Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill

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

💬 SPEAKER: Kua tāngia taua tauāki ā ture i raro i te mana i raro i te mana o te Whare, ā, ka kitea ki te pae tukutuku a te Pāremata.

[That statement has been published under the authority of the House; also, you will find it on the parliamentary website.]

I move, That the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.

Tākiri mai ana te ata ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi korihi ana te manu kaupapa ka āo, ka āo, ka awatea tīhei mauriora. E mihi ana ki a koutou kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te rā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. E mihi ana ki te hunga mate, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Ki a tātou te hunga ora tēnā tātou, tēnei au, tēnei mātou te Kāwanatanga e mihi ana ki te kaupapa o te wā, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[The dawn breaks on the stout of heart, the birds sing out, the sun rises, it’s the breath of life. Acknowledgments to you all who have arrived here to support this meeting of the day, thank you, thank you, thank you all. I acknowledge our loved ones who have departed, farewell. To us the living, this is I, this is the Government, acknowledging the bill that brought us together, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, greetings to you all.]

It’s an honour and a privilege for me to be here today to speak in support of the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill. This bill is the next step following the deed of settlement signing by Ngāti Tara Tokanui and the Crown here at Parliament nearly a year ago. It has taken many years for Ngāti Tara Tokanui to reach this point in their settlement journey.

First, I want to acknowledge the tīpuna and esteemed members of Ngāti Tara Tokanui who have since passed on and who are not with us to witness this significant day. I know you will hold their contributions and memory front of mind during today’s proceedings.

I want to acknowledge the Ngāti Tara Tokanui negotiators, Russell Karu and Amelia Williams, for their dedication to their people and this settlement since negotiations began in 2011. I also acknowledge the trustees of the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Trust, the governance entity for this settlement, who, unfortunately, could not be with us here today.

On the Crown side, I want to acknowledge the work of the chief Crown negotiators Michael Dreaver and also the Hon Rick Barker. I acknowledge my predecessor the Hon Chris Finlayson for the work that he did in the initial engagements with Ngāti Tara Tokanui and many other Hauraki iwi, and I thank my ministerial colleagues and Crown agencies for their support to achieve this settlement with Ngāti Tara Tokanui.

Negotiations with Ngāti Tara Tokanui began at Ngahutoitoi Marae in 2011, when iwi members formally gave the negotiators, Amelia Williams and Russell Karu, the mandate to negotiate a comprehensive, historical Treaty settlement with the Crown on behalf of the iwi. An agreement in principle was reached in 2011, and the deed of settlement was initialled in 2017 and then signed here, at Parliament, in July last year.

The deed of settlement records the Crown’s acknowledgment of, and the apology for, the Crown’s breaches of the Treaty in relation to Ngāti Tara Tokanui. Between 1865 and 1868, the Crown confiscated 290,000 acres of land around Tauranga, including lands in which Ngāti Tara Tokanui had interests. From 1868, the rangatira Te Keepa Raharuhi entered agreements for gold prospecting and mining on Ngāti Tara Tokanui lands in the hope that Ngāti Tara Tokanui could retain ownership of their land and gain income from leases in mining agreements. Instead, the Native Land Court processes left Ngāti Tara Tokanui in debt, and the Crown’s lease arrangements for mining at Ōhinemuri did not provide Ngāti Tara Tokanui any income from goldmining on their lands. Later, Crown purchasing and the operation of native land laws and public works takings further alienated, divided, and fragmented Ngāti Tara Tokanui land.

In 1895, the Crown authorised the discharge of mine tailings, including cyanide-treated waste, into the Ōhinemuri and Waihou rivers. Ngāti Tara Tokanui used the rivers as water sources for washing and drinking, and the poisonous discharges caused illness and, in some cases, death.

Crown actions and omissions caused harm to Ngāti Tara Tokanui communities, whānau, hapū, and iwi, and left Ngāti Tara Tokanui virtually landless by the 1920s. To put that into context, before the land alienations started, Ngāti Tara Tokanui had literally tens of thousands of acres of land. By 1896, that was down to 2,500 acres of land, and then, by the early part of the 20th century, it was just 290 acres. That was the level of devastation of landholdings of Ngāti Tara Tokanui caused by the Crown’s actions. In the deed, the Crown acknowledges that until now, it has failed to address the longstanding grievances of Ngāti Tara Tokanui in an appropriate way, and that recognition and provision of redress for these grievances is long overdue.

The Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill will give effect to the Ngāti Tara Tokanui settlement package, and this includes financial redress of $6 million, the vesting of seven sites of cultural significance in Ngāti Tara Tokanui, including Mimitu Pā and Tawhitiaraia, and two sites jointly vested with neighbouring iwi Hako and Ngāti Tamaterā, including Karangahake. The Karangahake area is especially significant to Ngāti Tara Tokanui. It has been described as the manawa, or heart, of their rohe, and I’m pleased their relationship with this area will be recognised by the redress through this bill. The redress also includes relationship protocols with Crown agencies, statements of association for 14 areas of significance, including the Ōhinemuri River and its tributaries, and enhancing Ngāti Tara Tokanui’s ability to participate in resource management processes. It also includes an overlay classification, or whenua rāhui, which provides for the Crown to acknowledge iwi values in relation to Karangahake Scenic Reserve, and, finally, a cultural redress payment for Ngāti Tara Tokanui cultural revitalisation.

