeches—but today is a day for celebration. It is a day to acknowledge the journey that has been taken, and all of the great leaders and people who have taken Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara on this historic journey, right up to today, and the passage and the final passing of this bill.

Just like our Minister here, I would like to do a roll-call of all the marae of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara: Puatahi, Arapārera, Kakanui, Haranui, and Rēweti. Welcome to them all. It is just wonderful to have you all here. I know you might have—excuse me, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am sorry; I am straying off the protocol. But it is wonderful to be here and to see you here, kanohi ki te kanohi, all of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

Can I particularly acknowledge the claims committee and all those wonderful kaumātua who have awhi-ed and tautoko-ed this very big passage of the bill and the mahi and the claims to this point. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Takutai Moana Wikiriwhi, whom I see up there in the gallery—Āpōtoro Doc Wikiriwhi, as I know him. It is so wonderful to see him here. I remember as a young lad, playing my cornet for the Reo from Pōneke, when we used to travel up to Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei. Uncle Doc is the hardest-working āpōtoro throughout the whole of Tāmaki. We went on many a tour of duty through the hospitals, seeing rangatahi, to the prisons, and through a lot of the duties that we were doing, I was at his side, playing my horn for all of our ceremonial whakamoemiti hīmene. So it is wonderful to see him here today on this celebratory day.

Can I also acknowledge Naida—Naida Glavish, whom I see up there. Tēnā koe, e te whāea rangatira [the matriarch figure]. It was wonderful to see her just a couple of weeks ago down at Takahanga Marae, in Kaikōura, celebrating my cousin Mark—Tā Mark, sorry—Tā Mark Solomon’s investiture. It was wonderful to see her there. Can I also acknowledge all of the other trustees—Gloria Tīmoti, Haahi Walker, and Waata Richards—who have so amazingly led Ngāti Whātua through the passage of this settlement.

I do want to take a moment because this is such a historic day, and I do want to acknowledge the influential rangatira chief of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, Paora Tūhaere. I have spoken of him before, and I want to take this opportunity to speak of him again because he was the paramount leader of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara when his uncle Apihai Te Kawau passed on. But I do acknowledge Paora Tūhaere because I would not be here in this Parliament had it not been for him, because he suggested—it was his idea—that we have Māori seats in Parliament. But it was not just four Māori seats at that time; it was that if there were 50 seats for Pākehā, there would be 50 for Māori. So I acknowledge his great foresight and his great leadership that we are still here today some 160-odd years later, representing our Māori electorates. There are a few more of us now. There are seven of us. I would like to encourage our whānau to really get involved and get on to that option. Use the option to get on the Māori roll so we might be able to get more seats. I know through the reports yesterday that it was not looking that promising with the numbers, but I have trust in our whānau that they will do the right thing and get on the Māori roll.

I do acknowledge Paora Tūhaere, and I also do acknowledge the history of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, because Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara were very loyal to the Crown—very loyal to the Crown. Not one shot was fired in anger at the Crown. They were so loyal to the Crown that the Crown robbed them of their land. There was no way that Pākehā New Zealand was going to let Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara share in the growth of Auckland. I have mentioned that in my previous speeches, but I do want to put it down there on the record. You would not get an iwi that was more loyal, more supportive, or so enthused about the future promise that Auckland offered than Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. And they were so let down. The Crown, as we know, failed in so many ways to protect Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, as it has done to all iwi, as we have heard earlier this week with Ngāi Tūhoe in the signing of their deed of settlement, and as we have spoken about earlier today with my relations from ngā iwi o Te Tau Ihu o te Waka. The Crown has failed in so many ways.

Like other tribes, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara gave up land for the building of railways, towns, and schools. When this land was not used for its purpose, the land was alienated and never returned to the original owners. That was standard modus operandi of the Crown. It is great that after the passage of time and through the Treaty settlements—which I am proud that we have been a part of when we have been in Government, and also I acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Chris Finlayson, for his work while being in Government—we have seen progress happening over the last 20-plus years in terms of Treaty settlements. We see the redress and the statutory recognition of sites and financial redress, which are now going to flow through to Ngāti Whātua, through this settlement. But I want to stress that perhaps you can have the financial packages and the commercial redress and the like, but what is the most important aspect of these settlements, and every iwi will agree, is that it reaffirms the presence of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, the permanence that they have to their community, to their whenua, and to their ancestral landscape. That is very important and I am pleased that measures are being taken in this Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill to do that.

