Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

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

Tākiri mai ana te ata, ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi. Korihi ana te manu kaupapa, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea. Tihei mauri ora.

E mihi ana ki a koutou kua tae mai nei i runga i te karanga o te kaupapa o te rā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. E mihi ana ki te hunga mate, haere, haere, haere atu. Ki a tātou te hunga ora, tēnā tātou. Te whakamānawatia ngā mana o ēnei whenua e tū āhuru nei, tēnei au, otirā mātou te Kāwanatanga e mihi nei ki te kaupapa o te wā, Ngāti Maniapoto, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Dawn breaks, a new morning and a dauntless heart. The voice of this issue now sings, a new dawn leads to the full light of day. I now begin.

Greetings to one and all who have responded to the call of this issue to be here today. I acknowledge those who have passed, may you rest in peace. And to us who remain, welcome one and all. To pay tribute to these comfortable lands, I stand here, we the Government stands here acknowledging the present issue, therefore to Ngāti Maniapoto, greetings to you all, greetings, greetings one and all.]

This bill gives effect to the deed of settlement signed by Maniapoto and the Crown in November 2021. The deed of settlement acknowledges all the remaining historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maniapoto. Maniapoto is an iwi based in Te Rohe Pōtae, the King Country, in and around Taumarunui, Mōkau, Pureora, Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu, and Kāwhia. Their area of interest includes the adjacent marine environment and part of the exclusive economic zone, and I’ll come back to that a little later in my remarks.

The historical claims of Maniapoto relate to loss of life in conflicts with the Crown. Maniapoto bore the costs of the New Zealand Wars. The Crown failed to uphold promises made in the 1880s relating to Maniapoto land administration and self-determination. The Crown acquired Maniapoto land in an aggressive manner. These actions have contributed to economic and social marginalisation within New Zealand society and the loss of traditional tribal structures.

Now, through the Maniapoto settlement, the Crown will apologise for its actions, and my hope is this settlement will reset our relationship and provide the basis for the Crown to work alongside Maniapoto to help it rebuild its social, cultural, and economic structures.

This bill comprises seven parts detailing cultural and commercial redress, natural resources redress, and the Crown’s apology redress. I look forward to describing this bill in greater detail at its third reading.

Maniapoto has established Te Nehenehenui, the post-settlement governance entity that will receive the settlement assets on behalf of Maniapoto and represent the iwi in its future dealings with the Crown. I acknowledge Te Nehenehenui and all members of Maniapoto’s negotiating team. I acknowledge Maniapoto representatives are in the House today, including Bella Takiari-Brame, chair of Te Nehenehenui; Keith Ikin, chair of Maniapoto Māori Trust Board; Matua Tiwha Bell, former chair of Maniapoto Māori Trust Board; Matua Pat Stafford; and other kaumātua, trust board members, and staff. Your dedication and determination have been vital in the path towards settlement. I also acknowledge and thank you again for the wonderful carving that you gifted me the last time we met.

I also acknowledge the previous Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Christopher Finlayson, as well as Government agencies and local authorities for their contributions to the bill. I want to also acknowledge the chief Crown negotiator, David Tapsell, who represented the Crown right from the outset of negotiations. I acknowledge my colleagues in the House who whakapapa to Maniapoto, and in that respect I particularly acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, the former lead negotiator from Maniapoto, who began the negotiation process and for whom I know this settlement carries special significance.

The bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee on 14 December 2021. The committee reported back to the House on 15 June this year. They received and considered 26 submissions. Two submitters supported the bill and 19 submitters opposed the bill or sought changes to it. Nineteen submitters spoke to their submissions online in March. I’d like to extend my thanks to the committee for their work and consideration of the bill.

The committee carefully considered the evidence presented by Rereahu and Te Ihinga-a-rangi. It sought further advice on the background to their engagement with the Crown, particularly the mandating process. Representatives of these groups are concerned for the loss of their independent identity. These concerns are acknowledged. However, I can reassure these groups that there is considerable scope for their interests and identities to be accommodated within the structure of Te Nehenehenui. I encourage them to remain engaged in the conversation.

The committee recommended minor technical amendments to the bill. I’m satisfied with the committee’s recommendations as they will ensure the redress agreed in the Maniapoto deed of settlement can be properly implemented through this bill.

I want to mention here a special and novel feature of the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill. This bill recognises a statement of Maniapoto interests out to 17.4 nautical miles from the coast, within the exclusive economic zone. While this is an existing interest under section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012, this bill recognises that Maniapoto presented the Rohe Pōtae petition to the House of Representatives in 1883. That petition described Maniapoto interests as extending 20 miles—that’s 17.4 nautical miles—out to sea and it was part of a series of agreements between Maniapoto and the Crown in the 1880s which were intended to set the relationship between the parties.

Rather than creating ambiguity, this explicit recognition clarifies rights under the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act for the area over which it applies. It is not an exclusive recognition and it does not confer additional rights on Maniapoto. It does not preclude or exclude recognition of other existing interests in the same area, but it provides certainty that Maniapoto will receive notifications that they are already entitled to receive. Above all, it honours the agreements and the relationship that Maniapoto and the Crown established all those years ago.

Another feature of this bill I want to mention are clauses 21 and 22, concerning land subject to Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017. Te Pou Tupua is the human face of Te Awa Tupua and it acts in its name. There are or may be small watercourses running through land that will be transferred to Maniapoto, the beds of which are parts of Te Awa Tupua. Maniapoto wish Te Pou Tupua to assume landowner functions for these riverbeds. This does not preclude Te Pou Tupua and Maniapoto, together with Ngāti Hauā in respect of jointly vested sites, from agreeing an arrangement for them to administer such riverbeds at a later time.

The second reading is a part of the last stage of the settlement process that seeks to recognise what is important to Maniapoto and to provide redress for historical breaches of the Treaty. This is another step towards acknowledgment, recognition, and reconciliation. I hope that it can allow for Maniapoto to have confidence for the future. I look forward to welcoming back a larger contingent of Maniapoto to the House for the third reading in the very near future. 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 very much, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the National Party, as the National Party’s spokesperson for Treaty negotiations, to speak on the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill at its second reading. To the members of Maniapoto in the gallery, I welcome you here—tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa—and to all those watching online, I welcome you as well.

This bill gives effect to the deed of settlement signed on 11 November 2021 between the Crown and Maniapoto. The deed will settle all the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maniapoto resulting from acts or omissions from the Crown before 21 September 1992. The Maniapoto area of interest encompasses the King Country, including the adjacent marine environment—part of the exclusive economic zone—17.4 nautical miles out to sea. The principal townships within the area of interest are Taumarunui, Maniaiti / Benneydale, Mōkau, Pureora, Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamatu, and Kāwhia.

This bill contains provisions related to settlement redress that require legislation for their implementation. Other aspects of the settlements are provided for only in the deed, because they do not require legislative authority.

The signing of the deed of settlement between Ngāti Maniapoto and the Crown has been a process that has taken over 30 years to complete. The settlement is testament to decades of hard work and negotiation between Maniapoto and the Crown, and signifies the beginning of a new relationship between both parties based on trust, cooperation, and respect for the Treaty.

Maniapoto’s historical grievances relate to loss of life in conflicts with the Crown, and bearing the costs of the New Zealand Wars. The Crown acknowledges that it deliberately undermined Maniapoto independence, failed to uphold promises made in the 1880s relating to Maniapoto land administration and self-determination, and acquired Maniapoto land in an aggressive way.

It has been a long journey for Maniapoto to reach the journey that we are here today. No settlement can ever compensate for the mamae that Maniapoto have endured for many generations. However, this is a very big and important step forwards, and I wish to acknowledge those who whakapapa to Maniapoto in the House, and in particular the Hon Nanaia Mahuta. I know this has been a big piece of work for her as well over many years.

The settlement package is one of the largest negotiated, and it includes financial redress which will, in total, be worth approximately $177 million, relationship agreements with various Crown agencies, the transfer of 36 sites back to Maniapoto as cultural redress, the first right to purchase Crown lands in the future, an agreed historical account, and an acknowledgment of Treaty breaches and a formal apology for those breaches.

We heard a number of submissions on the Māori Affairs Committee, of which I am a member. There were some significant concerns raised by Rereahu and Te Ihinga-a-rangi. The committee carefully considered those and we sought further advice, particularly around the mandating process, and we also carefully looked at the Waitangi Tribunal, which had considered a lot of these matters. We acknowledged those concerns, and I take heart from Minister Andrew Little’s speech before, where he reached out to them and asked them to remain engaged in the process.

There was an issue that I did raise that we wished to have clarification on at the very first reading of this, around clauses 124 and 125 under Subpart 9 and section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environment Effects) Act, and the interplay between those. I engaged with the Minister and I’m thankful for the clarification received from his officials, which were incorporated into the report back to the House.

