Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill

I move, That the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill be now read a second time. This bill represents the culmination of a huge amount of work over many years by a number of dedicated people. As with other Treaty settlements, what it enables us to do is put the past behind us—not ignore it; recognise it, but put it behind us—and then lay a foundation for the future that I certainly hope is going to bring very much improved relationships between the Crown, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tapuika.

The bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee on 31 July 2013. Having considered the submissions received, the committee reported back to the House just before Christmas, and I am very grateful to those who took the time and trouble to make their submissions. Their participation, as in all settlement legislation, is a very important component of the parliamentary consideration of this type of work. After consideration of the bill, the committee recommended that it be passed with only very minor technical amendments—so minor and technical that I am not going to take the time of the House to go through them. So I want to thank Mr Henare and his colleagues on the Māori Affairs Committee for considering this bill in such a timely fashion.

Can I acknowledge the work of all those who have contributed to the progression of the bill. I particularly want to thank Patsy Reddy, who was my chief Crown negotiator and who worked very well with these iwi to reach this result. One of the interesting by-products of all the consultation and the work that we had actually arose out of the negotiation with Ngāti Rangiteaorere. They came and spoke to me about various matters concerning their land, and it was that discussion, among others, that has got the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act reform under way. So I want to thank Donna Hall and others who have contributed to that discussion.

Concluding this settlement is a very important step towards settling all historical claims. I do not intend to speak for a full 10 minutes. We are dealing with three bills this morning and these iwi know it is important to progress all of them. I will have a lot more to say about this settlement at the time of the third reading, so with those few words I commend the bill to the House.

Kia ora, Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā koutou rau rangatira mā huri noa i te Whare.

[Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. Greetings to you collectively, esteemed leaders throughout the House.]

I am delighted to speak in the second reading of the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill and in support of this bill. Today we are dealing with Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru, a grouping of three iwi—Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tāpuika—of the Te Arawa confederation. One of the issues with omnibus Treaty bills is that they do not really give members long enough to really get into the nitty-gritty of the bills in this Chamber. Here we have three iwi, but I understand that for expediency the practice is now to group the iwi together so that their settlements can move expeditiously through the House, and we are seeing that also in the case of my own electorate at the top of the south. Although that is the case, it does not really give us much time to really get into the details, which I believe that these iwi do deserve. Having made that point, I will get into the submissions.

It was a pleasure to go up to Rotorua to listen to the submitters on this bill. In relation to Ngāti Rangiteaorere, as was touched on by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, there were submissions made on the mandated post-settlement governance entity, Ngāti Rangiteaorere Koromatua Council, exercising rights on behalf of absentee landowners. One submitter, Kiri Pōtaka-Dewes, opposed that action, and on the other side the esteemed Māori lawyer Donna Hall requested that the bill be amended to allow the post-settlement governance entity to hold the mana for those owners and exercise those voting rights. It is really a can of worms, and that is why it is good that that has led to a review taking place now of the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act.

Currently the shares of absentee owners are administered by the Māori Trustee, and to actually allow another entity to take on those rights would require changes to the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. That Act is currently being reviewed, and there are discussions taking place about other entities, such as post-settlement governance entities, looking after the rights of absentee landowners. We do commend that and we look forward to maybe seeing an amendment bill coming through this House, although with the election date—

💬 Hon Christopher Finlayson: It’s not an amendment; it’s a complete rewrite.

A complete rewrite?

💬 Hon Christopher Finlayson: Oh, you wait.

Well, I am looking forward to that, then. Who knows? It may be introduced in this parliamentary term.

💬 Hon Christopher Finlayson: I hope so.

Oh, we look forward to that, Minister. That is a good development that has taken place as a result of the submissions on this bill.