In the coming weeks, this country will celebrate Matariki. Matariki represents many things but, most importantly, new beginnings such as the beginning of the new year. In the same way, this first reading of the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill represents a new beginning for Ngāti Tara Tokanui and the Crown. While no settlement package could ever fully compensate for such a magnitude of loss, suffering, and prejudice, it’s my sincere hope that this package will provide a foundation for prosperity for Ngāti Tara Tokanui and provide a foundation for the Crown to rebuild its relationship with Ngāti Tara Tokanui based on trust, cooperation, and partnership, as it should have been many generations ago.

I propose that the bill should proceed without delay to the Māori Affairs Committee. I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, mauri ora ki a tātou katoa.

Kia ora, Minita. Ko te pātai kia whakaaetia te mōtini.

[Thank you, Minister. The question is that the motion be agreed to.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare, huri noa i te Whare nei, he mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Tēnei te mihi nau mai haere mai te iwi o Ngāti Tara Tokanui, he mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.

[Thank you, Speaker, and throughout the House today, acknowledgments to you all. I am delighted to welcome you all here. Welcome, Tara Tokanui nation, greetings to you all.]

I rise to speak on the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill for its first reading. This bill gives effect to certain matters containing the deed of settlement, signed on 28 July 2022 between the Crown and Ngāti Tara Tokanui. It is the final settlement between the Crown and Ngāti Tara Tokanui of all historical Te Tiriti o Waitangi claims resulting from acts or omissions by the Crown before 21 September 1992. I wish to take a moment to acknowledge the work done by the negotiators; the Crown officials; the present Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Andrew Little; the previous Minister Christopher Finlayson; and all others who have been involved in, no doubt, a big piece of work to get it to this point.

This package includes an agreed historical account, Crown acknowledgments and apology, a cultural redress of $444,166, financial and commercial redress of $6 million, and collective redress through the Pare Hauraki Collective Redress Deed. The iwi of Ngāti Tara Tokanui has an area of interest centred around the Hauraki region, and the 2018 census estimated that Ngāti Tara Tokanui had 834 members. Ngāti Tara Tokanui and Ngāti Koi traced their origins to Tara, who migrated from Maungatautari in the 16th century.

This bill is intended to address the wrongs that have been done in the past as best as that can be done. Always in these Treaty settlement processes there can never be a full reflection of wrongs that have been done in the past, but this is intended to address that as best as possible to provide a base from which the Crown and Ngāti Tara Tokanui can move forward and importantly, create a better future for their iwi and for those who follow and come after them, which is what these Treaty settlement processes are intended to do—and it certainly is my hope that that will be the case here.

We are supporting this through to select committee. There are a few things that we will wish to seek a little bit more detail on at the select committee, including some of the governance arrangements that are proposed in this, the conservation framework, some of the catchment authorities, and the proposal to transfer ownership of any Crown minerals and lands transferred to Ngāti Tara Tokanui except for petroleum, gold, silver and uranium. So we will be seeking some more information and clarity, and look forward to hearing from the community and from other interested members, and, importantly, from Ngāti Tara Tokanui if they wish to speak at that process.

But this is an important process; it is an important step forward, and it is good to see that this is able to be progressed towards what is, hopefully—well, what should be the final step in this process in respect of the issues that are addressed in the bill. I do note that Ngāti Tara Tokanui is also a member of the Hauraki Collective and will receive collective redress through the Pare Hauraki Collective Redress Deed, which does include other iwi, and there’s no doubt it’s been a very select piece of work in its own right, but that will be addressed separately in another bill.

Paeroa and the area around it is a special place. I can say I have been there a number of times over my lifetime and known people who lived there and had a deep connection to the environment; in fact, an old friend of my mum’s was a potter who had a little section just outside of Paeroa and had done a lot of work rehabilitating that land, growing trees, and making some pretty amazing pottery. So I know some of the objectives that are set out in this bill, about improving the environmental outcomes, and the quality of water, etc., will be well welcomed by many in that region, and that’s something that will find a wide community of interest who have agreement on those tenets that this bill does touch on.

I was an army reservist at one point—I’ll just throw this in here—and I did have the privilege one day, on Anzac Day, to go in as an army reservist and present arms to recognise those who have gone before and those who have sacrificed for a country, which, I note, would have been members of Ngāti Tara Tokanui as well in years past. So I will conclude my contribution, and we will have more to say.

