Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill

I move, That the Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time.

E Te Kaiwhakarite o Te Whare, tēnā koe, e ngā hoa mema, tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou Tākitimu waka, ngā uri o Rongomaiwahine me Tamatakutai, me Rongomaiwahine ki a Kahungunu, ngā iwi me ngā hapū katoa o te rohe o Te Wairoa; e karanga ana tonu te huia i ō koutou ngākau maha, rau rangatira mā, tēnei taku mihi atu ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings to you, Mr Speaker, and to you my parliamentary colleagues. I salute Tākitimu waka, the progeny of Rongomaiwahine and Tamatakutai, of Rongomaiwahine and Kahungunu, all the tribes and subtribes of the Wairoa district; the huia still calls to you all, distinguished leaders, I pay my respects to you. Greetings, greetings; thrice greetings to one and all.]

I extend a warm welcome to the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa who have travelled here by plane and bus and possibly other means from the Wairoa region, Heretaunga, and Ōpōtiki. I particularly want to acknowledge the patience and fortitude that they have shown over the many years that they have waited for their settlement. The enactment of this bill will mark the end of a long-running Treaty settlement process between the Crown and the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa that started in the early 1980s. It’s a privilege to stand before you today and commend this bill to my parliamentary colleagues. This is a very significant day for the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, and it’s also a very significant day for the Crown.

I want to acknowledge the driving forces behind the settlement, starting with those who led the way many years ago, but who are no longer with us. I pay tribute to Te Ariki May and Valetta Wairau, who, sadly, passed away and did not see their work come to fruition. To those of you who have worked so hard to make today possible, I offer my most sincere thanks. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of John Whaanga, Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa lead negotiator, and Tāmati Olsen, Te Tira chair, in reaching agreement on settlement redress. I acknowledge the input of Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust on the bill and thank the Tātau Tātau chair, Leon Symes, and deputy chair, Pieri Munro, in particular for their leadership and support. I also acknowledge the chief Crown negotiators who have been involved in the settlement, Pat Snedden and John Harbord. Finally I thank local authorities and Government officials for their valuable input into these negotiations.

It’s important that we therefore acknowledge the troubled history that makes this settlement necessary. I would like to outline key aspects of the past relationship between the Crown and the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa to be recorded. The history of the Crown’s interactions with the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa is marked by land alienation, warfare, and socio-economic deprivation. From the very beginning the relationship was flawed. The Crown did not take Te Tiriti o Waitangi to the Wairoa region, so the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa did not have any opportunity to consider whether to sign it.

When it purchased large quantities of land in the 1860s, the Crown failed to adequately survey some of the blocks, failed to fully investigate who had the customary rights to the land, and failed to set aside adequate reserves. The outbreak of war between the Crown and the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa began on Christmas Day in 1865, when the Crown attacked the Omaruhakeke kāinga. Some members of the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa were captured and executed without trial. Others were imprisoned without trial for over two years on the Chatham Islands. The war created divisions among the iwi and hapū who fought on different sides. As well as creating inter-iwi and hapū division, the war resulted in a loss of property for the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. Under duress, the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa agreed to cede more than 42,000 acres of land to the Crown. This sad history continued into the 20th century when the Crown, without consultation with the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, purchased large areas of land in the rohe for the Urewera Consolidation Scheme and to establish Te Urewera National Park. Additionally, more than 500 acres of customary land have been compulsorily purchased by the Crown for public works from as early as the 1870s.

Many of the policies of the Crown have significantly contributed to the migration of members of the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa away from their rohe. Those still remaining have suffered socio-economic deprivation, lacking the same opportunities to thrive that many other New Zealanders have enjoyed.

Following the initial lodgment of Treaty of Waitangi claims in the 1980s, in 2002 members of the hapū and iwi of the Wairoa district came together at Rangiāhua Marae to work together in resolving Treaty claims in the district. This was the genesis of what would later become the large natural group known as the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and their mandated negotiators Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa, commonly referred to as Te Tira. For the three years that followed, the group discussed fully which pathway to take to resolve their claims before, finally, in 2005, deciding on direct negotiations.

The Crown recognised Te Tira’s mandate to negotiate in 2009. In 2012, terms of negotiation were agreed and negotiations began in 2013. An agreement in principle was signed in 2014 and a deed of settlement was initialled in May 2016 and signed on 26 November 2016 at Tākitimu Marae. The Tākitimu Marae has significance as the place where in 2014 the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa met to air their grievances with the Crown. Through this settlement and apology, the Crown seeks to restore its honour and to atone for its wrongs to the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa by easing the burden of grievance that has been carried for generations. This settlement and apology is key to developing a new relationship based on mutual trust in, and respect for, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.

While the settlement is substantial, I acknowledge that no redress can ever fully compensate the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa for what has been lost and for what they have suffered. However, the settlement given effect by this bill will provide the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa with a powerful platform for future growth and development.

One of the distinctive elements of the redress is an emphasis on forming new relationships to benefit the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa into the future. In addition to the usual relationship agreements with Crown agencies, the redress also includes agreements to work with local government and Te Urewera Board. The $100 million in financial and commercial redress, which the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa will receive through the settlement, places them in a key position to contribute to the economy of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.

Today is a significant moment, a historic moment, for both the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and for the Crown. While we should never forget our history, today marks a truly important step in moving together beyond our shared history and beginning a new relationship built on mutual respect, trust, cooperation, and partnership. I wish the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and the Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust well in the successful continuation of this process. I commend this bill to the House.

E Te Mana Whakawā, tēnā rā koutou ngā kōwaitaka o tō tātou matua tīpuna. He kāmeha nui ki te mihi atu ki tō tātou Matua Nui i te Raki, ko Ia te tīmataka me te whakaute kua tao katoa. Nō reira, ka mihi au ki te kaihōmai o kā mea pai katoa.

Ka maumahara mātou ki a rātou kai tu kua wehe ki te taha wairua. Nō reira, āe, e koutou rā o ia marae, o ia iwi, o ia waka, e haere i ruka ki te ara o te whānui a Tāne kua tua o te ārai, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

Nō reira tēnā rā koutou o ngā uri o Tākitimu waka, o te whanauka o Tākitimu waka. Nei rā te mihi hōhonu ki ngā uri o Tākitimu waka—uia mai ki a au, ko wai te tangata e here ai Kahungunu me Tahu Pōtiki, māku e whakahoki ko Tamatea Pōkai Whenua, nāna i piki te maunga, i tū runga i Rāpaki ki te whakakarakia ki tētahi tuhoka ki te hoatu te ahi hei whakamahana ōna iwi.

Nō reira, Ngāti Kahungunu me Rongomaiwahine, nō reira nau mai, haere mai tō Whare Miere. Nau mai, whakatau mai, e mihi atu, e mihi atu, e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.

[Mr Speaker, I formally greet you all the different strands of our common ancestor. I am honoured to pay tribute to our Heavenly Father, He who is the originator and cares for all things. Therefore, I pay tribute to the giver of all good things.

Let us remember those yonder, who have gone to the gathering place of spirits. Therefore, yes, to those of you from each marae, from each tribe, from each waka, who have travelled the broad path of Tāne to beyond the veil, farewell, farewell, farewell.

I now greet you all who are descended from the Tākitimu waka, who are related to the Tākitimu canoe. I pay my deepest regards to the descendants of the Tākitimu canoe—if you ask me who the person is who is responsible for joining together Kahungunu and Tahu Pōtiki, I will tell you it was Tamatea Pōkai Whenua, he who climbed the mountain, stood on top of Rāpaki and delivered incantations to the priest/gods to give him fire in order to warm his people.

Therefore, Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine, welcome, welcome to the Beehive. So welcome, welcome, I greet you, I greet you, I pay my respects to you all.]

It is indeed my pleasure to be able to stand to speak on the third and final reading of the Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill. I want to acknowledge the work of the Minister who has just resumed his seat, the Hon Andrew Little, particularly about this journey. It was indeed in the 51st Parliament that this bill actually started its journey, and then the work in the first reading through to the submission process by the Māori Affairs Committee, and then through to the second reading, and then the committee stage and the third reading today.

I think what’s important for the Hansard, for the record, is I want to just to concentrate on a number of very, very important points about this particular settlement and what it is part of, because this is actually the record of Parliament, which will be here for ever. The first one was to acknowledge the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and the history, particularly around the fact that they did not actually sign the Treaty of Waitangi. The reason for that was because it was never sighted by them, and so they couldn’t sign it. The other part of it is that when the war did come, around the colonial wars and the Land Wars, they tried very, very hard to step away from it. I think the important thing, though, that strikes at the heart of everything we hold dear as descendants of those Christian folk, Māori and Pākehā alike, who fought each other at Omaruhakeke kāinga on Christmas Day 1865—and, for the record, that is very much where this tragedy, in a lot of ways, actually begins.