There was one submission regarding the low amount of commercial redress compared with what other tribes are getting. That is a common submission that we hear, and it is very valid. I understand that the commercial redress for Ngāti Rangiteaorere is something in the vicinity of $750,000. After 175 years of whatever grievances they have held, they have settled for a princely sum of $750,000. You do not need a degree in quantum mechanics to figure out that there is not much cash in the Treaty pūtea.

I know that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is probably doing his best trying to fight for some more pūtea there, but I am reminded of this country’s biggest fraud trial, currently taking place in the courts. Bill English had plenty of pūtea back then for that great tribe of the South Island, “Ngāti” South Canterbury Finance, and the many hapū of investors of that tribe. It was not a problem then to find $1.2 billion for “Ngāti” South Canterbury Finance. That is $1,200 million to bail out that company, which is now the subject of the biggest fraud trial. I contrast that with Ngāti Rangiteaorere—$750,000 to settle all of their historical Treaty grievances. That submitter is right. They are not getting enough. We would hope that the Minister will do his bidding and show a bit more pūtea for a lot of these iwi that are in the Treaty settlement pipeline.

I want to turn to Ngāti Rangiwewehi. There were a few submissions, but one kaupapa took my interest, and that was about the manuscripts of Wīremu Maihi Te Rangikāheke and the issue of intellectual property rights. Much of the country’s early Māori history and knowledge about art, spirituality, and myths come from the collection of early colonial writings, most notably the work of Sir George Grey. But Grey was simply a collector of stories who edited the works and then took the credit for the works. These works were really the work of Māori who had reading and writing ability, thanks to the influence of men, largely missionaries, such as Selwyn, Williams, and Hadfield. Men such as Mātene Te Whiwhi in Tawanui, up in the north, and Te Rangikāheke were the unacknowledged gatherers of information in manuscript form.

Ngāti Rangiwewehi sought acknowledgment for Te Rangikāheke for the work he had done. It is a matter of intellectual property rights. The Te Rangikāheke manuscripts followed the old Governor Grey around the world until, in the 1920s, the manuscripts found their way back to Aotearoa. They have since been held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections in the Auckland City Central Library. It was the hope that the manuscripts could be repatriated to the Rotorua Museum of Art and History, but the Auckland library was unwilling to do this. There have been discussions between those two institutions and Ngāti Rangiwewehi about the possibility of some sort of arrangement that will enable the manuscripts to be put on display in Rotorua. In the meantime the Crown in this bill will acknowledge the influence Te Rangikāheke had on the writings of Sir George Grey. It is a matter of intellectual property rights and giving recognition where it is due. Hopefully we will see more examples of this recognition as other tribes negotiate their settlements also.

Finally, I just want to touch on the people of Tāpuika. The Tapuika Iwi Authority asked the Māori Affairs Committee to include in its settlement a school site, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Mataī, to be vested in them. To cut a long story short, the site is not available, unfortunately, to Tāpuika. The Crown has been in negotiations with the Waitaha tribe since 2008 and has done a settlement, so several school sites in the Tāpuika region have already been used in other negotiations. The land at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Mataī has, however, been offered back to Tāpuika, but on a right of first refusal basis. They have agreed to that.

In finishing, I give a mihi to the members of Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru, the three iwi there, the three springs—that is a fine name, which references the geothermal nature of the land these three cousins belong to. That is a constant theme that I like to integrate into my speeches—that understanding the whakapapa and the genealogy is to understand Māori history. The whole of our history is because of whakapapa, and the more one understands those finer threads, the more detail is available to students of Māori history and, indeed, the history of our country. With those words, I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.

Kia ora, Mr Assistant Speaker, ā, tēnā tātou katoa. Ngā mihi ki a tātou e hui tahi nei ki te kawe i tēnei kaupapa i te rā nei. Me te mihi ki a rātou kua eke nei ki a tātou i tēnei rangi, tēnā koutou, e te mana. Te Arawa e! Te Arawa e!

[Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and greetings to us all. My acknowledgments to us gathered here to progress this matter today. I also acknowledge those who have arrived here amongst us today. Salutations to you collectively, the august. It is Te Arawa! It is Te Arawa!]