The commentary states—and I’ll just read it out—“Clause 124 provides Maniapoto’s statement of interest in the [Exclusive Economic Zone]. Maniapoto’s interest extends to 17.4 nautical miles out from the coast, not to the full extent of the EEZ. Clause 125 provides for Crown recognition of that interest as an existing interest under section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (EEZ Act). The recognition provided by clause 125 is only for the purposes of the EEZ Act. It is not an exclusive recognition and does not confer additional rights on Maniapoto. It does not preclude or exclude recognition of other existing interests in the same area.

“The EEZ Act already requires the responsible Minister and consent authorities to notify iwi authorities of any proposed regulations, proposed EEZ policy statements, applications for marine consent for a publicly notifiable activity, or applications for marine consent for a non-notified activity if the Environment Protection Agency considers an iwi authority may be affected by the application.

“As such, Maniapoto would already be notified under existing statutory requirements of such applications within the Maniapoto rohe. Other iwi authorities would also be notified should the application also fall within their rohe. This process provides for Maniapoto to submit about impacts on their interests, which must be taken into consideration as relevant matters in decision-making by the Minister and consent authorities.

“The recognition provided by clause 125 will give more certainty that Maniapoto will receive notifications it is already entitled to receive, and provide a clear basis for Maniapoto to assert its right to have impacts on its historical interests considered by decision-makers. The recognition provided by clause 125 does not amount to a new interest, an exclusive interest, or a veto on proposed regulations, proposed policy statements, or applications for consent.”

So that provided clarity around the questions that I raised in the first reading, and I’m grateful that those have been clarified, as I hope they would be through the process, and I thank the Minister and his officials for engaging with that to provide that clarification to the select committee and, ultimately, to the House.

This is an important moment. We obviously have the third reading still to go, and that will be the culmination of this process and the start of a new process for the relationship between the Crown and Maniapoto. It is a privilege and honour to be part of this process today and to be part of the journey towards creating that new relationship, which is a hugely important one, and recognising the importance and the growing future which will be a very exciting one for Maniapoto. With that, I’m very happy to support this bill through to the third reading, and I look forward to its further progression and the completion of this process and the beginning of a new one. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tuatahi, he mihi tēnei ki a koutou o Ngāti Maniapoto. Tainui waka, Tainui tangata e mihi kau ana ki koutou katoa kua tae mai nei ki te tautoko i tēnei kaupapa, tō pire.

[Firstly, I greet you of Ngāti Maniapoto. The Tainui canoe and the Tainui people acknowledge your coming here to support this issue, your bill.]

I would like to first of all just thank our manuhiri who have come here today to witness and to be part of this process. So often over this COVID pandemic, we’ve had nobody in the gallery, so it’s really nice to have warm bodies in the House to be able to talk to. So I just want to acknowledge that, first and foremost.

The Minister has outlined the couple of changes that the select committee requested, but I’ve got to say that it’s never easy. When you’re talking about historical Treaty settlements, they are never easy, and they’re made harder by the fact that there is a deed of settlement that happens, everybody signs up to it, and then it comes to the select committee for a formal process through the parliamentary system. We can’t substantially change the things that occur in the deed of settlement from the time of the deed of settlement to now—and nor should we—but we should be able to scrutinise the process, and if we believe that the process has been wrong or if we believe that something needs to be raised, then we do.

Part of that process is the submission hearings, where we have to listen to everybody’s side of the story, and sometimes that comes with a lot of heartache and a lot of pain. In this particular situation, we felt that heartache and we felt that pain that has gone on between some parts of the iwi who believe one way is the right way, and other parts of the iwi who believe that they are right and that they want to pursue things the way that they did.

The Minister did briefly say that, in total, we’ve had 26 submission: only two in support, 11 in opposition, nine wanting to see changes to the bill, and four where we would actually say, “No position expressed.” They’re the aunties and the uncles that just want to be heard about something. We get to the end of their submission and we say, “Did they support it or not?” and we don’t really know, so they go down as “No position expressed.”

However, some of those people that didn’t support the bill just generally oppose the Treaty settlement process. They believe that it’s divisive or they believe that the Crown is not doing enough, but they came forward and they had their voice heard.

Some of the submissions talked about the Minister and talked about the fact that in their position, they felt as though there’d been a lack of consultation with the Minister, and I want to say that we had to scrutinise that as well. We had to find the information on how many times did this particular group meet with the Minister, and we were satisfied that there had been due diligence on that part.

This has been a long road for the people of Ngāti Maniapoto, and, again, it was made harder because there had been these differing factions. We worked out really early on that there was amongst the people that were causing a bit of dispute a real, fundamental whakapapa recollection about Rereahu and about Maniapoto and about Ihinga-a-Rangi and where everybody sits in that, and what became clear to us was that this was a conversation about mana and about where people felt as though their mana was, where they wanted it to be, and the impact that they felt was going to be felt by people if they didn’t sort this out.

So this became very quickly a conversation about who had the mana, was the mana handed over, or could mana be handed over, and these are really deep philosophical issues for the Māori Affairs Committee to have to grapple with. It’s easy when everybody agrees, but, actually, when they don’t, you really have to sit down and ask the questions: has the process been followed, and what exactly is our job in this House? There’s one thing that is not the job of the Māori Affairs Committee to do, and that’s to decide what the right whakapapa is or who gave mana to whom.

We have to go with information that’s around us, and I want to point to a very pertinent clause. It’s an important argument. The Rereahu position was summarised in a submission by Grant Erskine from Afeaki Chambers, which said that the bill would remove the ancestral association of two iwi, Rereahu and Te Ihinga-a-Rangi. The submission stated that it didn’t want to prevent Maniapoto from settling with the Crown, but it didn’t want Maniapoto’s claims to, effectively, confiscate the land over which Rereahu iwi and Te Ihinga-a-Rangi iwi have mana whenua. The submitters claimed that Maniapoto do not have a mandate from Rereahu or Te Ihinga-a-Rangi to agree settlement terms which relate to them. The submission states that “The Bill, if enacted, would create a fresh grievance.”, and that’s something that we don’t ever want to do. We never want to create a grievance out of a grievance.

What we did in that position was we took advice from the Waitangi Tribunal report, and, again, this parliamentary process that we’re going through is just one part of the process. Our iwi have been on this process for a long time, working through the Waitangi Tribunal and working back at home with the iwi. There have been many incarnations of this. In the tribunal report, Whatu Ahuru, and also the other report, the Maniapoto mandate report of 2020, the report provided findings and recommendations on how to settle claims with the rohe of Pōtae region, and it acknowledged that there are alternative readings of the Rereahu whakapapa. But the tribunal came down in favour of the interpretation that Rereahu had conferred his mana tangata on Maniapoto and that the Crown had been guided by this finding in its approach to the mandate challenges.

In the right of reply that we have from the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board, they acknowledged that a stand-off had happened between the aspiration for a collective settlement versus the aspiration for multiple settlements, and that was at the heart of what most speakers had gone and put forward. We believe that the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board always wanted a collective settlement, but argued that this didn’t meant subservience for any of those individual groups which would make up the new governance entity, Te Nehenehenui. We were satisfied that the new entity Te Nehenehenui would keep the door open for those other iwi that wanted to come and sit at the table, and that’s what the structure currently looks like.

There is a need and a want to get this show on the road, and this has been far too long, whānau. So I look forward to the third reading, where we can actually tick this off so that our iwi can move forward with confidence. They can start investing, they can start building, and they can start on their journey of reparation for what this Crown did—the Government in this Parliament that was standing in right here. We need to be able to just give the money over and say sorry and do what’s right and put things right, and that will make us feel better in here, but, actually, it’s the start of a whole new journey for the iwi.

So I congratulate you on getting this far. I want to thank all of the submitters that appeared before the select committee, even though many of them didn’t support where this was going. But we know that this is a process, this is a journey, and I’m looking forward to moving this journey out of this House so that our whānau up there can actually move on with their settlement and with their lives so that they can make the decisions that our tamariki mokopuna need them to be able to make hei oranga mō te iwi [for the well-being of the people].

Nō reira, e te whānau huri rauna i tēnei Whare, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, mauriora ki a tātou katoa.

[So to the family all around this House, greetings, greetings, and life to one and all.]

Tēnei taku karanga ki te pānuitanga tuarua o tēnei pire.

[This is my call on the second reading of this bill.]

This is my call to make an address to the House and, importantly, ka nui te mihi ki ngā manuhiri [I acknowledge the guests]. Haere mai, nau mai rā i tēnei Whare, Ngāti Maniapoto, ngā uri o Ngāti Maniapoto.

[Welcome to this House, Ngāti Maniapoto, the descendants of Ngāti Maniapoto.]

In taking this call at second reading, I stand as a member of the National Party. Importantly, I stand as uri of W’anganui and always carry that, as we know, being descendants of the rohe of the tribal peoples that we come from.