Finally, can I just acknowledge the Hon Parekura Horomia because Parekura Horomia and I, we spoke at the second reading of this bill. It was the last time that he spoke in this House, and I just acknowledge that. I am pleased to be able to step up here now and mihi to you all, and I do acknowledge our chief Parekura Horomia. Just to conclude, I would also like to give an apology from Shane Jones. He tried very hard to be here today for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. Unfortunately, he is a bit māuiui today, but he promises to apologise to you. I understand he is going to apologise with crayfish at the hākari. I will leave you to follow that up with him. Ka kitea taku kōrero i tēnei wā. Ki a koutou Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[I have found what I wanted to say now. To you, Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara, greetings, salutations, and congratulations to you all.]

I commend this bill to the House.

Shane always makes those promises. I am really pleased to be here today. I want to begin by offering an explanation to those in the gallery, because when Dr Sharples stood up to speak I shot out the door. It is not because I do not like listening to Dr Sharples or working with him—he is a fantastic Minister of Māori Affairs, and I work with him very closely as his Associate Minister of Māori Affairs—it is just that I am responsible for the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill, and for some peculiar reason I am not allowed to be here if someone else is giving the first speech. Let it be clear that I have the greatest of respect for Dr Sharples, who has worked with me very closely on this settlement, but the rules are the rules, and if I disobeyed them the Speaker would scold me. Anyway, it is a great day today.

As I said in a speech that I gave at the signing of the Ngāi Tūhoe deed of settlement, it is not the end, because this is not a deal. This is a very sacred settlement, but it is the beginning of a new relationship. There are going to be ups and downs, there are going to be irritations, but the Crown and Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have committed to work together to address those difficulties going into the future. It is a great day for Ngāti Whātua generally, because with this third reading we now have concluded settlements with Te Uri o Hau and Te Rōroa, last year we had Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei, and, of course, today we have Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

The acknowledgments have been given, and it would be repetitious to go through all the names again, but I particularly want to acknowledge Margaret Kāwharu for all her wonderful work. I see that great leader of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, Naida Glavish, in the gallery. She does so much for this country. She is on the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. I look her in the eye and I say: “I know we have unfinished business. We have the harbour.” She said to me some years ago that we have to deal with issues relating to the Kaipara, and I am very keen to get on to those. I give her and Ngāti Whātua my undertaking that that is a very important piece of work. It is about this time that the Office of Treaty Settlements staff start cringing, because they will say: “Oh, he is making promises again.” But that is the way it is. It is important work, not to do a deal but to do a settlement with Ngāti Whātua in relation to the harbour.

Treaty settlement days are wonderful days for Parliament. They have become a regular occurrence in the House. It is because of cross-party arrangements to facilitate what are called extended sitting hours. We do not like dealing with Treaty settlement legislation in urgency, because that would be disrespectful in terms of what we are trying to achieve. So through the agreement of the House we have Thursday mornings in some sessions when we can debate these issues. Every settlement is unique. Of course there are common features, but every settlement is unique and is tailored to address the uniqueness of the relationship and the failings between the Crown and the particular iwi.

We all know the history here because Mr Tirikatene has mentioned it. Ngāti Whātua signed the Treaty when it was brought to Tāmaki in March 1840. From then, the Ngāti Whātua community of the south Kaipara adopted a strategy of inclusion and engagement. They transacted large areas of land with the Crown, to be made available for settlers. They welcomed the settlers, and then they were let down. A meeting house was erected by Ngāti Whātua at Aotea, and a plinth was placed in front of the house, with the words of the Treaty of Waitangi inscribed on it. When the rangatira Te Keene Tangaroa wrote to George Grey about the plinth he explained it was meant as “a sign for us and our European friends to see”. So the tragedy, which this important settlement bill seeks to put right, is that despite their endorsement and their open and willing engagement with the Crown, by the early 20th century Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara were in a position that was no better than that of other iwi. They were, effectively, landless, and, of course, with landlessness came poverty and destitution.

