Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the parliamentary website.

I move, That the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill be now read a second time.

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e rau rangatira mā tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[To the authorities, to all the voices, and to all the esteemed leaders, greetings one and all.]

It’s my honour to support the second reading of the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. Firstly, I want to acknowledge the members of Ngāti Rangitihi, who haven’t been able to travel to the House this time—as would normally happen for any reading of a Treaty settlement bill—but because of the COVID restrictions, they’ll be watching this second reading online, and I want to acknowledge those who are doing so. I want to also acknowledge the members of Ngāti Rangitihi: their resilience, their energy, their tenacity, and their drive, which has brought us here today at this second reading; one step closer to closing out their settlement legislation and for them to face their future. I also want to take time particularly to thank the Ngāti Rangitihi negotiation team and Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust, who’ve shown extraordinary dedication to their work. Their ongoing commitment to achieving a fair historical Treaty settlement between Ngāti Rangitihi and the Crown is greatly appreciated.

This bill reading brings us one step closer to bringing effect to the deed of settlement between Ngāti Rangitihi and the Crown, which was signed at the Rangitihi Marae in Matatā on 5 December 2020. The deed of settlement settles historical Treaty of Waitangi claims relating to Ngāti Rangitihi and comprises historical redress that records the Crown’s breaches of the Treaty and the past injustices the Crown inflicted on Ngāti Rangitihi; the Crown apology for historical Crown acts and omissions in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles and the resulting pain caused to Ngāti Rangitihi; cultural redress acknowledging connections to land and resources of significance to Ngāti Rangitihi; relationship redress building new connections with the Crown, local authorities, and other groups; and financial and commercial redress providing a strong economic base for the future.

After its first reading on 22 June last year, this bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee. The committee called for submissions between June and August 2021, and received 20 written submissions from interested groups and individuals. They also heard seven oral submissions. Firstly, I want to thank the committee for swiftly considering the issues raised in submissions, and I want to acknowledge the hard work of that committee, which is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank all those who took the time to share their kōrero with the Māori Affairs Committee. The committee reported back to the House on 17 December last year, and recommended that the bill be passed with a small number of technical and minor amendments.

The committee’s report was focused on key issues raised through submissions. This was primarily around concerns about the cultural redress sites being offered to Ngāti Rangitihi in the Tarawera region, and disagreements between ownership rights with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Rangitihi for the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. I acknowledge the committee’s position that the Crown has engaged with Tūhourangi and has considered any effects that redress will have on them. Tūhourangi are close neighbours to Ngāti Rangitihi, and both have continued to work together in great spirit throughout negotiations. The bill enables the on-transfer of sites from Ngāti Rangitihi to Tūhourangi.

Finally, it’s the Crown’s sincere wish that Ngāti Rangitihi settlement will restore the Crown’s honour and atone for the past injustices it has inflicted on Ngāti Rangitihi. Although no settlement can truly ever make up for this wrongdoing or compensate for the hurt Ngāti Rangitihi has endured, the Crown hopes that this settlement will be a starting point of a new, strengthened relationship between Ngāti Rangitihi and the Crown. I look forward to welcoming Ngāti Rangitihi to Parliament for their third reading. Until then, I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. To the members of Ngāti Rangitihi watching this afternoon, I want to say welcome to Parliament virtually. I wish you could be here in person, and I hope we will be able to see that for the third reading. But this is a good step today that we are progressing this through the House. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s good to be here on what is a historic day, despite the fact that we are doing it, effectively, by Zoom, which seems to be the way of the world at the moment.

Look, I do hope that I have an opportunity to visit with Ngāti Rangitihi and to speak with them in person in their rohe. I do have a personal connection to this region, having spent a relatively small but very memorable part of my childhood living on the shores of Lake Tarawera as a child and taking a bus into Lynmore Primary School in Rotorua and going past the Buried Village of Te Wairoa every day, back and forth.

I’m very aware from that experience—it impressed on me deeply as a child—of the Tarawera eruption on the people of Ngāti Rangitihi back in 1886. About half of the approximately 110 people killed in that eruption were from Ngāti Rangitihi, and it led on, unfortunately, to injustices where the Crown didn’t assist the people of Ngāti Rangitihi at that time adequately, and that’s part of the injustices that we’re seeking to restore here today. So it’s a special moment for me personally to be aware of some of that history from my childhood and to be here today speaking on a bill that’s helping to restore some of the mana of Ngāti Rangitihi—and I acknowledge some of the pain and suffering that their ancestors have experienced—and, as best we can in this process, to make that right for their descendants and those who followed on.

I am a permanent member of the Māori Affairs Committee, and we were grateful to hear from those who submitted on this bill. We are happy to recommend that this continues through to the third reading with a couple of minor amendments, which I acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Andrew Little, spoke to previously.

There are some other matters that were considered. The cultural redress sites in the Tarawera region: some submitters from Tūhourangi raised concerns about the cultural redress sites being offered to Ngāti Rangitihi. Specifically, submitters did not believe that Ngāti Rangitihi had the right to seek redress in the Tarawera region. The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is one such redress site, and, as the Māori Affairs Committee, we understand the concerns regarding the cultural redress sites in the Tarawera region led to some uri of Tūhourangi applying to the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent inquiry. Although the application for an urgent inquiry was declined, the tribunal continues, I understand, to consider the matter. However, it’s not for the committee to comment on matters under active consideration by the tribunal, but we wish to acknowledge the views we heard from submitters on the matters raised.

Also, we heard about the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. When there are disagreements between iwi in relation to specific items of redress, the Crown prefers that they are addressed by mutual agreement between the interest groups, and we had been advised that Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust and Tūhourangi Tribal Authority, the governance entities for the two iwi, resolved to seek an enhanced parcel of land at Waimangu. This enhanced parcel of land includes the adjoining Ōtūkapuarangi site, to which the Crown agreed.

Outside of settlement, the two iwi have resolved that Ngāti Rangitihi will transfer ownership of Ōtūkapuarangi in full and Waimangu in part to Tūhourangi. The two iwi also resolved that the sites should be jointly administered by Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi. The bill provides for these arrangements to be implemented post-settlement, and it will be up to the post-settlement governance entity to make the arrangements necessary. We did hear that transferring land in this way to other interest groups is unusual, and Ngāti Rangitihi is only the second iwi to have these provisions in its settlement bill.

We will have an opportunity to speak more at the third reading on this bill, and I will save some of my comments for then. Like I say, I do hope that Ngāti Rangitihi can be here in Parliament when we do have that third reading.

I do want to acknowledge all of the work that has been done to date to get it to this stage, and I also acknowledge the former Treaty negotiations Minister, Christopher Finlayson for the work he did on this and for the work that has been done by Minister Andrew Little, as the present negotiations Minister, and his staff. So with that, I will commend the bill to the House.

E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koe, otirā ngā mema katoa o te Whare nei, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Mr Speaker, greetings, and to all members in the House, greetings to you all.]