Today we gather here for the second reading of the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill. I am honoured to welcome and acknowledge the people of Ngāti Rangiwewehi today, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, and Tapuika. Nā reira, tēnā koutou katoa. These are iwi eternally bound by whakapapa, for ever bound by history, and today in this House finally bound by justice. We remember their tīpuna, who millennia ago set off from the sands of Whenuakura. Today their journey reaches Parliament, as Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Tapuika, and Ngāti Rangiteaorere once again work together for the future of their people.

Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru is a collective representing these three iwi of Te Arawa, whose members are based in and around Te Puke and Rotorua. Although they have negotiated some aspects of their settlements as part of Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru, they have, in fact, signed separate deeds of settlement. The Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru omnibus bill gives effect to the aspects of all three deeds of settlement with the Crown between 2012 and 2013 and will settle all outstanding historical Treaty of Waitangi claims for Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tapuika.

Ko Tiheinga te maunga, ko Te Awahou me Kaikaitāhuna ngā awa, ko Tarimano te marae, ko Puhirua me Ōrangikāhū ngā takotoranga o ngā tipuna, ko Rangiwewehi te iwi.

[Tiheia is the mountain, Te Awahou and Kaikaitāhuna are the rivers, Tarimano is the courtyard, Puhirua and Ōrangikāhū are the resting places of the ancestors, and Ngāti Rangiwewehi is the tribe.]

The Crown brought war to Tauranga in 1864, and after Ngāti Rangiwewehi supported their traditional allies, 290,000 acres of land were confiscated. All customary interests in lands were compulsorily extinguished. One hundred years later, in 1966—in our lifetime—Ngāti Rangiwewehi’s land loss continued, with the compulsory Crown acquisition of whenua at Ngongotahā. A pump station was built over the ancestral Taniwha Springs that remains to this day. The Crown breached the Treaty of Waitangi in its dealings with the descendants of Ngāti Rangiwewehi. Over generations lands were lost, lives were taken, and potential was eroded. He wai kōrikoriko nō Waiōhēua ka ū ki Mātaikōtare, ka pai ki te titiro ki ngā uri o Rangiwhakaekea, kia whakapakari nei i te pupuri i ngā taonga tuku iho o Ngāti Rangiteaorere, ka ora e.

[The glittering waters of Waiōhēua extend to Mātaikōtare and it is wonderful to see the descendants of Rangiwhakaekeau. Be resolute in holding on to the heirlooms of Ngāti Rangiteaorere. They will live on.]

The 1800s saw Ngāti Rangiteaorere drawn into the New Zealand Wars, with huge consequences. The Native Land Court’s land policies left the Crown with lands that were flat, fertile, and easily accessible by road. Ngāti Rangiteaorere were left with lands that were fragmented, steep, inaccessible, and uneconomic. Fifty years ago the Tikitere geothermal field, prized by generations of Ngāti Rangiteaorere for its medicinal, spiritual, and economic value, was taken by the Crown under the Geothermal Energy Act 1953—the compulsory takeover of an ancestral wāhi tapu.

Mai i ngā pae maunga i Te Toro Puke e tū kau mai rā, i te awa e rere mai ana, waihoa te whenua, ko te takapū o taku tamaiti, ā, ka tahuri.

[From the mountain range to the hillock standing there in the distance, to the river that flows towards me, leave well alone the land which is the abdomen of my son. I end here.]

“From the mountain range in the distance to the hills that stand before me, to the river that flows towards me—Tapuika.” This ancient claim was made by the tipuna chieftain Tia aboard the Te Arawa waka. However, the arrival of the Crown in this rohe soon brought war to Tia’s people, and his ancient claim, along with the Treaty of Waitangi, was broken. A series of toa claims made by others of Tapuika ancestral lands culminated in the Crown land alienation policies, which were akin to raupatu, punishing Tapuika for taking up arms against the Crown in the 1860s. The land loss was widespread and severe.