I do look forward to this and I hope that I have an opportunity to hear evidence when this matter comes before the select committee. These are quite special, these processes, and they are certainly very challenging for all involved. But it’s really important that we are able to resolve these issues as best we can; to put right as best we can in the current time those things that have gone wrong in the past, and to create a solid and enduring basis for people to be able to live good lives going into the future, which is what these settlement bills aim to do. So thank you, Madam Speaker, and with that I will conclude my contribution.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Ngā mihi o te wā Matariki hei a koe. As the Minister said, this is the time of Matariki. Matariki is in the sky and that is a time for all of us to look to the year ahead and the possibilities that it brings us, but it’s also a time to reflect on the power of te pō and te whaiao, those periods of time in our metaphysical history as well as our real time at the beginning of the day before the dawn breaks. It’s a time of possibility but it’s also the time of profound darkness and the difference between the darkness and the light is what we notice there with te whaiao, and that time is the time for us to think about those things that we have done, which have wronged the people around us. I allude to those parts of our history as Māori because it is in all of our whakapapa, because these settlement bills are some of the most important work that this Parliament does. They are the time for the Crown to atone, to say sorry for things we have done that have wronged people, that have hurt generations, and that now we have the opportunity to put right. It’s a real privilege as a member of Parliament to be a part of that process, and it’s not one that any of us take lightly.

So to those members of Ngāti Tara Tokanui who are watching today, I say thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this process, this moment in history for you, and to carry with us our role of stewarding this bill to effect the deed of settlement, which you have entered into with the Crown in good faith, through its final part of the process of lawmaking.

If I can take the House to one of the most important parts of this bill, which is giving effect to the agreed historical account in the deed, those historical accounts are a feature of all settlements—as my colleague on the other side of the House alluded to, this bill is a part of a broader collective settlement which is an approach that the Crown elected to take in June 2009, when it was proposed that a regional approach to Treaty settlements for iwi and hapū with interests in the Hauraki region would be taken. The Pare Hauraki settlement is a piece of collective redress which acknowledges the overlapping interests that all of the iwi and hapū have within this piece of land, and that goes along with a sort of shared account of those collective interests. But it’s in this bill that Ngāti Tara Tokanui has an agreed account of its history, and so it’s important to recognise that—it might be the most important part of it.

These grievances stem back to te raupatu in Tauranga in 1864 to the land which is known as Waimatā, which is the name given by Ngāti Tara Tokanui to the land which would become known as the Tauranga Confiscation District. Those lands have been subject to a number of inquiries by the Waitangi Tribunal, and I have a personal connection to those inquiries because my father was involved in them as one of the original historical researchers in the time before he was a journalist. He spent years of his life recording interviews and direct evidence with kaumātua and kuia from around the region, who told their oral histories and the recollections of what happened in Tauranga to them personally and also to their whānau—recollections of trauma that had been handed down to them, and it was something that they carried and they shared with him. He was also responsible for compiling notes from the Native Land Court and writings of the chiefs of the area to the Native Land Court and to the commissioner who was the representative of the Crown in Hauraki at the time. Those reports that the Waitangi Tribunal has compiled—Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana, the report on the Tauranga confiscation claims; the Hauraki report; the Tauranga Moana report on post-raupatu claims in the Hauraki settlement overlay the claims inquiry.

All of those inquiries have given the Crown and the Minister the benefit of those historical accounts which have been prepared by many people over time, thinking about the legal rights that arise from each of those instances. So that has informed the deeds that have been agreed that we have before us, which this legislation gives effect to. It’s a real benefit to the Ministers when those historical inquires have been done by the Waitangi Tribunal and by the historians who have been involved.

One of the letters I spoke of as being evidence in the Native Land Court is recorded in the historical account, and I want to present it to the House as an example of the kind of writings that make the case. “In October 1869, Te Keepa Raharuhi”—which the Minister referred to—“wrote to the Native Minister and the Crown’s representative in Hauraki asking them to honour undertakings negotiated at an earlier hui”. He wrote, “E hoa mā tēnā kōrua. He kupu tāku kia kōrua, ko mātou whakaaro kua tūturu ki runga ki o tātou whakaaro. E hoa mā, tera pea mātou e mate i te Hauhau, e ngari kei a kōrua te whakaaro kia mātou. Kāore hoki e tahi o mātou i whiwhi i te tika, i enei mo te wahi, e kino ai Te Hauhau kia mātou. E hoa mā, tēnei ano tētehi o a mātou kupu kia kōrua. Kō matou pīhī whenua i roto i te rohe a te Kawana, i te takiwā o Katikati i tukua e mātou kia Te Maki i mua. Whaka-ae ana ia i tēnei ra ka tukua atu e mātou kia kōrua, ma kōrua e whakaputa mai kia mātou. He oi ano te kupu kia kōrua.”

[“Friends, greetings. I have a message to you both, our thoughts, we have agreed to what us and you suggested. Friends, we may die at the hands of the Hauhau, but we will leave our decisions to you. Not one of us received any rights to this block where the Hauhaus may not like us. Friends, this is another message to you. Our piece of land within the boundaries of the Government, in the Katikati district, we gave to Mackay before. He agrees on this day to give over to you, for you to hand back to us. This is all we have to say.”]

That writing from the chief represented the plight of his people. It is about his fear of attack and of the vulnerability of his people, not only through the land takings—because Crown land was not set aside for his people—but also to neighbours, who in the context of the 1860s when raupatu had occurred, it had destabilised the community of iwi and hapū who were living on the land at the time. So it’s representative of the political strife and the real threat to people’s lives at that time that the Crown was interfering and taking land in an ecology and a community that had been working before that. In the decades before Te Keepa was writing, there had been prosperous trade in the region, but land takings over time and raupatu and then outright conflict had destabilised the society, and that is the context in which he was writing to the Crown—an appeal of working together, of collaboration, which fell on deaf ears. That is part of why the Crown needs to atone for that now. It’s not only the loss of land and loss of life; it’s also the loss of trust that came about during those years.