Mr Assistant Speaker McKelvie, can I add my warm congratulations to your appointment. It is lovely to have your wisdom and expertise from the House, so congratulations. I look forward to much more of your guidance in this House.

To our Ngāti Rangitihi, e te iwi e haramai nei, e whakarongo mai nei anei ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa i runga i tō kaupapa whakahirahira i te ahi nei. Nō rēira, ōku rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[To the tribe coming here and listening, these are my affectionate greetings to you all, as you present important issue here this afternoon. Therefore, my chiefs, to my elders, greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.]

I’m pleased to stand in support of the second reading of the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. It’s important to contextualise the second reading in a process that generally takes years, if not decades, for iwi, particularly, waiting to hear their particular claims. So at the second reading, it is a time to reflect on what the public consultation on this bill transpired—and I’ll touch briefly on that.

The previous speaker, Joseph Mooney, who is a member of the Māori Affairs Committee—and I want to congratulate Mr Mooney and all the members of the Māori Affairs Committee who heard this bill and have reported that with very few changes to this House. But, essentially, all Treaty settlements generally have three parts: they have the apology; they have the cultural redress; and, of course, they have the commercial financial redress as a way to acknowledge the breaches of the Crown or the acts of omission of the Crown in respect of the Ngāti Rangitihi people.

And just to help—because some of my colleagues have asked, “Where exactly is Ngāti Rangitihi?” So it’s the Rotorua-Kaingaroa-Matatā area. It’s not part of my estate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, but not far. It is part of the Waiariki Māori electorate, and I’m, like I said, really pleased and honoured to have a short call on this significant piece of legislation.

The point that I wanted to just take some time to explore—and the previous member did address that—was around the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. I think I want to underscore what the settlement actually does, because, in general, when we have disagreeing areas of interest between two neighbouring iwi or, in the past Treaty settlements, where the ownership of the return or gifting of some properties are gifted to iwi then gifted back to, generally, the Crown. But in this example that Mr Mooney alluded to, we are actually gifting land to Ngāti Rangitihi who will then give it back to Tūhourangi. That is the area that Mr Mooney highlighted in his contribution.

It’s unusual that an iwi who is at the heart of a settlement receives property and then gives it to another iwi. That’s why I wanted to underscore it, because it would have been an enormous generosity of Ngāti Rangitihi to accept those conditions of receiving a piece of property and then handing it to Tūhourangi as a means of acknowledging the shared interests they have in that particular property. Not only is this settlement enabling that to happen but they will jointly have a governance structure, as I understand it, over the particular property that’s been mentioned in this House.

I just think when we’re in a time of—[Assistant Speaker knocks microphone]—kindness and generosity—are you all right, Mr Speaker? In this time of kindness and generosity, I think the iwi through this particular settlement of Ngāti Rangitihi, I think, cannot be underscored enough. So I just wanted to mention that as a unique quality within the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill that we are debating this afternoon, and, again, want to acknowledge the Ngāti Rangitihi negotiators, their steering committee, and their people for that generosity, but for their perseverance in this full and final settlement of which the second reading is a critical part.

The $11.3 million in financial and commercial redress is made up of two parts. Ngāti Rangitihi is a recipient of the Crown forest land of the Central North Island (CNI) Iwi Collective, which, if you recall, was negotiated many, many years ago. So it’s important that that mechanism to ring-fence Crown forest land for Ngāti Rangitihi is being realised through this particular settlement, and that’s about $7.3 million. Then, of course, $4 million in straight financial redress, making a total of about $11.3 million that has been offered to Ngāti Rangitihi. Of course, it’s never, ever going to be enough, but I wanted to acknowledge and highlight the origin of that commercial make-up, the fact that Ngāti Rangitihi has an interest in the largest CNI Crown forest, which is in the central North Island. I’m sure, as we get to the third reading, the plans to unlock not just the economic but the social and the cultural and environmental aspirations of Ngāti Rangitihi, this settlement package will lean quite a lot into ensuring that they receive that.

Can I just add my appreciation to the Treaty Ministers—Ministers plural—who have had a hand in this particular settlement. Can I also acknowledge the hard-working Māori Affairs Committee that did receive 20 submissions—I think they heard seven submitters in general. But the way in which the Māori Affairs Committee has reported unanimously back to this House shows that there’s goodwill across this House when it comes to Treaty settlements. So with those few words, can I again extend my appreciation to Ngāti Rangitihi. I too hope that in the third reading that we have some of them here in the House. It is a momentous occasion when you have your third and final reading of your Treaty bill. I commend the bill to the House.

Like the previous member, it is a pleasure to rise and speak on this. I spoke at the first reading and just note that of course the members of Ngāti Rangitihi were here for that, but now we’re in a position where it cannot be so. And as my colleague Joseph Mooney said of our life and the world we live in, these are strange times. But, nevertheless, it’s good to be here speaking on this second reading. I’m not on the Māori Affairs Committee, but I have been on it previously. Good times, simpler times, I really enjoyed it actually—getting around the rohe and the motu and checking out little marae all over New Zealand.

This bill, of course, does a few key things in terms of key settlement outcomes. There’s $11.3 million there in financial redress, comprising $7 million throughout the Central North Island Forests Iwi Collective settlement; the right of first offer of the Rotomahana farm, currently owned by Landcorp; and the right to buy the land under Matatā School and the school house site, with a lease to the Ministry of Education. There’s also, of course, cultural redress, which is usual in a case such as this, for Ngāti Rangitihi, and that reflects in relation to the Crown Minerals Act—and I was the first Minister of the Crown to do such protocols and agreements—the Resource Management Act, and the Fisheries Act, and the deed of settlement provides for the vesting of 19 sites to be transferred to Ngāti Rangitihi as cultural redress.

Of course, as the previous member has said, this is a great part of the world, where Ngāti Rangitihi live. I know it very well, I’ve spent a lot of time there—Matatā, a great place to stop for a pie, a great part of the world; very beautiful there on the Matatā straits. And, of course, Lake Tarawera as well—in my view, the most beautiful, mystical lake in New Zealand. There’s one or two—Waikaremoana could come a close second, because it’s a beautiful one too—but actually I think Tarawera is just very, very special and, as I say, my favourite lake in New Zealand, having spent a bit of time there over the years. This is a special area. As with all Treaty settlements, what’s in it won’t compensate fully and in some ways it’s token, but it does acknowledge and provide redress for the harms, the injustices of the past.

That, of course, brings me to National’s position on Treaty settlements, and they’re rather straightforward. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: National is proud to be the party that has started this process, fundamentally, with Jim Bolger and Sir Doug Graham, and has carried it on through the likes of the inimitable, some would say idiosyncratic, Chris Finlayson and others under John Key’s tenure. We have seen more Treaty settlements than the other big parties. We are proud of that. We’re proud of our role in progressing historic Treaty settlements to deal with and provide redress for historic injustices. That doesn’t mean that we think that actually, you know, all that Te Arawhiti and the likes of Willie Jackson, Kelvin Davis are doing—prospectively—is right. Actually, we think there are some of those things which are a bit adventurous, which actually put New Zealand on the wrong path. But in terms of this bill and this historic Treaty settlement process that Te Arawhiti leads, we’re fully behind it. We will enjoy celebrating with Ngāti Rangitihi at the third reading.