In speaking to the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill, this is the second reading. To explain to members of the public listening and gathered, the second reading is when we bring the bill back to the House after there’s been scrutiny at the select committee level, and colleagues have addressed the House explaining some of that engagement and kōrero that occurred.

Before I move further to address the components of the bill, I acknowledge the Hon Andrew Little as Minister for Treaty settlements, his predecessor, the Hon Christopher Finlayson, and, importantly, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta for the fact that you have led and picked up the mantle from generations before to carry that through, amongst the other leaders and representatives gathered in the Whare today.

In so far as addressing what the second reading of the bill is, and picking up on the addresses that have been made by Minister Little and also by the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, Tāmati Coffey, I do sit on the Māori Affairs Committee, alongside my colleague Joseph Mooney. But regrettably, because I was called to participate in other matters, I didn’t hear all of the submissions, although I have read them. There is a difference, though—reading as opposed to being present and listening—because of the heartfelt settlement that goes with that level of engagement kanohi ki te kanohi. So I’ve picked up on that from listening to the kōrero of my colleagues but also, as much as I possibly could, from reading the documents and from the small part that I did have of the engagement in listening to some of the commentary.

So it has been traversed, the chronology of the passage of where this bill has arrived at today. The history is encapsulated in the bill. The bill is comprised of seven parts, 233 clauses, and six schedules. Encapsulated within the bill, importantly, is the factual historical account, and I always encourage New Zealanders who are listening in to these debates about the importance of what the factual correct account is, because what many of us have been exposed to through our education system and the learning of my generation before is the inaccuracy of that. So these bills put the record straight.

The Māori Affairs Committee has provided a report back to the House and that report is indicating what amendments are proposed after consideration of and listening to the submissions—the evidence, importantly, from the people most affected and afflicted—and then also listening to the advice of the officials from Te Arawhiti. It’s detailed in the report, and I’d hoped that the people of Ngāti Maniapoto—and it’s been addressed in the House today also that there have been some disputes around the positioning of mandates and authorities, and as to whose account takes precedence and priority. In the Māori Affairs Committee, when we receive the bill and we listen to the accounts by way of evidence, we do take that to heart. We factor that in, and I am often cognisant that by the time we receive this information, so much has gone on before that it is somewhat perplexing as to what we are able to do.

It’s also important that any of the tensions, the conflicts, the challenges—the raruraru—that has been canvassed further before the select committee—it’s preferable that those matters are resolved amongst the people who come to us, and the history has been accounted by way of various disputes that have been put to the Waitangi Tribunal and the rulings that have been made accordingly. So we’ve heard some of the raruraru and the associated mamae and feelings and tensions in relation to the story from Rereahu and Ngāti Te Ihinga-a-rangi. That has been taken into account but—importantly—so has the date of settlement and the journey that has been traversed through that period of time to arrive at that point.

So the report that the select committee has presented back to the House is indicating proposed amendments, and those proposed amendments, in particular, happen to refer to my people. In relation to Te Awa Tupua—the W’anganui River—and the land subject to that in terms of the course and the flow of Te Awa Tupua—W’anganui River—through Ngāti Maniapoto lands. So one of the amendments that has been proposed—two of the amendments, clauses 21 and 22—is just indicating that ownership of certain Crown-owned parts of the bed of the W’anganui River, including its tributaries, be transferred to Te Awa Tupua, which is the recognised legal personification of the river, and the representatives of that—two are appointed our Te Pou Tupua, who are the human face in the representation, and, as is often the case, we whakapapa to many who were involved in the course of history and the course and flow of the stories that go with this. So the two Te Pou Tupua of W’anganui are my cousins, and, in fact, my aunties—cousins intergenerational. We are of similar age: Keria Ponga and Turama Hawira. Prior to Keria’s appointment, it was Dame Tariana Turia—whanaunga.

So what I’m stressing is the importance of the relationships, the interconnectivity, and the fact that we feel and we acknowledge the importance of that. So the two Te Pou Tupua—Keria and Turama—will assume the landowner functions on behalf of Te Awa Tupua and uri of W’anganui. They are landowner functions for the beds of these tributaries of where the river courses through the lands of Ngāti Maniapoto. When I saw that provision within the bill, I was somewhat concerned to ensure that Te Arawhiti—our officials—had engaged to explain what that means and the onus and the burden of responsibility that comes with these positions. We’ve been advised that that has been appropriately addressed, and the responsibility will be carried by Te Pou Tupua—importantly—of the relationship and association with Ngāti Maniapoto.

There’s so much to cover in the course of these debates in such a short time. That’s the benefit of this being shared with other colleagues who will stand to address the House. The bill is detailed thoroughly, and when we have the privilege to speak at the third reading, many of us will address significant portions of that. I have a tendency to always come back to the acknowledgment of the Crown and the apology in terms of the history, the imposition of the wrong, and the injustices that have occurred there.

I’m just going to share too with Ngāti Maniapoto that before I stood to take my call, my phone buzzed, and, of course, we don’t take phone calls in the House. I flicked it open to see that it was a phone number from Ōtorohanga, so I’m sensing that it was somebody from your people, your regions, trying to make contact with me, and I will attend to that at another time.

Also, as I stand, I’m adorned here with a piece of jewellery, and, just to share, this is a piece of jewellery designed and created by Tania Tupu, who is based in Raglan. What is inscribed or positioned on it is a heitiki with a heavy Crown weighted on its head. I share that because, as Māori, when we stand in this House now in our role and capacity as Crown agents, we feel the burden and the weight that goes with this responsibility, and I acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta—Minister—the weight and the burden that we carry of generations before and the privilege that we have to stand today. But it is I, as a Crown agent, who acknowledges Ngāti Maniapoto in endorsing and commending the bill to the House. Kia ora, Madam Speaker.

Tēnā koe, tuahine, mō tō kōrero, mō tō tautoko ki tēnei pire i tēnei wā.

Koutou Ngāti Maniapoto tae mai nei i tēnei wā i whakarangatira i a mātou, ngā mihi ki a koutou. Kei te tino waimarie mātou i te mea kei konei koutou ki te whakahōnore, ki te tautoko i tēnei pire. Ki a koutou ngā rangatira, Tom, Uncle Tiwha, mihi ana ki a kōrua i ārahi i te kaupapa mai i te tīmata. Nō reira, koutou katoa i tae mai nei i tēnei wā, tēnā koutou, ā tēnā anō tātou katoa.

[I acknowledge you, my friend, for what you have said and for supporting this bill at this time.

Ngāti Maniapoto, we are honoured to have your presence here at this time, we acknowledge you. We are very lucky that you are here to honour and to support this bill. To the leaders, Tom, Uncle Tiwha, who have lead this matter from the beginning, I acknowledge you. To all that are present at this time, I extend my greetings to you all.]

Just acknowledging that kōrero from our previous speaker Harete Hipango. Very important some of that kōrero, particularly in terms of tautoko, I think, for our chief negotiator, who I’m sitting by—Minister Mahuta—who shepherded this kaupapa all the way through, right from the start. It was a terrific job that she did through the different processes, and I want to mihi to her, first of all, in terms of some of the women who have championed this. It’s not an easy world in Te Ao Māori for some of our women who are leading some of the kaupapa, and they’re coming to the fore, so I mihi to her.

I mihi to Bella Takiari-Brame too, for her mahi. She’s one of our people who we are investing in. We’ve got her on some of the boards now. We have her on the ACC board, and we need more and more Māori women coming through. So I just wanted to acknowledge some of them today.

I also want to acknowledge one of my kuia who died in our whānau. She was the last of the Batley whānau, my Auntie Kath—Kathleen Te Whare. She was 98, and she was the last of the Batley siblings of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tama heritage. You know, Tom, she wasn’t kāore ia he matatau i te reo. Engari he nui tana mahi i runga i te marae [she was not proficient in the Māori language. However, she did a lot of work on the marae]. She was the backbone and helped at Maniaroa Marae. She was part of a whānau of 15 who were key in the building of Maniaroa, and we laid her to rest about a month ago. She was proudly Maniapoto and was one of those unsung kuia who were always there, and we remember Auntie Kath well.

So I want to mihi to our women who have been such a big part of things. To yourself, Tom Roa, Uncle Tiwha Bell—we wouldn’t be where we are today without your mahi.

Can I say today, I was listening to our chair, Tāmati Coffey, and it is a reminder of the problems we have as Māori MPs—the process that we have to go through. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on as we traverse this process, where we have friends and whānau who will come up and oppose us, and, like our people in the audience, I’m sure they have been approached. I’ve been approached by different whanaunga and friends, and some are all there and some are a bit crackpot—

💬 Hon Members: Ha, ha!

—well, we know this, eh; it’s just a fact—and you think, “Oh God, we’ve just got to get on with the mahi. We’ve just got to do the business.” I know how hard it is on the Māori Affairs Committee, having been one of the chairs of the Māori Affairs Committee many years ago. I was thinking about it and, on first look, you look at the people who oppose it and you think “Oh, there’s all these people against—against—us.”, but that’s just the nature of the beast. We also know there’s a huge amount of people who tautoko, but they don’t necessarily come up at select committee.