The tribunal, as part of its historical work, undertook an inquiry into your claims just over a decade ago. You describe living conditions for Ngāti Whātua in the 1950s and 1960s as resembling rural slums. The history is set out in the introduction to the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill and in the deed of settlement, as are the Crown’s acknowledgments—and they should be. I say what I said in the previous debate: it is very important that people who doubt the validity of what this country is doing with its historical claims work should read the historical account, should read the acknowledgments, and should acknowledge the facts, because the facts speak for themselves.

I do not want to talk at any great length about the economic and the cultural packages. I believe the economic package puts you in a very great position to work with other iwi in the area to develop a good, strong economic base, and I believe that with the work that is being done in the wider Tāmaki area there are great opportunities.

I want to acknowledge the Department of Conservation because it will be working with you in years to come on a co-management framework. The Department of Conservation has some wonderful policy people at its head office and it has some really great people on the ground who care for this work, and I know that they are going to do a good job with you into the future.

There are some people on my side whom I want to acknowledge. The Parliamentary Counsel Office does a great job drafting the legislation, often in conditions of great urgency. The Māori Affairs Committee, chaired by Tau Henare, does a wonderful job in going out, hearing submissions on bills, and then reporting the bills back to the House. Tau, frankly, makes mincemeat of those who get in the way. There was a submission on the Ōrākei bill that he did not like, and I think the submitter left the worse for wear.

I want to acknowledge the Office of Treaty Settlements, which does a great job. I particularly acknowledge my chief Crown negotiator in the Tāmaki area, Mike Dreaver. He has done fabulous work over the last few years. Whenever there is an adjournment he has me in the general area, working and meeting people. In the last adjournment I had 3 days of meetings in Hauraki. He is a very hard-working and dedicated individual, and I am pleased to place on record my admiration for the work he has done, because it was he who started this work with Sir Douglas Graham a couple of years ago, and no one would ever have imagined that we would get this far.

But today is your day, and I acknowledge the presence of so many of you in the gallery. Thank you very much for your hard work, the hard work of your lawyer, Grant Powell, and the hard work of your negotiators. So many people have done a great job to get to this stage. I have to say that in Treaty settlements terms it has worked very, very well indeed. I signed the agreement in principle on the eve of Christmas a couple of years ago, and because of the dedication of the Kaipara team we are where we are today, so thank you very much, and all the very best for the future. As I say, there is some unfinished business in relation to a certain harbour, and once again I give my undertaking that we are on to it.

Ā, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou. Tēnei e tū ana ki te tuku aku mihi maioha ki a koutou Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara. Tēnei taku kitenga i a koe taku tau, te rangatira, te matua ka hoki ngā mahara. Ka hoki ngā mahara ki a rātou katoa e kawea ana i tēnei kaupapa i mua i te aroaro o te Kāwanatanga, i mua i te aroaro o te Karauna. Ahakoa kua ngaro i te tirohanga kanohi, kei konei rātou i tēnei wā hei ārahi i ngā whakaaro o te ngākau e pā ana ki ngā kōrero ka puta mai. Ki a koe anō hoki, Naida, koutou katoa.

[Thank you and greetings to you collectively. I rise to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you of Ngāti Whātua at Kaipara. My sighting of you, my beloved, esteemed leader and fatherly figure, make the memories go back. The thoughts go back to all of them who brought this matter before Government and the Crown. Although they are lost from view, they are here at this point in time to guide the feelings of the heart in respect of the stories that will emerge. Thank you once again, Naida, and indeed to all of you.]

It gives me great pleasure to be able to support the third reading of the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill. I will take a brief call, but it is not to disrespect Ngāti Whātua; it is to affirm something very interesting that is happening today. We have debated a lot of settlement bills in this House. I would say that this bill, in two words, is smart and agile. It is smart because it recognises that the context for its historical Treaty claims exists within, actually, something big that is happening within New Zealand, and that is the growth of Auckland. There is no doubt about it that Ngāti Whātua in Kaipara and in Ōrākei will have a deep impression on the way in which Auckland will grow now and into the future. It is agile because some of the pillars within this particular bill affirm the ongoing interests that Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara will seek to have established and recognised within the context of our modern legislative environment. For example, the recognition of conservation covenants and the interplay with the Conservation Act are very much a here and now issue. If Auckland wants to continue to maintain green space within the isthmus, there is no doubt that within the rohe of Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara they will have some very strong views about how that could happen.

