Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill.

💬 SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

I move, That the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill.

Taranaki maunga, Taranaki whenua, Taranaki tangata, Ngāti Maru iwi, nau mai, haere mai. He rā tino nui tēnei mō koutou, he rā tino nui hoki mō Aotearoa. Nā koutou te kaha me te manawanui. Nō reira, rau rangatira mā, tēnei taku mihi atu ki a koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou huri noa.

[Taranaki mountain, Taranaki land, Taranaki people, the tribe of Ngāti Maru, welcome, welcome. This is a very important day for you. It is also a very important day for New Zealand. You have had the strength and dedication. Therefore, my esteemed leaders, this is my acknowledgment of you, greetings, greetings, greetings to all gathered here.]

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the members of Ngāti Maru in the gallery this afternoon, and I say to them: thank you for travelling from your homes, from Taranaki and elsewhere, to be in Wellington for this significant milestone in your journey to final agreement on redress for Treaty breaches. Today, you will remember your leaders and loved ones who have passed on before they have been able to bear witness to today’s milestone. This settlement is a tribute to the dedication of those individuals who fought so tirelessly for the resolution of Ngāti Maru’s grievances to finally see justice after all these years. I’ve been honoured to host Ngāti Maru here at Parliament, particularly the negotiators, who worked long days and many nights to complete this settlement. Anaru Marshall, you and your team have been unwavering champions for your people. I also acknowledge chief Crown negotiator David Tapsell, who’s been unable to be here today.

Ngāti Maru is the last of the eight Taranaki iwi to settle their historic grievances with the Crown, and are involved in the collective negotiations, of course, for your tupuna Taranaki Maunga. Given that I lived for many years under the shadow of that great mountain, it’s my honour to begin today’s reading. Ngāti Maru’s history with the Crown is one characterised by loss: loss of land, loss of identity, loss of autonomy. Through conflict, confiscation, and Crown purchasing, Ngāti Maru has carried a long legacy of dislocation and dispossession. I well remember, when discussing Ngāti Maru issues in a Cabinet committee in the last couple of years, a senior Cabinet Minister of the time talking to me about his feelings about Ngāti Maru having been left virtually landless as a result of the Crown’s actions. This settlement acknowledges that hurt.

For the Crown, the most solemn part of this settlement is the apology to Ngāti Maru. The Crown formally and publicly recognises the hardship and heartache it has caused your whānau and hapū and to celebrate the resilience of your iwi in the face of such adversity. Under normal circumstances, I would have read the Crown apology to you when we signed Te Hiringa Taketake, your deed of settlement, in February this year. The reading of the Crown’s apology is a significant moment for Ngāti Maru and the Crown, and it’s a responsibility, every time I get the privilege to do it as Minister, that I take very seriously. But when COVID-19 restrictions meant many Ngāti Maru could not attend the signing ceremony in February this year, I committed to return to deliver the Crown apology at a later date so it could be heard by all your claimant community. After your third and final reading, I will uphold my commitment to Ngāti Maru and visit Te Upoko o te Whenua marae at Tarata to read the Crown’s apology to your people on your whenua.

The Crown apology builds on the understanding Ngāti Maru and the Crown have reached about our shared history, and I will reflect on that history in my speech to support the third reading of the bill. Today, I will provide an outline of this settlement for the record. The settlement provides for 16 sites of significance to be transferred to Ngāti Maru as cultural redress on settlement date. The settlement includes a joint management agreement between Ngāti Maru and the Taranaki Regional Council to improve the health of Te Awaroa, the Waitara River—the lifeblood awa of Ngāti Maru. A natural resources plan, Maru Taiao, has been provided for in the settlement, outlining the values and principles of Ngāti Maru in relation to this important area. The settlement also includes statutory acknowledgments relating to rivers, reserves, and conservation areas to reflect Ngāti Maru’s deep connection to these places. The total financial and commercial redress for Ngāti Maru is $30 million. This includes the right to purchase the Te Wera Crown forest licensed land, 31 properties currently held in the Treaty Settlements Landbank, and three school sites.

This settlement is a product of the determination and perseverance of Ngāti Maru and its rangatira and its many people. I just want to say, for the record, I have enjoyed the engagements that I have had with Ngāti Maru leaders, particularly Anaru Marshall, at Tarata and in my office, as we’ve worked through some of the trickier problems that this settlement has entailed. I have to say, all of those engagements have been respectful, even if they have been forceful, and the benefits of those engagements are now before us.

It’s the Crown’s wish that through this settlement, it can restore its own honour and atone for the injustices that it has inflicted upon Ngāti Maru. No settlement can ever compensate Ngāti Maru for the true measure of what they have lost, and all that they have suffered cannot be remedied. However, through this settlement, the Crown wants to lift the burden of Ngāti Maru’s heartache.

E te iwi o Ngāti Maru, today is the first reading of three, one further step of many we still need to take, and I look forward to hosting you back here again to support the passage of your settlement through the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

It’s a privilege to rise this afternoon as the member of Parliament for Southland and the National Party spokesperson for Treaty negotiations to speak in support of the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill. To the elders, leaders, and whānau of Ngāti Maru who are here in the gallery today or watching from home, I wish to extend a very warm welcome. This settlement, this bill, and this process is about you, your tūpuna, and your uri.

Maru hāhā, hāhā te whenua, hāhā te tangata.

[Maru of extreme loss and breathlessness, the land is deserted.]

The people are gone and gasping for breath. In this Ngāti Maru lament, we are haunted by the intense sense of loss, discontent, and disconnection that generations of Ngāti Maru whānau and hapū have borne. Ngāti Maru is an iwi whose area of interest extends from Mount Taranaki east to the upper Whanganui River, and north-east to the Waitara River. However, Ngāti Maru were left virtually landless and their people displaced and dispersed. It is those wrongs that we seek to acknowledge today and set right through the settlement.

I acknowledge that the signing of Ngāti Maru settlement, which took place in February, has been a long time coming for iwi, who have been in negotiations since the late 1980s. An in principle agreement was reached two years ago. I also note that this bill completes the settlement process which began under former Treaty negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson under the last National-led Government. I also recognise the leadership and efforts of Minister Little, who is shepherding this settlement to its conclusion. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the settlement negotiators for the Crown and for Ngāti Maru, who through their efforts have shaped an agreement that helps to build a brighter future for iwi and subsequent future generations.

With every Treaty settlement bill, we turn our gaze in three directions. We look to the past, reflecting on traumatic histories and legacies that are very much a part of the story of our history as a nation. We look upon the present moment, acknowledging past injustice, and through redress we seek to make right the wrongs of the past. Finally, we look to the future with hope, trusting that a re-forged relationship between Crown and tangata whenua lays the foundation for our best days, which lie ahead.

The historical account in this bill turns our gaze to the past. For generations, Ngāti Maru cultivated the fertile river flats and drew resources from the area’s forests, rivers, and wetlands. Because of their inland location, Ngāti Maru had limited contact with Europeans during the 1840s and 1850s. Ngāti Maru were not involved in the land dealings which led to war in Taranaki in 1860, and were not directly involved in the subsequent fighting. Their involvement was limited to providing refuge to Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, in accordance with the requirements of whanaungatanga. However, when the Crown confiscated huge tracts of Taranaki to punish the rebels—so-called—in 1865, approximately half of the traditional lands of Ngāti Maru were included. Many of their main kāinga, urupā, and wāhi tapu were taken, and some have never been returned.