Tapuika’s loss would lead to the alienation of Tia’s people from their ancestral lands. Deprived of economic, spiritual, and cultural autonomy, generations of Tapuika families have suffered incalculable loss. All these things the families of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, and Tapuika have lost, have suffered, can never be replaced, and yet these families wish to settle their grievances with the Crown with mana and with dignity. They honour us all with their incredible generosity.

Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru has enabled all three iwi to collectively negotiate with the Crown and to also work with each other on their individual claims. The spirit of whanaungatanga and rangatiratanga demonstrated by Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tapuika will enable the resolution of claims across these three tribes. This collective approach is already being replicated across Aotearoa. I thank Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru for leading by example.

So many of those who have made this day possible are no longer with us, but with this bill’s passing their mahi and their mana will be for ever honoured in the laws of Aotearoa New Zealand. Today is a day to remember those who have passed on, to resolve grievances with those who are with us today, and to plan for those yet to be born. From the sacred marae of Taputapuātea to the beating hearts of Te Arawa, to the New Zealand House of Representatives, Te Arawa e! Te Arawa e! Thank you.

I rise to speak in the second reading of the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill. I want to mihi to the three iwi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tāpuika, who will see the quick transition of their bill, I am sure, to a third reading. I do not intend to take my full 10 minutes, because the Māori Affairs Committee made some, I think, key amendments, but by and large the substance of the bill was well agreed to.

This is a discrete settlement. We received 17 submissions and heard around about 12 in both Rotorua and Wellington. The bill in its totality covers around about 2,500 tribal members over those three iwi, so I reiterate that it is a discrete bill. It will make a huge difference to the lives of people in Te Arawa, and, significantly, it changes the nature of relationships that each of those respective iwi have to reserves, Department of Conservation land, and sites of significance. It also makes provision for commercial redress.

I want to draw the attention of the House to the select committee’s key recommendations and amendments to the bill to improve its interpretation. Firstly, in the area of rights of first refusal, we did clarify the extent to which rights of first refusal provisions work, especially in relation to waivers and variations and those relevant clauses in the bill. We also clarified that the fee simple estate for Te Wētā Pā be vested in the trustees for the Tāpuika post-settlement governance entity, and recommended changing clause 292 to include land within Te Pehu Pā that is currently a legal, although unused, road. So those were, I think, for clarity’s sake, important changes. We also clarified that Te Mataī Forest North and Te Mataī Forest South and the Pūwhenua Forest were excluded from transfer by the Crown in clause 353 and clause 359. We recommended in relation to the Pūwhenua Forest amending subpart 1 of Part 10 so that it could be offered by the Crown as a deferred selection property.

So they were very simple recommendations to improve the intent of the bill. Without taking away from the substance of a third reading speech, I want to ensure that this bill gets through the Committee stage and to a third reading as quickly as possible so that those respective iwi can get on the road and implement the expectations of their settlement. Tēnā koe.

Kia ora, Mr Assistant Speaker. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. I rise to speak to support the second reading of the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill in this House. I want to give this speech on behalf of the Green Party but particularly on behalf of Catherine Delahunty. First up I would like to say that it is an absolute privilege to be here speaking on Catherine’s behalf on the second reading of this bill. It is an omnibus bill covering significant issues of justice for the peoples of the Te Arawa confederation, including Rangiteaorere and Ngāti Rangiwewehi. It is designed to settle historical claims, cultural redress, and commercial redress. I would like to congratulate all involved in the negotiations and the process. This bill includes an apology and various rights of first refusal for a range of properties in the rohe of this iwi. It acknowledges the Crown’s breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in relation to this iwi.