It makes me wonder at the desperation of the Crown that it would abandon values it said it held so dear and it would decide Christmas Day was an appropriate day to kill their fellow New Zealand citizens in 1865, and that it would be willing to command its Māori troops—whanauka to those who stood at the palisades, across from their cousins—to fight on this day held so sacred by both sides. We remember and mourn all those who fell that day, Māori and Pākehā alike, but my heart especially cries for New Zealand citizens, citizens of Māori descent, looking to protect their lands from greedy hands of unscrupulous land dealers and a compliant Government—that the price they would pay would be death. Why was the Māori price of citizenship death for protecting the lawful property rights? Why were the people of Ngāti Kahungunu required to take sides against each other when both were seeking the same recognition of their inherent rights as New Zealand citizens?

Fighting for the Crown didn’t protect Māori from the greedy hands of those that sought to take their whenua, and fighting against the Crown saw Māori labelled rebels on their own land when not 25 years earlier they had owned most of the country outright. Had the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa been allowed to take the role that they thought they would have had, had they been able to sight the Treaty of Waitangi and sign it, had they been left to their article 2 rights to retain their land, had they been treated as equal British citizens, with all the legal rights to protection of their lands that that entailed—if this had happened, the only rebels would have been the Crown and the attendant land-grabbers themselves.

It looks like their land-grabs is this particular record: in 1867, under duress, Wairoa Māori were required to cede 42,000 acres to the Crown despite protests from many of the iwi living in the rohe. In 1867 and 1868, the Native Land Court continued its destructive practice of awarding Wairoa land blocks to 10 individual landowners, trusting that these individuals would act as trustees. But let’s be clear: the courts knew full well that this would not occur, and that 10 owners would be tempted to alienate land they owned at the expense of their own whanauka.

In the 1870s, taking land for public works purposes from the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa—Te Ōpoutama, the compulsory taking of land from Māori while leasing land from their Pākehā neighbours, as well. In 1875, the Crown acquired 178,000 acres of land near Waikaremoana by exploiting confusion about the legal status of the blocks and by paying off some iwi over others. In the 20th century, the Crown misused its monopoly powers by purchasing property from individual owners, after the owners had collectively decided against selling. We arrive at this point, where 90 percent of the iwi and hapū live outside of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, and for those who remain trying to maintain their ahikā, for all their whānau have suffered serious socio-economic deprivation.

So it’s only right in this House that today the Crown acknowledges all of the wrongs that have actually been done to this proud iwi and hapū and, looking at Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, the acknowledgment of that fateful 1865 Christmas Day attack on what was very much a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. Just to acknowledge the fact that in this settlement the vesting of the important five, first, which are the Kumi Pakarae Conservation Area, the Mahia Peninsula Local Purpose (Esplanade) Reserve, Morere Springs Scenic Reserve, Otoki Government Purpose (Wildlife Management) Reserve, and Te Reinga Scenic Reserve property B.

The important thing is that those particular properties, which are in this settlement, are actually going to be part of this settlement, but, also, this iwi and the hapū have actually required that they are also going to be shared by all New Zealanders as well—all New Zealanders—and that is mana, that is real mana.

So this settlement, even though the quantum has been talked about, nothing can actually, I think, right the wrong, but at least this is a very, very important step forward for this iwi and to continue now once this bill has been passed today. Ngāti Kahungunu, ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Wairoa, you are now here to complete the final step of your journey in this House before your settlement bill is sent to Government House for Royal assent, and then your bill will become an Act of Parliament. Many have passed on since the beginning of your hīkoi to this place today, and we remember them. Relationships have been forged, and relationships have been broken, but now is the time, I think, for reparation of those particular relationships.

I’d like to acknowledge all of the officials, negotiators, and there are also people that have started but did not actually live to see this final day, and we remember them also. The final part of that is that I’d like to acknowledge one person who I know worked hard on this settlement. I know the work that she did during my tenure as chair of the Māori Affairs Committee and know that she worked very, very hard for her people on this bill. I do want to acknowledge the work of my parliamentary colleague, whanauka, tuahine, the Hon Meka Whaitiri.

Finally, āpiti hono tātai hono, rātou ki te hunga mate, ki te hunga mate ki a rātou; āpiti hono tātai hono, tātou ki te hunga ora, ki te hunga ora ki a tātou. Ko te iwi o te rohe o Te Wairoa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, go well. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, e mihi, e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.

[Finally, let the dead be the dead and the living be the living. To the tribe of the Wairoa district, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, go well. I pay you my earnest and ongoing respects.]

Kia ora.

Kororia, hareruia ki a Ihoa o ngā mano. Matua, Tama, Wairua Tapu me whakahōnore ki ngā Anahera pono me Te Māngai hei tautoko mai āianei, ake nei, āe.

Tēnā koutou ōku rangatira. Tēnā koutou ngā iwi, ngā hapū o te rohe o Te Wairoa. Tēnā koutou Tākitimu waka, Rongomaiwahine, tēnā koutou Ngāti Kahungunu, aku whanaunga o Ngāti Pāhauwera; tēnei e tū atu nei e mihi atu ki a koutou. Nau mai, whakatau mai ki Te Whare Pāremata i whakatū nei. Nau mai, whakatau mai ki tēnei rā whakahirahira, i tēnei rā te pānuitanga tuatoru o tēnei pire.

Āe, ka huri, me mihi atu ki a rātou kua whetūrangitia. He mihi maumahara ki a rātou. Āe. Ngā mate huhua o te wā, haere e ngā mate, āpiti hono tātai hono, ko te hunga wairua ki te hunga wairua; āpiti hono tātai hono, ko tātou te kanohi ora e tau nei ki a tātou tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Glory and praise to Jehovah of the multitudes; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and honour to the faithful angels and the Prophet to help us, now and for ever, amen.

Greetings to you, my chiefs. Greetings to the tribes and the subtribes of the Wairoa district. Greetings to you Tākitimu canoe, to Rongomaiwahine, to Ngāti Kahungunu, to my relations from Ngāti Pāhauwera; I stand here to pay my respects to you all. Welcome, welcome me to Parliament House which stands here. Welcome, welcome me to this important day, the day of the third reading of this bill.

Yes, I must now pay my respects to those who have passed on. Let us remember them. Yes. To the various ones who have recently passed, I say farewell. The genealogical lines which connect us have been recognised; let the spirits remain with the spirits. The genealogical lines which connect us have been acknowledged; let the living remain with the living. Greetings, greetings, to one and all.]

It is a great honour for me to stand in tautoko, in support, of this bill for our manuhiri, our illustrious manuhiri who have travelled from far and wide to be here on this auspicious occasion—the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa.

In the language of settlements these days, they use the term large natural groupings, and this is a very large natural grouping that we have here assembled in our Whare today. I don’t have the time to actually acknowledge all of the whakapapa, the hapū that comprise this wonderful group of our manuhiri and our honoured guests today. Suffice to say that the kāhui that make up ngā iwi and ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa are all here today, and I want to just acknowledge them all. So I will acknowledge and I mihi to Ngāti Rākaipaaka, I mihi to and I acknowledge Ngā Tokorima a Hinemanuhiri. I want to acknowledge and mihi to Rongomaiwahine Iwi/Ngāi Te Rākatō. I also want to do a double mihi to Te Wairoa.

Taku mihi ki Te Wairoa Kapo Kōrau.

[I pay my respects to Wairoa, known for picking kōrau.]

I want to mihi to the Wairoa Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board, and I want to mihi to Whakakī Nui-a-Rua.

Now, those kāhui clusters comprise ngā iwi me ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, and I do know that behind, and making up, all of those clusters are the very many hapū and whānau that are all represented here by the descendants of all those illustrious ancestors. Can I acknowledge our matua that gave a beautiful whaikōrero in the mihi whakatau this morning. It is all about those connections, the connections that we have. That’s what makes us Māori, is our whakapapa, and I do want to acknowledge not only the whakapapa of our manuhiri today but also the connections that were made from all of us right throughout this House, right across the motu, as acknowledged by my whanaunga Tutehounuku. We’re Tākitimu waka down in the South—we believe there’s a waka down there in the deep Tākitimus. So there are a lot of connections that we do have, and so I do want to just acknowledge that all today.

This is such a special day. We are at the end of this very long journey. Can I acknowledge the negotiators and all of those rangatira that have worked so hard over the years to get us to this point, from tūtira through to now, tātou tātou.

So I want to acknowledge all the work that they did, and also from all sides that were involved in this work. It is not easy. It’s a long, arduous task, but I think they can be very proud of their efforts, because especially with such a large natural group, to have such a large group together in the way that they have been able to forge together through this process is quite remarkable. So I want to acknowledge the former Minister, the Hon Chris Finlayson, and the Hon Andrew Little for their work as well in holding up the Crown side on these very special matters.

We’ve heard both the Minister and Mr Korako talk about the history, and we must never forget. That’s why we do have the historical record and the acknowledgments from the Crown and their apologies for the breaches—the breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi—that were inflicted upon our manuhiri, ngā iwi me ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. As has been spoken of, it’s all about—and it is—the core of every Treaty settlement in this House: it is the loss of land and the resulting loss of mana and all of the resulting impacts that it has on the whānau and the hapū. That was no more evident than, as has been mentioned, through the 1860s, when we hear terms of just the dubious purchases, acquisitions, transactions, surveys, surveyors—all of those actions that took place during those times ultimately led to a tremendous loss of land, tremendous loss of ancestral lands, and huge impacts on our manuhiri today. So we must acknowledge that, and I’m pleased that every Treaty settlement maintains the historical record up front.