Through the 1870s, Ngāti Maru suffered devastating land loss. Much of the remaining Ngāti Maru land was then put through the Native Land Court. Ngāti Maru had no alternative but to use the Native Land Court if they wanted a title that could be legally recognised and protected from claims from other Māori. A legal title was also necessary if Ngāti Maru wished to lease or sell land. However, the individualisation of customary title made the land more susceptible to alienation, and further damaged tribal cohesion. Ultimately, Ngāti Maru did not retain any of the land awarded to them by the Native Land Court. In the early 1890s, some Ngāti Maru were virtually landless and appealed to the Crown for help. The Crown’s response was slow and ineffective. Legislation was not enacted until 1907, and the land ultimately provided to Ngāti Maru was poor and of limited size. In many other ways, the Crown failed to protect the interests of Ngāti Maru in the context of accelerating settler migration.

The extensive loss of Ngāti Maru lands has eroded tribal structures, created severe poverty, and damaged the physical, cultural, and spiritual health of generations of Ngāti Maru people, and that is what this bill aims to redress. So it is in a spirit of remorse and with a genuine hope for reconciliation in this bill that the Crown acknowledges and apologises to Ngāti Maru for its acts and omissions which breached the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and the damage that those actions caused to Ngāti Maru. These include acknowledgments relating to the wars in Taranaki in the 1860s, the Crown’s confiscation of approximately half of the Ngāti Maru rohe, its imprisonment of Ngāti Maru men without trial following their participation in protests initiated at Parihaka regarding the confiscation of Taranaki lands, and its subsequent invasion and destruction of Parihaka. The deed will also include acknowledgment that the Crown failed to ensure that Ngāti Maru retained sufficient land for their present and future needs, and that it failed to protect their rangatiratanga.

Ngāti Maru will receive financial and commercial redress valued at $30 million. Cultural redress includes the vesting of 16 sites of cultural significance, including Purangi and Tarata domains. While no redress can ever fully compensate for the destructive and demoralising effects of past actions, it’s hoped that this settlement will allow Ngāti Maru to realise their aspirations for a vibrant, economic, and cultural future and restore a relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and cooperation. I thank the people of Ngāti Maru for their generosity and commitment in being here today and achieving this settlement. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. I commend this bill to the House.

Tuatahi, e mihi ana ki a koutou Ngāti Maru kua tae mai nei i tēnei wā ki te whakarangatira i a mātou he Hōnore nui ki te tū i mua i a koutou i tēnei wā, tēnā koutou, ā, tēnā koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa. Madam Speaker, it’s good to have the whanaunga from Taranaki here.

[Firstly, I acknowledge you, Ngāti Maru, who have come here at this time to honour us. It is a big honour to stand before you at this time, greetings, greetings, greetings to us all. Madam Speaker, it’s good to have the kin from Taranaki here.]

It’s good to have the whanaunga from Taranaki here as we get into this first reading. I was having a look over the agreement and I want to get into some of the intricacies of it, I suppose, in the third reading, but the joint management agreement, I think, in terms of the river, is an area that pleases me very much—and I’m sure it does all Māori members. The ironic part of it is it comes at a time when all kaupapa Māori issues are being critiqued very unfairly by the Opposition in this House. It’s really good when I listen to the previous speaker, Joseph Mooney, because when we come to times like this, we get a very humble and supportive Opposition. But when we talk about co-management and co-governance, we get an Opposition talking about apartheid, separatism, and racism. It’s ironic, actually—just half an hour ago—how the temperature changes and the tenor changes as our people come into the House. These very phrases of co-management and even co-governance take on a different form when we get into this type of setting. Our Opposition gives us a lot of tautoko and a lot of support, but in previous times they’re intent on scaring Aotearoa in terms of Māori issues, and they’ll do anything to increase their vote, including making allegations to us in terms of how we uphold tikanga.

That’s the latest allegation in terms of this Government: apparently, we’re major supporters of the Mongrel Mob. I say today on record: it’s not a matter of giving support to the mob, which we will not do; it’s about upholding our tikanga, which we will always do. It’s something we must continue to uphold, and we must make those points at every opportunity in kaupapa Māori settings and situations, and not all of a sudden get all hōhonu and forget what’s going on around us. This is about kaupapa Māori at all times. The Opposition needs to be aware of that—not all of a sudden forget all the terrible things that they’ve been saying about Te Ao Māori over the last few weeks. It is a disgrace what is happening in this House and happening outside. Constant allegations about kaupapa Māori, tikanga Māori, and te reo Māori, and all of us Māori members are getting sick of it—are getting tired of it. So I say to our whanaunga here today: I’m glad you’re here because you can move these messages on. Because it’s not just about our settlement bill; it’s about where we are going today in Te Ao Māori.

This settlement—I want to say, what’s so scary about this settlement bill? You see, the proposed joint management agreement is very clear: the Waitara River Committee was established by the New Plymouth District Council, and it’s going to give an opportunity to Ngāti Maru to oversee the river—oh, that must be racist and separatist! That must scare all of New Zealand because that’s what the joint management agreement says, but if you listen to the Opposition: “You watch out for those Māoris, they’re trying to take over.” This is something that’s been agreed on with National Party people, and all we’re doing is upholding it.

I was reading through it because I was trying to think what is so scary about all our agreements. What are we doing today that we were doing differently a few years ago? The reality is that we’re not doing things too much different; we’re just rolling things out. And that’s what a brave and courageous Government should do. And this bill is a bill that has to be rolled out and takes into account the history that Minister Little talked about, the history of the Native Land Court, that Kiritapu Allan knows all about—knows all about—that broke down our culture, that set out to break down every part of Māori society. That was the history of the Native Land Court: break down these communists, break down our whānau settings, break down the principle of how we lived. We know this. Kiritapu knows this. Harete Hipango knows this. Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer knows this. We come here to fix these wrongs. They used to call this—I think David Williams; what did they call it, Kiritapu? I’m just looking back on what they called it. Judith Binney described the Native Land Act as an act of war, and they described the Native Land Court as a strategy to take and disable and dismember Te Ao Māori.

That’s what we’re talking about today. That’s what we’re talking about today, and we’re rectifying all that, but we must remember that this is part of the whole fight for justice and partnership in terms of New Zealand and Aotearoa. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done, and I’m proud of the work that the previous Government did. Let’s not forget that. Let’s remember that the next time we start criticising kaupapa Māori. I ask all our speakers today to take that into account when they have their kōrero. I’ll make a further contribution in the third reading. Kia ora anō tātou katoa.

Kia ora. He ata ki runga, he ata ki raro, he ata ki te whakatūtū, he ata ki te whakaritorito, he ata whiwhia, he ata rāwea, he ata tānga.

[The dawn light appears above and below, the dawn light is happening and the dawn sprouts, morning is here, the morning wraps around, the morning has struck.]