I would invite any member who has a representative interest in Auckland who is listening to this debate to get themselves acquainted with two things: the deed of settlement for this particular bill, and the legislation that we are currently affirming here today. Why? Because they have to be understood within the context of an ever-increasing and ever-evolving Auckland isthmus. There will be no doubt about it. The interests of Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara and Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei will ensure that they have an ongoing role in the way in which that city continues to evolve and grow.

The other pillar within the context of this bill links to the Resource Management Act. We cannot get away from the fact that the assertion of rights and interests will be determined by how this particular law giving effect to the settlement will interplay with the Conservation Act and the Resource Management Act and, by extension, influence what is happening within the context of the local government legislation.

I understand that Ngāti Whātua is well represented on the Māori advisory board. I suspect that the next step will be a seat around the council table—two seats, probably. We will certainly be pushing up from the south for a couple of seats. The general purview of interest is that our largest city in this country will be heavily influenced—heavily influenced—by the footprints and the handprints of the ancestors who have traditionally walked the Auckland isthmus, and their descendants will make sure that they will be at the forefront of modern urban development, while retaining some of the strong values that they have as Māori.

I applaud Ngāti Whātua. I applaud them for, again, a smart and agile settlement. I applaud them for recognising that this is a gain for now, and that there are many other gains to come. The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations himself has recognised some of the outstanding issues that will be gains to come. I applaud the way in which the commercial redress will put some very strong interests in some key properties within your rohe—key properties—some of which the Crown, as the major tenant, is probably not likely to move its tenancy of for quite some time. We would hope, at the positive end, that none of our people end up in the whare herehere. But at the other end, it does not look like the Crown is going to resile from its tenancy of that particular premise.

Also, in the education space, I would hazard a guess that in 10 years’ time, when we look to review some of the gains of Ngāti Whātua in the education space, they will show themselves to be strong leaders in showing a different way of doing things in education, but for the betterment of their people.

This is a brief call, but it is not to disrespect Ngāti Whātua; it is just to say well done. It is a smart and agile settlement. I do not say that often. I am hoping that we might learn from you when we advise other people about settlements to look to and models to gain from. I hope that in the spirit of the settlement progress and post-settlement opportunity, we can all learn from one another, because your gains will be our gains, and hopefully our mistakes will not be your mistakes. Nō reira, kia koutou katoa, tēnā koutou.

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. Kei te mihi nui ki ngā manuhiri, ngā hapū o Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Hello, Mr Speaker. I acknowledge the Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara visitors and subtribes greatly. Greetings to you all.]

I am pleased to take a short call just to affirm the Green Party’s support for this legislation, the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill, as we endeavour to support all of the settlement bills.

I would like to begin by simply taking a moment to acknowledge, as others have done, rather a large gap in the Labour benches this morning. We reference, of course, our late and much-lamented colleague Parekura, who always brought a distinct flavour to these debates. He is missed but his legacy continues, and will do so far into the future.

One of the mixed benefits of being an MP, and particularly a northern MP, is that I travel routinely. My journey to work each Tuesday morning literally gives me a bird’s-eye view of the Kaipara Harbour and the landscape that surrounds it. It is an extraordinary landscape—our largest harbour—and a very rich landscape, historically an enormously productive landscape. The richness of that place both culturally, after 300 years of occupation by ngā hapū o Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, and, of course, ecologically—the richness of the land and the sea—attracted people to live there so many years ago. Of course, sadly, over time that landscape, both culturally and physically, the environment, has been degraded, and it is an unfortunate reality that now the work begins again—or continues, I should say—to restore the quality of both the cultural landscape and the physical landscape, the ecology of that place.

This settlement bill we are debating, and will pass unanimously today, I am sure, is a significant step towards that restoration, and for that we applaud the work of those at Government level who have contributed to that. I must commend Minister Finlayson—something, I must confess, the Greens do not routinely do—for his stated commitment to continue to put energy and time into the Kaipara.