I want to just, lastly—again, I want to acknowledge the manuhiri, because today I saw a gentlemen, Mr Ēnoka Munro, from Whakakī. He’s an inspiration to me, and I pay acknowledgment to him and his late wife, Auntie Dorie, nō Ngāi Tahu. I remember a discussion that I had when I was running for this House down in Blenheim, where Uncle and Auntie were living. He was talking to me about these great eels that they have in Whakakī, and I know I said in my second reading that when “Matua Shane” reopens that railway line from Wairoa to Gisborne, we’re going to bring out the Rātana band and we’re going to have a feed of eels. I was delighted to be able to see Matua Enoka here today to witness this occasion, So mihi tonu atu ki a koe e te rangatira.

[So I continue to acknowledge you as the leader.]

So that’s what these settlements are all about. It’s about reaffirming—not only reaffirming—the indigeneity that we have to our ancestral landscapes, which will be through all the different settlement measures and redress mechanisms that are in place in these bills. That’s what it’s all about: it’s about our mahinga kai, it’s about te taiao—the environment, our landmarks, the associations that historical names—all of those things. That’s what these settlements are all about, and I know that there’s going to be a big feed of eels for me one day when I get up to Whakakī, and I certainly hope I can enjoy some with Matua Enoka there.

So with those remarks, can I just once again acknowledge our manuhiri on this very auspicious occasion. Congratulations, and I wish them all the very best. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora tātou katoa.

It’s always good to follow Mr Tirikatene in this House. I acknowledge him, and can I also acknowledge his late Auntie Whetū, because, I think, in the old days when there were four Māori seats, her seat of Southern Maori started around Māhia Peninsula and went all the way down the west coast and then took in all the South Island. So when her nephew complains about all the work that he has to do, all I say to him is, “Get real! Auntie had far more territory to cover.” But Whetū was a great woman, and I thoroughly enjoyed her company as I got to know her in later years.

This is the final stage of the legislative process for this legislation. It was introduced on 20 December 2016, and Mr Korako was then the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee and steered it through the committee stages after it was referred to the select committee on 14 March 2017, and now it’s back in the House for its third reading.

Can I begin by also acknowledging the negotiators over the years for Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa, John Whaanga and Tāmati Olsen. They always had a very commercial approach to matters, but, at the same time, were adamant that the cultural component of the settlement had to, in some way, acknowledge the degree of land loss. It’s very easy with Treaty settlements simply to talk about the money or the commercial opportunities; there’s so much more to a Treaty settlement than that. I’ve said on many occasions that Treaty settlements are not mere commercial deals; they are a lot more important than that. John and Tāmati did a great job, especially with the difficult negotiations over Te Urewera, and I acknowledge them and thank them for their service to their iwi.

I also acknowledge the Crown representatives—my old friend Pat Snedden. I’m sure Pat won’t mind my saying this—he’s an old lefty. He phoned me shortly after I became the Minister, because he’d been involved with Te Tira over the years, and also with the iwi of the Far North. He said, “I suppose you want my resignation.”, and I said, “Oh no, Pat. Just carry on.” He did a great job for me over the years as a Crown negotiator, and I greatly appreciated getting to know him and working with him. He certainly has a heart as big as the rohe of Te Tira, and I acknowledge him and what he’s done for his country over the years. I also acknowledge John Harbord for his work as the Crown negotiator. I think the Deputy Prime Minister once said that I only appointed “my mates” as Crown negotiators. Well, Pat Snedden’s many things, but he ain’t my mate. But that having been said—well, he ended up my mate, I suppose. He’s a very nice guy. Like so many of the statements that Mr Peters made, that was scrambled and off the mark.

It’s been a tremendous pleasure to work with the various large natural groupings (LNGs) of Ngāti Kahungunu over the years. They’re a magnificent iwi that are going to play their part not only on the East Coast of New Zealand but throughout the country in the years to come. So on 17 December 2010, I signed a deed of settlement with Ngāti Pāhauwera—a wonderful group of people in the northern part of the bay—and, of course, I’ve been dealing with them over their foreshore and seabed arrangements. Then, on 25 May 2013, I signed a deed of settlement on behalf of the Crown with Maungaharuru-Tangitū. They too—and I think of Bevan Taylor and all the wonderful people there—have contributed so much to the region.

Mana Ahuriri hapū and the Crown signed a deed of settlement on 13 June 2017, and I very much look forward to when their legislation can be introduced to the House. I’m sure Mr Nash won’t mind my saying so: he and I have been anxious about that. I’d like to see that legislation introduced. Their leadership has compromised, to great extent, and has been dealing with some pretty strong opposition. Financially, they’ve suffered as a result of delays, and I think it would be good if the Crown could recognise that. Heretaunga Tamatea and I signed a deed of settlement on 26 September 2015, and, of course, their legislation only recently had its third reading. They are a fantastic bunch of people, as well. This deed of settlement, as has been said, was signed at Tākitimu Marae on 26 November 2016.

So all that leaves is Wairarapa, and I’m surprised that they haven’t got there, because Ron Mark’s in Cabinet and should be jollying them along. They signed an agreement in principle with me on 7 May 2016, and I think they’re going through the ratification work now.

So when you add up the cumulative total of the various LNGs of Ngāti Kahungunu, normally two sets of comments are made to me. The first, from many mean-spirited people, is, “Why have they got over $350 million all up?”, and I have to say to them, “Well, just look around you. Look at the extent of the land loss. Look at the history.” The extent of the land loss in Wairoa alone is massive, and that is why they have a Treaty settlement of that order. The other comment that’s made—best exemplified by our old friend Hekia Parata, who is a Ngati Porou person to her fingertips—is, “Why did they get so much? We never got that.” I have to say, “Well, bad luck. Their land loss was greater.”

So I acknowledge all the LNGs of Ngāti Kahungunu, and this is an appropriate time to congratulate each and every one of them for their huge contribution, as I say, not only to the East Coast of the North Island but to New Zealand. I truly do believe that their very best days are ahead of them.

In question time, there was a scrambled question that I think came from Mr Peters, related to Ngāpuhi—why can’t they settle, and the “glacial” pace. Well, I think probably part of the problem with Ngāpuhi is that so many of the Ngāpuhis are related to him, which explains the problems. But I think the reality of the matter is that they simply haven’t had the leadership that one would see in great iwi like Ngāti Kahungunu. I would say to Mr Peters and one of his henchmen sitting there, Mr Jones, who, along with Mr Peters, wants to abolish the Māori seats—I tell that to Ngāti Kahungunu: they want to abolish the Māori seats. I would say to them that if they look at the leadership—the outstanding leadership—of Ngāti Kahungunu and all the great people who have come up through the LNGs when the moment was needed to show that leadership, then I suggest that they could look to Ngāti Kahungunu and learn a thing or two from them.

Finally, I want to wish Ngāti Kahungunu and all the LNGs that make it up all the very best for the future. Can I say, I’ll be keeping a very close look on the relationship with Tūhoe. Wira Gardiner did a tremendous amount of work to bring the various groups together over the arrangements for Te Urewera. If there’s anything that simply has to succeed in the years to come, it’s Te Urewera. I know that there’s tremendous goodwill on the part of Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu to make sure that that happens. With goodwill and with the kind of leadership that we’ve seen over the years with negotiations, I have no doubt at all that that will happen.

So congratulations to Ngāti Kahungunu. It’s wonderful to have you in this House. I very much look forward to seeing you in the years to come as this great iwi grows and continues to contribute to New Zealand.

Just before I call the Hon Shane Jones, I just point out to the House that we have turned out the lights at the end there. There was one that was flickering, and we know how that drives people crazy. It’s not that we’re turning out the lights on you.

Before I speak in Māori, as the former Minister, Christopher Finlayson, leaves the House and gives that speech, dimness arrives in the Whare Pāremata.

Me reo Māori e Te Māngai o te Whare. Ngāti Kahungunu, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko au ko Muriwhenua e mihi atu tēnei ki ā koutou, tō koutou pā i waenga tonu i a mātou o Tinotino te wāhi i whānau mai ai tō tāua tupuna a Kahungunu—i roto i ahau ko Kahu-hunu—me tana tuahine a Hinetapu. I heke mai ai mātou o Muriwhenua erangi rawa tō koutou hoa tōku matua a Hekenukumai Busby, he uri tūturu o taua kuia a Hinetapu.