The dawn light appears above and below, and creates the bright red morning light. Its warmth blankets the land, emerging the gifts of a new day, whose symbolism inspires resilience and draws us to new pathways, new horizons, and new opportunities.

Ngā uri o Ngāti Maru, nau mai haere mai ki te pānuitanga tuatahi o koutou pire, Ngāti Maru Taranaki Claims Settlement Bill.

[To the descendants of Ngāti Maru, welcome, welcome to the first reading of your bill, Ngāti Maru Taranaki Claims Settlement Bill.]

I open with the words of Maru Ora, expressed within Te Hiringa Taketake, the deed of settlement, ratified and signed 27 February 2021 at Tarata.

Ngāti Maru, my kōrero to you today is to whakanui, to whakamana, to celebrate the passage, the first reading of your bill, through to its final journey, the third reading and Royal assent into law. I am not standing here to politicise other kaupapa; I am here to celebrate what we are gathered here for today. For today—Tuesday, 6 July 2021—emerges the gifts of a new day where upon Ngāti Maru draws to, and now strides, new pathways, reaches for new horizons, and seizes new opportunities. Tihei mauri ora.

I stand and I call as uri, as a descendant of Whanganui, with ancestral lands and waters connecting relationships, whanaungatanga, to Ngāti Maru, Taumatamahoe, Whitianga, Te Awa Tupua.

I speak as a member of Parliament for the National Party, returned with a list of much to do and much to give and serve. Today, I stand and I speak, privileged, to account for this moment in time, historic; to reflect and to account for past accounts; to acknowledge and to apologise. Ngāti Maru has endured and continues to endure the journey across generations, and, across the generations, has generated much in the way of grievance, injustice, mamae, long overdue, now due the time to put right the wrong, the wronged, and the wrongdoing, reconciling the past into the present and forward into the future with hope, aspiration, and potential to be realised, those new horizons.

The legislative pen at this first reading through to the Royal assent is to not erase the history but to inscribe into law; not to forget, not to rewrite, but to put right the his and the her stories, ngā pūtakenga kōrero [the sources of narratives]; to ink and atone for the blot and the blight of historical actions and omissions, the hara, to heartfeltly and properly remedy and make right, to make just.

In the time of today, this first reading, I’ve outlined the purpose of what a first reading is about. It is the introduction of the bill to the House for it to proceed to select committee, for further evidence, kōrero, to be shared, to be listened to, for the members of the Māori Affairs Committee, which I return to this House with the privilege to sit and reside there, to take that into full account as we bring the bill, your bill, back into the House for the second, and then into the third readings.

This first reading, however, is the opportunity, and it is the opportunity for all political parties, irrespective of their stance and views around other politics of the day, but the unique aspect of your bill and our Treaty settlement bills is that we unify. We unify because we recognise, we acknowledge, we apologise, and we atone for the wrongs of the past to put right moving forward into the future. So the first reading in this House, which is a chamber of remembrance, it is a chamber of all those who have lived lives and given their lives for what they hope to fulfil for our lives in the present and moving into the future. This Chamber is one to reflect on what our purpose is and what we strive to contribute, give, and gain. So, as I say, the first reading and going into Royal assent, Treaty bills are very unique and special—and they should be, because our nation has been forged and founded on many wrongs, many injustices, and it is our duty and obligation and responsibility now, as members of Parliament, to aid in making this right, in making this just, in making this proper.

I now turn to acknowledge significant persons involved in navigating the journey of negotiations for Ngāti Maru. We always mention our Ministers, and that is appropriate, but front of mind and top of mind for me is always our people who carry the heavy burden and mantel of leadership and responsibility. Anaru—I see you up there—Anaru Marshall and kaumātua and the trustees, you know who you are, and I will name you at another reading because my time is limited and I have still much to get through. But I acknowledge those present today, for your presence is a gift from our tūpuna, you as uri, we come from our tūpuna and many of them do not survive the endurance of the journey that they have started for us and we continue, and then through to our mokopuna and into the future. So I acknowledge the past, the present, you are that gift from our past and you are the gift into the future for our mokopuna. I acknowledge you all. I mention also, appropriately, Te Arawhiti for the work that is done there in bridging those differences and bridging and forging, help forge the pathway, moving forward with hope, with positivity, with potential, and with aspirations to be fulfilled.

This bill will be broken down and addressed by speakers to follow, the components of it. But, essentially, Ngāti Maru, as you well know, your bill comprises three parts. Part 1 sets out the purpose. That purpose talks of your historical accounts and that being inscribed, scripted into law so that it is never forgotten. The deed of settlement, your deed of settlement, has the fuller account. In returning to this House, I have sat down and I am reading and I have made the correlation of some of my whakapapa to Ngāti Maru whenua. When I was at home on the weekend, my kāinga is beside the Whanganui River, and I was reflecting not just on the journey that we of Whanganui have been with Te Awa Tupua but the journey that you have embarked on and the relationship that you have connecting to Te Awa Tupua. My reflection on the weekend was speaking to one of our Te Pou Tupua, with Tariana, as whanaunga we talk—when I go home, we talk constantly; not the politics but the whakawhanaungatanga, so intrinsic as to who we are, where we come from, and where we move forward to. So I acknowledge the whakawhanaungatanga that is shared amongst us.

In the short time—just a quick chronology, because I will address it for next readings—the acknowledgements, there are 16 of them that I have noted in the bill, and also, critically, the apology, which I will speak to at the third reading. But to wrap up, to say that the journey started in 1865, with the land confiscations, and it transpired through to the negotiations commencing and navigating from the late 1980s through to the agreement in principle on 20 December 2017, the deed of settlement on 27 February this year, and today with this first reading. It is a privilege for me to address the House, but more significantly and importantly Ngāti Maru. Tēnā tātou katoa. I commend the bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Mana Whakawā.

Tēnā koutou

E hoa mā

Kua tae mai nei

Ki tēnei wā

Nō reira rā

E hoa mā

Kia ora rā

Koutou katoa.

[Greetings to you

My friends

Who have come here

At this time

Therefore

My friends

Greetings

To you all.]

I wanted to start on a light note despite the heaviness of this conversation. My colleague Willie Jackson is right: we come here, we pour our heart out, we acknowledge the Treaty settlement legislation goes through here but it doesn’t sit in isolation; the work that this House does on Treaty settlements needs to be echoed in everything else that we’re doing. So by putting in place things like the Māori Health Authority, by putting in place Māori wards, by increasing Māori representation at decision-making tables, that is all part and parcel of why we’ve come to Parliament here to make those changes. And I wanted to acknowledge that, because he’s right: sometimes in this House we talk with one voice and sometimes we do it just for show, for the people who are watching. But, actually, if we’re going to be consistent, then I’d ask the Opposition to be consistent in making sure that Māori are continually supported around that decision-making table, because sometimes they haven’t been of that mind. And, now that I’ve said that, I won’t say any more.

Ngā uri o Taranaki maunga, tēnā koutou. Anei tētehi uri o Taranaki maunga e tū ake nei ki te mihi ki a koutou i tēnei rā whakahirahira.