But I want to mihi to our chairman, Tāmati Coffey. He’s been doing a terrific job, because he has. If you don’t know this process, you don’t know how difficult it is. I was thinking about it when he was chairing the Ngāti Rangitihi process, and the biggest opposition he got in the process in terms of the bill was from my wife, who absolutely opposes the settlement. It made it a little bit tricky for myself, of course—made it a little bit tricky for myself. My wife and her sister, I think, were the biggest opposition—weren’t they, Tāmati?

Tāmati Coffey: My auntie.

Yes—poor old Tāmati. He’d come up for some tautoko; I made sure I wasn’t around the place. But these are the difficulties we have. I’m not going to tell my wife, who was a Treaty lecturer for 15 years, the history and the background of the bill. She could give you every reason, and if you read her you’d just about support her, but I couldn’t go down that track.

These are the things that—this is not an easy process, and what I ask today is if there’s another one, please tell me, because what we have is what we have. So sometimes you have to say, “Yes, we hear you. But, no, we’re getting on with the job.”, and that’s what we’re doing here with this particular process.

Look, let’s not kid ourselves—let’s not kid ourselves. There are some good reasons that come from people who oppose the bill. This is not perfect; you know, the settlement process has never been perfect. It was designed by National and supported by Labour, but until we get a better one—until we get a perfect one—we have to deal with the cards that we’ve been dealt. That’s why I mihi to our select committee for being reasonable, for showing our people respect, and for always saying to our people that “Even though kāore koutou e whakaae [you don’t agree], and we acknowledge you and we acknowledge your mana, there’s a bigger purpose here.” The bigger purpose is that our people have had so little that we have to grab what’s in front of us, sometimes, and that’s the reality in terms of the process. If we wait for the perfect process, Māori people will be waiting for ever and a day—we’ll be waiting for, for ever and a day.

So we work very collegially with our mates on the other side, because before we came to Parliament, many of us had worked in Te Ao Māori together, so we know that we have to find a way forward so that our people can see the benefits and feel the benefits and get the opportunities they deserve. Even though it’s on a pūtea that is probably worth 2 percent of what the settlement was worth—right?—we all know about the economic benefits. We all know that our people could have put up 10 times—we all acknowledge they could have put up 10 times what the final settlements are. We have to do a deal for the benefit of everyone. That’s why I congratulate our chair, our committee, and all members of the committee on both sides—Government and National—for understanding what the final goal is, and the final goal has to be opportunity for our people. So well done to the select committee.

I don’t want to say too much else today. I want to say we’ll have a really good kōrero in the third reading—I think we will have a celebration. But I just want to mihi to our committee, all our members who have contributed, and our whanaunga who have come here today to support a really important process. E mihi ana ki a koutou. Tēnā anō tātou katoa.

Tēnā koe e te Pika. Te manako nui he pai katoa ngā āhuatanga ki tō Willie Jackson whare i te rā nei, i te mutunga o tēnei kerēme whakataunga.

Heoi anō, e mihi ana ki te Whare. Tākiri ko te ata, he manu kororī, he manu kororā, he manu i ahu mai he reo nō tuawhakarere. Ko tōna reo kia mana anō tēnei mea Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tōna aronga o te wāhanga tuarua te tino rangatiratanga o tō tātou nei ao Māori.

Te tuatahi me mihi atu ki a Ngāti Manipoto ka tika. Te āhua nei kei runga, kei te nā reira e mihi ana ki a koutou. Nā koutou anō tēnei pire. E mihi ana ki tō koutou nei māia kia oti ai tēnei tukanga pire. Kei te hoki ngā whakaaro ki tērā o ngā whakataukī, nā koutou, nā tō koutou nei rohe. I a au e rongo ana kua whakapau te toru tekau ngā tau kia tae tēnei pire ki tēnei wāhanga, ko tēnei whakataukī i pūpū ake ki taku hinengaro, arā, “Kia mau ki tēnā, kia mau anō ki te kawau mārō! Whanake ake, whanake ake, whanake ake.” Ko koutou anō tērā ki roto i ngā toru tekau ngā tau i kaha te para te hurarahi kia tae anō ki tēnei wāhanga o te pire. He tauira tēnei o te pūmautanga o te iwi i roto i ngā tau maha e whakatūria ana i roto i ngā mahi ōhanga i te whakatūnga ki roto i Te Rohe Pōtae, otirā Te Nehenehenui, me te tiaki i ō koutou nei iwi me ōna tikanga.

I a au e whakarongo ana ki te roa, te riu o tō koutou nei rohe, ko tēnā o ngā tāone rongonui e noho ana, te Te Kūiti ki te manawa o tō koutou nei rohe, kei te puku o te ika, kei te tonga o te pae maunga o Rangitoto. Ko te kōrero e whakaponotia ana, ki te rapa te uira ki aua maunga he tohu anō o te mate. Nā reira e kōrerohia tērā te wairua o tō koutou nei rohe. Ko te kōrero ko te maha o ngā papakāinga kei ngā whanga me ngā whārua pērā i a Waipā. E ai ki ngā kōrero koinei te nohoanga o Waiwaia te taniwha o te iwi. Nō reira kua mihi atu ki ngā taniwha, ngā tipua huhua o te takiwā. Nō reira e mihi ana ki te rohe, te rangi, ki a koutou katoa. Tautoko katoa au i ngā mihi ki a koutou ngā kaitakawaenga o tō koutou nei iwi, e kaha te whakapau werawera ki roto i ngā tau kia ea tēnei kerēme whakataunga.

I tautoko au i ngā kōrero i tō mātou nei tiamana o te Komiti Whiri Take Māori, a Tāmati Coffey me tō māngai a Harete Hipango i te mea ehara tēnei tukanga i te tukanga māmā, ehara tēnei tukanga i te tukanga māmā. I kaha haere mai ngā whānau me te mea atu ko tēnei mea te whakatau kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi, ehara i te mea i kotahi ai te iwi. Kei te wehewehe noa te iwi. Kei te whawhai te whānau me te whānau, te teina me te tuakana, te matua kēkē me te whaea kēkē, tērā āhuatanga anō. I kite tērā āhuatanga ki roto i e hia kē ngā pire i tau ki mua i te aroaro o te Komiti Whiri ngā Take Māori. Tērā te āhua nei e noho nei mātou ngā Mema Pāremata e kaha ki te whai ara anō kia hāpai atu i te mana o te katoa ki roto i ngā tukanga.

I āta whakaarohia e te komiti ki ngā kōrero taunaki a Rereahu, koutou ko Te Ihinga-a-rangi. I kimi kupu tohutohu mātou mai i ngā kaitohutohu e pā ana ki ngā kōrero tūāpapa o ō rātou whakawhitinga kōrero ki te Karauna. Ina koa mō te hātepe whakamana rōpū e ārohi ana i ō rātou nei āwangawanga. He āwangawanga anō hoki nōku ki te whakaaro anō ki ngā kōrero i tau mai. Engari i tika te kōrero, tē taea te komiti te mea atu kei tērā tangata te mana, ko tērā tangata te tuakana rānei, te teina rānei. Nō reira, ko tō mātou nei mahi ki roto i ngā tukanga o tēnei pire ko te whakarongo kia whai ara anō ki roto i te horopaki o te tukanga.

Heoi, ki a mātou nei ngā Kākāriki ko ngā whakatau kerēme pēnei i a koutou, ehara i te tīmatanga me te whakamutunga o tēnei mea te piringa o Te Tiriti o Waitangi, e kīia nei he full and final settlement. Kāore mātou i te whakaae ki tērā, i te mea mai rā anō tō tātou Tiriti o Waitaingi, i tērā atu o ngā rautau tae noa ki tēnei wā, he oranga i tua atu i tēnei kerēme. He oranga ki roto i ngā tatūnga o te kerēme, engari he oranga anō kei tua atu.

I a au e whakaaro ake anō ki tērā, i pēnei aku nei whakaaro ki a koutou ngā kaitono i haramai ki te Komiti Whiri ngā Take Māori, ehara i te mea ka oti atu tēnei kaupapa mā koutou. Kei te kapo au i tērā whakataukī o tō koroua, a Rewi me te mea atu, “Pēhea te roa o te whawhai? Mō āke, ake, ake, ake.” Tērā te manako nui o Te Tiriti o Waitangi i tana wāhanga tuarua.