Tēnā rawa atu koutou tā te mea he mōhio nōku i waenga tonu i ā koutou, he kōhine e hia rānei ōna tau ināianei—kei te 40 pea, tēnā kōtiro ka whānau mai i te wā i tū ai te hui-ā-tau mō ngā Wāhine Toko i Te Ora ki Kaitaia, ka noho a Kahungunu me ō koutou mātua te Okenga Paraire mā i runga i tōku marae. Nō tērā wā i whānau mai ai te pēpi nei, a tētahi o ā koutou kōhine ka huangia tēnā pēpi ki te ingoa o tōku marae ake, ko Māhimaru. Nā me ngā pānga i honohono nei tētahi pito ki tētahi kē atu nā reira e Te Wairoa—Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Mātangi Rau papaki pai nōku te whakahuhua i tēnā ingoa, engari te ingoa rangatira o tō koutou awa, tō koutou rohe, tēnei te mihi i roto i tō tātou Reo Māori ki ā koutou katoa; me te hīkoinga ka hia rānei te roa kia tatū mai ai koutou ā-tinana me ō koutou moemoeā ki konei i tēnei rā.

Hei wāhanga whakamutunga māku i roto i Te Reo Māori, me mihi ahau ki tā koutou kōhine, ki a Meka—tana manawaroa kia tatū mai i te aroaro o tōna iwi i tēnei rā i waenga tonu i ōna hoa ngā kaitōrangapū i roto tonu i te ana o te raiona. Koia tēnei tētahi ao pakeke rawa atu—whiua tētahi whakapae kārawarawa pai kī ana te tangata; engari māku te kī atu ki a koutou e hia rānei ka whakawhiua ka utaina mai ki runga ki ahau, ko tāku ki tā koutou kōhine ki a Meka, kia manawaroa, kia mōhio koe nā Te Tai Rāwhiti koe i whakatū ki tēnei Whare ki tērā tūranga—ehara nā tō rōpū, ehara nā mātou ngā kaitōrangapū, engari nā te marea i ngākaunui ki a koe kia tū ai koe hei Mema Māori. Ko koe e whai ana i ngā tapuwae a Timi Kara. Ko koe e whai ana i ngā tapuwae a Ngata, ko koe e whai ana i ngā tapuwae a Tiaki Omana, e whai ana koe i ngā tapuwae o ērā o ā tātou mātua a Takamoana, a Karaipiana, ō mātua ake o roto i a Kahungunu. Kia ū, kia manawaroa.

[I shall speak Māori, Madam Deputy Speaker. Ngāti Kahungunu, greetings to all of you. I Muriwhenua stand to pay our respects to you all and the relationship that we share, given that Tinotino is the place where our ancestor Kahungunu was born—where I’m from, we say Kahu-hunu—and his wife Hinetapu. We from Muriwhenua are descendants, but your friend and my elder Hekenukumai Busby, he is a direct descendant of that ancestress Hinetapu.

I particularly greet you knowing that among you is a young woman, aged how many years now? Forty, perhaps. That girl was born during the Women’s Health League annual conference held in Kaitaia, when Ngāti Kahungunu elders including Okenga Paraire and others stayed at my marae. This baby was born at that time and one of your young women named that baby after my own marae, Māhimaru. It is these kinds of relationships which connect one side to another, therefore Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Mātangi Rau—what a job to pronounce that name, albeit it is a noble chiefly name that you have for your river, your district. This is me paying respects to you all in our Māori language; you have been on this journey for how many long years now, and you have finally come here today in person bringing with you your hopes and dreams.

My final point to make while I am in Māori, is to give respect to your kinswoman, to Meka. It is very courageous of her to front up to her people today in the midst of her parliamentary colleagues in the lion’s den. This can be a really harsh environment—vicious accusations levelled against people occur often. I say to you as someone who has had his fair share of being on the receiving end, I say to your daughter, to Meka, be staunch safe in the knowledge that it was Te Tai Rāwhiti who put you in this House in that position—not your party, not us politicians, but the public who wanted you to be their Māori member of Parliament. You are following in the footsteps of James Carroll. You are following in the footsteps of Ngata, you are following in the footsteps of Tiaki Omana, you are following in the footsteps of those of our elders such as Takamoana, Karaitiana, indeed of your own elders from within Kahungunu. Do not flinch, be staunch.]

The points that I have made in our Māori language really are an affirmation of not only the work that’s taken place but the longstanding lengths, because, if I’m not mistaken, after the Ngāpuhi tribe, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngati Porou are probably the most numerous of the iwi. But Kahungunu’s story, which is partly told in this settlement, is the story not only of Donald McLean but of the Māori Land Wars, to borrow a hackneyed expression. Indeed, Te Wairoa was, in its time, a garrison town, and you, hailing from that part of the country politically, Madam Deputy Speaker, would appreciate the significance of this day.

This particular settlement, whilst it endows capital on behalf of the taxpayers—via Mr Finlayson, via Mr Little, and via this Parliament—into the ownership of this part of Kahungunu, the sad reality is that now is the challenge, in an area where mainstream New Zealand services are infrequently seen in our more distant provincial areas. So it’s a doubly challenging task, in both an economic sense and a social sense, to bring back vitality when mainstream investment is hurtling off in a different direction.

The assets that are represented in this settlement are not only cultural, because that’s important. They give strength to identity, and identity for iwi is going to grow in importance as the multiracial and multicultural nature of our society changes. That’s just the reality of globalisation. But there’s one reality that this settlement does build on, and that’s the fact that the Māori tribes who signed up to the Treaty of Waitangi had a set of expectations not fully realised in any manner or form, but today we are trying to restore honour to the Crown and opportunity to Kahungunu.

So celebrate your leaders who led what was undoubtedly a challenging and, in some respects, unrewarding experience—having been one of those figures myself back in the days of Māori fisheries. These kinds of things are not careers; they are a mission. So for those of you who mandated your leaders, for those of you who have come today—as I said in our Māori language—guard the interests of your member, Meka Whaitiri. You are the people that send the Māori members in Māori seats to this House, and whilst she is wading her way through a process—having suffered several of those processes, unfortunately, my good self—they do require the backbone of iwi and whānau. It’s only appropriate that I should acknowledge her, given that you’ve done a great deal of work in an earlier phase, Minister Meka Whaitiri.

The opportunities going forward are that the settlements, this settlement in particular, now need to join with other forces and stakeholders and pots of capital so that it can turn around the fortunes of these parts of Aotearoa where we need to think very differently as to how we extract value. But the opportunity is there, and, in the event that you feel that your bank is not looking after you, I’m your man. Kia ora tātou.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Tēnā koe e Te Whare. Rau rangatira mā, kia ora mai tātou.

[Greetings to the House. Distinguished chiefs, good evening.]

It’s a pleasure to take a call on this bill, which I had the good fortune to speak to at the first reading on 14 March last year. The parliamentary process over that time has been timely when one considers the whole settlement process has journeyed over eight or nine years. Guiding that journey I want to acknowledge Minister Finlayson and Minister Little, Office of Treaty Settlements officials, the Māori Affairs Committee chairs—my colleagues Nuk Korako and Rino Tirikatene-Sullivan—and iwi and hapū negotiators.

On 12 May last year, I had the pleasure of accompanying the Māori Affairs Committee to Wairoa, to the Wairoa Community Centre. I travelled by car with the chairperson, Nuk Korako, and that day we heard claimants express the importance of the settlement to their community. We heard claimants express their whakapapa to the land from the past to the present and now into the future. We heard that the non-financial elements of historical and cultural acknowledgment are just as important for the mana and integrity of the iwi and the hapū as the dollar sum being discussed.

As the chairperson, Nuk, and I drove away later that day we were reflecting on the day. The fact is, I recall I was the one reflecting because Nuk had taken the advice of locals and was devouring a pie from Osler’s Bakery by himself, and as the pastry settled in the car we reflected on how we could best advance the cause and settlement of this iwi and this hapū—what was our role as parliamentarians? Everything we heard resonated, everything we believed, everything was true—what was our role going forward? And I think the conclusion we came to was to substantiate the process of the select committee, to not have any hindrance, to collaborate and work with others across the House and make sure for this iwi and their hapū that their aspirations were realised. Today is that day. Today, we join the hope of generations to commitments from the Crown, and today we all wish the hapū and the iwi great wisdom and peace in their way forward with this settlement. Kia ora mai tātou.

Tēnā koe, Madam Deputy Speaker. He mihi kau ana tēnei ki ngā uri o ngā hapū o te rohe o Te Wairoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[May I certainly add my respects to the descendants of the subtribes of the Wairoa district. Greetings, greetings, thrice greetings to one and all.]

On behalf of the Green Party, I want to join other members in this House in welcoming the people and the leaders from the iwi and hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. It’s been 30 years since Te Rohe o Te Wairoa lodged their claim, and 16 years since members of that hapū and iwi of the Wairoa district came together at Rangiahua Marae to plan for the resolution of their claim—30 years. There are members in this Parliament and in our party who were not born yet at that time. And that was the start of a process that concludes here today.

Of course, the original and ongoing harm that we acknowledge today has compounded across many generations from the 1840s. Today, in this House, we stand unified in acknowledging the wrong. I want to acknowledge all of those who have exercised such incredible persistence over those decades and over those generations to get this bill to this stage today. I understand that we have particular acknowledgments to make to John Whaanga, Te Tira lead negotiator; Tamati Olsen, Te Tira chair; and Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust, especially the chair, Leon Symes, and deputy chair, Pieri Munro.

But, of course, I suspect all the work is founded on the resistance and faith of kaumātua and kuia, many of whom have passed already. So I too would like to add to the Green Party’s voice in remembrance for the efforts of all those who have passed before we saw this day.