[To the descendants of Mount Taranaki, greetings to you. I am a descendant of Mount Taranaki standing here to greet you on this significant day.]

I’m a Coffey from Rāhotu, and I’ve carried that name with me through the generations, all the way down to even now, and even my proud Te Arawa whakapapa couldn’t dilute the Coffey name—no! It stuck with me! And, for that reason, I carry it proudly. Our whānau were actually a whānau that left Taranaki back in the day, at the time of the Land Wars, and actually made our way down to Lower Hutt, down here in Wellington. And we grew up as uri of Taranaki but living down here in Te Awakairangi. So I acknowledge you, those of my whanaunga that may be sitting up there in the gallery today.

I first of all wanted to start by thanking your people that you put out the front—the negotiators that act on behalf of this settlement—because I know that they have done a lot of work, and I wanted to acknowledge them. They are actually listed in the bill; so, if anyone wants to go and see, check out page 22. I want to say thank you to you, Anaru Marshall, Nathan Peri, James Tuuta, Paretutaki Hayward-Howie, Rowena Henry—all on behalf of Ngāti Maru. On behalf of Te Kāhui Maru Trust and Te Iwi o Maruwharanui: Holden Hohaia, Tamzyn Pue, Bronwyn Puata-Koroheke, Eileen Hall, Samuel Tamarapa, Ray Tuuta, and all of those other people that were there on the signing of the deed of settlement on 27 February 2021.

It was a big day, and obviously that has led you to this House here. We still have a bit of due diligence that we need to do, and so your bill is going to come to the Māori Affairs Committee, of which I am chair. You should probably know that we’ve got all political parties represented around the table, and we generally do things quite nice—we play quite nicely on our komiti Māori, just so you know. But one thing that we do is we try and honour what you’ve signed in the deed of settlement that was done earlier on. So much gets you to that point where you sign that deed that there are only minor tweaks that we need to do to be able to process it through this House. So today is the first reading; then what we’ll do is we’ll open it up for submissions hearings. And, if you would like to send us an invite to come to Te Upoko o te Whenua, to come to the marae to listen to those hearings, send us an invite and tell us if that’s what you would like us to do. We would love to come and listen to those hearings, listen to the stories, the richness of those stories, which are actually acknowledged in the summary of historical account.

I’ve heard my colleague from the National Party read through some of that historical account; so I’m not going to do it here. But one thing that I did want to do is read out some of the acknowledgments, which is, in a nutshell, all of the reasons that have led us to this, all of the reasons that the Crown has failed Ngāti Maru in its life. And I wanted to also just acknowledge a comment that I had from one of my aunties, who came here for the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill not so long ago. We had the first reading for them, but one of the things that Auntie said was: we iwi ngaro mātou. [we are a lost tribe.]

She acknowledged that, actually, because of the actions of the Crown, Ngāti Rangitihi are an iwi that need to rebuild from the ground up. There is so much work that needs to be done. Her aspiration was to build a hauora, not just for health but for the hauora o te tangata, the hauora of our reo, of our tikanga. She wanted to do that kind of stuff, and as I read through your account and the things that you’re aspiring to do, and the history that has led you to this point, I hear lots of similarities in there as well.

I wanted to acknowledge, Tamzyn, your comment on Stuff on 23 June 2020. The comment was from the heart. It said, “This deed contains the tears of my ancestors, the truths of the history that left Ngāti Maru landless with no reo, no tikanga, and no identity.” I hope that this will help to start to put Ngāti Maru back on to its own journey, as it should have been all those years ago. What we do in this House will never repay everything that has been lost, but one of the reasons that I’m here is to try and make sure that the Crown becomes a good partner to Māori now and into the future, and that we acknowledge what’s happened in the past and we don’t shy away from it, which is why I’m really proud that our Government has chosen to teach our New Zealand history in our schools so that, actually, we can learn about those stories—the bad stuff that happened to New Zealand, the impact of colonisation, the loss of our reo, the loss of our tikanga, the shame that so many of our Māori whānau carry because they’ve become disconnected. Think about it: if I’m one of the whānau that left Taranaki at the time of the Land Wars and we ended up down here in Wellington—and now I’m living in Rotorua, living in ignorant bliss—that illustrates to me a disconnection from my “Taranaki-tanga”, if you will. And, if that’s my story, how many of our whanaunga are out there with a similar story?

So I look forward to you putting in your submissions. Tell the whānau to chuck one in even if they haven’t put one in before. There’s a first time for everything. Put in a submission, write down those feelings so that we, the committee, can truly understand what it is that you’re bringing to the table. It’s easy to be able to stand here and throw out a dollar sign and say, you know, “$30 million—hey, boom, bang!” But, actually, the dollars don’t really—yes, they’re important, and they take the edge off, don’t get me wrong, but actually what matters also, just as importantly, are the stories that come with it, the depth of that emotion from the people with lived experience. And I acknowledge all of those people—our kuia, koroua—who haven’t been able to be part of this journey today, who ran the good race but weren’t able to be here to witness this. So I acknowledge them at this time. We pledge to—I pledge to, as chair of the committee—do it justice as we progress this bill through, and do it with respect, and I think I speak on behalf of all of our committee members when I say that.

One last message that I wanted to pass on was from my whanaunga who was also Crown negotiator on this journey, David Tapsell. I flicked him a message, and he was apologetic that he couldn’t be here today to be part of this, to witness this, because he put a lot of hard work in—but obviously so did you all as well. So I said to him, “Is there one thing that you want me to say?” And it goes a little something like this—here it is—he wanted to say that it was his privilege to work with Ngāti Maru. He wanted to acknowledge the skilled and dedicated team, who he is absolutely sure will serve Ngāti Maru well into the future. That’s from him. This is from me: tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, mauri ora ki a tātou katoa.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. It is my privilege to rise and speak on behalf of the Green Party in support of the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill at this, the first, reading. We look forward to continuing that support through the process. I’d like to acknowledge everybody in the gallery today who’s made this trip down—I think with a very early start, from what I saw online—for this really significant point in your journey towards resolution and being able to raise your heads and look forward. I might have started with a song, like the previous speaker, but I don’t want to add to anybody’s pain in this room.

I do want to start my acknowledgment today by noting the Ngāti Maru lament that is outlined in the summary of the historical background, which is: “Maru Hāhā. Hāhā te whenua. Hāhā te tangata. Maru of extreme loss and breathlessness. The land is deserted. The people are gone and gasping for breath.” I really hope that this process comes to represent the Crown taking its knee off your necks so that Ngāti Maru can breathe again and that this may be a point in time of a severing of a path of treachery to a path of honour, which is what I believe settlement processes could represent for us as a country.