Āe, kua tae ki tēnei wāhanga kua riro kia hokia mai ētahi o ngā rawa, ngā whenua ki ngā ringaringa o te iwi. Heoi anō, me kaha koutou katoa ki te whai i ērā āhuatanga katoa kia tino piki ake te tino rangatiratanga o ngā hapū, i te mea kei reira te kōrero o Te Tiriti o Waitangi e hāpai atu te hapūtanga ki roto i ngā āhuatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ka tahuri ake ki te pire. Kua kōrerohia te Whare ngā āhuatanga. Ka whakamana tēnei pire i te whakaaetanga whakaataunga i te waitohu rā e te karauna me Maniapoto hei whakatau i ngā kerēme hītori Tiriti o Waitangi. Nō reira, tautoko mātou ki tērā. Kei roto i te pire ko tētahi whakarāpopoto o ngā tātai kōrero o ngā kerēme tae atu ki te ōhanga ā-tinana, ā-ahurea, ā-wairua hoki o te iwi. Kei mahue hoki ko ngā whakaaetanga me te whakapāha atu ki te tāpae rā e te Karauna ki a Ngāti Manipoto.

Kei roto i te pire nei ētahi ritenga e pā ana ki tētahi puretumu whakataunga me mātua whakature kia ū ai, tae atu ki ngā rawa ahurea, ngā rawa taiao, te puretumu tauhokohoko me ētahi ritenga e pā ana ki te whakahounga hanganga kāwanatanga me ētahi atu o ngā take.

Ko tētahi mea hou i rongo ki roto i tēnei tukanga i mua i te Komiti Whiri Ngā Take Māori ko ngā pānga o Maniapoto ki te āpure ōhanga rāhui arā te exclusive economic zone. I whakaarohia e te komiti ngā pānga o te āpure o taua rāhui. Nō reira i kōrerohia e te Minita mō tērā o ngā āhuatanga ka tae mai ngā pānuitanga ki a Ngāti Maniapoto ka tika kia mōhio mai mēnā ka pānga tērā āhuatanga o tērā ture ki tō rātou nei āhuatanga ki roto i a Ngāti Maniapoto. He pānga anō kei roto i te Ture o Te Awa Tupua, nō reira me mihi atu ki tōku whanaunga nō te awa o Whanganui i mea atu ngā pānga o tērā ture ki a ia, otirā ki te awa tupua. E hāngai ana te rārangi rua tekau mā tahi me te rārangi rua tekau mā rua ki te whenua e pānga ana ki te Ture o Te Awa Tupua, nā reira e pai ana ki te tiro tērā āhuatanga. Te āhua nei kua whakaae katoatia e ēnā iwi i manako nui, i mana nui ki roto i ngā āhuatanga o Te Awa Tupua. Nā reira he pai ki te tiro tērā atu o ngā āhuatanga.

Nō reira he nui ngā piki me ngā heke o tēnei o ngā pire engari ko te mea nui, kia kaha koutou. Kia kaha koutou ki te toro atu ngā ringa ki te hunga kāore e hiahia tēnei pire. Kia kaha koutou ki te whakaraupapa rautaki i te mea ehara tēnei i te otinga, he tīmatanga noa iho tēnei haerenga ki tōku nei whakaaro. Kei te rekereke o te maunga he tihi anō hei pikinga mā koutou katoa.

Nō reira, Ngāti Maniapoto, otirā ō koutou nei whānau katoa puta noa i Te Rohe Pōtae, Te Nehenehenui, anei anō ngā Kākāriki e mihi ana ki a koutou, otirā tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. I hope that everything goes well at Willie Jackson’s house today, at the conclusion of this claims settlement.

I also acknowledge the House. The day is dawning, birds on the land, birds on the sea, their call is from ancient times. They call for the Treaty of Waitangi to regain authority, to take heed of article two, the unqualified exercise of chieftainship over our Māori world.

Firstly, it is appropriate that I acknowledge Ngāti Maniapoto who are seated above, therefore I acknowledge you. This is your bill. I acknowledge your courage to bring this bill process to completion. I recall the whakatauki from your region. When I heard that it’s taken 30 years for this bill to get to this stage, this whakatauki came to mind, “Hold fast to that, hold fast to the swoop of the cormorant!” This has been what you have been doing for the past 30 years, paving the way to get here, to this stage of the bill. This is an example of the steadfastness of the tribe throughout the many years that you have undertaken economic activities in the King Country, in Te Nehenehenui, and also protecting your tribe and your customs.

As I was listening to the expanse of your territory, that well-known town Te Kūiti sits at the heart of your region, in the central North Island, to the south of the Rangitoto mountain range. There is a saying that is understood, if lightning flashes above those mountains, it is a sign of death. This talks about the nature of your region. It is said that most of the settlements are around the harbours and in the valleys, such as Waipā. According to tradition this is the home of Waiwaia the taniwha of the iwi. I acknowledge the many taniwha and tipua of the region. I acknowledge the region, today, and I acknowledge you all. I absolutely support the acknowledgements to you, the mediators of your iwi, who have worked hard over the years to settle this claim.

I support what the chairman of the Māori Affairs Committee, Tāmati Coffey, said, as well as your representative, Harete Hipango, because this is not an easy process. The families have come in force to say that this claim settlements process is not something that has united the tribe. The iwi has been split. Families are fighting, older and younger generations are fighting, uncles and aunts are fighting alike. We’ve seen this happen through the many bills that have come before the Māori Affairs Committee. These are the predicaments we find ourselves in as members of Parliament who are actively working to find other ways to enhance everyone’s prestige in these processes.

The committee has carefully considered the evidence of Rereahu and Te Ihinga-a-rangi. We sought guidance from the advisors in relation to the pre-negotiation communications with the Crown, particularly regarding the procedure of mandating groups who are investigating their concerns, because I also have concerns, if I was to consider the information that was presented. However, what was said was correct; the committee is not able to say who has authority, or who is the more or less senior. So our job, through the process of this bill, is to listen so that we can pursue other avenues in the context of the process.

So, to the Green Party: the settlement claims such as yours are not the beginning and end of the relationship with the Treaty of Waitangi, said to be full and final settlement. We don’t agree with that because since former times, from the 19th century up until now, our Treaty of Waitangi has given other relief outside of this claim. There is relief in the resolutions within the claim, however there are other benefits outside of this.

As I was thinking about that, this is what I thought about your applicants who came to the Māori Affairs Committee, this won’t be resolved for you. To quote your ancestor, Rewi, “How long will we fight? For ever and ever.” This is the great desire within the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi.

We have come to this stage: what’s left is to return some of the resources and lands back into iwi hands. Nevertheless, you should all be strong in pursuing these things in order to build the autonomy of the subtribes because the Treaty of Waitangi says it will support the autonomy of subtribes within matters of the Treaty of Waitangi.

I turn now to the bill. The House has spoken about the matters. This bill will give effect to the settlement agreement once signed by the Crown and Maniapoto to settle the historical Treaty of Waitangi Claims. We support this. In the bill is a summary of the history of the claims including the physical, cultural and spiritual economy of the tribe, not to forget the agreements and the apology to be offered by the Crown to Ngāti Maniapoto.

In this bill are provisions for settlement redress that must be enacted so that is fixed, including the cultural and environmental assets, commercial redress and provisions for revising the governance structure and other issues.

Something new that I heard in this process before the Māori Affairs Committee were the interests of Maniapoto in the exclusive economic zone. The committee considered the effects of that exclusive zone. The Minister therefore spoke about how this will affect Ngāti Maniapoto, as they should know if that legislation will affect the situation in Ngāti Maniapoto. There are also connections with the Whanganui Settlement Claims Act, therefore I acknowledge my kinsman from the Whanganui River who explained the effects of that legislation on him and the river. Sections 21 and 22 pertain to the land affected by the Whanganui Settlement Claims Act, so it was beneficial to look at that aspect. It seems that those iwi that were ambitious and influential through the Whanganui Settlement Claims proceedings, have agreed entirely. It was good to look at that other aspect.

Accordingly, this bill has many ups and downs, but the most important thing is that you are resolute. I encourage you to extend your hand to those that oppose this bill. I encourage you to put in place strategies, because this is not the end, this journey is just the beginning, in my opinion. At the foot of the mountain is yet another peak that you all must climb.

To finish, Ngāti Maniapoto and all your kin throughout the King Country, Te Nehenehenui, again, the Greens acknowledge you, and also acknowledge one and all.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT in support of this, the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill. We believe that when people are wronged, that it should be righted, and it should acknowledged when people are wronged.

I can’t stand here and claim to understand the whole settlement process, because I haven’t been involved in one myself. But what I can do is speak to people who sometimes sit there and say, “What’s the point of these settlements? You know, it’s in the past. Why do we keep dragging this through the settlement process?” I was reading through this, and some of the points that are made are actually very pertinent so that we don’t repeat history.

So I was reading and I was wondering what happened. I saw the Crown did not uphold its promises between 1890 and 1905, and Māori lost ownership of more than 250,000 hectares of land, or one-third of their district. Now, let’s just bring that into this time and think about it: if you’re a family and you own a home and that’s your piece of land, that’s what you call home, and somebody comes along and just takes that from you and your family is now displaced with nowhere to go and with no acknowledgment of that wrong. I think people need to understand that and think about it in that context. What would you do if your family was suddenly displaced through your land being taken in an aggressive manner by the Crown? Would you sit back and say, “Oh well, so sad. Let’s not worry about that.”?