I mentioned degradation. It saddens me to think back to my childhood, when, driving around the countryside, you would routinely hear people sneeringly remark about Māori land and how one could identify Māori land because that was the land growing gorse and with broken fences and no sign of much work being done. Of course, what was missing from those statements is captured in the text of this bill, which notes that the Native Land Court established in 1862 was intended to—and did very successfully—alienate Māori from their land. It goes on in the bill to say that the law did not provide a way for the owners to collectively manage their land. This meant it was difficult for owners to accumulate capital and make improvements, and frequently owners had little option but to use sale proceeds to meet their immediate needs. That has been part of the history of the Kaipara rohe, as indeed it has been of the entire motu of New Zealand generally.

Now is the time to celebrate the fact that we see, in the course of these settlement bills, a significant step towards restoring the integrity of the land as we restore the integrity of the mana—recognise the mana whenua for who they are and what they are. In that sense, it is a genuine pleasure to be part of the process, albeit in a small way.

A week or two ago one of our Labour colleagues used a word that was not familiar to many of us, and in that spirit I am going to introduce a new word and talk about the palimpsest of Kaipara. That is a word that has many meanings, but in landscape terms it is one I came across in a former life. It talks about the marks, the impressions, that are left by human interaction with the land over time. Those marks can sometimes be erased. They can be the contours of a hill where once there was a pā. It can be a kūmara pit. It can be the remnants of a stone wall. But what we see around the Kaipara, as in so many other places, is lines that reflect dispossession, alienation, and degradation.

I believe that the passing of this bill will make a contribution to restoration, so that in future people will look at that land and they will see impressions, they will see marks on the landscape that speak of productivity, of richness, of quality of life, and of integrity of the environment. That is the challenge that lies before us all, to ensure our ongoing support beyond the speeches and the goodwill of today, to ensure that we put our energies into supporting the ongoing recognition of mana whenua throughout the country and, in this specific case, of course, the mana whenua of Kaipara Harbour and their surrounding land.

A year or so ago—in fact, probably longer; 2 years ago, perhaps—I was fortunate to be at a hui at Puatahi Marae that was a getting together of a group called the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group. That is not a title that flows from the tongue, but it is an extraordinary and admirable coming together of Māori interests, of local hapū and whānau, of farmers, of conservation groups, of ordinary members of the public, and of local government. The common cause, the common purpose, of that group is the restoration of the whenua and of the moana of Kaipara. The ambitious and worthy goal of that group is to plant 2 million trees around Kaipara by 2015. That is an extraordinarily ambitious goal, and one I am sure it is well on the way to fulfilling.

We know that as we restore the land we are restoring people, because people and their land are interwoven inextricably. If one is degraded, the other inevitably is degraded. As we restore the land, the rivers, and the harbour, we are also restoring the quality of life of the people who live in it and on it and whose tipuna have lived there for such a long time. So I can say that community, ground-upward initiatives like the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group indicate to us that communities often move faster than does the legislative process. In a sense we are catching up with where the community is leading us, and, notably, where ngā hapū, ngā iwi katoa are leading us, to restore this place and to restore this country to the richness and to the quality that it deserves to have.

Once again, I extend to the people of Kaipara our greetings, our goodwill, and our ongoing support from the Green Party. Kia ora koutou.

Kia ora, Mr Assistant Speaker. Te mea tuatahi, anei taku mihi ki a koutou katoa. E aku rangatira, e aku kaumātua, e ōku kuia, nō te hau kāinga, nō Ngāti Whātua, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Hello, Mr Assistant Speaker. First and foremost, here is my tribute to you all. To my leaders, elders, and elderly womenfolk from back home and from Ngāti Whātua, acknowledgments, compliments, and regards to you all.]

I have been told to keep my comments brief because we are running out of time—not that an extra 160 years would not go amiss. Can I say thank you to Ngāti Whātua for putting up with my family—or putting my family up—in your rohe for the last 30 years. Thank you for allowing me to swim at Parakai. Thank you for allowing me to fish your waters. I will not tell you where, but suffice it to say that it was in Ngāti Whātua territory.

It really is funny when you look at history and you look at, as my colleague Nanaia Mahuta said, the changing face of Auckland. One constant is Ngāti Whātua. One thing that remains the same is Ngāti Whātua, whether it is through the simple ownership of land or whether it is our looking at Ngāti Whātua and, I suppose, taking our hats off every time we go through the area of Ngāti Whātua. I love history, and one of the things that bugs me about New Zealand is that we have not embraced our history. We have not—Māoris do. They love to sit around and talk about who did what to whom, whether it is good or whether it is bad, but the nation does not spend time dealing with its history.