I really hope that for people who may not be familiar with this history—and I recognise the other speakers before me have gone through some of that history, but I will try and do that briefly again, just acknowledging Ngāti Maru. There’ll be many New Zealanders who, as part of our process of colonisation, won’t even know where Ngāti Maru is. Shame on us! So for those who don’t, it is the rohe from Mount Taranaki east to the upper Whanganui, to the north-east of the Waitara River—lush, rich land. A land that was lived in richly and where there was not much contact with the colonisers in the early years of colonisation in this country, which made the confiscation of land for harms against the Crown that were never committed by Ngāti Maru even more painful. And I do, whenever I say “harms against the Crown”—perceived harms, because actually I think self-defence, you know, should be considered as self-defence, not harm. And then to see that Ngāti Maru—that so much of the land was taken. Again, I will say “stolen”, because confiscation gives a sense of right and of punishment and the right of the taker to punish, which did not exist. This left people of Ngāti Maru basically landless, and when those treaties were made to the Crown, they were very slow in responding, and the harm was compounded by the Native Land Court.

When I was reading this part of it, which was that “the remaining land [that wasn’t taken through confiscation] was … put through the Native Land Court. Ngāti Maru had no alternative but to use … [that court] if they wanted a title that could be legally recognised and protected from claims by other Māori. A legal title was also necessary if … [they] wished to lease or sell [the] land.” However, this individualised the land and it was a complete cultural breach and an enforcement of an individualised, liberalised world view that has caused us so much harm as a country, for Māori and for everybody, I would argue. And, ultimately, at the end of that, Ngāti Maru did not retain any of the land supposedly awarded to them by the Native Land Court. So if we’ve ever had a case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”, I would argue that the Native Land Court was it.

Then in the early 1890s—so this is within just such a short period of time from being independent, autonomous, living rich lives to being virtually landless—Ngāti Maru appealed to the Crown for their help. The Crown’s response was slow and ineffective, and then eventually it got around to, in 1907, awarding some small parcels of poor and limited land that would not enable Ngāti Maru to support themselves or rebuild. And an agreement to consolidate individual awards into more economically viable and culturally appropriate family holdings was never carried out. Treachery upon treachery upon treachery. The harm of this has been severe poverty of spirit, of land, of body, and that lies with the Crown. And that it is very clear, through debates online and in this House still; how often we need to repeat that that harm is from the Crown’s action and not Māori inadequacy just infuriates me, when I read these settlements.

But I do want to move on and acknowledge the generosity of Ngāti Maru, in that context, to go into negotiations with that same Crown that has done over so many years so much harm, and to seek and accept a redress that was hard fought for and hard negotiated and that is, alongside every other Treaty settlement bill in this House, completely inadequate to the harm that was done. That does enable the return of land and 16 sites of cultural significance, though I will note that many of these lands still are subject to conditions, because, again, there is still not trust from the Crown of the generosity or the intent of hapū to be able to demonstrate manaakitanga or kaitiakitanga, and I believe that is something we need to do better on.

The Greens will—you know, I should be upfront and saying that we never believe these settlements are full and final and that we will never achieve the intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi of being a living document until we actually appropriately recognise that sovereignty was not ceded and actually stand alongside the hapū in enabling appropriate decision-making to happen for hapū, by hapū. On that point, I want to reflect back that within this comes the joint management agreement for the health of the Waitara River, which is about seeking to improve the effectiveness of the Taranaki Regional Council’s Waitara River Committee by supplementing its functions to include a role for iwi and environmental monitoring of the river. That’s progress, but boy, in terms of the damage that’s been done, it just seems like the inability for the Crown and local government to relinquish the sense of being the ultimate judge—we still have a long way to go. But I want to thank Ngāti Maru for taking up that role, which will benefit all of us.

Finally, I acknowledge your values that have driven in this process: Maru Ora, Maru Pae, Maru Rota, Maru Taha, Mara Muri and Maru Tiketike, which really does demonstrate the hope of the future and also references the harm of the past. May we move forward together.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge Ngāti Maru iwi—nau mai, haere mai—and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Maru Taranaki trustees—nau mai, haere mai.

ACT supports this bill. We believe that it is important that the Crown acknowledge its failings—its acts and omissions—and the bill goes a long way towards setting out very clearly what were those acts and omissions and how they’re to be addressed. ACT supports this bill because this is the type of legislation that reinforces the value and importance of private property rights to people’s health and wellbeing—their long-term health and wellbeing—which is associated with their relationship with the land. The Treaty of Waitangi offered all New Zealanders to be equal before the law and to have the same rights and privileges and obligations as citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand, and we hope that this bill goes a long way towards addressing those rights which were trampled on.

Now, while the Treaty claims process proposes to address all historical acts and omissions, it’s clear that an Act of Parliament—a law—will not be sufficient to heal those wounds and to address all of those emotions that come with loss of land. That takes time—it takes a long, long, long time. When I look at the commercial redress offered to Ngāti Maru, it says that an exclusive right of refusal is granted over specific Crown-owned properties within the Ngāti Maru rohe for 179 years from the date of this settlement. That indicates the amount of time it might take to restore the economic sovereignty due to the failure of the Crown to protect the property rights and the human rights of Ngāti Maru. That’s why ACT supports this settlement bill. We support it to select committee, and we hope that those who wish to make submissions, if they believe there are still improvements to be made to the bill, will come forward and make those submissions.

To those who are concerned about how these types of settlements might erode the rights of other people, when I was looking through the bill this afternoon, there are specific clauses that state quite clearly that this bill does not affect the rights of others. This is a bill that specifically addresses the historical injustice, the loss of land, and the other acts and omissions by the Crown. For that reason, the ACT Party supports this bill and we look forward to seeing it come to select committee. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Te Kāhui Maru, te iwi o Ngāti Maruwaranui, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, huri noa i te Whare, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Te Kāhui Maru, the tribe of Ngāti Maruwaranui, greetings, greetings, right around the House, greetings to you all.]

I rise to speak on the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill this afternoon, and I feel uncomfortable. I feel the weight of responsibility and I actually asked myself the question: why am I standing here, speaking on this? Maybe I should be up there, and maybe you should be down here, speaking to us. How do I, as Pākehā, how do I as someone who carries my ancestors on my shoulders, the failings, what we’ve done, speak to you this afternoon on this piece of legislation? So I hope I do it justice, in some small way.

During this time of te Mātahi o te tau, the heralding of the Māori new year, I want to acknowledge the people of Ngāti Maru Wharenui, and all those who have gone before you, and all those who have gone before us, and those who have been part of this process to get us to where we are today, who are no longer with us. In this time of Puanga, in this time of Matariki, we remember them. And today we are here to acknowledge those people who forged a path for us to be here this afternoon, to reflect on the hurts and the harm, the confiscation, the injustice, the loss of culture, of language, of land. I stand here with the weight of this place on my shoulders. It was only 50 parliaments ago that laws were made in this place that meant that we almost erased you, your ancestors, your stories, your history, but we’re here today and I’m grateful for that.

There was a writer called L R Knost, and I felt it was appropriate to read part of this this afternoon. She talked about the dismay of brokenness in the world, and she talks about how many things and all things break—and it’s not your fault, I know—but she talks about how things can be mended, “Not with time, as they say, but with intention.” Not with time, but with intention. There’s been a lot of time, and a lot of waiting, and a lot of speaking, but it’s now that there’s intention that we can move forward together.