I call Barbara Edmonds.

I’m sorry, it’s on the Chamber—I’m just checking. The Chamber staff online hasn’t responded back to the member—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Is this a point of order?

A point of order, yes. Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m just noting that we have a member who’s sought a call on the Zoom, and we haven’t had a response from the Chamber staff to say it’s been received.

Yes, thank you for that. With the footnote, with apologies to the Hon Eugenie Sage, I call—coming in remotely—Tāmati Coffey.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Forgive me for being a little bit novice at this whole—the technology side of how we’re presenting today. But I’m very pleased, as chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, to be taking a call on this, the second reading of the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the previous speaker, the Hon Simon Bridges, who talked about how Treaty settlements will never be enough. I absolutely agree with that. In fact, we’ve heard that in the submission from the chair of Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust, Leith Comer. He said it will never be enough, and I agree with that, which is why I think that it’s on us as the Government of the day, and for every other future Government to come, to ensure that we’re topping up that account, that we’re actually making sure that we’re engaging with iwi to create co-governance and co-management opportunities at every level, so that we don’t leave them out of pocket and so that we actually acknowledge that Treaty settlements, when we have them, are not full and final. They need to be supplemented with future power-sharing. I look forward to the member of the Opposition, who just resumed his seat, supporting that.

Can I first of all, as I say, acknowledge Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust. Usually, it would be something that we would be able to do in person, go and hear the submissions, travel to Matatā. That was the plan. Unfortunately, COVID got in the way, so we were unable to travel. We let the haukāinga know that we were unable to travel to Rangiaohia, to the marae, to be able to listen to the people of the land. Kanohi ki te kanohi is a very important tikanga Māori, and unfortunately on this occasion we weren’t able to do that. We did do that on Zoom, though. On Zoom, we heard various submissions. So can I thank everybody that presented their submissions: 20 in total, seven orally.

I want to acknowledge, as I said just then, the chair of the trust, Leith Comer, when he talked about the harm that’s been caused over the years. To quote him, he said “Crown actions in the early and mid-20th century destroyed this place. The cutting of the Tarawera and Rangitaiki Awa directly out to sea” also was an action of the Crown which put them back, also “enabling the mill at Kawerau to discharge anything [that] it wanted into the Tarawera [River] were the acts that caused the destruction. The Crown has taken the [right] step in righting these wrongs by acknowledging [that] it breeched [those] Treaty obligations to Ngāti Rangitihi.” But again, he said “this is nowhere near enough.”

Patrick Nicholas, another submitter, said “No settlement will ever be [enough] to compensate for the mamae [that] our people [have] suffered”, and yet he still found that the submission from Leith Comer, as chair, was “very inspirational”. I also want to acknowledge Rex Bunn, an avid researcher, who’s dedicated his life work to the eruption. He was the one that came forward and said that he knew that this bill was going through and he wanted to make sure that we had the exact location of Ōtūkapuarangi. If you didn’t know that, Ōtūkapuarangi is the Māori name for the pink terrace. He was very happy for the exact location, the coordinates, to be included, making sure that the relevant iwi knew where they were, and he had the photos and the science to prove it. Although, I must say, I’m pretty sure that between our iwis, Tūhourangi and Ngāti Rangitihi, they probably already knew.

Can I also acknowledge the Tūhourangi Tribal Authority and Ngāti Rangitihi for working together on this. They themselves agreed outside of the settlement on a way forward, and my colleague Meka Whaitiri talked about it before—a way forward on the Waimangu thermal valley. You see, what they decided was that outside of the settlement, it would go to Ngāti Rangitihi, but that it would be transferred to Tūhourangi the pink terrace, Ōtūkapuarangi, in full, and Waimangu in part. The two iwi also resolved that the two sites should be jointly administered by both of the iwi as well.

I want to acknowledge Tania Rangiheuea and Rea Martin, who are my whanaunga from Tūhourangi. Their views were very different from that of the tribal authority, and Rea pointed out that they had concerns around the cultural redress sites being offered to the Ngāti Rangitihi, specifically saying that they did not believe that Rangitihi had the right to be able to seek redress in the Tarawera region. To that point, they have a Waitangi Tribunal claim in, Wai 2771, and they wanted the committee to be able to hold off until the tribunal had heard it. They applied to hear that urgently, but that didn’t happen. That was not upheld by the tribunal, but it’s still being considered by the tribunal. So for the short time, and to be able to have some progress in this space, the committee thought that it was prudent that the show went on.

This is a great piece of legislation, and it is going to settle the outstanding grievance of Ngāti Rangitihi. For that reason, this being the second reading, I’m proud to support it, but I know that myself, the committee members, and, most importantly, the people of Ngāti Rangitihi will be looking forward to the third reading so that they can finally put this to rest and start their journey off into the future, and, hopefully, that will be done ā-kanohi [face to face] instead of ā-rorohiko [via computer]. I commend this bill to the House.

My apologies for being slightly premature. E mihi ana ki a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku, tēnā kōrua. Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koutou ngā mema o te Whare Pāremata. Tēnā koutou Ngāti Rangitihi, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[I acknowledge and greet the Sky Father and the Earth Mother. Greetings Madam Speaker, greetings to the members of this House of Parliament. Greetings to Ngāti Rangitihi, greetings, greetings, greetings one and all.]

I’m really pleased to take a short call on the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill, and can I particularly acknowledge the Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust, who negotiated with the Crown, and particularly people like Leith Comer, Catherine Moana Dewes, Tia Warbrick, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, and Donna Semmens. The bill, as others have said, was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee, under the capable chairing of Tāmati Coffey, last June. It received some 20 submissions and there have been some small technical changes to it, but nothing substantive.

I feel very humbled to speak on this bill because of my role last term as the Minister of Conservation, and the role that Te Papa Atawhai had, particularly in some of the cultural redress in the bill. It’s always instructive just to get a small insight into the horrors of colonisation, the loss of mauri, the loss of mana, the loss of whenua, to look at the history that is encapsulated in all of the Treaty settlement bills. In this bill, clause 8 describes some of the history and some of the impacts of colonisation on Ngāti Rangitihi. They had very little contact with Pākehā before the 1820s. They didn’t sign the Treaty and they didn’t accept the Crown’s authority.

In 1866, of course, there were large confiscations of land in the Bay of Plenty, including land to which Ngāti Rangitihi had a strong connection. Those confiscation claims were never properly investigated, despite the protests of rangatira. Of course, in our land law, back in the 1860s, the Crown went about converting collectively held land, land that was held by Māori in tribal ownership, into individual tenure. This was devastating. Then in the 1870s through to 1890s there were proceedings in the Native Land Court, but this succeeded in burdening Ngāti Rangitihi with considerable survey costs and didn’t really resolve any of the claims. Then you had the Crown refusing to pay rent on land where the tenure was yet to be determined.