This can only ever be a partial acknowledgment of what happened. So much has gone on in recounting the history. But, again, it is important to put at least some of it from each of our parties on the record again in this House today. So, as has been acknowledged by others, I too want to acknowledge that one of the first breaches was of the Treaty not even getting to your area, and then you being bound to this document and this agreement that the Crown put in place that you didn’t sign up to, and then you were forced into this arrangement that you had no say in. I want to acknowledge, too, the trust and reconciliation process that has occurred as a part of the reconciliation, and that that is about healing—healing the hurts that have occurred across the generations. But it is still within the frame of the Crown, as is the financial settlement in particular.

I think we should acknowledge this. It’s not really about reparation. It’s a deed of settlement and it is an agreed and sanitised historical account, but it is not full compensation. My back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that over 300,000 acres of land were scammed and stolen by settlers and the Crown. The Greens will say this at every reading: we do not actually recognise that this is full and final settlement, even though that is what is written into legislation, because it is not full by any stretch of the imagination. And we do not believe that it can be final, because there is no way of telling at this stage what the impact of those historical breaches will be on future generations. But we recognise that to get this bill to the House and to go through the processes that iwi and hapū have gone through is a huge achievement.

Te Wairoa Tāpokorau submission from the cluster number one estimated the economic loss of hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa from the loss of rates and values of the land that was “alienated”. The total of both accountings came, by their reckoning, to $1,646,373,650, not even counting for the commercial loss or the loss of rental or GST or any of those other factors. The settlement that the Crown currently considers and describes as full provides $100 million in redress.

The Green Party does not consider this full or final. This is an exceptionally generous gift from Te Rohe of Te Wairoa. I can imagine there may be—and I’ve heard, certainly, from many Pākehā in this country who might think that $100 million is really generous of the Crown, and that of course the country could never afford that $1.6 billion, as if the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa could afford this loss.

Of course, the Crown did pay out $1.6 billion in 2010 to people affected by the collapse of South Canterbury Finance, which the Prime Minister at the time, John Key, described as a relatively small payment. I want to put that on record, from the Green Party to New Zealanders—not as a message to the iwi and hapū listening today. Anytime anyone feels the urge to suggest that Māori are getting something from the Crown, just remember that this was land taken by the Crown and this cannot even touch upon true reparation in a financial sense.

But I do want to also be clear that this settlement is the fifth largest in our country’s history for iwi, and the negotiators have done their people proud. But if we are all to move forward with integrity, the Green Party believes we need to be honest about the limitations of the Crown’s general approach to settlements and acknowledge our collective moral and financial debt to hapū and iwi.

To touch briefly on some of those breaches—going right back to the non-arrival of the Treaty, and the binding to that agreement, and the dodgy practices around surveying, and not investigating customary rights, and the Crown putting Māori under extreme duress; using confusion over the legal status of the land to take thousands and thousands of acres; the breaking up of customary and collectively owned land into individual ownership to then be able to effectively steal it; and taking more land through the Public Works Act. This Crown has been responsible for all of those acts of theft.

As we heard, and I spoke on the second reading of this bill on the last sitting day before Christmas last year, we remembered the invasion of the Crown of Omaruhakeke kāinga, where Māori who were defending the land—peaceful occupation of their own land—were summarily executed by the Crown and others taken and detained without trial on the Chathams. These were acts of deep shame for this Crown that we need to acknowledge as a country to have a hope of healing and moving forward.

It speaks too that this is about more than money and this is about more than land; this is about the heart and well-being of people and us as a country, and, if we cannot acknowledge the crimes and the wrongs, then we have no hope to move forward on a different basis. So, finally, I hope at the end of today that we can move forward together as a people to a future beyond the past.

Kia ora, everybody, and welcome to the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. It’s my pleasure as a member of Parliament for Heretaunga and Ngāti Kahungunu to greet you in your House. It’s my pleasure to acknowledge the Hon Meka Whaitiri in this House today for this significant achievement. Thank you for coming.

Can I acknowledge the people responsible for the settlement of this claim—the people that were brave, that elected leaders, and that actually formed a large natural grouping so we could end up in this place today. I’m not sure if your mayor is with you today, but I was with him last evening at the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Awards, where he stole the show with laughter and humour. Because I was in Hawke’s Bay last evening, I know how wet it was. He tried to tell us that the only way he got to the tourism awards was—when he got down to Tūtira, the road was flooded, so he had to swim. Of course, we didn’t believe him, but if any of you have had that journey today to get here, you’re looking remarkably dry and well.

It is great to have so many people from northern Hawke’s Bay in this, your Chamber, to signify this most significant event. This is one of the six large natural groupings of Ngāti Kahungunu and will make a significant impact to the people of northern Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa, and what I call southern Gisborne. I’m not sure I’m allowed to say that, but that’s what I call it.

In doing so, I wish to look forward, but I also wish to personally acknowledge, as my fellow colleagues right around the Parliament have done, that the deed of settlement includes a Crown apology for the actions and omissions and, specifically, for the war fought against those members of this iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. They were people it deemed as rebels who, in an unjust attack in 1865, were the subject of a summary execution of prisoners and the detention without trial of some of the members of the iwi and hapū on the Chatham Islands from 1866 to 1868—a horrendous act that was actually replicated in other parts of Kahungunu and other parts of Hawke’s Bay.

I have spoken in a number of these settlements’ readings, and my journey of discovery in this place and my journey of discovery when I was the Mayor of Hastings was to understand the significant loss, hurt, and harm that was caused and that is now being redressed. I specifically want to acknowledge the Hon Christopher Finlayson for the work he has done in Kahungunu—and that has been followed by the Hon Andrew Little—to do what can be done to make these wrongs right. I specifically acknowledge the generosity of spirit that is shown by all the people that are sitting in the gallery today in the cultural redress, because the sites are to be vested in Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust and, importantly, they will then be vested back to the Crown for the people of New Zealand. So, despite all this loss and despite all the hurt to this day, there is a massive generosity of spirit, and this House needs to acknowledge that for the people that are represented today and the people that have negotiated this.

I want to touch on two factors that I think are unfinished business: Hereheretau Station is still something, like the Glasgow leases at Te Aute College, that is unresolved. They are a challenge for this Parliament, actually, outside of the Treaty settlements themselves, to resolve, and in the same kindness of spirit that we’ve seen in the gifting back of land to the Crown, I hope there is a generosity of spirit in this Parliament and in the people of New Zealand to make those types of issues be resolved outside of the Treaty settlement claims.

I specifically acknowledge the generosity given around the Mōrere Springs Reserve. Morere is a significant cultural part of northern Hawke’s Bay and a wonder of nature that has actually been gifted back to the people of New Zealand as part of this process. Once again, that is a massive generosity of spirit.

So, as the Hon Christopher Finlayson said, Ngāti Kahungunu will be the recipient of around $350 million of Treaty settlement money, and $100 million will go to this claim. It has been a long time in the waiting and a long time in the preparation, and when one considers that over 50 percent of the population of the Wairoa District are Māori, one understands the significance of this settlement. I believe that $100 million—while previous speakers may have said it’s not enough, I believe it is an opportunity for the people of Wairoa to transform the Wairoa District and transform the opportunities for their people, and I acknowledge courageous leaders like Craig Little and Rex Graham, who are trying to make a difference in Wairoa. They are both friends of mine who have supported this Treaty settlement and the opportunities that come from it.

It’s a tremendous honour to stand in this House and support the people of Wairoa. In my farming days, I used to go to the Wairoa saleyards and buy cattle, and they shifted incredibly well down to Heretaunga. The last time I was up there for a big public event—and I see Bill Blake in the audience—was for the Ross Shield, I think was the last time. There was another time when I tried to do an amalgamation up there and I was run out of town, you know. But I have a tremendous respect and a tremendous, tremendous love for Wairoa, its people, and its district as an integral part of Hawke’s Bay and Kahungunu.

This is a very, very special day. The redress is what this Government and parties across this Parliament have agreed. I wish you and your people every success and I hope that this redress will not only quench and deal with some of the harm that has been caused but will offer significant economic opportunity for the people of Wairoa. Thank you.

Tēnei te mihi ki ā koutou, Ngāti Kahungunu kua tae mai nei i tēnei wā, e whakarangatira nei i a mātou, tēnei te tino mihi ki a koutou. He hōnore nui ki te tū i waenganui i a koutou i tēnei wā, ki te tautoko i te kaupapa me hoki ki te tautoko i tō tātou tuahine, tō tātou toa, Meka Whaitiri, tēnei te mihi ki a koutou. Ahakoa tino taumaha i tēnei wā mō tō tātou tuahine kei te mōhio ia ko te kaupapa i tēnei rā, koia rā te mea nui, he tika kia mihi ki a ia, ki a koutou hoki mō ō koutou tautoko i tēnei wā. Tēnā koutou.

[I pay my respects to you Ngāti Kahungunu; by coming here today, you honour us; thank you. I am privileged to stand among you today to support the occasion, as well as to support our sister, our champion, Meka Whaitiri; I acknowledge your presence. Despite this being a trying time for our sister, she realises that the most important thing today is this occasion, therefore it is fitting that she is acknowledged, as you are for your support today. Greetings to you all.]