Your journey’s been a long one, I understand, as I read the history—not just a long journey from 6 o’clock this morning when you left Taranaki but your attempts at redress over the years. In 1891, some of your tūpuna lodged claims in this House, petitioning Parliament around the impacts of confiscation of your people. We’ve heard already in the House about 1881 and Pari’aka, and, again, about your people being imprisoned, being taken away from your lands. As I said earlier, 1865, when the Crown confiscated your lands, I guess we go back further to my ancestors, who arrived and were part of that. We can’t fix it, time won’t heal it, but intention—we hope—can bring about redress, can bring peace, can bring an exciting future for your people, and for our nation.

Now, at the signing of the settlement deed in February, Anaru Marshall, you said some significant words that stuck with me. I’d like to claim them for myself, but I thought I’d better acknowledge you because you’re sitting up there and I can’t. But you talked about the land losses of Ngāti Maru, you talked about the 118,000 hectares of land that was taken by this place. The Land Wars, the sacking of Pari’aka, the confiscation of your homes, the confiscation of your resources. You talked about your forests that were felled, that were milled, and that they were the timber that built the houses, that built the schools, for my people around Aotearoa. You talked about the mining of the coal from your lands that heated my people’s homes, that ran my people’s factories. You talked about the 93 oil and gas rigs that were used to drill on your land and take your resources. You talked about us as a new nation, as we were moving forward, as we were making progress, progress, progress, Ngāti Maru, your people, you were falling behind. Ngāti Maru’s loss was this nation’s gain. You were an unwilling partner in all of this, and today we are here to bring and be part of that healing journey, to acknowledge those things taken, to acknowledge the success of this nation on the shoulders of your people and your whenua. We never asked, we never acknowledged, and today we’re here—and this bill is here—to acknowledge the wrongs, to ask your forgiveness, and to demonstrate that you were part of building Aotearoa to what it is today.

I’m excited, as the MP for New Plymouth, that you are the eighth of eight of our Taranaki iwi to settle, and it excites me because we’re moving into a post-settlement region. For me, we’ve been in the past and we’ve had to reflect, and we’ve had to ask the hard questions. We’ve had to acknowledge the wrongs that have been done. We have to continue to remember. But what excites me is around the possibility, the hope, that this means, not only for your people but for all people in Taranaki, for all people here in New Zealand. As a post-settlement region, what does that mean for your tamariki and mine? What does that mean when the stories are about what is possible in the future, including acknowledging what has gone on in the past?

So, just in closing, the sacred lands of Ngāti Maru Wharenui, the memories, the history, the stories of your descendants, and the hope of many of your generations to come, we honour your commitment to the kaupapa of this bill, a kaupapa that is about restoration, it’s about relationships, and it’s about the wellbeing of Ngāti Maru—the people at the centre of it all. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

The next call is a split call. I call Christopher Luxon.

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā hau e whā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Ngāti Maru, tēnā koutou, nau mai, haere mai.

[To the authorities, the voices, the four winds, greetings, greetings, greetings to you all. Ngāti Maru, greetings to you, welcome, welcome.]

Before I begin, can I just quickly acknowledge the return of Kiritapu Allan to the House and just say it is good to have her back with all of her energy, and welcome back. I am honoured to take a short call on this Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill at its first reading. It’s a real privilege to do so, because these bills are especially significant, and they’re significant and they’re important because these settlements acknowledge the hurt that’s been caused by past wrongs, and they also look to the future to support iwi to realise their own aspirations and opportunities.

This settlement, as my colleagues have talked about, has been a long time coming. The iwi have been in negotiations with the Crown since the 1980s. There was an in principle agreement in December 2017, and then earlier this year a settlement was signed. I just want to acknowledge Ngāti Maru for their patience, for your goodwill, and for your graciousness. I’d also like to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Andrew Little; his predecessor the Hon Chris Finlayson; those involved in the negotiations, both on behalf of Ngāti Maru and on behalf of the Crown; and all the officials that supported this settlement. I also do want to acknowledge Jamie Tuuta, who I can see in the public gallery, and say thank you for your leadership not just in Taranaki but also in a number of fields across the country.

Ngāti Maru are centred, as we all know, in the inland Waitara River valley. The area of interest extends from Mount Taranaki, east to the upper Whanganui River, and north-east to the Waitara River, spanning around 220,000 hectares, and that was whittled away to just 900 acres over history. My colleagues have spoken about that history, and I think it is very important to continue to put it on the record so that we never forget it. Significant tracts of land belonging to Ngāti Maru were confiscated by Europeans in the 1860s, and that included about half of the traditional lands. In the 1870s, the Crown tried to encourage European settlement on confiscated land by really paying Ngāti Maru token compensation, which then amplified the harm by dividing the iwi. Then much of the remaining Ngāti Maru land was put through the Native Land Court, and, of course, ultimately, Ngāti Maru did not retain any of their land awarded to them by the Native Land Court. By the early 1890s, Ngāti Maru were left virtually landless.

The response over decades from the Crown has been slow and inadequate, and that extensive loss of land has created severe poverty and it has harmed generations of Ngāti Maru people. This bill starts to give effect to a settlement package which includes several components: firstly, a Crown acknowledgment of and apology for historical breaches of our Treaty obligations, an acknowledgment that we didn’t ensure Ngāti Maru retained sufficient land for their present and future needs and failed to protect their rangatiratanga. It also includes an agreed historical account, cultural redress, financial redress, and commercial redress involving a right to purchase Crown forests, licensed land, and sites from the Treaty Settlements Landbank.

As many speakers have said and we’ll continue to say, we know that it will never be possible to compensate Ngāti Maru properly for the loss that they’ve sustained due to the Crown’s acts and omissions. No settlement package can fully right the wrongs committed against Ngāti Maru and heal the enormous harm caused by the seizures of your land, but we do genuinely hope that the financial and commercial redress provides Ngāti Maru with the resources to assist you in developing your economic and social wellbeing, and we look forward with optimism that today signals a new era in relations between Ngāti Maru and the Crown. We can’t overlook the pain, the loss, the significant injustice that has marred our country’s history, and we know that the quantum of the settlement can’t heal the harm and hurt suffered by Ngāti Maru, but we progress this settlement and this bill in the spirit of looking to the future. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. I commend this bill to the House.

Nei rā te mihi ōku whanaunga, ā, ka tū ahau hei te uri o Taranaki, hei te uri o Ngāti Ruanui, hei te kaiārahi mō Te Paati Māori. Tēnā koutou katoa.

[I greet you my kin, and I stand here as a descendant of Taranaki, as a descendant of Ngāti Ruanui, and as the leader of Te Paati Māori. I acknowledge you all.]

First and foremost I want to mihi to my whanaunga for your koha to this nation. There is no way that settlements in Aotearoa are fair or equitable. No one in this House has the right to congratulate themselves. I tangi with you, I mihi to you for your aroha, for your love that you give to this nation.