The concept of right of first refusal is an interesting model in the framework of a justice-based Te Tiriti settlement as it is not exactly restoration of rights or mana. It is not exactly the restoration of whenua or other resources that have been stolen, alienated, or otherwise removed from the people of the land. It is the right to purchase a property back, often at market rates, but as a first right. That is the compromise in the Te Tiriti settlement process when land has become individual private property or State property, and it is difficult to include in the redress of raupatu. But it is not what many people think Te Tiriti settlements are all about. Many Pākehā and tauiwi katoa need to read the detail of the redress clauses in these bills and have their eyes open to what is actually available in the context of the settlement process. Their assumptions might receive a therapeutic education on the facts of what some people consider a very generous option.

There were 12 submissions on the bill, and the Māori Affairs Committee has recommended passing it with some amendments. The Green Party supports these amendments. The bill is about historical grievances and estrangements of the iwi from the cherished places in their rohe—the lakes, maunga, fertile lands, and geothermal taonga. There is much detail in the settlement that tells the shoddy tales of the Native Land Court, used as a tool of alienation, and the all too familiar saga of Crown disgrace. The bill also establishes Te Maru o Kaituna, the Kaituna River Authority, in an effort to create co-governance of the Kaituna River/Awa, which is badly in need of a joint effort to restore, protect, and enhance that much-abused waterway.

The process is important, as are all co-governance processes, which stand or fall on the way these processes reflect the balance of power and resources. The concept of co-governance relies on an equitable relationship, whereby both parties can come to the decision-making table with the capacity to participate without one party dominating either via their world view or their access to resources.

The Green Party continues to ask questions about this model of settlement, with the greatest respect for the parties who have negotiated this, and with all our good wishes for the future negotiations, because Te Tiriti o Waitangi never ends; it embraces the model of permanent negotiation for justice and peace between the people of the motu. Hence, we reject the final settlement concept but embrace the concept of permanent Te Tiriti negotiation. We acknowledge this omnibus bill as a huge body of work affecting this vital part of Te Arawa lands, and we look forward to the third reading. Kia ora.

I stand to support the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill, an omnibus bill. The purpose of this bill is to give effect to the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru, made up of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Tapuika, and Ngāti Rangiteaorere.

The Māori Affairs Committee examined the bill and recommended it be passed with the following amendments: changes to Parts 3, 6, and 9 in relation to the right of first refusal redress process to ensure that if a waiver or variation was agreed to, the right of first refusal provisions would work as intended, and amending clause 293 to vest the fee simple estate for Te Wētā Pā in the trustees of the Tapuika post-settlement governance entity. This is normal procedure and was inadvertently omitted from the bill as introduced. It also recommended amending clause 292 to include a parcel of land within Te Pehu Pā, which is currently a legal, if unused, road, and amending clauses 353 and 359 for the sake of clarity to exclude the transfer of Te Mataī Forest North, Te Mataī Forest South, and Pūwhenua Forest, as they are already covered by clauses 354 and 355.

Each settlement provides an agreed historical account, Crown acknowledgments, an apology to iwi, and cultural and commercial redress for each iwi. With Ngāti Rangiwewehi cultural redress includes the vesting of certain areas, including Te Riu o Kererū, which is in Ngāti Rangiwewehi; vesting a part of Hamurana Springs as a recreation reserve, and Ngā Tini Roimata a Rangiwewehi and Te Riu o Kereru B as scenic reserves; making Te Riu o Ngata subject to a conservation covenant; and statutory acknowledgments over a number of sites of cultural significance to Rangiwewehi.

For Tapuika the settlement establishes a framework for co-governance of the Kaituna River. The Lower Kaituna Wildlife Management Reserve will be vested jointly in Tapuika and Ngāti Whakauē, who will in turn, and after a specified period of time, gift the reserve back to the Crown. There is also the recognition of the significance of certain sites totalling approximately 209 hectares, which will be vested in Tapuika, including three sites from Kaharoa Conservation Forest, two sites from within Te Mataī Conservation Forest, Ōtahu Pā, and Ōtūkawa, which is in the Pah Road area. The settlement provides a whenua rāhui over Ōpoutihi, a 65 hectare area from within Gammons Block Conservation Area, and one additional site, Te Taita Scenic Reserve will be vested jointly in Tapuika and Ngāti Rangiwewehi.