One of the sad things in Ngāti Whātua is, I suppose, the nation’s forgetfulness about the people who perished in a bus accident when the Queen was out here in the 1960s. As a kid, I read the story, and I was fascinated that these people were from just up the road. They lived up the road from me. Who else in New Zealand knows that, other than Ngāti Whātua and students of New Zealand history? It has not been emblazoned on our psyche, and it should be, because we should never forget, you know, the whole story behind where those people were travelling to and where they were coming from—it was actually Waitangi. Those are the stories that create our history, and a history to be proud of—the prowess. Like my colleague Rino says, where did the Māori seats come from? I used to be a Māori seat holder until they decided they wanted somebody else. I will not hold that against them. They were from Ngāti Whātua, but I will not hold that against you fullas.

In my last Treaty settlement speech I mentioned the horrific cartoons that we saw last week from the Marlborough Express and the Christchurch Press. Seven days ago there was an interview on TV3 with my colleague Hekia Parata. You can have your views on the National Party and the Labour Party and the Green Party and whomever else, but one of the questions asked of her—of her—by the interviewer was: “How Māori are you?”. I find that the most insulting, most verging-on-racist question I have ever heard a reporter ask of someone—not just of an MP but of someone in this country. Can you imagine a bill like this and a question being raised in the bill of how Māori Ngāti Whātua are, or how Māori Ngāpuhi are? How Māori are you? How Māori are you? It beggars belief.

When we are dealing with this sort of bill—and let me be blunt—we get off lightly. The Crown gets off lightly for what it did. When Ngāti Whātua jumped up, doing the haka, we pulled their land out. We are apologising for that with a few morsels—with a few pieces of silver. It is what we do, and we accept that that is what we have to do, but let no one forget that we are not the enemy—well, actually, Ngāti Whātua are not the enemy. They allowed New Zealanders to live in their area. I know that over time the other side got quite bigger numbers and things did not turn out in the way that Paora Tūhaere and our tūpuna thought they would, but their wish was to invite these people in, these newcomers. We are giving these people a pittance, as far as I am concerned. I am not arguing the quantum, Minister Finlayson.

But I want to leave you with this question: what have Māori done to deserve cartoons like that? What have Māori done to deserve being asked: “How Māori are you? Are you a real Māori?” What the hell does that mean in this day and age? I do laud the fact that New Zealand is a leader in its treatment of indigenous people, but, hell, we have got a long way to go. I am glad that I work in an environment where we all work daily to move closer to reconciliation—to true reconciliation. So I doff my cap to Ngāti Whātua and thank them, once again, for allowing me to live in their area. Kia ora.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, ngā whānau o Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Ngā mihi matua Doc, Whaea Naida, ā, tēnā koutou.

[Thank you, Mr Speaker. To the authorities, languages, and families of Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara, greetings, salutations, and acknowledgments to us all. Greetings to you, Doc, Madam Naida, and also to you collectively.]

And tēnā koutou to all the whānau who have travelled here today. This is a very special day for you. I acknowledge the efforts of the tribe over the last 21 years to get to this point of having your own Treaty settlement legislation, the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill, and I hope that today brings a lot of satisfaction. What you need to know is that within this House we come from different parties, but on this issue we have absolute consensus.

We also have absolute consensus about the fact that you have forgone your true settlement, if we were to give you back exactly what was taken from you. When I think about that generosity, it sometimes makes me cringe. I have just done some maths. Nanaia said “Don’t do it!”, but I have. You had 340,000 acres, and you ended up with 3 percent of the land that you originally had. I have just worked out that with the $22 million that you are getting back, we are basically giving you $66 per acre. I have just looked at some land on the internet. Five acres of land in North Auckland is worth $565,000—$565,000. So when people think that we here in the House are giving you too much, I think New Zealanders really need to wake up and actually acknowledge the leadership of Māoridom in this settlement process, because it is you who have brought us to this position. It is not us here; it is you. And what I want to recognise is that it is Māori—

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order!