I also think about how of course Ngāti Maru would be the last to come to the table—you were too busy manaaki-ing and looking after all our rebellious rangatira, and for that I mihi to you again. What we have is the love of a people who have arrived here, who have given everything they can to achieve this. We have—not once, not twice—three times attempted this. I want to mihi to Tainui Tukatoa; I want to mihi to Charlie Hohaia, whose son is here; I want to mihi to Poi Pue; Whata Pue—I wonder what he would think; and to Tamzyn, who as a 16-year-old fought to stop the last time with her typewriter gathered from a garage sale. I want to also mihi to Pue—Matua Pue Wakaruru. I want to mihi to all those photos on ngā rongo, the wall, who weren’t able to see this today. What we have is a people who are so damn generous to this nation, they will come and do everything they can to make this happen. I want to also mihi to our negotiators, to their wives, to their children, to their hapū. I want to mihi to Holden, to Karl, to Jamie, to our grassroots fighter Anaru. I want to mihi to all of those on the side who championed them on when everyone else was sitting there looking at them: “What are you up to now, Māori?”

I want to also mihi because I think people think that because we lost everything, we have nothing to stand for and we haven’t gained everything. You see, because what you have 150 years later is an iwi here, today, who every time you see them post, it’s about job opportunities. They highlight the partnerships they’ve been able to create despite everything being set up against them. During the COVID response, what I got to see was an iwi in Taranaki who was able to stand up and protect not only their people but everyone else’s people, feeding the masses. What you have is a people here who are active in our regional economic development strategy. What you have here is a people who hosted the largest Taranaki Tū Mai and ripped me off of my tautohetohe.

What you have here is a people who fought for Māori wards when they thought they weren’t going to give it to us in W’akaahurangi. What you have here, in this House, people, are masters of resilience, and I don’t want anyone to ever forget what today is about: it is about these masters of resilience and their absolute tenacity to go out and forgive this nation who doesn’t have the ability to see them for who they are. So I want to mihi as the only party with 100 percent membership here today, to tautoku you. And I want to also mihi to my whanaunga; I know that we only get given five minutes, but you know I’ll say so much more than that afterwards.

We don’t believe in full and final. We believe that you are generous in accepting 1 percent of everything that was taken so that our future generations can come back for 99 percent. We will tautoku you in every capacity, every breath we have, so that the breath of Ngāti Maru continues to thrive and strive. It’s a blessing to see our rangatahi here today, and may you continue to lead by example and show what it is that we can achieve as Māori katoa. I want to also make sure that you are aware of all the aspirations in the Crown and all these departments that are here doing a great big mihi to themselves, and actually that you know what you’re capable of achieving. We will be there beside you to make sure every aspiration you have is fought for, and to make sure every racist that doesn’t get how generous our people are in this nation are aware of it.

Ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa, mō tō kaha, mō tō manaaki, mō tā tātou iwi katoa.

[Loving greetings to you all, for your strength and your care, for all of our people.]

I also want to make sure that we first and foremost humble ourselves to be kind to each other and remember what it takes to achieve settlements. They are divisive, they do everything they can to remind us of what we don’t have in common, and I mihi to you to hold on to the strength of unity, because that is what our rangatahi are going to need.

Nō reira i te āhuatanga o tā tātou tupuna, ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.

[Therefore, in the manner of our ancestor, loving greetings to you all.]

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, Ngāti Maru, tēnā koutou katoa. It is a very humbling experience to stand here as a member of this House and as a neighbour of your amazing, amazing bit of the country.

I want to just follow on from what Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the previous speaker, quite rightly pointed out to the nation in pointing out your generosity. I want to thank you for not giving up. I want to thank you for my baby to whakapapa to the Waitara River and for fighting to have an influence over the care of that river. It is so important to so many of us.

I want to thank you for having enough ambition to get you here today and for the opportunities that are being opened up for our whole country because of what you have done. The tears of your generations that have filled the rivers will actually do so much for our future generations. It was wonderful to talk to Anaru Marshall this morning about the latest conversation with Te Kahui o apo Taranaki Maru and helping our schools around central Taranaki to really rise to the challenges that, quite rightly, are put in front of them to make sure that your children are served in the best way possible. I thank you for persevering.

I thank you for showing such leadership with the East Taranaki Environmental Trust—Pūrangi—and the work you’ve done for our kōkako and our kiwi, and the leadership in helping other landowners and people who care to do the right thing. So for that, I thank you.

I thank you for stepping up and making sure that our opportunities for our young people—to be ambitious and say that, actually, training our kids is not just in how to cut down a tree but how to look after each other while we do it, and how to be not just good at forestry but good employers and good forestry managers. All of that comes from Te Ao Māori, and that means our young people are going to be helping our country to be a better place. For that, I thank you.

For those of you who don’t know, we’ve had a lot of descriptions about the boundaries of your rohe. For those who don’t know, it is a spectacular piece of countryside: the hills and the beautiful little valleys, the water, and great places to grow kānuka, apparently. I’m just really grateful that you have quite rightly been restored as those who should be looking after it, nurturing it, and making sure it reaches its potential for your people, as it quite rightly should have been for the generations that it hasn’t.

So kia kaha, good luck, and I’m just really humbled to be in your presence. Thank you for all you have done, and I just wish you all the best for all that you will achieve in the future.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Nau mai, haere mai. As the member for Taranaki - King Country in Parliament, on a beautiful day earlier this year, we attended the signing of the memorandum. Due to COVID-19, which was happening at the time in Auckland—they were having a COVID-19 scare—it was a much scaled-back event, but it was such a beautiful day and, none the less, a very meaningful event. And I look forward to the day in the future when everyone in your hapū and iwi are able to attend the wider event and the full apology, which was actually delayed on that particular occasion.

So this is your story, and I hope I do some justice to it in the speech that I’m about to give today. Forgive me if there’s anything that—you know, it’s not my story; it’s your story, but I just want to give a bit of history and a bit of context this afternoon.

So because of your inland location, Ngāti Maru had limited contact with Europeans during the 1840s and 1850s. And in some respects, it may have been better for you all if it had stayed that way, because the contact with the Europeans wasn’t one of your most memorable occasions, as we can all imagine. None of us were there at the time, but it must have been an awful event for your people. Ngāti Maru were not involved in the land dealings, which led to the war in Taranaki in 1860 and were not directly involved in the subsequent fighting. Involvement was limited to providing refuge to Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke in accordance with the requirements of whanaungatanga. And then it all changed. Because when the Crown confiscated huge tracts of Taranaki to punish so-called rebels in 1865, approximately half the traditional land of Ngāti Maru was included. So many of your main kāinga, urupā, and wāhi tapu were taken, and some have never been returned, and for that we—so many years later—are apologising to you.

So in the early 1870s, the Crown then attempted to promote European settlement on confiscated land by paying some Ngāti Maru compensation for the rights that the confiscation had extinguished. Now, one can only imagine how minuscule that probably was and what, I would imagine now, was probably only an insult to the events that had occurred prior to that time. So in the early 1890s, some Ngāti Maru were virtually landless and appealed to the Crown for help. The Crown’s response was slow and ineffective, and legislation was not enacted until 1907, and the land ultimately provided to Ngāti Maru was poor and of limited size. So when we talk about it being slow and ineffective back at that time, between the 1890s and 1907—we’re now in 2021—and slow and ineffective are words that have become so much more effectual now, given the time that’s passed and how slow and ineffective all of this has been for you and your people.