The settlement provides for statutory acknowledgments over a number of sites and waterways of significance. With Ngāti Rangiteaorere, the bill provides for the vesting of fee simple of the Te Ngāe/Rangiteaorere site, to be known as Waiōhewa, the vesting of Te Ngāe Junction Recreation Reserve subject to recreation reserve status, to be known as Rangiteaorere, and the Crown vests the Lake Ōkataina Scenic Reserve, which is 321 hectares, to be known as Whakapoungākau. The deed of settlement will provide for protocols to facilitate good working relationships between Ngāti Rangiteaorere and the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The final redress amount paid under this settlement is around $750,000. Again, the purpose of this bill is to give effect to the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru. I commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā tātou, ngā mema o te Whare nei. It gives me privilege and honour to stand and rise in support of the second reading of the Ngā Pūnawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill. As Kirira outlined, it is an omnibus bill that seeks to give effect to the deeds of settlement signed by the Crown and the three Te Arawa iwi. I take this opportunity to mihi to Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, and Tapuika as parties to this bill. The purpose is a final settlement of their historic Treaty of Waitangi claims. The bill sets out the cultural and commercial redress for each iwi and records the acknowledgments and apologies offered by the Crown to all three iwi. In addition, there is a statutory pardon for Ngāti Rangiwewehi tipuna Kereopa Te Rau, and I would like to come back and talk a bit more about this rangatira. Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, and Tapuika have a combined population of approximately 2,500 members, and the various areas of interest of these three iwi cover Te Puke and the Rotorua area, including Te Ngāe.

Every claims settlement bill has unique aspects about it. I mentioned in my introduction the pardoning, in this bill, of Kereopa Te Rau. I want to take a moment because in my own research on Kereopa I wanted to explore who this man Kereopa Te Rau was. So I undertook a bit of research and I would like to take this opportunity to put on record what I uncovered. Can I preface that, before talking about this particular tipuna, by acknowledging that each iwi and each hapū will have their own version of this tipuna. So I am going to put on record this particular tipuna as accorded by the biography written by Steven Oliver in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, volume 1, in 1990.

Kereopa Te Rau was one of the five original disciples of Te Ua Haumene, the founder of the Pai Mārire faith. He was a member of Ngāti Rangiwewehi of Te Arawa. The date and place of his birth are not known, nor are the names of his parents. Sometime in the 1840s he was baptised by the Catholic missionary—and I apologise if I get this pronunciation wrong—Father Euloge Reignier, and he took the name Kereopa. He is believed to have served as a policeman in Auckland in the 1850s. In the early 1860s he fought in the Māori King’s forces in the Waikato. His wife and two daughters are thought to have been killed in Rangiaowhia near Te Awamutu, when it was attacked by Government forces on 21 February 1864. The following day he was at Hairini, a defensive position just west of Rangiaowhia, where he saw his sister killed.

After the defeat of the Māori King movement forces in mid-1864, Kereopa joined the new religion of Te Ua Haumene. In December 1864 Te Ua instructed Kereopa and Pātara Raukatauri to go as emissaries to the tribes of the East Coast. They were told to preach the Pai Mārire faith in the districts they passed through, to go in peace, and to not interfere with Pākehā. Kereopa, however, demanded that a European be given up to him at Ōtipa, a settlement on the lower Rangitaiki River, and that a Catholic priest be handed over at Whakatāne. These requests were refused, but at Ōpōtiki, the missionary C S Völkner was seized and ritually killed on 2 March 1865. Völkner was hanged from a willow tree near his church by members of his own congregation.