I’m proud to be the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, which will consider this bill, and I look forward to more discussions in the select committee about the history which is so important to recognise. I commend this bill.

E tū nei au i runga i te whakaaro, “nōu tōu piki amokura, nōku tōku piki amokura”, me te tautoko hoki i ngā kōrero mō tēnei wā. Āe, e tika ana te kōrero, e taku tuahine, ko te wā o te Matariki. Engari i mua mai i tērā kāhui whetū, ko Puanga tērā. I muri mai ko Te Atutahi, nā reira Puanga, Matariki, Atutahi, e mihi ana, e mihi ana.

Hei whakawāwāhi i āku kōrero e tere nei i te ahiahi, ko te rau matataki o te aumihi, o te auaroha ki a Whetumarama Wereta. Tautoko ana i ngā kōrero, nō Ngāti Ranginui, nō Ngāi Te Rangi kua ngaro ki tana tāne, a Tūmanako. Engari hei tā te kōrero, nāna ngā whetū mārama me tērā kātuarehe tangata kaitā, a Matiu Rata, i tuhi mai, i whakarite mai ai i ngā pepa e kīia nei i tēnei wā ko te Ture Treaty of Waitangi 1975. I roto i tō Whetumarama me Tūmanako rūma whakaata, ehara i te Whakaata Māori, Whakaata Pākehā, nāna me tōna ringa tuhi i whai mai i ngā kōrero a Matiu Rata i tērā wā.

 Nā reira e mihi ana ki a ia me te whakatakoto hoki i te huarahi kei te takahia i tēnei wā e Ngāti Tara Tokanui. Mei ka kore a ia me tōna momo a Matiu mā, ka kore tātou e wānanga i tēnei kaupapa i tēnei wā. Hāunga ko āna mahi ki te kāhui mātauranga o Pīkau, ki te Kōmihana Rōera, mō ngā mahi pōti, te taonga o te mate, te manawa tītī, te kākākura o te mahi tatauranga. Nō te Paati Reipa ōna whakaaro, engari mō tātou katoa āna mahi. Kei te mihi atu ki a ia me te whare pōtae pūāwai mai, ka hui e, ka tāiki e.

Te Aroha me Moehau ngā maunga. Tīkapa te pātaka kai, Tīkapa Moana. Ōhinemuri te awa. Ngāti Tara Tokanui te iwi. Ngahutoitoi te marae. Te Awapū te tupuna whare, me Te Aroha te wharekai. E mihi ana.

Kei ngā uri whakaheke a Whatihua, tērā o ngā kāwai tupuna o te waka o Tainui, tae atu ki a Tara me ngā iwi taketake a Ngā Marama, tae atu ki a Tokanui, nau mai, haere mai ki tō koutou nei Whare Miere, ki tō koutou nei whare tōrangapū. Me te mea nei mauria mai ō koutou wawata kia pūāwai mai anō ngā uaratanga me ngā whakatinanatanga a ngā tūpuna mātua. Te whakahohou i te rongo ki tēnei Whakaaetanga Whakataunga i waenganui i a koutou me te Karauna. Āe, ko te whakahoki whenua tērā, ko ngā whakapāha me ngā mihi a te Karauna tērā, te whakarite pūtea me te whakarārangi manatū, te whakarārangi kawenata i waenganui i a koutou me ngā maikuku o te Karauna ā ngā rangi ka heke.

Mai i Maungatautari ki Paeroa ki Hauraki, me whāki ka tika ēnei papa kāinga hei tāpiri atu ki ngā miniti o tēnei Whare: te wai o Rongomai, Pīraurahi, Mimitu, Tawhitiaraia, Pouarua, Maramarua, tērā o ngā kātū pāmu nui o Hauraki, te Kura Māia, Ōpūkeko, Whangamatā, tae atu ki Tūhua, ki te motu rā, te mūrau o te tini, te wenerau o te mano mō ngā taonga toka, ngā taonga kōhatu whakahaehae i te poho a tēnā, a tēnā. Ngā repo me ngā wai a waka a Tiki Te Aroha, te puna ora, te puna kai a tūpuna mātua ki te pō. Kei ngā tūpuna te tai o Whakarea. Matarehua Maioro mā, hoki mai anō hei rama, hei ārahi hoki i tō koutou iwi e tere nei.