I want to acknowledge those who are here today who are seeing through this process that has taken a long time. Now, I heard this has taken over 30 years from the beginning of the process—I was still in primary school. When I think about that, that hurts. I was lucky enough to be raised by my grandmother. She may not have spoken to me about stories about land and issues like that, but she spoke of the pain of the things she went through when she was younger, growing up as a Māori that felt displaced in this world, not really knowing where she belonged in this world. Those stories are important so that we don’t forget.

I want to acknowledge the courage it has taken where this has happened, between 1890 and 1905, and this has been passed down through generation to generation to make sure that this wrong is acknowledged. Now, no money can take away the fact that you’ve been wronged. As victims, I think sometimes the pain that we spend every day fighting, fighting, fighting, and fighting can take it from us, and I hope that the acknowledgement of the wrong helps heal some of that pain and helps with the process of moving forward and seeing a better future for tomorrow for your people and the next generation.

So with that, I would just like to commend this bill. I hope that the people of Ngāti Maniapoto feel that their voices have been heard, feel that their pain has been acknowledged, and, hopefully, understand that we all just want to see a better future for tomorrow for everybody in this country, especially people who have been wronged in the past, and that needs to be acknowledged.

Tuia te rangi e tū iho nei. Tuia te papa e takoto nei. Tuia te here tangata. Ka rongo te pō. Ka rongo te ao.

E mihi ana ki a koutou, Ngāti Maniapoto i tae ā-tinana mai hei whakakanohi rātou kua wehe atu arā, ngā mahuetanga iho. Nō reira, tēnei e mihi ana ki a koutou katoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Fasten the sky above us. Bind the earth below us. Unify the strand of man. Darkness is borne. Daylight is encountered.

I acknowledge you, Ngāti Maniapoto, who are present today to represent those who have passed on, you are their legacy. I acknowledge you all. Greetings, to you all.]

It gives me great pleasure to be able to make a contribution in the second reading. I want to thank members of the Māori Affairs Committee on the Government side who ceded their time so that I could take this opportunity to offer a few thoughts. I want to also make some acknowledgments, because over the period of time since the agreement in principle signing to now, we’ve lost a number of whānau within Ngāti Maniapoto who made a strong contribution to not only the settlement but actually the right context for the conversations to take place, to ensure that the spirit of those tūpuna, the original negotiators of the settlement, could be carried through to this day. So I want to recognise them.

I also want to recognise the most current negotiators of the settlement, Glenn Tootill and Keith Ikin, for stewarding through many of the much-needed conversations to materialise what we are debating here in the House, and also the Crown negotiator David Tapsell and his team, because it has not been without effort in terms of making sure that the clarity of purpose has been absolutely consistent, again, from the beginning of this process and right up until the third reading. So thank you all very much.

I also want to acknowledge the rangatira who are here in the House. I tried to, I guess, characterise the long journey of negotiation that has taken place, and I had to go back to the 1883 petition—Wahanui’s petition—that he brought to this House. I want to just take a brief moment to read some of that, because in order to understand the long journey of negotiation of Ngāti Maniapoto to get to this point, you really have to go back to the historical record that has been captured in the deed and in the legislation. With that, I also acknowledge Paul Meredith—who’s here—because he sacrificed his PhD so that we could have a good historical record. If this is going to be your PhD and your legacy, Paul, the clarity of the apology and the historical record will put Ngāti Maniapoto in good stead to teach history in our schools so that they know who they are and who they were destined to be, and it will be through this historical record.

But when I went back to the petition and read some of it, which I will share with you in the House, it went something like this—and I just plead with you for a little—“We have carefully watched the tendency of the laws which you have enacted from the beginning up to the present day. They all tend to deprive us of the privileges secured to us by the second and third articles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which confined to us the exclusive and undisturbed possession of our lands. We do not see any good in any of the laws which you have enacted affecting our lands when they are brought into operation in adjudicating upon lands before the Native Land Court at Cambridge and other places. All the practices carried on at the Land Courts have become a source of anxiety to us and a burden upon us. Through our ignorance of those laws we have been induced by speculators (land swallowers) and their agents to allow some of our lands to be adjudicated upon so that our lands might be secured to us. But having allowed some of our lands to be adjudicated upon, who is it that became possessed of them? It is true that after the investigations the natives received a certificate of title showing their right to the lands, but through the superior knowledge of the Europeans we accepted foolishly what the lawyers recommended to us by the speculators (land swallowers) thinking that they were to act in our interest, but in reality they were intended to prolong their investigations, thereby increasing the expenses to so great an extent that the natives were unable to defray them, so that they (the speculators) might seize the land,”. And so it goes.

Now, I read that little excerpt from the petition because it goes on to say that Maniapoto were doubly impacted during the time that the Native Land Court was established, and you will see in pictorial form that there was quick succession of the loss of land to Maniapoto when the Native Land Court was established. But, more than that, when the Land Wars occurred, not only did Ngāti Maniapoto look after themselves; they looked after people who were made dispossessed in the north from Waikato and in the south from Taranaki. So there was a doubling of the impact on Ngāti Maniapoto during two successive impacts on many Māori within that part of the region. It’s all set out in the historical record, but to understand the intricacies of the deed, I think you do have to go back to the historical record.

There are three aspects of the settlement that I want to speak to. First, there was the matter raised by the member Joseph Mooney in relation to clarification of the interests in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Again, the historical context goes back to those early conversations about the domain that Ngāti Maniapoto had explicitly referenced and expressed. But if the legislation—and, from what I hear, the select committee has considered this—clarifies the purpose and the interests of Ngāti Maniapoto in the EEZ, it will be a very useful thing, because what it will mean is that it is very clear and express how Ngāti Maniapoto can reference their interests in this area when it comes to marine biodiversity protection when it comes to other issues that happen in that area, and, if for nothing else, it enables Ngāti Maniapoto to assert the values which they will consistently assert on land and in the sea. So I think it has been a useful exercise for the select committee to go down that pathway.

There are a couple of other aspects that I think make clear Ngāti Maniapoto’s intent going forward. Nga Wai o Maniapoto—many of the select committees may or may not have heard that the Nga Wai o Waipa had been settled earlier. The thinking behind Nga Wai o Maniapoto and the natural resource aspects in relation to water have been carried forward into this settlement. I see that as fantastic progression, especially given the challenges in relation to the fresh-water and general water environment now.

Thirdly, I go back to the matter that Harete Hipango referred to, and that is in relation to Whanganui. I just go back to the relationship element of it. The headwaters running into the Whanganui River come off the Pureora, which is clearly in the Ngāti Maniapoto area. But if I go back to the rangatira agreement that was at the time, I understand, agreed to in relation to the late Archie Taiaroa and Tiwha Bell, effectively, the conversation went something like this—and forgive me, because I’m paraphrasing it. Between these two rangatira, they both agreed that “I’ll look after your interests in my rohe and you look after my interests in your rohe.” At the end of the day, relationships will underpin the successful implementation of the intent of our tūpuna but also the intent of Ngāti Maniapoto to ensure that at the headwaters we have got great care and custodianship of the waters that feed into Whanganui. So I hope that in terms of taonga tuku iho and kōrero tuku iho, the leaders within our respective iwi, we continue to maintain the relationship, because it’s kōrero like that that will ensure that the relationship and a way of working together will actually give essence to the intent of the settlement.

As for Rereahu, I may spend more time on that in the third reading, but it’s very clear in the settlement that the intention was always to be for the unified purpose of everybody, Rereahu included. So if there is any, I guess, thought from any member in this House that that would be an exclusion of interest in so far as the Ngāti Maniapoto settlement goes, that is misplaced. Every part of the way, these kaumātua and those before them maintained that the benefit of any resolution of outcome for Ngāti Maniapoto would solidify and build the unity of purpose of all of Ngāti Maniapoto, including Rereahu. The proof of the pudding will be in the practice, but, again, that will always come down to relationships.

I’m so proud that Minister Little has been able to steward this legislation through to its conclusion in a way that Ngāti Maniapoto will feel the historical issues have been addressed, and we can move forward into the future. Tēnā koutou.

This is a split call. I call Simon O’Connor—five minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I’m actually not going to speak for too long, with the primary purpose being, as we’ve heard in the House and those in the gallery know, you’ve waited 30 years, and having this little Pālagi speak for far too long doesn’t actually help. This is actually a claim settlement that I have followed quite closely, because, amongst other things, my wife whakapapas to Maniapoto, so I’ve read all the documents. I won’t say whether or not I’ve given her advice on the voting or otherwise—that could get me into trouble in a whole lot of ways.