Kereopa was widely believed to have instigated the killing of Völkner. Although he had agreed to it, in fact he did not take part in the actual hanging and cannot be held responsible. The arrival of the Pai Mārire party at Ōpōtiki precipitated the tragedy, but there were complex reasons for Völkner’s death. Principal amongst these was Te Whakatōhea’s anger at the missionary for his actions in spying for the Government. In returning to Ōpōtiki at the time, Völkner had disregarded the explicit warnings of Te Whakatōhea. Kereopa himself may have sought to avenge the deaths of members of his family at Hairini and at Rangiaowhia, a plan of which Völkner had sent to Governor George Grey.

After the killing of Völkner, Kereopa, with his party of Pai Mārire followers, went on to Gisborne and to the Urewera, where he preached the Pai Mārire faith among Tūhoe. In May 1865 he attempted to travel to the Waikato to preach to the Kingite tribes but was prevented from reaching the Kaingaroa Plains by a force of Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Rangitihi. After a long siege, Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Rangitihi abandoned their defences at Te Tāpiri and Ōkupu in the western Urewera. But Kereopa was forced to turn back when a relief party of Te Arawa, led by W J Mair, arrived. He then returned to Ōpōtiki, but was driven from there by Government troops and fled into the Urewera.

Kereopa had much mana in the eyes of Tūhoe as the bearer of the Pai Mārire faith to that tribe and thus obtained their protection. The dense bush of the Urewera mountains also offered him protection from his pursuers, as it later would for Te Kooti. Martial law had been declared in Ōpōtiki and Whakatāne districts after the killing of Völkner, and a reward was offered for the capture of those responsible. Kereopa concealed himself at Te Rōau on a densely wooded hillside, Te Miromiro, at Ōhaua-te-Rangi, a Ngāti Rongo settlement north of Ruatāhuna. Te Rōau had never been occupied, and it commanded an excellent view of anyone approaching. There Kereopa was able to elude his pursuers for the next 5 years.

From mid-1868 the Ringatū faith of Te Kooti gained popularity among Tūhoe, and the influence of Pai Mārire correspondingly faded. The reverence in which Tūhoe held Kereopa also diminished, but Tūhoe did not disclose his whereabouts. Over the next 3 years, however, the people of the Urewera were weakened and their land devastated by the Government’s relentless pursuit of Te Kooti and the remaining Hauhau leaders. Government troops, including a Ngati Porou contingent led by Rōpata Wahawaha, embarked on several campaigns between May 1869 and early 1872 in which Tūhoe pā were plundered, crops destroyed, and people killed.

On 22 December 1871 Kereopa stood trial at the Supreme Court at Napier for the murder of Völkner. There was no direct proof of his responsibility for the killing, but a European witness, Samuel Levy, testified that he had seen Kereopa among those who escorted Völkner to the willow tree. On the basis of his evidence, Kereopa was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. William Colenso appealed unsuccessfully for clemency on the ground that the crime had already been punished by execution and land confiscation. Kereopa was hanged on 5 January 1872 in Napier.

This is one of the tragic stories of Treaty settlements and breaches in this country, and I wanted particularly to acknowledge in this settlement the pardon of Kereopa Te Rau. I join this side of this House in commending the work of the Māori Affairs Committee and the submissions that were presented, and join with all in supporting this bill to the House. Kia ora tātou.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. I take this brief call to support the second reading of the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Claims Settlement Bill. I stand humbled to acknowledge the hard work of the mandated iwi entities of Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, and Tapuika. Each settlement provides an agreed historical account and a Crown acknowledgment and apology for iwi, along with both cultural and commercial redress for each iwi. This National-led Government continues to work hard on completing final and durable Treaty of Waitangi settlements. I look forward to the next phase of this bill’s journey. I commend this bill to the House.

Bill read a second time.

In accordance with a determination of the Business Committee, this bill will be divided by the Clerk, and the Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill, the Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill, and the Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill are set down for third reading on the next sitting day.