Kua kitea ngā āhuatanga o tēnei momo pepa, te whakariterite mai i ngā kokoraho a iwi mā, a hapū mā. Kei te whakapono te Karauna me tō koutou iwi ki ngā hītori me ngā hurt-ori o te iwi, ngā pūtea, ngā rawa, me ērā atu o ngā kātū ahuatanga, ngā hononga i waenganui i a koutou me te Karauna. Engari kei te tāhūhū o tō koutou nei whare tupuna, a Te Awapū, me ngā pakitara ā-whare, e maumahara ana ki ngā wā o te heke, ki ngā wā o te piki, me te ake ake e tere nei. Ngā mahi hoko whenua, whakapēhi tangata a te Karauna. Ērā kōrero a taku tua’ine, a taku hoa, a Arena, e pā ana ki ngā mahi raupatu ki Tauranga Moana, me te tāhae i ngā whenua a Tara Tokanui, e mihi ana ki a koutou.

Ngā mahi ki te whakatū rua kōura ki Ōhinemuri, ki Ōwhāroa, ka kino hoki ngā mahi o tērā rautau, me ngā kīanga a te kōti whenua, me ngā hononga, ngā mahi tāmana pūtea i waenganui i ō koutou tūpuna me te Karauna. E pērā ana ki ēte’i atu o ngā iwi e tere nei ki te Ika a Māui pērā i a W’anganui me Mōkai Pātea, tērā āhuatanga o te tāmana, he mahi kino rawa, ehara i te kino o te reka, he kino te kino.

Ka paitini ō koutou awa, ka ngaro hoki ngā repo, ka pekepeke mai Te Keepa mā, heoi tē rongo a te Karauna me ēnei āhuatanga. Kātahi te whakaawa i ngā mānia me ngā repo o Hauraki kua tere atu ki te moana, kua tere atu ngā wai me ngā kai. Ērā o ngā drainage schemes nei ki Hauraki, e hoa, tapu tapu tapu rawa te kite i a koutou i te rā nei, wetiweti, e hoa mā, wetiweti.

Ka whakamīharo, ka matakoakoa hoki e ō koutou piringa ki Aongatete, ki Karangahake, ki Wharekawa hoki, me ērā o ngā kātū whanaungatanga i waenganui i a koutou me ngā iwi katoa o Pare Hauraki. Pērā i a Ngāti Hei me Ngāti Paoa i ngā wiki ka taha ake nei, me tērā iwi taketake a Wiremu Brown mā ki Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Me te mea nei, te kī mai a ruahine, te tupuna wahine o Waikato a Te Puea, “mahia te mahi hei painga mō te iwi”. Ka pai hoki. Te whai mai i a Te Puea, ki te tika mai te utu, hokona. Koirā ngā kōrero mō te Kāreti o Paeroa e tere nei, e whakatakoto nei hei kura, hei rawa moni ā-tau mā koutou.

Kei te tārewa tonu ēte’i āhuatanga o te pire mō mātou o te Paati Kahurangi, mō mātou o te Rōpū Nāhinara, engari ki tō Te Awa Matua, e tino tautoko ana i ēnei mahi, te rere o ngā kōrero, te rere o te haere, ngā whakariterite kei mua i te aroaro o te tangata. Me ngā kōrero a taku hoa, a Hōhepa Mooney mō tērā āhuatanga.

Atu i tērā ko ngā whakahaeretanga i waenganui i a koutou ko Te Papa Atawhai; ki te whai rongoa koutou, me whakamōhio mai ki a mātou katoa i te mea ehara i te mahi poka noa, ehara i te mahi hanga noa; he mahi kai tangata te mahi tahi me Te Papa Atawhai. E mihi ana ki a Willow-Jean i tēnei wā e whakaupoko nei i tērā taha o te Karauna.

E tika ana te kōrero, e mihi ana ki ngā Minita nā rāua hoki i ārahi mai ai i tēnei kaupapa. Ko Kiritopa Finlayson i te tuatahi, engari kua riro i tēnei wā mā Anaru Paku te whakahoki i tēnei āhuatanga, i tēnei pepa ki mua i te aroaro o ngā kaitōrangapū i tēnei wā. Nō reira kei te mihi au ki te Minita mō ēnei āhuatanga, mō ngā kerēme Māori, a Anaru Paku, me te mea nei mākona ana te ngākau, e koa ana te wairua o tana hiakai, o tana ngana ki te tautoko, ki te kaha whakahaere i ngā kerēme i kei mua i tō tātou Whare nei. Ahakoa he mahi kai tangata, he uaua parāoa ōna i tēnei wā. Nā reira kei te mihi atu ki a ia.

Kāore e roa ka whiriwhiri mai, ka kitekite mai i a koutou e whai ana i tō koutou huarahi. Hei whakatauira hoki i tērā huarahi, ka kite mai i a Waikato-Tainui, ka kite mai i a Ngāti Ranginui, ka kite mai i ngā kātū iwi katoa o Te Ika a Māui, whiti atu ki Te Wai Pounamu, me ngā motu tautoko a Wharekauri.

Taihoa ake nei, tēnā pea, kāore au i kite i te pounamu L&P, te pounamu Rēmana me te Paeroa i roto i tēnei pire, me te whakaaro hoki tēnā pea kāore i tau atu tērā kōrero i waenganui i a koutou, engari ko te tikanga me ngā whakataukī a kui mā, a koro mā, “mā mua ka kitea a muri; mā muri ka ora a mua”. Nā reira ki a Russell, tērā o ngā hoa rōia, ki a Amelia, engari ki a koutou katoa, nau mai, kawe mai i ēnei mānuka takoto ki mua i a tātou. Tēnā tātou katoa.