I am not talking about you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and I think the context was pretty clear; I was talking about the whānau from Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. It is the whānau who actually want to look to the future in a positive manner. They want to look to a future that provides opportunities for our mokopuna and our tamariki, who are the future of our country. So I thank you on behalf of New Zealanders for that generosity and for enabling us as a country to move on.

What I do want to reiterate is some of the kōrero from the Hon Parekura Horomia. It has been really sad being here today and not having Pare, and I think everybody would acknowledge the contribution that he has made to the process. So I thank Parekura, but I also thank everybody who has been involved in bringing us to where we are today.

He focused in the first reading particularly on names. He talked about how important names were, and he basically said that a lot of the names that we have around the motu, but particularly in your settlement, were photocopied and basically imported. What I want to highlight is that within your deed of settlement what you have done is reclaim your names, and the New Zealand Geographic Board is going to acknowledge it. So instead of Lake Ōtotoa, it is going to be Lake Rototoa. Instead of Māori Bay, it is going to be Maukatia Bay. Instead of Mount Auckland, it is going to be Atuanui. Instead of Crocodile Island, it is going to be Te-Motu-o-Marae-Ariki. Instead of Shelley Beach, it is going to be Aotea Beach. Instead of Hatfields Beach, it is going to be Ōtānerua Beach.

Why is that significant? Actually, it is incredibly significant because names are important, and what it means is that Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara will for ever—for ever—be surrounded by, and be part of, the geography that is tūturu Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. What does that mean for us as New Zealanders? We are going to for ever recognise that status—the fact that you were and are the original sovereign of that area. I think those are incredibly significant developments within this Treaty settlement legislation, because what it does do is for ever acknowledge that you and the whānau of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have an imprint that can never be erased—it can never be erased.

I am here to celebrate with you. I am so proud to be a Māori member of Parliament and to be able to be involved in these processes. I look forward to further engagement and also to looking at how you will take this settlement and what you will do with it, because I think one of the critical challenges we have today is us providing ourselves with jobs for our whānau. How can we partner and develop the pūtea that we have to ensure that our tamariki mokopuna are going to be sustained by us, but in partnership with others? I note that there is an introductory letter to the Minister for Primary Industries on your behalf so that you can look at what sorts of relationships you can start to develop with the ministry.

I congratulate you. I congratulate all the people who have worked so hard, and I just thank you again on behalf of the people of Manurewa but also the people of Aotearoa New Zealand for your willingness to move on and enable us as a country to look to the future with positivity and pride. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is my pleasure to take a call on this Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill today. I would like to welcome everybody here who is in the gallery for the settlement. It is great to see the young here, because these settlements are about the future. It is great to see the elders who are here today, because they have worked so hard, so persistently, and with such good faith to get this Treaty settlement here today.

I was going to say it is great to welcome the rowdy, because you have been one of our more noisy-spirited iwi in the gallery, especially with the roll-call. It was good to hear your clear voices out there, so proud and strong coming from the gallery today. I would like to acknowledge those who have passed away on this journey, who have not been able to be here with you today in this long, long journey you have been on, and those who have worked hard—all of you—to make this a reality for your iwi and for your future.

This is the first time I have spoken on a Treaty bill since the passing of Parekura Horomia and I would like to acknowledge his work and his commitment to this process that we have got here today, as well. What I have learnt from these processes and these Treaty settlement bills is the stories that you tell and the history that you learn. I think that it is important that we tell these stories and that we hear them, and it is a privileged situation that we are in as members of Parliament to do that.

I would like to tell just a little one about Parekura today and about these Treaty settlement bills. I am not known for my great Te Reo skills at all. I would stand up here and I would do a settlement bill speech and I would see Parekura put his hand up and there would be a little note in it. The messenger would come over and pick the note out of his hand; I would be watching this as I am speaking and the messenger would walk around, put it on my desk, and Parekura in the note would write: “You’ve got the pronunciation all wrong. This is how you say it.” So I would be speaking away, reading this note at the same time, trying to work out how to pronounce better pronunciations of all the words I had been saying, and speaking at the same time. He would be sitting there with a big smile on his face, with a big thumbs up, and here I am thinking: “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!”. But that was Parekura for you: loving and supportive, and always there to make a difference. The irony of his giving someone lessons on speaking and pronunciation is not lost on me in any way, shape, or form, but we did love him to death and we do miss him incredibly in this House and also in our select committee, because he was a very, very, very strong member of that committee.