Then, of course, there was the Tarawera eruption, the largest, the deadliest eruption in Aotearoa in the last 500 years. More than 110 people perished and around half of those were Ngāti Rangitihi. We’ve seen the devastation that the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption has caused—people losing their homes, crops being destroyed, livelihoods being destroyed. That big plume of ash from the Tarawera eruption, the flattening of forest, the destruction of villages, the destruction of crops, caused enormous harm and damage to Ngāti Rangitihi. What did the Crown do? Did it provide the sort of humanitarian assistance that we’ve seen the community and the Government extend to Tonga? No. The bill records, in clause 8(4), that instead of extending support and help to Ngāti Rangitihi—and I quote—“The Crown generally acted as a monopoly purchaser, and aggressively purchased Ngāti Rangitihi lands.” Those were lands that, if they hadn’t been damaged, if Ngāti Rangitihi hadn’t lost so many of its own and been dispersed and displaced, Ngāti Rangitihi would have been very unlikely to have sold.

So you have considerable poverty, huge displacement, the loss of a basis for economic wellbeing, the loss of mauri, the loss of the connection with the whenua, and then, of course, the Crown action in draining areas like the Rangitikei wetlands—an enormously significant mahanga kai drained and converted to pasture.

All of this history and the destruction of the connection with the land meant the loss of the traditional tribal ownership structures. The bill recognises, acknowledges, and apologises for that history of Crown action.

The Crown, in the bill, also recognises its failure to protect the Tarawera River. The Tarawera awa is of enormous spiritual and cultural importance to Ngāti Rangitihi. Like others in this House, I have walked beside that river. It flows out of Lake Tarawera. It’s in almost pristine condition. The waters are crystal clear at Te Tapa Horo, which is the campsite beside the river which is being vested in Ngāti Rangitihi. It disappears underground and then some distance downstream it shoots out of the rock in a 65-metre cascade down a rocky cliff face. It is spectacular, one of our natural wonders.

In contrast to the river flowing out of the lake in crystal clear condition, downstream, because of the pulp and paper mill in Kawerau, it becomes the black drain. In 2010, when the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment reported on some of New Zealand’s filthiest rivers, the Tarawera was the second filthiest. So this black drain has had thousands of tonnes of pulp and paper discharged into it over decades, and it was because of the legislation the Crown passed in 1954, the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Enabling Act, which had minimal concern for the environmental impacts of those discharges, the impacts on the mauri of the river, and Ngāti Rangitihi. I acknowledge the work of Catherine Delahunty, former Green MP, working alongside Ngāti Rangitihi to try and get the loophole in the Resource Management Act closed and to clean up the river and stop those discharges.

This settlement is really important because it provides for Tarawera awa restoration strategy group, an eight-member joint committee of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council with four members from iwi Ngāti Rangitihi alongside Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Mangakino, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa and for local councils. Their mahi will be to restore the mauri and the wellbeing of the Tarawera River and redress the harm that has been done by the pollution and those thousands of tonnes of pulp and paper effluent.

Certainly the bill provides for financial and commercial redress, but we’d just like to talk again about some of the cultural redress, because it is the cultural redress, the return of 80 hectares of really significant conservation land at Waimangu to Ngāti Rangitihi in a way which has been negotiated with Tūhourangi which will allow the joint ownership and management of that land. It was in 2017 that Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi purchased the concession which enables the public to visit the spectacular geothermal wonders of Waimangu and operate that jointly and now we see this land which has got the most significant geothermal vegetation in Aotearoa on it going back to Ngāti Rangitihi. Like others, I really commend the generosity and the negotiations which have happened with Tūhourangi which allows land to be returned to Tūhourangi, particularly the Ōtūkapuarangi area on the shores of Lake Rotomahana in a separate side agreement with Tūhourangi.

The cultural redress also includes the recognition agreements over about 1,800 hectares of the Tarawera scenic and historic reserves around the lake to ensure that Ngāti Rangitihi’s values and the significance of those areas to Ngāti Rangitihi are properly recognised through the statutory written acknowledgment in resource management proceedings and in any proceedings about the management of that land.

The bill, as others have said, is never enough, but it is a step, in terms of recognising the harm that has been done in the past and setting Ngāti Rangitihi on a new direction where it is getting the basis of its connection with the whenua actually restored. The Green Party is very pleased to support the bill.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise to speak to the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill on behalf of the ACT Party. We will be supporting this going through, as we did in the first reading. Part of the reason for that is because we are aware that those that voted from the iwi to support this bill got 92 percent support for it. So we intend to support them to support this settlement.

From the previous speaker, the Hon Eugenie Sage, I was quite surprised to hear about a black drain coming out of Tarawera. Having grown up in Rotorua in the 1980s and the 1990s, I actually spent quite a bit of time swimming in that lake with my family, and there was nothing black, but a lot of pristine about that.

Now, the Māori Affairs Committee have said that they’ve made minor changes after having listened to the submitters through their written and their oral submissions. Having been given this to speak to today, I went and had a look at the bill myself, and the history within the bill did make some interesting reading and I will be repeating some of the things that previous speakers have already acknowledged.

After reading the history, I’m very glad to hear that the Crown and iwi are finally able to acknowledge the grievances and to move on, that the offered cultural, historical, and financial redress has been accepted, especially as Ngāti Rangitihi assisted the Crown in defence of the area of land between 1865 and 1872, offering the Crown their military support and doing this all the while, while the Crown was confiscating land around the area.

I note also that during that time, the iwi also sought redress from the Crown but they were not recognised, and in fact, at that time, their complaints were not even investigated. Later, as has been already acknowledged, the Crown aggressively started purchasing land, land that they had already been leasing and land which they had decided payment of the rental was being now used as an advance payment for the land itself. Once again, Ngāti Rangitihi were trying to lodge claims, trying to be heard, and they were largely ignored. I admire their tenacity, because they kept on going, as has been shown since the 1860s—there are generations of this iwi that have kept on pushing even though the Crown was ignoring them.

On 10 June 1866, Mount Tarawera erupted. This beautiful big maunga lost half its top and created nine craters in the middle of it. The destruction of the Pink and White Terraces on Lake Rotomahana was devastating, but not as devastating as the burying of Te Wairoa village. By the 1900s, Ngāti Rangitihi had virtually lost all of their land or most of it, and they moved to Matatā. And at this point I’d like to acknowledge my uncle from Matatā, Wahia Mita. I note that after the move to Matatā, Ngāti Rangitihi lobbied the Crown for relief again for what they had lost, and they spent 30 years doing that lobbying. I also acknowledge the draining of the Rangitaiki swamp, which affected their ability to gather food. It affected urupā, two of them, and it degraded the mauri of the Tarawera awa. Despite this, Ngāti Rangitihi continued with their military support for the Crown while holding their mamae within.

I note that Tūhourangi had their concerns over the ownership of certain parts of land, and I see that colleagues from the Māori Affairs Committee actually have addressed this. The concerns, of course, were over parcels of land in Waimangu Valley, Te Waimangu volcanic valley, and I commend the agreed resolutions that have been made between Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi and understand that the transfer and ownership of some of this land will include jointly managing it together and that this will be concluded after the settlement with Ngāti Rangitihi gifting their settlement land in the Waimangu Valley, parts of it, to Tūhourangi.

To Ngāti Rangitihi, we acknowledge your history. We acknowledge your extensive lobbying over trying to get your property back. You lobbied for well over 100 years. We acknowledge your military service to the Crown and we also acknowledge your stamina and your resolve. We are pleased that the mauri of the awa can be restored. We support the settlement of the Ngāti Rangitihi grievance. It is time to move on, time to restore your mana, and time to grow your mauri. Kia ora.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Ki te Arawa waka, tēnei te mihi. Ki ngā uri o Ngāti Rangitihi, tēnā koutou.

[Greetings, Madam Speaker. To the peoples of Te Arawa, I acknowledge you. To the descendants of Ngāti Rangitihi, greetings.]

The Treaty of Waitangi is a foundational document for New Zealand’s legal system and our constitutional framework. I’m proud of the long-established principle in New Zealand that the Crown owes Māori the duty to act in good faith, in accordance with the Treaty.

It has cross-partisan support, as we’ve seen today in the House, with Opposition members speaking in support of this bill and for the general principles of what we are doing here, which is righting the wrongs of the past and not erasing those histories which are uncomfortable today.

This settlement legislation brings us one step closer to giving effect to the deed of settlement between the Crown and Ngāti Rangitihi, which acknowledges those instances where the Crown has not acted in good faith, and I’m proud to be a part of the Parliament today that is doing so now.

As such, I agree with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Andrew Little, that this bill is an opportunity for the Crown to atone for the injustices that Rangitihi has been subject to at its hands. And it’s an opportunity for Rangitihi to look to the future as an iwi, to continue to build its identity, to flourish collectively, to be a leader within its rohe, and to face Government as a partner.

It’s a privilege to speak in support of the settlement which means so much more than the sum of its parts to the negotiating team, to the uri who will benefit from it, and to partners in Government who look forward to working with Ngāti Rangitihi going forward.

I also want to thank everyone who submitted on this bill; the Office of the Clerk and my colleagues on the Māori Affairs Committee for their work and considering the views of those submitters and the advice that was delivered, largely online in a Zoom environment. I agree with the chair of the committee, Tāmati Coffey, when he said that the kanohi ki te kanohi engagement is a part of the settlement process and of tikanga Māori. But it’s good that we’ve had those moments where the Minister has been able to meet with the groups on the ground and that we were able to host Ngāti Rangitihi in the House for the first reading of this bill, and I look forward to the future when we can be back together again.

There has been a history of excessive land takings by the Crown, under the guise of the Public Works Act, from this iwi, and not having sufficient land in the aftermath of the Tarawera eruption to live dignified lives. Today, Ngāti Rangitihi are, effectively, a landless people. They have been dispossessed of their tribal lands and they now have interests in less than 4 percent, or approximately 9,000 hectares, of their original 250,000 hectare tribal rohe. It’s an area made up of 175,000 hectares of the central North Island, known as Kaingaroa, and the adjacent lands in the 75,000 hectares of confiscated land within the Eastern Bay of Plenty confiscation area. I also note that much of that 9,000 hectares that I talked about the iwi having an interest in today is unable to be used for economic benefit, due to its status as conservation and reserves land.

Rangitihi were forced out of their inland rohe by the eruption of Mount Tarawera, as other speakers have canvassed. But they relocated in the coastal rohe lands in Matatā and Hauone, and by the time their inland rohe was again fit for human habitation, the Crown deemed that land [Audio missing] public [Audio missing] conservation estate and for Crown [Audio missing].

There are two main ways [Audio missing] those wrongs in this piece of legislation and in all Treaty settlement legislation. The first is financial redress and [Audio missing]. And I want to touch now on [Audio missing]. Cultural redress in this settlement looks like the 19 sites of deep significance to be transferred to Rangitihi as cultural redress on the settlement date and this [Audio missing] which is known in and around the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the former site of the Pink and White Terraces, and five properties at Matatā. That means for this iwi, in practice, that relationships with neighbouring iwi, with local government, and with arms of Government like the Department of Conservation and the department of culture and heritage can be developed from a strong standing point.

I will conclude by saying that I look forward to considering this legislation again at the third reading. I commend this bill to the House.

Madam Speaker, thank you very much. It gives me pleasure and it is a privilege to speak on this piece of legislation, as all of the area that we’re talking about in this settlement for Ngāti Rangitihi either is in my electorate or previously—before boundary changes—has been. I’ve had an opportunity over the period of time that I’ve been the elected member of Parliament for Rotorua to talk at great length with many of the leaders of this iwi about the land, the history, and what it means to them. And indeed, I remember—it might have been in my first term, which feels a little while ago now—I had an opportunity with Ken Raureti who lives down the road from me, to visit Mount Tarawera together. I’d been talking to Ken about why public access had been taken away many years ago. I remember as a child having an opportunity, as many people in New Zealand did, to just drive on up the mountain and wander around at will. In fact, I think I went there with a Scout group or something where we slid in the scoria down into the volcano mouth on a number of occasions—the very first adventure tourism, I suppose, in Rotorua.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: That doesn’t sound very health and safety!

That was the day when health and safety was: if they didn’t come back then there was one less in the Scout group, that’s correct. However, the point of this was I said to Ken, “Well why do people not have access now? There’s a great concern in the community. So he said, “Why don’t we go up and wander round and we’ll talk about it?” I arrived at his house, and he decided he wanted to go in my freshly painted blue National Party truck—we were in Government at the time—and we drove south towards Taupō, we went round past Rerewhakaaitu, and then drove up towards the mountain. It stopped at a very large gate that was double locked, and I said to Ken, “If you open the gate, we can drive all the way to the top.” He said, “Well I will”—but the keys are in the glovebox in his car back at his house in Rotorua. So we got out and we walked all the way, which is probably an hour to an hour and a half walk to get to the landing area where there were young men and a few women camping, and I learnt a lot that day.

In fact, it wasn’t a decision on the part of iwi to close the mountain when it was open—and Mr Bridges talked about health and safety. Somebody went up riding mountain bikes late at night and landed in the crater and was badly injured, and the owners of the land at the time, Ngāti Rangitihi, were held to account so they had to close it as a result if health and safety. The point of this is, over time, there has been less than enough understanding about the claim of Ngāti Rangitihi, and largely this goes a long way to address that. I’m very pleased that they have recognition over the Central North Island forest. Much of that land, as with others in the area, falls within their responsibility previously, and Mount Tarawera, its reserves, and many other areas including where the Pink and White Terraces were, and the Waimangu Valley and tourism volcanic area also form part of this.

Can I say, and I don’t want to speak for too long because the actual member of Parliament for the Wairakei electorate that all this falls in, I think is—well the Māori Party are speaking after me—Rawiri Waititi, and I would leave it to him as the elected member of Parliament to talk much more about this. But can I recognise the work of Leith Comer, with whom I had the opportunity to go up on the mountain a few elections ago and talk about settlement and what access would mean for others who also might like to go and understand much, much more. To Ken Raureti who gratefully gave much of his time to me, Merepeka who also is there, and the other trust members for their diligence, their hard work, and commitment over many, many years to create greater understanding, to move forward for their people, and to find a settlement with the Crown.

Mr Bridges says that these settlements don’t go all the way to meeting the injustices of the past, but this is an opportunity to draw a line under those and then look forward together to an area of New Zealand that we can develop together. I would finish by saying—not to be at all political—but to the member of the Green Party that spoke earlier, Eugenie Sage, they are forever talking about the bottom of the Tarawera River. It’s good that there is a joint effort to continue to make sure that the bottom of the Tarawera River is healthy, but she along with others knows that the regional council, with local iwi and local people, have worked very, very hard over many, many years through continual consents to make sure it meets the standards that are required. It no longer has the term that she gave it, it is no longer a drain, it is healthier than it has been for many, many years, and there is wide-ranging commitment to continue to improve it. I commend this bill to the House, and look forward to it passing fully.

Kia ora, kei te rongo koutou i a au? Kia ora, kia ora tātou. Ka tangohia taku pōtae e ahau. Koinā hoki taku mahi ia te wā o ngā kōrero mō ngā pire, nō reira, kei te mihi atu rā ki a Rangitihi i tēnei rā. Kei te mihi atu ki a Te Arawa whānui me ngā whātorohanga ki roto i a Mātaatua, engari i a Rangitihi nei rā te mihi atu rā ki a koutou. Tēnā rā hoki koutou i runga i te āhuatanga o ā tātou mahi.

Kite au i a Rangitihi, ā, heke iho mai rā ki a Pikiao, arā ko tērā o ō tātou mate ki a Muriwai i roto i ngā wiki kua hipa ake. Māna hoki te ope tārewa e kawe ki tōna nohonga ki a rātou kua parangia, i te ara kua parangia e te tini e te mano. Nō reira koutou e ngā mate, haere, haere, whatungaro atu rā. Kua hoki mai rā ki a tātou ngā mahuetanga iho. Ngāti Rangitihi, tēnā tātou.

Tēnei tātou i tēnei pānuitanga tuarua mō tō koutou pire, mō ngā kerēme Tiriti o te iwi, me te mea hoki kei te tautoko i ngā kōrero a te heamana a Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori, nāna hoki te kōrero āhua kei te mokemoke tonu mātou kāore e tarea te haramai ki roto i a koutou ki te whakarongo ki ngā kōrero engari e tarea tonu tātou te whakatutuki i runga i te ipurangi nei. Nō reira, ahakoa kāore tātou i tae ā-tinana, ko te mea nui i rongo tonu mātou i wā koutou kōrero e rongo tonu mātou i te wairua o te kawe o tēnei o ngā pire i roto i tērā tūāhuatanga. Nō reira, kei te mihi atu anō ki a koutou.

Kei te kite atu au i roto i tēnei o ngā pire he āhua ōrite ki ngā tūāhuatanga i whakaritea e ngā iwi i mua noa atu i a koutou—te whakahoki whenua mai, ahakoa kotahi pai heneti noa kua hoki, ka hoki mai tētahi wāhanga. Tērā anō i wā koutou ngahere, tērā anō i wā koutou whenua rotarota, tērā anō i wā koutou roto kōreporepo, ngā kūkūwai, ngā awa, ngā ahi tipua, ngāwhā tae ake rā ki ngā taha moana paku nei kua whakahokia nei ki a koutou. Koirā anō hoki nei te painga o ngā kerēme Tiriti nei. Ka tarea anō hoki e koutou te whātoro atu ki roto i wā koutou ake, tō koutou ake mana whenua, tō koutou mana moana, tō koutou mana wai māori hoki. Nō reira kei te mihi atu rā anō ki a koutou, ā, tekau mā iwa anō hoki ngā wāhanga kua riro i a koutou ki roto i to koutou redress, me te mea hoki ko Ngāti Rangitihi koutou e hautū nei i tēnei kaupapa.

Nō reira, āe, kei te mihi atu rā, kei te mihi atu rā. Ki a koutou ngā taratihī, ki a koe Leith. Ko koe te hautū nei i tēnei kaupapa i roto i ngā submissions, i ngā kōrero i whakawhārikihia ki mua i te aroaro o te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori, ko koe tērā e hautū nei i ngā hiahiatanga, i ngā wawatatanga o Rangitihi o ēnei rā, ā, me te pīkau anō hoki ngā koroingo o ngā mātua tīpuna. Ki taku kōkā ki a Cathy, ki a Merepeka, ki a Tia, ki a Melanie kia tae ki, ki a Donna anō hoki koutou hei hāpaitia nei i tēnei o ngā pire, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Anei rā tō koutou mema o Te Waiariki e kaha nei i whawhai nei mō tō koutou pire mō ngā wawatatanga me ngā tūmanakohanga o Te Waiariki, kei te mihi atu ki a koutou i tēnei rā.

E, kāore tēnei e whakatōroa i ngā kōrero, ko te mana o tēnei tūāhuatanga ka noho tonu ki roto i a koutou, ki Ngāti Rangitihi, ā, me te mea hoki ka hoki atu rā ki ngā kōrero i whakawhārikihia i mua noa atu i tō koutou aroaro i a koutou e whakatinanahia i te pire i te pānuitanga tuatahi me te mea hoki, tēnei tō koutou mokopuna. Tēnei tō mokopuna e tū whakahīhī nei kei roto i ngā tūāhuatanga kei mua i te aroaro. Kia kaua e waiho mā ngā mahi nei hei whakamutunga engari me waiho ake mā ō tātou tamariki mokopuna hei ngā rā e haere ake nei te whakahaere tonu i ngā hiahiatanga a te iwi, ā, i ngā koroingotanga a ngā mātua tīpuna kei mua i te aroaro.

Nō reira kāore tēnei e whakatoro i ngā kōrero, te tautoko katoa i ngā kōrero a ngā mema Pāremata o tēnā taha o tēnā taha e tautoko nei i tēnei kaupapa. Ā, kāti ake, ko Te Paati Māori nei e tautoko nei i tēnei pire, nō reira Ngāti Rangitihi, maranga mai ki runga, kei a koutou tō koutou mana kei a koutou te wā tēnei Te Paati Māori e tautoko ana i tēnei pire, kia ora tātou.

[Hello, can you hear me? Greetings everyone. I’ll take off my hat. This is what I always do when are talking about bills, therefore I acknowledge Rangitihi today. I acknowledge the wider people of Te Arawa and their connections within Mataatua, but to Rangitihi, this is my acknowledgment to you. I greet you as we work together.

I look at Rangitihi, descending to Pikiao, and to our deceased one, Muriwai, who passed recently. May they be carried by the spirit group to their resting place by way of the path that has been cleared by the many before them. Therefore, to the dead, go, go, be gone. Returning to us all, those who have been left behind. Ngāti Rangitihi, I greet you.

Greetings to everyone to this second reading of your bill, for the Treaty claims of the tribe, and I support what the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee said, along these lines, we felt very lonely, not being able to be amongst you to listen to your stories, but we can still complete this process by means of the internet. Therefore, although we not able to attend in person, the main thing is that we heard your stories and we felt the spirit in which this bill was carried in those circumstances. Therefore, I acknowledge you again.

I see in this bill some similarities to arrangements made by tribes preceding you: the return of land, even though only 1 percent, at least a part has been returned. Then there are your forests and your wild areas, then there are your lakes, marshes and wetlands, the rivers, geothermal and hot springs, including the small amount of coast that have been returned to you. This is one of the benefits of Treaty claims. You are able to explore your own territorial rights, your own rights over the sea and fresh water. Therefore, I acknowledge you once again, and, there are 19 areas that you have obtained in your redress, and you, Ngāti Rangitihi are guiding this issue.

Therefore, yes, you deserve our thanks. To the trustees, to you, Leith. You have steered this issue through the submission process, laid out the stories for the Māori Affairs Committee, and you have guided the desires and dreams of Rangitihi today, while carrying the wishes of the ancestors. To my aunties, to Cathy, to Merepeka, to Tia, and to Melanie as well as Donna, you have shouldered this bill, many thanks to you. I stand as your member of Parliament for Te Waiariki, having fought hard for your bill, for the dreams and the hopes of Te Waiariki, and I thank you today.

Well, I don’t wish to extend my speech because the power in this situation rests with you, Ngāti Rangitihi, and, I hark back to what was said to you as you were fleshing out the bill at its first reading, and it is as if this is the offspring. This is the offspring standing proudly to face the issues in front of it. Don’t let this be the end of it, we must let our children and grandchildren continue to manage the perceived needs of the iwi, and the desires of the ancestors.

Well, I don’t wish to go on any further, I support what has been said by the members of Parliament on all sides of the House, supporting this issue. And, to conclude, this is Te Paati Māori supporting this bill, therefore Ngāti Rangitihi, stand tall, you have the authority, this is your time and this is Te Paati Māori supporting this bill, greetings one and all.]

Kia ora, Madam Speaker, and it’s a pleasure to be able to speak on this bill, the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. Can I acknowledge all members of the iwi Ngāti Rangitihi, and, for many reasons, primarily COVID, they are watching online today. Can I acknowledge you all. I want to just also acknowledge the Hon Andrew Little, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. The Crown and iwi negotiators—these people do an amazing job to bring these arrangements together and present them for us to process through the parliamentary system. I want to also, while we’re on the acknowledgment section, just give some warmth to the Māori Affairs Committee. It’s a good, cross-Parliament group of people who work constructively to ensure that these are worked through with the spirit, mana, and mauri that they deserve. Can I acknowledge the chair there, Tāmati Coffey. Those who submitted—20 submissions on this particular bill. Look, it could have just been one, but it’s always good, I think, that we get a range of views from across the iwi, the whānau, the hapū, that express a whole range of concerns. Sometimes it’s a bit late to include them in. Sometimes they’re just alerting us to history that often we don’t know about, and seven came in to express that orally.

It brings us to be a step closer to giving effect to the deed of settlement. Each time these come to be, I’m always quite excited. I’m horrified at the history, and so any historical redress that records Crown breaches is very important, and what I’ve learnt is that it’s really important that we get that accurate and recorded into the settlement. There’s also cultural redress too, which in this situation acknowledges those connections to land and resources of significance to Ngāti Rangitihi. Part of that, too, when you look at redress, is also about relationships and building new connections, because often this is about resetting the relationship with the Crown, with iwi, with whānau, with local government, and with other groups, and then moving forward. Of course, to finish that off, some part of that will be financial and commercial redress.

I want to move to that, because when I look at the summary of that package, there’s a few things I just want to point out. I don’t think the money is everything here. At just under $12 million, it’s very important to not only show a tohu or symbol of the horrific history here but also, as I said, it allows them to work with their post-iwi settlement—to a post-settlement entity to move on. It’s interesting, when you look at those 19 sites of deep significance to Ngāti Rangitihi which will be transferred, of course, the learning for me was that former site of the Pink and White Terraces, which is tied up into that Tarawera Awa group. That settlement will help establish the Restoration Strategy Group, as it’s called, and they’ll be a permanent joint committee of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. That just ensures that that gets into the local governance structures of the rohe and ensures that this has some enduring and permanent decision-making capability. There’s a good sum there of half a million to get that up and running, and it’s great to see that that’s being worked through and provided in terms of those statutory acknowledgments and recognition of the four areas—sorry, seven areas—that form that relationship.

When I look at the apology—and I think this is important—and when I first looked at one of the Treaty claim settlements, I found that this was normal in terms of making an apology for those breaches, and then, reading back on what that’s covering, it really does. It’s painful to read out, but the Crown acknowledges it breached its Treaty obligations when it failed to protect things like the tribal structures of Ngāti Rangitihi, to act in good faith, to protect the iwi from becoming virtually landless, the Tarawera River, te reo Māori and increasing or encouraging its use, and to just protect the iwi from the impact of high survey costs and act in good faith in terms of taking the excessive land at Te Ariki for public works purposes. These are just a range of things that that redress will cover.

I’m really proud that we’ve worked through this as a committee. We certainly did when it reported back to the House on 17 December last year. There were a small number of minor and technical amendments. We worked through those, and although—in conclusion—no settlement can truly make up for this wrongdoing and compensate for the hurt, I know the Crown hopes that this will be the starting point for a new and strengthened relationship between Ngāti Rangitihi and the Crown. I look forward to seeing this back for the third reading. I commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. It’s very humbling to be able to stand up here and say a few words in support of the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill this afternoon. As often is the case on these types of occasions, the contributions across the House have been reflective of the sacrifice of Ngāti Rangitihi and appropriately optimistic about the partnership between the Crown and Ngāti Rangitihi into the future. Can I acknowledge those who are watching in their own homes back in the Bay of Plenty. It is, I’m sure, not the same as being here. When you are here in this place when we have these conversations, the atmosphere can be very electric and powerful. But be assured that whilst you’re not here in physical presence, all of us, as we have spoken and reflected today on the significance of this bill, very much have you in our hearts and can sense the importance of this for you and your people.

I just want to really make a few personal comments as a contribution today. I’m not on the select committee. The select committee is, though, quite an impressive group of people. I had the pleasure of being on it for a few months a few months ago, and the people on there are very generous in terms of their time and reflection on matters such as this. But I do want to reflect just on really the values that have been expressed by Ngāti Rangitihi throughout the last 150 years. When you look at that history, from supporting the Crown in 1864 when they joined Te Arawa, having to deal with the large-scale Crown confiscations that occurred in the Bay of Plenty in the 1860s, having to endure the Crown acting as a monopoly purchaser in the 1880s and 1890s, being devastated by Mount Tarawera, and then having not only the appalling loss of life but the remaining lands confiscated to the point that they were largely landless in the 1900s, and then, of course, the Rangitāiki swamp being drained—an area of great importance to them. Yet despite that, when World War I came along, Ngāti Rangitihi put forward their bravest and their best to go and fight for Crown and country, and many of them died. Despite the treatment of the Crown, in 1939 they did it again, and in subsequent battles.

We often reflect as a House on values. They can purse our lips quite quickly. But actually, when you read the history, it is stark that a people that have been let down so consistently by the Crown still believes in the partnership, still believes in honour in holding their side of the bargain, and still is optimistic about the future, and willing, despite all evidence, to take the Crown at face value and to build an enduring relationship into the future. That is values in action, and I think, as a House, as we reflect on the details that have been so superbly articulated of the process and what was negotiated through the various contributions this afternoon, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact here that this is a remarkable people in the Bay of Plenty who have endured immensely, over many generations, yet still look to what can unite us as a country and where they can contribute in partnership with the Crown going forward into the future.

So I want to acknowledge that today, acknowledge the enormous sacrifice, and the fact that this House—although you are not with us—is reflecting deeply on that sacrifice and hoping that you can see here, in the contributions that have been made on the second reading of the Ngāti Rangitihi claims bill, that there is cross-party support, that this is a step forward for you and for the Crown that is positive and can be built on. Kia ora tātou.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka i roto i te pō nei, ki ngā mema i roto i te Whare ki waho i te Whare, tēnā rawa atu ki a koutou i tēnei pō. Ki ngā kaiurungi o Ngāti Rangitihi ka mihi atu ki a koutou i tēnei wā i runga i te kaupapa nei. Me mihi kau ana ki a koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[Greetings to the Speaker this evening, to the members in the House, and to those outside the House, I acknowledge you all this evening. To the leaders of Ngāti Rangitihi, greetings to all of you on the occasion of the issue at hand. My acknowledgments, greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.]

It’s my honour and privilege as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee to speak on the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill this evening, albeit virtually. Last time that I met these members was in fact in the House. It’s been an honour to be a member of the Māori Affairs Committee because you learn so much along the way. It’s a history lesson where you get to deep dive into the stories of our local iwi across Aoteaora, and in this particular instance, Ngāti Rangitihi have been very generous in what they have shared with us along the way. Can I acknowledge our Minister, the Hon Andrew Little, for the work that he has done in leading the settlement of Treaty negotiations across Aotearoa, and in this one in particular, and also our very capable chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, Tāmati Coffey, who enables us as a committee to come together, to build a sense of kotahitanga, and where we are able to move towards supporting a particular kaupapa like we are this evening.

When it comes to Treaty settlements, it’s an opportunity for the Crown to acknowledge and in many respects to apologise for its breaches to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the commitment that we have all made. Tonight, I would like to speak out loud to what those breaches are and to acknowledge them within the Whare this evening. The Crown acknowledges its breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its failure in its obligations for Ngāti Rangitihi to protect the tribal structures, to act in good faith when leasing and purchasing Ngāti Rangitihi land blocks, to protect Ngāti Rangitihi from becoming virtually landless, to protect the Tarawera River, to actively protect te reo Māori and to encourage its use, to protect Ngāti Rangitihi from the impact of high survey costs, and to act in good faith by taking excessive land at Te Ariki for public works purposes.

Those points are really, really important for us to acknowledge within the House this evening, and I do it from a heartfelt place as I too follow my own iwi journey and our own settlement process and understand the many years of hard work that people, and people that we’ve heard from, do in order to take such proceedings forward. So I acknowledge that this particular speech at the second reading within the House is an important one and that Part 1 effectively sets out the purpose of the bill and provides the provision of the bill to take effect on the settlement dates unless the provision states otherwise; Part 2—we’ve heard this evening about the cultural redress for Ngāti Rangitihi—and Part 3 for the commercial redress and the commitment that we make in enabling this iwi to move forward independently, and part of this process is to pass back the mana that has been impacted along the way.

I want to acknowledge particularly the presentations and the submissions that we heard as a part of the select committee process. And we all know him well and we’ve heard his name mentioned a number of times this evening, but Leith Comer, who was one of our primary speakers on this particular bill, reflected on the Ngāti Rangitihi journey and the settlement process, and today that has been largely cohesive and unifying. But he also acknowledges, sadly, too that while we acknowledge this particular part, it signifies the beginning and also with the discussions this evening that we have a role to play in continuing to stand alongside this iwi to enable them to re-establish the mana that has been impacted, but also enable investment to go forward into future generations in education and in their local economy.

I want to acknowledge, also, Rea Martin, who spoke against this particular bill on the basis that she advised that the Wai 2771 claim has not been brought to a close and that Ngāti Rangitihi should not have their settlement under this claim resolved. That’s the nature of Māori politics in one sense, but also part of the history and whakapapa that’s been shared in this particular journey. All submissions that we heard as a Maori Affairs Committee are valid and important, and a very important part of the fabric and whakapapa of this particular story.

This piece of work also enables this iwi to move forward, and I look forward to the third reading of this particular bill. I appreciate the consensus that has been established right across the House. One particular old boy who was schooled in my local area is Patrick Nicholas. He also made a submission on this bill, and he acknowledges that no settlement can truly compensate for the hurt that Ngāti Rangitihi have suffered, but he hopes that the settlement will enable Ngāti Rangitihi to achieve their cultural, environmental, social, and economic aspirations. And that’s all of our aspirations for this iwi, for all of our tamariki and mokopuna across Aotearoa—that they too get to enjoy the fruits of our labour, of our country, and that they have an opportunity just like I had in education and employment and where we all stand today.

So I want to thank Ngāti Rangitihi for their patience over this journey and acknowledge the work of our Minister and our Māori Affairs Committee, and I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā tatou.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

This bill is set down for committee stage next sitting day. Members, the time has come for me to leave the Chair for the dinner break. I just want to thank all members in the House for their patience and forbearance as we all settle into this hybrid Parliament. I want particularly to acknowledge the technical people, there are two sets of them, for some wonderful work. I can see you—thank you. I also want to thank the Office of the Clerk and all Chamber staff as we settle into the new reality. The House will reconvene at 7 p.m.

Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.