[I stand on the concept, “your school of thought is yours, my school of thought is mine”, and I also support the statements made at this time. Yes, the comment is true, my sister, it is now the time of Matariki. But prior to that was that other constellation, it is Puanga. Afterwards it was Atutahi, and so Puanga, Matariki, Atutahi, I greet you, I acknowledge you.

To open my statements that will flow this afternoon, effusive acknowledgments and condolences for Whetumarama Wereta. I support the comments, from Ngāti Ranginui, from Ngāi Te Rangi, she has gone on to her husband, to Tūmanako. But according to the narrative, it was her, alongside that other esteemed gentleman, Matiu Rata, who aligned the bright stars, who wrote and prepared the papers known these days as the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. Inside the television room of Whetumarama and Tūmanako, not Māori Television, mainstream television, it was her and her drafting hand that followed the discourse of Matiu Rata at that time.

So I acknowledge her who blazed the path that is being walked at this time by Ngāti Tara Tokanui. If it wasn’t for her and her ilk, Matiu and others, we would not be debating this topic at this time. That alongside her work with the academic community of Pīkau, the Law Commission, her work in elections, the treasure who has passed on, the determination, the eminent leader in the statistics sector. Her ideas were from the Labour Party, but her work was for all of us. I acknowledge her and the house of grieving that flourishes, assembled and bound in conclusion.

Te Aroha and Moehau are the mountains. Tīkapa is the food source, the Hauraki Gulf. Ōhinemuri is the river. Ngāti Tara Tokanui is the iwi Ngahutoitoi is the marae. Te Awapū is the ancestral hall, and Te Aroha is the dining hall. Greetings.

To the descendants of Te Whatihua, that ancestral line from the Tainui canoe, including Tara and the indigenous people, Ngā Marama, and including Tokanui, welcome, welcome to your Beehive, to your house of politics. And also bring with you your aspirations so that they may flourish, as well as the values of the forebears, and the implementation. The forging of peace through this deed of settlement between you and the Crown. Yes, that includes the return of land, that includes the apologies and acknowledgments of the Crown, the organising of finances and the listing of various ministries, the alignment of covenants between you and the claws of the Crown in the days that follow.

From Maungatautari to Paeroa to Hauraki, it is appropriate to mention these settlements so they are included in the minutes of this House: the water of Rongomai, Pīraurahi, Mimitu, Tawhitiaraia, Pouarua, Maramarua, that enormous farm in Hauraki, Kura Māia, Ōpūkeko, Whangamatā, all the way to Mayor Island, to that island, that inspires the masses, and is envied by the multitudes for the stone artefacts, the stone implements that are used to lacerate the chests of the many. The wetlands and the waterways of Tiki Te Aroha, the fountain of wellbeing, the source of nourishment of our late forebears. To the ancestors of the coast of Whakarea, Matarehua Maioro and others, return to us to light and lead the way for your people that have sailed here.

The nature of these kinds of papers is easy to see, the preparation of the claims of the many iwi, the many hapū. The Crown and your iwi believe the histories and the hurt-stories of the people, the finances, the resources, and those types of things, the connections between you and the Crown. But the ridgepole of your ancestral hall, of Te Awapū, and the walls of the house, remember the times of the ups and the times of the downs, and the eternity that flows on. The alienation of land, the suppression of the people by the Crown. Those statements of my sister, my colleague, Arena, with respect to the confiscations in Tauranga Moana, and the theft of the lands of Tara Tokanui, I acknowledge you.

The work to establish gold mines at Ōhinemuri, at Ōwhāroa, the actions of that century are indeed wicked, not wickedly good, but wickedly wicked.

Your rivers were polluted, the wetlands disappeared, Te Keepa and others jumped up and down, but the Crown did not hear these things. Then the drainage of the plains and wetlands of Hauraki that flowed out to the sea, the water and food washed away. Those types of drainage schemes in Hauraki, oh boy, what an amazing thing it is to see you here today, awesome, my friends, awesome.

I am amazed and happy also because of your relationships in Aongatete, Karangahake, and Wharekawa too, and those types of relationships between you and all of the iwi of Coromandel and Hauraki. Like Ngati Hei and Ngāti Paoa in recent weeks, and that indigenous people of Wiremu Brown and others in Ngāti Tai ki Tāmaki. And also, in the words of the matriarch, the female ancestor of Waikato, Te Puea, “do the work for the benefit of the people”. So good. Following the example of Te Puea, if the price is right, buy it. Those are the statements about Paeroa College that sails on, established to be an asset, an annual income resource for you.

Some of the features of this bill are still pending for us of the blue party, for us of the National Party, but according to Te Awa Matua, we very much support this work, the flow of the discussion, the flow of the journey, and the arrangements that are now before us. And the statements of my colleague, Joseph Mooney, about that very thing.

Aside from that, the management between yourselves and the Department of Conservation; if you find a solution, you must inform all of us because it is not something that can be done off the cuff, it is no simple thing; it is dog-eat-dog working alongside the Department of Conservation. I acknowledge Willow-Jean at this time that is heading up that side of the Crown.