But one thing I just want to pull out of this—and look, the document is significant, the bill obviously is significant. But one aspect—I want to stress, there’s only one aspect—is around reparation. So utu or moni whakaea, that’s only a small part of it—the place of reparation. In English, obviously, “reparation” but also, I often think, in Latin for a variety of reasons is “reparatio”, and the original meaning of “reparatio” is to make ready or to begin again. The fundamental challenge here—and I think it was Minister Jackson who touched on it—is that no settlement can ever fully settle or pay back. There’s no way it ever can, I would suggest, even with the best of intentions.

So reparatio says we still have to make ready, and making ready is to start again, start afresh, from both sides, and that’s not from—I don’t speak for the Crown, but from the parliamentary side, that doesn’t mean that we want to cover over what’s happened. Despite any political parliamentary debates, the reparation, that reparatio, that utu, that moni whakaea side comes with a massive opportunity but also, I’d suggest, a massive burden to say that we are going to make ready and start again together, and—to finish on that—I find that a challenge as much to myself to make ready, to make reparation, to be prepared, to start again with all the imperfection that exists.

So, as I said—and I try to be a politician who’s honest—I said it would be short, so I’ve only taken half the time. There we go—thanks very much.

Te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā rawa atu ki a koe. Kaupeka ki runga. Kaupeka ki raro. Kūī kūī whiti ora e.

E mihi ana ki a koutou, nau mai, haere mai ki te Whare nei. Mihi ana ki a koe, te kaiurungi o te kaupapa nei, a pāpā Tiwha, tēnā rawa atu ki a koe. Ki a koe hoki e te tuahine o Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Val, tēnā koe. Nō reira e mihi ana ki a koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[The Speaker of the House, I greet you. Kaupeka above. Kaupeka below. Kūī kūī whiti ora e. I acknowledge you, welcome to this House. I acknowledge you, the leader of this matter, Uncle Tiwha, greetings. Greetings also, to you, Val, my friend from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. I acknowledge you and extend my greetings to all.]

Can I acknowledge you, Matua Tiwha. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. I spent a lot of time in my early teens occupying your couch, potentially your pantry and your fridge, down at Te Awa Avenue with my cousins, your namesake, Tiwha, and Kōwhai and Emere. It’s through them that I’ve followed this particular bill, and, as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee, you connect back with the whānau that you know—their history, their stories, and their whakapapa—and you keep in contact with them as you hear the stories of their whānau.

I acknowledge some of the comments from the Hon Willie Jackson, who acknowledges our whānau and some of the complexities, I guess, of how we perceive such bills like this, or such challenges in front of us, and most of all, I guess, some of the hurt and grief that we’ve faced over many, many years until we get to this point.

I opened with a whakataukī from my home, Mōkai Pātea, Ngāti Whitikaupeka, which is not too far away from yourselves. We are in the process of our journey of settlement, and it’s a challenging one as you learn more and more about your stories: the hardships, the loss, and the grief that we have experienced, no matter which iwi that you have come from.

So today I stand and I take the place of the Māori Party, which this space is normally scheduled for, because I want to speak in support of the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee and as a member who heard all of the submissions across the way.

The Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill gives effect to elements of the Maniapoto deed of settlement signed on 11 November 2021 between the Crown and Maniapoto. The explanatory note to the bill states that the deed provides for the settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maniapoto against the Crown. The bill aims to address the aspects of the settlement that require this legislation, and this goes a little way—some would say a long way; I would sit in the centre—to acknowledging the loss and the grief and the hurt. But it acknowledges the pain that Maniapoto have faced in the loss of their land, and this seeks to address this.

My speech today is a very short one just to acknowledge the whānau, and to acknowledge this piece of legislation and the settlement that is going before us. But as I listened to those submissions, I encourage all whānau to come together at some point to work through the challenges that you experience that is set up, yes, by this process, but also look to the opportunity that redress puts in front of Maniapoto, the opportunity for generations to come for our tamariki mokopuna to set up good education opportunities, good housing opportunities, and, most of all, a future for themselves and Ngāti Maniapoto. Nō reira e mihi ana ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, mauri ora ki a tātou katoa.

[I acknowledge you. Greetings and wellbeing to all.]

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Ki te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koe. Ka karanga atu ki te whenua o Te Rohe Pōtae, tēnā koutou katoa ngā mema o te iwi o Ngāti Maniapoto. Tēnā koutou, ngā mema o tēnei Whare.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. The House that stands here, I greet you. I call to the lands of the King Country and greet you, the members of Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. To the members of this House, greetings.]

I want to start by acknowledging our guests in the gallery and to say that usually at these second reading speeches for Treaty settlement bills, we all stand up and give very formal speeches. I want you to take it as a sign of absolute and utmost respect for you, and all of your uri who will be watching today, that the members of the Māori Affairs Committee and the Ministers involved in this process are still having an open conversation and coming together and airing the grievance we have heard, airing the differences we have heard, airing the mamae that we have heard in this process. It’s a sign of respect for your process, for your people, and for the depth of hurt in what has gone before the moment today, when we acknowledge this very important milestone in the Treaty settlement process.

I also want to acknowledge my colleague the Hon Willie Jackson and the member opposite, Harete Hipango, for their comments about those people who have disagreed with this process. We know, as Māori and in Te Ao Māori, that disagreement outside of here is a sign of respect, that we are debating those ideas with each other, and that we are talking more about how not only are these issues effective in law and in our constitutional framework but also to us as people. I know that they both know, and I know that members of this House know, that the Treaty settlement process is hard on the people who go through it and that that mamae that comes out is an important part of that. But I want to give this House a little bit of context about how that has occurred and for Mr Jackson’s comments about why the settlement is not perfect.

I’d like to step us back and take us through why we haven’t come to a perfect outcome. Without going too far back—Mr Speaker, if you’ll indulge me—I’ll start in 1857, and quote the Chief Judge of Native Land Court. Judge Fenton is often quoted in this House with his pro-colonial positions and his pro-Crown positions, but it’s this quote which I’ll start us with: “No system of government that the world every saw can be more democratic than that of the Maoris. The chief alone has no power. The whole tribe deliberate on every subject, not only politically on such as are of public interest, but even judicially they hold their ‘komitis’ on every private quarrel. In ordinary times the vox populi determines every matter, both internal and external. … no individual enjoys influence or exercises power, unless it originates with the mass and is expressly or tacitly conferred by them.”

It’s important that we start there, because we have come to a context for Māori society that was inherently democratic, where things were discussed, where there was raru in the open, and where we talked amongst ourselves and then came together as a group before any decision was made. So when the story of Ngāti Maniapoto and the Crown’s apology begins, we start at the Taranaki Wars, and in this bill, the Crown acknowledges that Ngāti Maniapoto carefully weighed the justice of the war in Taranaki in 1860 before intervening in the conflict. My colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta read that consideration of the conflict, which was careful and which was open and which was openly discussed between not only leaders but also ordinary people. When you look at it like that and you think about the clash of culture that was happening at that time, where land wars were happening over title of land ownership, which simply did not exist in the culture of Māori at the time, and when you consider the decision-making structures that were being used for people who opposed those land takings, it is no surprise that there is a history in every decade since the 1860s of clash between those tribal structures and Crown and an inability to make decisions that made sense to one another.

The next is the labelling of the Taranaki people and of Ngāti Maniapoto as rebels, and then followed the Waikato Wars and confiscations. My own tīpuna took refuge in the lands of Ngāti Maniapoto, and in this bill the Crown acknowledges of Ngāti Maniapoto to peace after 1865, when they gave sanctuary to Te Kooti for a number of years after he had agreed to also abandon warfare and to live in peace.

We have, then, an agreement between the Crown and Ngāti Maniapoto, and if I’m so lucky to give a third reading speech, I will take you through my longer, more formal speech about what that meant for Ngāti Maniapoto and the Crown in the years after. But I think what that shows us is that when we have these conversations about why a Treaty settlement individually isn’t perfect—and there are still parties who disagree even at this period in second reading—and where we all around the House acknowledge that people need to come together to find that spirit of kotahitanga, it’s built on these complicated, interwoven strands of more than a century of having the ability to come together and the ability to find kotahitanga undermined. We have that within us.

I have hope for this Treaty settlement process, which leads us to a place where we get to start again and we get to come together and to build those bridges, but it really is a heavy expectation, a heavy burden, that now Te Nehenehenui bears. When you hear it from members of this House that you hope we come together, I also hope that you see that as a mark of respect that we respect the work you have done to be able to put yourselves in a position where you can bear that burden of responsibility and of leadership, because it’s not an easy thing when you look at the history of how the Crown has both deliberately and recklessly undermined the ability of an iwi, a hapū, a whānau to be able to do that for themselves.