We know that the extensive loss of Ngāti Maru land has eroded tribal structures; it’s created severe poverty; and damaged the physical, cultural, and spiritual health of generations of Ngāti Maru people. The intense sense of loss and disconnection is expressed in the following Ngāti Maru lament—and I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t quite get the pronunciation right.

Maru hāhā, hāhā te whenua, hāhā he tangata.

[Maru of extreme loss and breathlessness, the people are gone and gasping for breath.]

Hopefully, during this settlement process, we can help to put some of that breath back into your people.

Settlements recognise and right the wrongs of the past. Now, that’s a statement that’s, I think, over spoken and over said when we talk about righting the wrongs. There is really nothing that we can do that will right the wrongs, and I always, whenever we’re doing a Treaty settlement, find myself in the position of saying thank you for the generosity of taking part, negotiating, and the acceptance in these settlements.

But the settlements will help unlock the economic potential, boost regional and provincial areas for your people. In 1865, Ngāti Maru had 220,000 hectares of land, and the vast majority of that land was illegally confiscated by the Crown or sold through dubious deals. And it was a terrible, terrible time for your people. The imprisonment of Ngāti Maru members between 1879 and 1881 for peaceful resistance at Parihaka was also a significant burden on the iwi. Something that I often think of—I went to primary and secondary school in Ōpunake where I grew up, and not that far from Parihaka. And, you know, none of us actually ever knew the story at that time. We’ve only come to learn many of these stories, which were not only the attempt to erase them from your memory but the attempt to erase them from our memory—it was a shocking time in our history. And I’m so glad that we are now able to at least rekindle that relationship and move forward together. So the Ngāti Maru settlement will forge a new relationship between the Crown and Ngāti Maru and be a real catalyst for positive change.

So, once again, thank you very much for your generosity. I wish you well. I know that later on, after the delay with the COVID-19 experience that we had earlier in the year, all of your people will come together for an apology. I know that you’re very excited about the new marae in such a beautiful part of the world. Speaking to Anaru earlier today, it sounds like the progress on the marae is going really well. So we can only hope, as we work through this process and as we come to the next stage of the event, that COVID will stay at bay and you’ll be able to have a fantastic event where all your people will be able to come along and celebrate with you.

So thank you for coming to Wellington and to Parliament today. Go well. I’ll be keeping an eye as the bill goes through the committee stages, and, as you heard earlier today, Tāmati Coffey will be the chair of the committee who’s in charge of the progression of your bill. So thank you very much, again. Thank you for your generosity in accepting this settlement, and, yeah, thank you very much.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare, otirā, ka whakapiria āku mihi ki a koutou Ngāti Maru ki ngā mihi kua mihia kē ngā mema o te Whare nei. Nō reira koutou ngā whānau, ngā hapū katoa a Ngāti Maruwaranui, Ngā Ariki, Ngāti Hinemōkai, Ngāti Kōpū, Ngāti Kui, Ngāti Tamatāpui, Ngāti Tamakehu, Ngāti Te Ika, koutou katoa kua tae mai ki te Whare nei, tēnā koutou, nau mai, haramai, whakatau mai.

[Greetings, Madam Speaker, and indeed, I will append my greetings to you Ngāti Maru to the greetings already delivered to you by the members of this House. Therefore, to all the families and the subtribes of Ngāti Maruwaranui, Ngā Ariki, Ngāti Hinemōkai, Ngāti Kōpū, Ngāti Kui, Ngāti Tamatāpui, Ngāti Tamakehu, and Ngāti Te Ika, all of you who have come here to this House, greetings, welcome, welcome, welcome.]

We’ve heard a lot of kōrero in the House today, and as the member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru, it’s my great pleasure to add to everyone else’s kōrero, and to acknowledge all of the kōrero as well. We’ve heard from a number of members, including the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, some of the historical aspects of this claim. We heard from Joseph Mooney and from Jan Logie as well, who read some extracts from the summary of the historical account, and, might I add, that’s a negotiated historical account. Everything in the settlement is negotiated, even down to the history. I suspect that every iwi that comes to this House to hear the pānuitanga of their bill knows that there’s other history as well that didn’t make the cut. I want to say in this House that it would be highly unlikely that that is the full story, as bad as it is—and it is bad. I recommend to every member that actually did read the summary of the historical account in the bill that they also go to the deed of settlement and read the full account, because there you will get a true understanding of the magnitude of what Ngāti Maru went through. I say that not only as an acknowledgment that there’s a lot more to this story but that what makes it to this House is as stark as the difference between redress and compensation, because everything in this settlement is redress, not compensation. If we were to have compensation, as my whanaunga Debbie Ngarewa-Packer stated in this House, we would have a different kind of settlement.

I want to acknowledge the Hon Willie Jackson as well in his contribution to this debate. He raised some very important issues that need to be acknowledged in this House, and, I think, not only on days that we have settlement bills, because they are important and we all support them, but here’s the thing: you see in these acknowledgments we have the historical account, and from that the Government, the Crown, makes some acknowledgments. In other words, they say what they’ve done wrong, and then they say they’re not going to do it again, and they do that with an apology. That apology means nothing if we as a Parliament—and I’m not just talking about the Government but the Parliament—continue to do the things that the Hon Willie Jackson talked about. OK? So, much as that is difficult to hear, we’re actually passing the first reading of a piece of legislation which actually addresses all of those things, but it’s stuck in a time. The key to success in the future is that we don’t do that anymore, that when we pass a piece of legislation in this House, it does not impact negatively on Ngāti Maru. When we make statements about what’s going on in the world and what policies we’re promoting or not promoting, if it impacts negatively on Ngāti Maru, then why are we passing this? That’s the challenge to every party in this House and every member in this House.

That’s my main message for today, except for: I hope the w’ānau have had a lovely trip down to Pōneke today, and that this is worthwhile. I want to encourage all members and all whānau to make a submission. We do not get enough submissions, and so the voices of many people—I want to acknowledge the rangatahi amongst you there. Rangatahi in particular: we do not hear your voice in this Whare, and we need to hear it on this bill. So I encourage you—it’s really easy. Go online—you can do it all online, and all you have to say is “I support this bill.”, or you can say what’s wrong with the bill, and that’s OK too. So I just want to encourage all of the rangatahi that might be listening as well. Nō reira, kāore e roa tēnei tū.

[Therefore, this speech won’t be long.]

You’ve waited long enough; I think I’ll finish here.

Nō reira, ka nui te mihi aroha atu ki a koutou mō ō koutou kaha.

[Therefore, many loving acknowledgments to you for your strength.]

I’ll do one more thing, because we’ve heard about generosity: it reminded me, because I was a negotiator for Ngāti Apa and it was the Hon Mark Burton, and I believe I’m quoting him correctly—he was the Minister for Treaty negotiations, and he said—I think he was the first one to say it—that every iwi that settles their historical claims performs an act of generosity to New Zealand.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ngā mihi aroha atu ki a koutou mō ō koutou kaha i roto i tēnei āhuatanga. Kia ora mai tātou.

[Therefore, greetings, greetings, loving greetings to you for your strength in this circumstance. Greetings to us all.]

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

The question is, That the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill be considered by the Māori Affairs Committee.

Motion agreed to.

Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.

Waiata