The comment is true, I acknowledge the Ministers who have lead this work. Initially it was Christopher Finlayson, but it has been left up to Andrew Little at this time to return this thing, this paper before the politicians at this time. So I acknowledge the Minister for this thing, for the Māori claims, Andrew Little, and also my heart is satisfied, my soul is happy due to the hunger, and the persistence to support, and to strongly manage the claims that are before our House. Even though it is a soul destroying job, he has the strength of a whale at this time. So I thank him.

It won’t be long before we discuss, before we see you following your pathway. As an example of that pathway, we see Waikato-Tainui, we see Ngāti Ranginui, we see all manner of iwi in the North Island, crossing over to the South Island, and the supportive islands of the Chathams.

Hang on a minute, perhaps, I have yet to see the L&P bottle, the Lemon and Paeroa bottle in this bill, and the thought occurs that that discussion hasn’t landed among you, but in the customs and proverbs of our matriarchs, of our patriarchs, “through the work by those leading, those who are supporting are seen; and by the work of those supporting, those that are leading are made strong”. So to Russell, that one of my lawyer colleagues, and to Amelia, but to all of you, welcome. Bring before all of us these challenges. Greetings to us all.]

Ka tanuku, ka tanuku ka tanuku te tihi o maunga nui a hā, he kapo ki te whetū he kapo ki te marama he kapo ki tātou, kei aku raukura ka riro rā, he tangi ana te ngākau i te rironga a Whetumarama Wereta īnanahi nei. Nō reira e kui he tika ki te maumahara tō mahi mō Te Ao Māori, he wahine toa, he wahine matatau, nō reira e kui moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.

[The mountain there yonder has collapsed. Snatch the stars, snatch the moon, snatch humankind as it does, our departed have gone from us. My heart aches for the loss of Whetumarama Wereta only yesterday. Therefore, it is right to pay homage to your tireless efforts for the world of the Māori, a courageous woman, a wise woman, and so rest well, rest well, rest well in peace.]

I want to support the previous speaker in his beautiful poroporoaki. We’re starting off by saluting this kui who’s died, and one of the—as most Māori members in the House know—most influential kui and Māori women in recent years, Whetu Wereta. She was a Māori statistician, whom there were very few of, and had a huge influence in terms of people around Wellington. She trained people like Peter Douglas, which must have been tough, but she also trained Peter Douglas, who’s with the Prime Minister’s office, and Geoff Short, one of our finest bureaucrats. She trained my wife also, and was a mentor for my wife.

I wanted to just mention her today because I was listening to the member Tama Potaka, with his beautiful poroporoaki, and I wanted to tautoko that because some of these kui, some of these wāhine, are very much some of the unsung heroes of Te Ao Māori. Her husband, of course, was a bit of a star—Tūmanako, as we know. But she was the tuarā—she was the backbone. She was brilliant. A lot of people are going out and I want that member to hoatu taku aroha ki tōna whānau [pay my respects to her family] when he goes out to pay his respects, and she’ll be going to Rātana Pā on Saturday.

She was manager for the Māori Statistics and the Ministry of Māori Development. She also spent time at the Department of Internal Affairs. She rejoined the Department of Statistics as the general manager, and Whetu served on the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO. She was a member of the five-person 1985-86 New Zealand Royal Commission on the Electoral System. We salute her, we remember her, and we thank her and her whānau for her contribution to this country.

In terms of today’s bill, in terms of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, I’m very happy along with other members to tautoko our kaupapa today. While this is the first reading, I think we’re all just making different points. As I was reading through this and looking to the—listening to the Chair and others talking about this kaupapa, I can’t help but be absorbed by the story of the rangatira Te Keepa Raharuhi, who, like many of our people, had faith in the system in 1868, and he entered into agreements for gold, prospecting and mining on Ngāti Tara Tokanui lands in the hope that his people Ngāti Tara Tokanui could retain ownership of their land, and gain income from leases in mining agreements. Instead, sadly, the Native Land Court processes left Ngāti Tara Tokanui in debt, and the Crown’s lease arrangements for mining at Ōhinemuri did not provide Ngāti Tara Tokanui any income from goldmining on their lands.

That story from that rangatira is replicated in so many settlements that it can bring you to tears. It’s something that when I was going through the settlement, I thought that this story has just been retold and said in so many settlements, and I just want to salute that rangatira’s legacy. He’s someone to remember, and I’ll talk further on this kaupapa as we get into the second and third reading. Tika ana ki te maumahara tēnei rangatira, tana mahi ki te kokiri te kaupapa kokiri te kaupapa i ngā wā katoa he poto te kōrero i tēnei wa, Madam Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa.

[It is right to pay homage to this esteemed individual, his esteemed efforts to take charge of this matter, to always carry out the work that needs doing. I’ll keep my speech short at this stage, Madam Speaker. Thank you all very much.]

The ACT Party is proud to support this settlement. The ACT Party supports the concept of property rights, and where one group of New Zealanders find that their property rights have been impacted by the behaviour or the actions of another group, including the Crown, the ACT Party believes that those people whose property rights have been infringed should have their day in court, and, in this case, their day in Parliament.