I think as well that there are a few important things in this Treaty settlement which are different and unique and which can be really celebrated as part of that going forward. One has been commented a lot already in this House already, which is the rights in the exclusive economic zone, but I also want to acknowledge the taonga tūturu protocols in this bill. The select committee did discuss these. One thing that I always get a lot of hope from in Treaty settlement processes is the ability of one entity within a group of people to be able to have responsibility for the claiming, the receiving, the gifting, and the making available taonga tūturu when they are discovered to the people. That again is a hefty responsibility, when taonga are found, to be able to enjoy them with iwi, and it’s so important in this bill that that has been given effect to.

My final comments are just to thank everyone who has come today. To all of the submitters, you’ve made the select committee process vibrant. We’ve had so many really robust debates around the table. It’s been an opportunity for me personally to really understand where my colleagues’—not only National members but also Government members—understandings and postures towards the Treaty settlement process are. Your settlement is a very important and special one, and it’s been a privilege for me to work on it. I thank you for coming here, I thank you for sticking with it, and I’m looking forward to working with you on it in the future.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a privilege to speak on the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill as it nears the end of its second reading. Having spent some time in that area—and I’ll touch on that shortly. It’s a great part of the country. But, growing up in Matamata, I’ve recently been through this process as well and had some great discussions with Ngāti Hinerangi as they have worked through their settlement process there. When I think about the challenges of going through these sorts of processes, it’s never easy and I don’t think anyone would say that it’s full and complete and satisfactory to all parties.

Indeed, I think we’ve seen that through the select committee process here as well, with 23 submitters with a range of different views on whether this bill is sufficient, insufficient, or too much—the real spectrum that I think highlights that over time, everyone comes to the table with different views, different priorities, and different expectations. At some point, you have to put a line in the sand and work forward from there.

Having spent a bit of time in the wonderful rohe of Maniapoto on-farm, chasing sheep around slippery hills, mustering, and hunting, it’s a beautiful part of the country, and I am delighted—I still have family down that way at the moment. When I think about the opportunity and the challenges, as I say, it’s complex over a long period of time, and I think what I love about these sorts of bills is that it enables a springboard to be developed and an opportunity to be created to not put aside everything that’s happened in the past but, of course, to acknowledge it and, as I say, put that line in the sand and then take the opportunity to move forward.

When I think about that in the context of where to from here, any time there’s a challenge—and we all face challenges in our lives in a whole range of areas. But how we respond to that is really what defines us, more so than the challenge. When we look at the key settlement details here in terms of the apology for historical breaches of the Treaty, an agreed historical account, cultural redress including the vesting of 36 sites of significance, and financial redress of $165 million, these aspects are all part of helping to enable that progression to the next step.

I don’t think anyone would want history to be forgotten, and, indeed, history is an important part of any society in terms of building that understanding of where we’ve come from, where we are now, and indeed what the future might potentially look like. That’s the part that excites me, because we are still in a place where we have massive opportunity as a country—huge potential all around our beautiful country—to do some amazing things, and I think we can rightly be proud of that.

Maniapoto should rightly be proud of their rohe—the beautiful King Country area that I’ve spent time in—but more broadly, about the potential that’s on the table now. When we look at the opportunity, there is limitless potential, and I think that, for me, is one of the most appealing opportunities. As I say, it’s about how respond, how we move forward, and what the future might look like as we try to create that next journey, and for Maniapoto, that presents a really exciting chance to redefine what the future might look like for their children and their children’s children. That’s an exciting time. For me, with young children, I look at their future, what that might be for them and where they might go, and what they might look back on and say about what we did and how we operated at the time.

History is always just a snapshot of what was happening at the time. It’s important, and I’m encouraged to see that we’ve been able to get to the point now where there is an agreed historic account, apologies have been made for breaches that occurred, and now we can look to the future with more confidence. As I said, that springboard enables Maniapoto to look at how we can get on with improving and taking that opportunity to explore new ventures, improving the understanding and the education, and taking the opportunity within the broader iwi and across all the different communities within that area as well.

So look, we are very pleased to be able to support this bill, noting, as I mentioned, that of course there’s never a perfect solution. There are always a range of different perspectives on these things, but, ultimately, it’s not so much the challenge that should define us but our response. I look forward to seeing the response of Maniapoto in the years to come as they redefine what I’m sure will be a more positive future for them and their iwi. Thank you.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, Ngāti Maniapoto. Nau mai ki te Whare. It is a very humbling place for me to be, to stand and take the final call on the second reading of the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill. Welcome—it is really good to see you here.

It’s all been said, of course, so, again, like everyone else in the House, I wish to acknowledge all of the negotiators. It has been a very hard journey—as it always is, from what I hear—and your strength, your patience, and your grace is what has got us here today and I acknowledge that.

I just want to take a moment to consider something very special that comes from this really difficult process that every settlement process has gone through, and I want to thank you for it. That special taonga that you bring to the House today is your story. It is a unique story—they all are—but that story that you take the time to ensure is clear, is correct, and sets the record straight is so important. The Hon Nanaia Mahuta talked about the detail. She gave some detailed descriptions and explanations which show us and explain the scars that are borne today by your whānau and by your whenua, and the impact that this story has had over the years. It’s really, really important for us.

I come to this House from having been a part of the New Zealand education system as a teacher. I taught young people who whakapapa to Ngāti Maniapoto, I taught young people who whakapapa to settlers, and what you have given to the system, to the teachers, and to those rangatahi is so important and so valuable. The burden that we put on our rangatahi—we talk about opportunity and how wonderful it is going to be that they’re going to look after us in our old age and they’re going to build this incredible future. It will be made slightly lighter, because what you have given is an opportunity for these rangatahi to be clear about how we got to where we are so that they can build a bright future together. Maniapoto will be able to—rightly—have their mana intact and will lead that and show their classmates what they can do to support their self-determination.

The history, that detail that is so important to acknowledge, and the disregarding, time and time again—I’m using words from the bill—of solemn promises, not just Te Tiriti but all of those other very solemn commitments that the Crown made and broke time and time again. It’s very humbling to hear, and it’s very, very important for our young people to know very, very clearly that those transgressions through legislation, through war are really important to acknowledge.

I want to just reflect on some of the words in the bill about the acknowledgment about the education system and the scars that are still borne by our system today. It talks in the bill about the attempts in the late 19th and early 20th century to assimilate your people and to beat you if you spoke te reo on the school grounds, and the impact that that has had and that contributed to the loss of identity, the understanding of tikanga and mātauranga, and, of course, the socio-economic impact on generations down the line. The acknowledgment that the Crown didn’t protect te reo Māori but actively beat it out of your people—that is something, again, that is actually a very precious lesson for those of us who have been in the education system or who remain there and who have taken up the challenge to change things. Knowing that and having it as a matter of public record, and having the commitment in this House to support you to make redress is going to be really important for teachers in the system as they try their best to build an education system that sees those scars go away.

The only other thing I really need to acknowledge today is this. A wise man said to me quite recently, “As Pākehā, what place do I have in this House? What obligation do I have, on reflection, in this process?”, and he reminded me that my job is to uphold this apology. It will never be real unless it is upheld, and we must ensure that we never again pass legislation in this House that fails to uphold the mana of Ngāti Maniapoto. We need to make sure that policy in very practical ways—like in our education system—never again fails to uphold your mana.

So I just want to just reflect for one final moment that it is about the stories of hope. We’re not there yet, and sometimes we need to find the strength to take those last steps, when I imagine you’re tired.

I just want to reflect on Mōkau. I haven’t wrestled sheep in your rohe, and I certainly haven’t slept on anyone’s couches or raided their fridges. But I have had the privilege of spending time in Mōkau, on the beaches there, and recently I was up on the marae. I think that’s the best view in the country—there’s nobody from Taranaki here, right? But, you know, you’re up on that marae, and it was the most amazing day. It was a vaccination day for COVID, but the wonderful thing was not just the kai—there was a lot of it—and the bouncy castle, but it was the fact that everyone in the community responded to your leadership. We had farmers—grumpy old farmers—coming from up the road, being brought by their wives to come down to not just get their COVID vaccinations but their flu shots, and that comes from that leadership and the collaboration and the grace with which you are going to forge your way in the future but you are going to allow us to come along that journey with you.

So I will close there, and I look forward to the next steps in your journey in this House and beyond. Thank you.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

This bill is set down for committee stage next sitting day. Kua whakaaetia te Mana Whakawā o te Whare kia tuku mai he waiata mai i a koutou o Maniapoto. Otirā i mua i tērā e tika ana kia tū ake au e whakapiri taku mihi ki ngā mihi kua mihia ki a koutou mai i ahau, tō koutou mema Pāremata, i tēnei rā whakahirahira. Nō reira koutou mā, kei a koutou te wā.

[The Speaker of the House has agreed that you, Maniapoto, can sing a waiata. However, before that, it’s only right that I stand and add my acknowledgments to those before me, from me, your member of Parliament, on this important day. The time now is yours.]

Waiata

I declare the House in committee for further consideration of the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill.