Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill

Tēnā koe, Mr Chair. Mōrena. I am not going to take a long call on any of the Supplementary Order Paper 469 amendments. We largely support them and believe that they are in the spirit of the initial settlement. There are changes to clause 30, in particular, of Part 2 of the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill with regard to the maunga. We are quite happy with the way that the changes read in clauses 30 and 31, with regard to reverting ownership to the Maunga Authority. We believe that this is a further clarification and improvement of the intent of the bill.

There are other aspects with regards to Maungauika, which I think clarify the nature of the vesting of the bill and the transfer of assets. I have to say it was not considered at length in the Māori Affairs Committee, but, again, it provides further clarity to the intent. So, with regard to ensuring that the Tāmaki Collective and the spirit of management around the maunga are exercised in ways that give greater voice to the people, to the mana whenua groups in this area, I think that the intention of the Supplementary Order Paper reflects this and it is a very helpful set of amendments.

Again, I said I really think that these are points of clarity; they are not really substantial amendments. So, in so far as recognising the spirit of the original settlement and the way in which the amendments provide greater clarity for the intent, I think those are very helpful additions to the bill. Kia ora.

Mōrena, Mr Chair, and tēnā koutou e te Whare. I am pleased to make a very brief contribution on this Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill. I am from the south. It is quite a distance away, and we may not seem to have very close immediate connections with a lot of the activities, the histories, and the maungas that are dealt with in this piece of legislation, but, actually, we do. I just refer back to our korero in relation to the Te Urewera-Tūhoe Bill. There is such a broad, wonderful, and rich history for all the tribes around the country.

I look at Part 3 of this bill, which deals with the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority, and that body comprises two representatives from Marutūahu; two from Ngāti Whātua; two from Waiohua, Tāmaki; six from the Auckland Council; and one from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It is all good—pai ana tēnā with that body. But when we talk about those maunga, I think we also need to acknowledge that the history and whakapapa of those maunga spans a lot broader. It goes even hundreds of years further back.

I have mentioned before in previous kōrero on this bill the example of my own whakapapa from North Taranaki, south Tainui ancestors of Maki, where the name Tāmaki-makau-rau comes from. Maki, Tūpāhau, and Karewa were men famous in the Ngāti Awa alliance that swept up through Tāmaki and further north, and they held sway at Maungakiekie for a time. The ancestors of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Rārua lived among Waiohua and, indeed, Toa-Rangatira’s grandfather Korokino was born at Maungakiekie. It was his umbilical cord that was tied to a tōtara sprig, and what grew from that was the tōtara tree that became tapu on Maungakiekie. That tree was chopped down by a European, one of the early settlers of Auckland—not to be confused with the Mike Smith incident, which came much later with a different tree.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: And it wasn’t the general secretary of the Labour Party.

No, no, it was not the general secretary of the Labour Party. I just make that point because we support the membership to administer these maunga, but it is important to note that the history around those maunga spreads right across the whole motu—right across the country. You could say that the ancestors of the tribes in Taranaki, right down to Te Upoko o Te Ika and to Te Wai Pounamu even, and right across to the Bay of Plenty, all regarded those mountains as home at some stage. I would like to think that when we talk about the tribes and the chiefs back in those days—I think it was Michael Jackson who said in a song: “I’m a lover not a fighter.” I think it was from “The Girl is Mine”. Anyway, the point I am making is that those chiefs were lovers and fighters, and they had what we call “mahi rangatira”, which they did back in the day. It is a much richer history, which actually binds all the tribes together, when you go back to those tūpuna.

I just wanted to make the point in relation to this bill that we support the body and all of the technical amendments that have been made. It has been a very good rewrite from the draftspeople and everyone who has been involved. It is also good to note the connections that all tribes effectively have—[Bell rung] Thank you, Mr Chair; I was just wrapping up. It is important to acknowledge the connections that all the tribes have from a much richer and more expansive history that goes back 600-plus years to the tribes that are represented in the body of the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill. Kia ora.

Now that I have gathered my whakaaro about this, prompted very well by Rino Tirikatene, there is one substantive part of the amendments that I would like to comment on and that is with regard to the Hauraki Marine Gulf Park. This is in relation to some things that are happening with the council in relation to the Sea Change project. There are a number of iwi interests included in the Sea Change project and a part of the Hauraki Marine Gulf Park that are not totally captured by the mana whenua interests in this particular bill, the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill. From what I can determine of the intention of clause 163(2) and (3), it is amended to include three more areas in the park, and in some sense that is a prospective enabling provision. But in its practical application what it does allow for is the ability for the Sea Change project to proceed in a way that takes account of all the interests within the Tāmaki isthmus, and this is a good thing.

The Hauraki Gulf is a beautiful part of the Auckland isthmus. Part of my electorate extends into this area. A number of the mana whenua iwi named in this bill, and certainly within my electorate boundary, are involved in the ongoing broader management of the Hauraki Gulf. There are real opportunities to be derived from having a functioning Sea Change project, which can benefit everybody who lives in the Hauraki area and the Auckland area. Often in the summer periods if you go out to Clevedon and out to Ngā Tai and Maraetai there, you have an opportunity to experience the beauty and also the recreational value derived from those areas all along the coast, right the way round to Coromandel. You see the real beauty of the Hauraki Gulf. You also have an opportunity to try some Clevedon oysters.

The quality of the marine space is quite important and the activity, both recreational and commercial, and in the aquaculture space, is a real opportunity there. So it seems to me that the provision in clause 163, in particular, which is including other areas in this space and which is to be inclusive in the way in which the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act operates, is a positive one and it is an enabling one. It ensures that the mana whenua interests expressed in the Tāmaki Collective bill can be expressed in the management and the Sea Change project.

I would like to just comment briefly in a general sense on other aspects, because the amendments are very technical in nature, and they are quite straightforward. As I said previously, they reflect the intent of this settlement. They amplify the ambitions around greater management for the maunga within the Tāmaki isthmus, and they also provide greater clarity to the public about their access to maunga that many New Zealanders cherish, and which now allows mana whenua to express their history as it relates to Tāmaki, as my colleague Rino Tirikatene so eloquently put to it you earlier in the Committee.

We believe that the bill should proceed forthwith. I look forward to seeing how this bill is implemented in terms of the spirit of collective relationships amongst mana whenua in Tāmaki Makaurau. This is a new way of doing things. It is a different way. I remain to be—hopefully—well convinced that this is a model that others can look to about how you work together in densely populated areas where there are significant overlapping mana whenua interests and a number of key historical and heritage sites, like the volcanic cones within the Tāmaki isthmus. With that said, again I say that I hope that the bill proceeds fairly quickly to its third reading.

I have received some advice, so because there was one debate, I am going to run past the preamble again.

Preamble agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to Part 1 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 1 as amended agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to Part 2 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 2 as amended agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to Part 3 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 3 as amended agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to Part 4 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 4 as amended agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to Part 5 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 5 as amended agreed to.

Schedule 1 agreed to.

Schedule 2 agreed to.

Schedule 3 agreed to.

The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to schedule 4 be agreed to.

Amendment agreed to.

Schedule 4 as amended agreed to.

Schedule 5 agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to schedule 6 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Schedule 6 as amended agreed to.

The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to insert new schedule 7 be agreed to.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1 agreed to.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 469 in the name of the Hon Christopher Finlayson to clause 2 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Clause 2 as amended agreed to.

Progress to be reported presently.

House resumed.

The Chairperson reported the Te Urewera-Tūhoe Bill with amendment, and that the Committee had divided it into two bills, and the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill with amendment.

Report adopted.

The House adjourned at 10.27 a.m. (Thursday)