It’s a privilege to stand in front of this grouping today, Ngāti Kahungunu. All the mihis and history have been done, so I offer a special mihi to Andrew Little.

I want to follow up on the mihis to our MP for the electorate, whose whānau is here today, and particularly her mum, May Whaitiri—lovely to see you, Auntie May—who went to school with my mother at Hukarere Girls’ College all those years ago. So we mihi to the mother of Meka, Pānia of the Reef. Homai te pakipaki.

[Let’s give her a round of applause.]

A wahine toa, Auntie May, just like your daughter, who’s been very brave and courageous in coming down to tautoko the kaupapa today. Tēnei te mihi ki a koe, e kui.

[I acknowledge you, madam.]

So much has already been said about the history and what’s happened in the past. And I do acknowledge the kōrero from the Greens, particularly. I’ve always said what they’ve said today, that we can never get true and full compensation—an undeniable fact. Great kōrero from our Rōpū Greens today.

However, we have an opportunity now. The tribes have an opportunity now, going forward. And so I suppose my question today for our group, Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa, is: what is the future? What have we learnt from past Treaty settlements? The tribe would’ve watched the investments from different tribes, and we have to be very, very careful going forward. So I’m really interested in how urban Māori are going to be factored in, in the $100 million settlement. I’m really interested in what the investments will be.

Sadly, myself and Shane Jones have been a little bit critical, as we all know, of different iwi investments and decisions through the years. That’s because the future of our people is so important. And I have to say, I get tired of excuses from iwi leaders who refuse to invest in their people—who refuse to invest in their people. We’ve got to get past that.

I understand Government obligations, and of course the Government—whether it’s National or Labour—have to support all the health needs, the education needs, all the needs right across society. Both parties have done that through the years, but we as iwi and we as Māori have to make our contributions, too. When you have your people sleeping in cars, when you have Third-World housing in the North, in the Tainui, on the East Coast, when do we as an iwi put our hands in our pockets? Or is it all about property development, investments? When do the people see the fruits of the settlement?

So that’s a challenge, I suppose, I want to put to our rōpū Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa in this short contribution today: when will the people see the fruits of the settlement? Tainui constituents waited 18 years. Myself and Tamihere challenged them constantly. Is everything going to be left to the Government? That’s not what Doug Graham signed up for. That’s not what he signed up for with Tainui and Bob Māhuta. There’s got to be a partnership. I’m not saying to use the full Treaty settlements in terms of investments—not at all. I’m saying, come on. Let’s allocate a percentage so that we can tautoko our iwi. And that’s got to be the end result. So I put that whakaaro to you today, and I thank you for coming down to support the kaupapa.

Hōnore nui tēnei. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa.

[This is a great honour. I acknowledge you all. Greetings, greetings one and all.]

E Te Māngai, e mihi ana ki ngā uri o te iwi me ngā hapū o te rohe o Te Wairoa. Nau mai, haere mai i tēnei wā i roto i Te Whare. Tēnei te wā o te ao hou.

[Madam Assistant Speaker, let me pay my respects to the descendants of the tribes and subtribes of the Wairoa district. Welcome, welcome at this time into the House. It is now the new world.]

I stand to speak as a new member of Parliament, the elected member for W’anganui, and, importantly, I am uri of W’anganui. My marae, Pūtiki W’arenui a Tamatea Pōkai W’enua, is my connection and my association to Ngāti Kahungunu. I am also of Ngāti Apa, Nga Rauru, and Ngāti Rangi. So I stand here today as a new member of Parliament but also as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee, and tasked with the duty and responsibility now as an agent of the Crown to acknowledge within your bill—soon to be passed into law—the history, the acknowledgments, the apology, and, importantly, the way forward: the future.

I have limited time with this call this afternoon. However, as I look upon those of our people of Ngāti Kahungunu, te iwi and ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa gathered here today, I’m heartened because I see the generations—those of us who have come from a time that has been carried through, with your young here today. I am heartened by that and the hope in moving forward that this bill, once it is passed into law, will provide as a vehicle.

It is a piece of law that acknowledges reprehension, the wrongness, the injustice, of the history. That is outlined in sections 8 and 9 within the historical context and the acknowledgments of this bill—clauses 8 and 9; soon to be sections—the reprobation. It outlines also reparation, restoration, the redress, relationships—the relationships that have been identified in under the cultural redress component of the bill—and then, importantly, revitalisation. This encompasses all of those things.

I refer to clause 10, the apology, at paragraph (f), and it states that the Crown seeks to restore its tarnished honour and to atone for its past failures to uphold the principles of the Treaty, and, with this, apologises and acknowledges this in the settlement, hoping to build a new relationship that will endure for current and future generations.

Now is the time to focus on that future, not forgetting the past, not forgetting the journey that has been traversed to get here. Now is that te ao hou [new world]—a new chapter, a new beginning.

As said, it is promising and it is heartening to see the multigenerational gathering of Ngāti Kahungunu here today. It acknowledges the efforts of all those who have gone before, their aspirations to be carried through into the future with the young ones here.

So I am humbled and I’m immensely privileged—and that is one of the absolute bonuses of this role as a member, or MP—to be able to address the House and those who have gathered and seeing the final passage of these wrongdoings, moving forward with hope into the future. I conclude by commending this bill into its final passage to be made law. Tēnā tātou katoa.

E Te Māngai o Te Whare, ka noho tonu au ki Te Reo Māori mō te roanga o taku kōrero i te rā nei.

Tuku mauriora ki te wheiao, ki te ao mārama. tihewa mauriora!

E haere tonu ana ngā mihi me ngā whakatau ki te hunga e noho mai nei ki runga i a mātou, otirā tātou o Te Whare nei, ngā uri o Te Wairoa, ngā uri o Ngāti Kahungunu, ngā whakapapa katoa ka whakairihia mai nei ki runga i ngā pātū o tēnei Whare. He aha ai? Kia kīhai ai tēnei Whare e wareware; kia mōhio mārika ai tēnei Whare ki ngā whakapapa, ki ngā kanohi e noho mai nei ki runga.

Ka whakairihia ake rā i ngā whakapapa, i ngā hītori, i ngā mamaetanga i kawea nei e Ngāti Kahungunu, e ngā iwi o Te Wairoa ki roto i tēnei Whare i te rā nei.

Nō reira ka kī atu ahau ki a koutou, e ōku tini whanaunga—haere mai e te whakapapa.

Ka kī atu ahau ki ōku whanaunga haere mai e ngā roimata, haere mai e waikamo, haere mai, ka horomi, ka waikinohia nei i te hunga ka noho mai ki roto ki tēnei Whare. Ko ngā roimata o Te Wairoa kua tau mai ki roto i Te Whare i te rā nei, ka pōkaitia nuitia i te mata o te whenua, mai i tō rātou wā kāinga tae noa mai ki Te Whare Pāremata i te rā nei.

Ka kī atu ahau ki ngā uri o Te Wairoa, haere mai e ngā taringa haere mai e ngā kanohi—he aha ai? Kia kite atu, kia whakapono.

Ko ngā mahi i oti i a rātou ki roto i ngā 30 tau kua pahure ake nei, kua tutukihia ki roto i te pānuitanga whakamutunga o tēnei pire i roto i Te Whare i te rā nei.

Ka kī atu ahau ki ngā uri o Te Wairoa, haere mai e Moemoeā, haere mai e Wawata. Haere mai ki roto i tēnei Whare. Ko tēnei kōrero, te kiko kei roto i tēnei pire, he tūāpapa mō Moemoeā, mō Wawata ki roto i ngā tau kei mua i a tātou. Nō reira ka kī atu ahau ki te hunga kua tae mai i te rā nei—haere mai Moemoeā, haere mai Wawata.

Ka kī atu ahau ki ngā hunga nō Te Wairoa, haere mai e Tai Tāngata, haere mai e Tai Tuarā. Haere mai e Tai Tuarā o Te Mema Pāremata o Te Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. Ka kī atu ahau ki tōku tuahine, ko tō manawa ki tōku manawa, ko tō whakapapa ki tōku whakapapa, ahakoa ngā raweke, ahakoa ngā mahi māminga a te hunga pāpāho, a ētahi atu kei roto i te ao tōrangapū, ka kī atu ahau ki a ia, turuturu o whitiwhiti, whakamaua kia tina, haumi e, hui e, tāiki e!