I have touched on how we are very privileged as members of Parliament to be part of the Treaty settlement process. It is only small what we do in this House at this stage, but what we have the privilege of is going out to the maraes and listening to your history, listening to your stories, and getting a much better understanding of the journey you have been on and why and how we have got to where we are today. Part of that is understanding the wrongs that need to be righted and part of that is understanding what is actually in this legislation, because we have a role to play in ensuring that it is the strongest it can possibly be for you. So this legislation is about acknowledging the wrongs. It is not about an apology. It is about cultural redress. It is about financial redress.

I just want to finish by saying that Nanaia Mahuta, in a previous Treaty settlement speech, said the words that it is great to be a bird, but you need the feathers to be able to fly. How true is that. I wish you all the best for your future and I look forward to the constructive relationship that you are going to have with the Crown moving forward. I commend this bill to the House.

I understand this is a split call. I call the honourable member Brendan Horan.

Kia ora e rau rangatira mā. Ka mihi atu i runga i te karanga o te rā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa.

[To the leaders of a hundredfold, greetings. I acknowledge you in respect of the call of the day, salutations, greetings, and congratulations once again to us all.]

Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara—169 years to reach this point and there are so many people to acknowledge both past and present. Rather than single out many special people I would rather acknowledge all who have gone before us and also all who smile warmly when they cast their thoughts to this settlement of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara’s area of interest encompasses the entirety of the southern Kaipara region, and what a magnificent land it is: from South Head to Muriwai on the west coast and from near Wellsford to the upper Waitematā Harbour to the east. Five marae in the south Kaipara are also affiliated with Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, those being Te Haranui, Puatahi, Araparera, Kakanui, and Rēweti.

As you can imagine, there has been an incredible amount of kōrero, hard mahi, compromise, and enduring intellect and courage to reach this settlement. There is more work to do, but it is now a working relationship with mana and reputation, with spiritual dignity restored. Any partnership from here forward is as equals, and it is admirable and just that Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have genuine input into the future of our country’s largest city.

Much has been said today, and I am not going to repeat it, because all of those sentiments are true. I will keep this rather short because it has taken so long to get here and I do not want to go on. I would just like to acknowledge and say to Shane Jones, who is a little crook today, that that is an awful lot of crayfish that you have got to come up with, and it does not count if you eat half of it. Toitū te whenua, toitū te tangata, toitū te mana. The land endures, the people prevail, the mana is secure. Congratulations, salutations, and good luck.

Kia ora, Ngāti Whātua. I am proud as the member of Parliament for Rodney to take this call today in honour of the settlement reached between the proud people of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Crown. I was sitting talking to my friend and colleague the Hon Tau Henare last night, reflecting on the importance of today and the significance of this settlement. I sought his guidance on how to make sure I spoke with respect, ensuring that I observed any special protocols. His advice to me was: “Don’t waffle. You don’t have to make a grandiose, philosophical speech. Don’t be a windbag.” I said: “But we’re politicians.”, and Tau said: “Good point.” But he told me to speak from the heart.

There are many people from the five marae who have been involved in this settlement who are no longer with us, including members who were directly involved in the negotiations. They may not be here with us today in body, but they are here in spirit, and I pay tribute to them.

I was lucky to have some time this morning alone with Richard and Pearl Nahi. Richard was one of the tribal negotiators. He told me that the tribe is focused on leadership and the development of its youth, and that this settlement will allow this to continue to grow and happen. So I say to you: good luck, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. Please use your wisdom, your patience, and your fearlessness in the right measure, at the right time, to invest and grow this settlement, to become stronger economically and culturally. We have been given powerful examples of what can be achieved by iwi such as Tainui and Ngāi Tahu. While I remain one of your representatives in this House of Parliament, I make the commitment to serve and support you the best way that I can when called on. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

Bill read a third time.

Waiata

Kia ora, and thank you. Can I ask Ngāti Whātua to leave the gallery efficiently, as we have another iwi coming in and we have further legislation to debate. Thank you for your time. Kia ora.