Ka kōrero mai te nuinga o ngā kaikōrero o Te Whare nei, i te āhuatanga, me te kiko o tēnei pire. Kua rongo mātou, otirā tātou, i te rahi o te pūtea ka whakamauria ki runga i te pākau i Te Tai Rāwhiti o Te Ika a Māui, arā ko Ngāti Kahungunu, me ōna peka katoa, me tōna rahi, me tōna nui. Kua kī atu e hia nei ngā miriona taara ka whakapauria ki runga i tēnei take kerēme e pā ana ki ngā take e whakapā nei ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ko te wāhanga ki Te Wairoa, āe e tika ana ko te kotahi rau miriona taara. Kua kōrero mai Te Whare, e hoa, he torutoru noa iho, he puna iti nei i whakahokia atu ki ngā mana nui o Te Wairoa kua tae mai i te rā nei. Engari koinā te take ka karanga atu ahau ki a Moemoeā, ki a Wawata kia whakatupu ake ai i te rahi o te pūtea, kia hāngai pū ki ngā moemoeā a Kui mā, a Koro mā kua ngaro atu ki te pō. Nō reira e tika ana ka mihi atu ahau ki te āhuatanga o ngā tatūnga ki roto i tēnei pire.

Kua kōrero ētahi mō te poraka whenua e kīia nei ko Hereheretau. Āe. Kotahi rau tau ki muri ki roto i te marama o Noema, i mutu ai Te Pakanga Tuatahi o Te Ao. Kotahi rau tau ka pahure ake nei, ka tae mai ki tēnei tāima, e hoa, kore kau he aha whakahokia atu ki ngā kaumātua me ngā kuia o Whakakī i tukuna atu tēnei whenua hei tohu maumahara, hei tohu ora mō te hunga i haere atu ki Te Pakanga Tuatahi o Te Ao kātahi ka hoki mai ki te kore noa iho. Kei runga tonu i te tēpu tērā āwangawanga a te iwi, a ngā hapū, mō te wāhi a Whakakī. Hāunga rā ko tērā ko te hiahia me te manako ahakoa kua whakakōhatungia ki roto i tēnei pire, haere tonu te kōrero o te kaupapa o Hereheretau ki roto i ngā tau kei mua i a tātou.

Ko ngā poraka whenua i whakahokia atu me te mana o ngā ingoa ka tapaia ki runga o aua poraka whenua, ka mihi atu ahau ki tērā tū āhuatanga, kei roto i tēnei pire. E tika ana ka whakamanahia i ngā ingoa tūpuna, a rātou mā, ngā ingoa e mōhiotia nei e te hunga e noho mai nei ki runga o ā rātou ingoa e pā ana ki ngā whenua kei a rātou, nō reira e mihi atu ana ahau ki tērā atu āhuatanga.

I a au e noho mai nei e ngā uri o Te Wairoa i rongo atu ahau i ngā kōrero a tōku matua nei a Hon Wiri Hakihana—hei tāna, he aha nei nā tā koutou mahi ki te whakararata mai i ngā hunga kei roto i ngā taone mō tō koutou kaupapa me ngā moemoeā a Ngāti Kahungunu i roto i ngā tau kei mua i a tātou? Heoi anō ko tāku e whakautu nei ki a ia, e ki ngā hunga o Te Wairoa ka noho mai ki roto i tōku rohe pōti a Tāmaki Makaurau—tēnā, tirohia ki tō whakapapa, ka kite atu i hīkoi tō koutou tupuna a Tamatea i te mata o te whenua ki te hoki atu ki te kāinga, koia rā tāku ki a rātou—hoki atu ki te kāinga.

Nā runga i te tono o tēnei o ngā Māngai o Tāmaki Makaurau ki te hunga o Te Wairoa ka noho mai ki roto i taku rohe pōti, ka kī atu ahau, āe, whakahokia atu wā koutou tamariki mokopuna ki te kāinga; ahakoa kei te taone e noho ana, e mōhio ana ahau he mokopuna, he tamaiti, ngā tamariki e tū ana ki runga i te marae, tau ana; ngā tamariki mokopuna ka tupu mai ki roto i ngā otaota o te kāinga, tau ana; ko ngā tamariki mokopuna e tupu mai nei ki raro i te maru, ki runga anō hoki i ngā rekereke o ngā matua, o ngā tūpuna, tau ana.

Nō reira e ōku rangatira, heoi anō ko te wāhanga whakamutunga o taku kōrero i te rā nei e kī atu nei ki ā koutou e ngā uri o Te Wairoa, mā Te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki ki roto i ngā tau kei mua i ā koutou. Ko te manako ko ngā moemoeā o rātou mā ka kore e mutu ki konei. E mōhio ana au i ngā tū āhuatanga me ngā raruraru ka pā ki a Ngā Puhi ki roto i ngā tau, kei roto tonu i ngā mahi o tēnei rā. Mō ngā wawata o tōku tupuna a Tā Hemi, ehara mō te whakatutukitanga o ngā nawe me ngā kerēme e pā ana ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi, kāhore; engari mō tētahi āhua tupu pai mai wana mokopuna maha, kia tū rangatira, kia tū toa ki roto i tēnei ao hurihuri. Koia rā te wero nui kei mua i ā koutou e ōku rangatira, e ōku tini whanaunga—kia whakaritea mai te huarahi, kia pai ai te tupu, kia pai ai te māhuri o te tōtara i roto i a koutou ā taihoa ake nei.

Koutou, e ngā mana nui, e ōku tini whanaunga, ka tautoko mātou o tēnei taha o Te Whare, te pire kei mua i te aroaro. Ki a koe, otirā ki a tātou i te rā nei, me te hiahia ka tere atu ki mua i te aroaro o Te Kāwana Tianara, nā reira whakamanahia ka mutu ka kite anō tātou i a tātou i runga i Te Marae o Pipitea nā reira tātou hākari ai.

E ōku rangatira, rau rangatira mā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Madam Assistant Speaker, I will remain in the Māori language for the duration of my speech today.

Let there be life in the world of light, in the world of enlightenment, behold there is life!

May I continue the ritual of paying respect and offering words of welcome to these good people who have descended upon us and this House, to the progeny of Te Wairoa, to the issue of Ngāti Kahungunu, to their genealogical connections which now grace the walls of this House. Why? So that this House will never forget; so that the genealogy and the faces sitting here will remain etched in the consciousness of this House.

The genealogies, the history, and the hurt which are all borne by Ngāti Kahungunu, by the people of Te Wairoa, will be laid bare in this House today. I therefore say to you, my many brethren, I welcome your genealogy.

I further say to my kinsmen, I welcome your tears, I welcome your grief; welcome so that it may wash over the people who sit in this House. The tears of Te Wairoa which have finally arrived at this House have had a long and arduous journey from their homeland to Parliament today.

I say to the descendants of Te Wairoa, I welcome your ears, I welcome your eyes. Why? So they may see, they may believe.

The work that has been accomplished these 30 years past will reach some conclusion in the third reading of this bill in the House today.

I also say to the descendants of Te Wairoa, I welcome vision, I welcome aspiration. Welcome into this House. These speeches, the contents of this bill, form the foundation for vision and aspiration to thrive in the years ahead. Therefore, I say to those who have come here today, welcome vision, welcome aspiration.

I further say to the people of Te Wairoa, I welcome your humanity, I welcome your backbone. I welcome you as the backbone of the member for Te Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I have said to my sister, from your heart to my heart; from your genealogy to my genealogy, whatever the machinations, whatever the mischief generated by the media or others in the political sphere, I told her: brace yourself, gather your strength which is formidable; take heart!

Most of the speakers in this House have talked about the outcomes of this bill. We have all heard about the size of the financial redress that will accrue to that part of the East Coast of the North Island—that is to say, Ngāti Kahungunu and all its subsidiaries. It has already been stated how many millions of dollars will be allocated to settle the Treaty of Waitangi claims. As far as Te Wairoa is concerned, yes, we are talking a hundred million dollars. The House has said, “Goodness, what is being offered is only peanuts to the good people of Te Wairoa who have come here today.” But that is the reason that I have especially called upon vision and aspiration, that they might be applied to grow the size of the financial settlement in order to achieve all that was dreamt of by those ancestors who are no longer with us. It is therefore only right that I should acknowledge the matters that have been settled in this bill.

Some have talked about the Hereheretau land block. Yes. The First World War ended a hundred years ago in the month of November. One hundred years have passed and until this time there has been no return whatsoever to the elders of Whakakī who provided this land as a memorial and a means of support for those who went to World War I but then came home to nothing. Whakakī is still a bone of contention for the tribal entities and is still on the table. Other than that, it is an earnest wish that notwithstanding the agreements cemented in this bill, talks around the subject of Hereheretau will continue in the coming years.

I am delighted at the return of blocks of land and the authority over the names of those land blocks which is in this bill. It is only right that the ancestral names should be recognised, names that were known by the people who used and lived on the land, and I acknowledge that provision.

Ladies and gentlemen of Te Wairoa, as I sat here I listened to what my senior colleague the Hon Willie Jackson had to say—he asks what you will do to engage your people who live in an urban setting. What are the dreams of Ngāti Kahungunu for the future of these people? My answer to him is what I would say to people from Te Wairoa who live in my electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau—look at your family history and you will see that your ancestor Tamatea explored the length and breadth of this land and then went home. That is what I would say to them—return home.

If this member for Tāmaki Makaurau was asked by people from Te Wairoa living in my electorate, I would say yes, take your children and your grandchildren home; even though they live in the city, I know that the grandchild, the child, the children who experience their marae first-hand are grounded and confident; children and grandchildren who run amongst the grasses of their homeland are grounded and confident; children and grandchildren who grow up under the protection of, and at the feet of their elders, are grounded and confident.

Therefore, esteemed chiefs, as I conclude my speech today I beseech the blessings and protection of God upon you the descendants of Te Wairoa for the years to come. The hopes and dreams of those who have passed on do not end here. I am well aware of the trials and tribulations that have beset Ngāpuhi over the years and which continue. My grandfather Sir James impressed upon us that the aspiration was not about settling grievances that arose from Treaty of Waitangi breaches. No; it was more about improving the world of his many grandchildren that they may stand proudly and confidently in this modern world. That is the real challenge before you my chiefs, my relations—to prepare the way for strong growth, that the young leaders among you may emerge in due course.

Illustrious guests, to my many brethren, we on this side of the House support the bill before us. With the hope of an expeditious delivery to the Governor-General for formal ratification, I trust we will see you all at Pipitea Marae to eat together in celebration.

Assembled chiefs, I offer greetings, greetings, greetings one and all.]

Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā; tēnā koe e Te Whare. Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. Tēnā koe te Whare. Rau rangatira mā, tēnei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Tēnā koutou ngā iwi rangatira o te rohe o Te Wairoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Greetings, Madam Assistant Speaker; greetings to the House. Esteemed elders and others, I greet you in light of today’s purpose. Greetings to the proud tribes of the region of Te Wairoa. Greetings, greetings, once more greetings to you all.]

I’m honoured to rise and speak in this House on the third reading of your bill. This is our House, and in the third reading of Treaty settlement legislation we create a new future. That’s why it’s always a real honour and a privilege for me to rise and speak in a third reading. Although I haven’t walked the journey of your Treaty settlement, as the MP for Taupō I’ve been enormously privileged to walk the journey from beginning to end with Ngāti Raukawa. I’ve also been involved with parts of the Treaty settlements with other iwi in the Taupō rohe: Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, and Ngāti Hauā.

I want to just reflect because I can imagine that your journey has been similar. Too often I think of the debates we have in this House and at times the words that we speak are incredibly damaging, and they’re damaging for so many reasons. So I think the third reading speech is a critically important time not to speak politics but instead to focus on the future. If I think back to every step of the way in the Ngāti Raukawa settlement, the memories of what I witnessed will be etched for ever in my heart.

I have one wish in this House, and that is every New Zealander has the opportunity to experience the incredible generosity and the incredible forgiveness from iwi like yours from those past wrongs. While other speakers in this House have put your stories in the Hansard and on the record, I want to reiterate my clear hope that every New Zealander has at least some understanding of the trauma, of just the unimaginable—I can’t even find a word that actually describes it. When I listened to the stories from Ngāti Raukawa, as I say, they were burnt in my memory and etched in my heart. As a New Zealander, a fourth generation New Zealander, I was ashamed to say I had no idea of the extent of what occurred in those days. As a proud New Zealander standing in this House of Parliament, I think it is a duty and a responsibility of every New Zealander to know and attempt to understand.

So I stand in this House to celebrate with you, to thank you for walking the journey with the Crown and for your commitment, and to celebrate this point in our collective history and, more importantly, our collective future. I want to honour the ancestors passed, but, more importantly, I want to honour the children that are not yet born from your Rohe o Te Wairoa. Kia ora koutou, and thank you for the opportunity to share in this very special day with you.

Madam Assistant Speaker, tēnā koe. E ngā mema o Te Whare, tēnā tātou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak on the Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill—a very historic bill that is before us in this House. Madam Assistant Speaker, with your indulgence, I’d like to greet the iwi of Ngāti Kahungungu in an appropriate manner.

Rau rangatira mā e kui mā e koro mā, anei ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa, te kaupapa whakanui, te kaupapa whakahirahira, te kaupapa tika. Nō reira, e ngā mana, e ngā reo, ōku rau rangatira mā, tēnā koutou nau mai, tēnā koutou, nau mai, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Distinguished chiefs, elders, allow me to pay my respects to you all who have come here on this mission, a mission of celebration, an important mission, a just mission. Therefore, to those from diverse backgrounds and cultures, my distinguished chiefs, greetings and welcome, greetings and welcome, greetings to one and all.]

Getting to the House has been a journey for some today, but nothing compares to the journey of ngā hapū me ngā iwi o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. I want to firstly acknowledge the kind words that colleagues have shared in this House, but may I make it very clear that there is only one kōpapa here, and this is the third and final reading of the Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill. I am so privileged and honoured, as the current member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, to join in with the people that have joined us here in acknowledging the passage of this bill.

It is pleasing to be the final speaker on this bill. Madam Assistant Speaker, may I make some acknowledgments? First and foremost, can I acknowledge the tīpuna who suffered at the hands of the Crown, who lost lives, who lost land, and who, without trial, were imprisoned in Te Wharekauri. There was a pattern happening on the East Coast of the North Island. Before the Treaty was signed, Wairoa Māori, Tūranga Māori lived an autonomous life. They lived under their tikanga, under their whakapapa, and managed their lands as they saw fit. In Te Wairoa, despite the Musket Wars in 1820, we had whalers that settled in places like Te Māhia in 1830.

The Treaty was signed—as we all know—on 6 February 1840. It was never ever taken to the people of Te Wairoa. There was no debate. There was no consultation for the people of Te Wairoa. In the Treaty, there are three articles. The first article—depending on which version you read: the Pākehā version talked about sovereignty; the Māori one talked about kāwanatanga, governance. The second part of the article promised Māori the undisturbed possession of their lands and their waterways. The third part of the article gave the rights and protection of Māori as British subjects.

In speaking to this bill, the Crown breached article 2 and it breached article 3. At no time did they talk to the Māori of Te Wairoa around whether they wanted to enter into this partnership. Let me be very, very clear: the Treaty was not taken to Te Wairoa. After 1840, when the Treaty was signed, you will see a pattern: in the 1860s, as the wars went around the country—it started in Taranaki, went to Waikato—Wairoa Māori, like Tūranga Māori, wanted to just remain peaceful and carry on their business.

But it was the war at Āmuruhākeke kāinga in September 1865—a month after the Waerenga a Hika siege, just up the road in Tūranga in November 1865. Those wars then enabled the Crown to move in to Te Wairoa, as they did in Tūranga, and confiscate and put magistrates in these areas to ensure that the land that was obtained was obtained under duress. These generous people, who, above us, have paid enormously in the land that was taken, in the loss of life, and, like I mentioned earlier, in those that were sent to Wharekauri without trial.

I want to acknowledge those that filed the claims in the 1980s and who are no longer here. I want to acknowledge the negotiators who have been mentioned here. I want to acknowledge Johnny Whaanga. I want to acknowledge Tāmati Olsen and all the negotiators that have worked really hard on bringing the deed of settlement to fruition. I want to acknowledge the Ministers: the Hon Chris Finlayson; I want to acknowledge the Hon Andrew Little. I want to also acknowledge Office of Treaty Settlements officials, and, of course, I want to acknowledge the work of the Māori Affairs Committee, who did a wonderful job in seeing and having submissions on this particular bill.

But, in the time I’ve got left, as we heard in the pō’hiri in the hall across from the debating chambers, this is about the future. This is about Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust. I want to acknowledge the initial trustees that are gathered here today for your stewardship since the deed of settlement was signed until the final reading of this bill. I want to particularly acknowledge the four ohu—the pillars that these people have worked so tirelessly around: the work plan, the engagement plan, and then the settlement matters, and, of course, the operational services.

This settlement bill and the people that it is being read for have prepared themselves well to receive all the assets that are coming to them. I want to respond to my colleague the Hon Willie Jackson, when he asked the question, “Where shall we be investing in?”—where shall we be investing? Can I respond to my colleague that the responsibility of health, housing, and education rests with the Crown. It is the role and the responsibility of the Crown to address not just the social but the cultural and the economic and the environmental needs of the people of Te Wairoa. So I love my colleague here, but I think he’s off cue when he thinks that the $100 million should be invested in that. I have every faith that the leadership of ngā hapū me ngā iwi o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa will make the wise decision.

Can I acknowledge our rangatahi, our tamariki who have joined us here today, because if we’re talking about the future, they are our leaders for tomorrow. I want to acknowledge those that are here with us in witnessing an event that is going to open up so many opportunities for themselves, for the wider Wairoa district, and for Aotearoa New Zealand. I am very proud to stand here in support of the people of ngā hapū me ngā iwi o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. I wish them well, I wish them speedy returns to their homes, and I look forward to working as we continue this journey on the East Coast—this East Coast, the jewel of Aotearoa New Zealand, the place that people need to come to to see.

This settlement is going to aid and abet the opportunities for the people of Te Wairoa. I can’t wait for that to happen. I can’t wait to work alongside them. This coalition Government is ready—Mr Jones is ready to come into Wairoa. He made commitments about opening the railway line from Napier to Wairoa. It is indeed an honour—it is indeed an honour to stand in this House, to commend this bill at the third and final reading of ngā hapū me ngā iwi o Te Rohe o Te Wairoa settlement bill. I commend it to the House. Kia ora tātou.

Bill read a third time.

Waiata