So the ACT Party will support this claims settlement bill. I do note that many of the places that the redress—particularly the cultural redress properties and Ngā Whenua Rāhui—applies to are places that many New Zealanders would recognise and enjoy, particularly people travelling regularly from Auckland to the Bay of Plenty and vice versa, through the Karangahake Gorge. So it is of great interest to many people that these places have care and protection, and that is what this bill anticipates.

It is also wonderful to see the acknowledgment that the minerals in part of the lands that have been returned to Ngāti Tara Tokanui are available to be developed, because one thing that New Zealand is blessed with is many minerals, not just gold and silver but others that are absolutely vital as we move into a technology century. If we want to achieve a low-emissions, low-carbon economy, having access to those minerals and being able to derive value from them means that we can create not just economic value but social benefits from the employment that development of those mineral resources allows.

So we hope that under the guardianship and care of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, they will find a way to develop the land that is available to them and to enrich themselves and their people for many generations to come. So, with that, I just want to summarise that the ACT Party supports this bill.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Ka tū ake tēnei hei Māngai mō ngā Kākariki ki te tāpiri atu aku nei mihi ki ngā mema katoa o te Whare. Ki a koutou Ngāti Tara Tokanui mēnā kei te noho i konei ki te Whare nei rānei ki roto i te ao tiwi te reo irirangi rānei anei mātou e tautoko ana tautoko katoa ngā mihi ki a rātou mā kua riro atu ki te pō rātou anō i whakapou werawera i roto i ngā tau kia tau tēnei pire ki tōna āhuatanga katoa, nō reira ngā ringa rehe ngā ringa whiti ngā ringa ikahāpai i tēnei o ngā kaupapa anei mātou ngā Kākariki e mihi atu ana ki tēnā o ngā kaupapa.

I au e rangahau ana ngā kaupapa kōrero mō tēnei o ngā pire i te mea ko te mea pai ki au kia mārama te taha o te tātai whakapapa te taha o te tangata me te piringa ki te whenua mā runga i tērā mārama ka puta te mōhio i tēnei mea ngā ngau kino ngā tūkino a ngā kāwana a te Karauna ki ēnei o ngā iwi kia tino mārama tātou ki tēnā nō reira mihi atu ki a koutou Ngāti Tara Tokanui ki tō hitori. I haere au ki tā koutou nei pae tukutuku kia tino mōhio au i ngā kōrero tuku iho mai ō koutou nei mātua tīpuna.

I heke a Ngāti Tara Tokanui mai i maunga Tautari i ngā rā o mua kātahi ka whakarite pā me te kāinga tata ki te tāone e tū nei a Paeroa i au i whakaaro ake mō te taha Paeroa i te mea ehara nō taku taha Māori engari nō taku taha kuki airini i te wā i te hūnuku mai ōku whānau mai te Kuki Airani ko te tāone tuatahi i noho nei rātou ko Paeroa. Kātahi pērā te nuinga o ngā tāngata i hunuku mai i ngā Airani i heke mātou katoa ki Tāmaki Makaurau, nō reira e mihi atu ki a koutou e noho tonu ana ki tērā o ngā tāone.

A Tara he pānga nōna i te mea ko ia te teina o Te Kauwhata me Tūkōrehu he mokopuna rātou ō Raukawa. He karangatahi a ia ki a Marutuahu. Ki roto i ngā pire i pānuihia e mātou ki roto i ngā wiki, kua kaha putaputa ērā o ngā ingoa i te mea mēnā kei te whakaaro tātou ki ngā horopaki o Tikapa Moana kāore e kore he piringa he wehenga he tukinga ētahi o ngā wā, heoi anō, nā te tātai o te whakapapa o te whānau o te hapū o te iwi tērā te whāriki e hono i a tātou ki a tātou otirā i a rātou ki a rātou.

E ai ki ngā rangahau ko te ingoa o Ngāti Tara Tokanui he toka anō i whakaaro e te kawenata i waenganui o te awa pū o Ngāti Tara me te rāe o Ngāti Hako nā tō rātou nei whakapapa ki a Ngā Mārama ki tōna mārena ki a Hoturoa ka mutu ko Tarawa nō Ngāti Hako me Ngā Mārama tērā ngā piringa whakapapa. Heoi i au i pānuihia ki ngā kino huhua ki roto i te pire mai rānō i te mea i pērā ki ngā pire o mua kei konei ki roto i tēnei o ngā pire i timata ki roto i te pire me te toha atu i waenganui i te tau 1865 ki te tau 1868 ka raupatuhia e te Karauna ētahi 2,090 ēka i ngā whenua huri noa i Tauranga. Tini te mano o te tangata whenua i ēnei whenua, ahakoa te whakahoki a te Karauna te nuinga o taua rohe ki ētahi atu Māori me te pupuri tonu i ētahi 50,000 ēka mōna, e pā nō Tara Tokanui ki ngā whenua i riro i tēnei raupatu. I te tau 1864 ka hokona e te Karauna ētahi whenua i ngā poraka o Katikati me Te Puna mōna i tētahi atu iwi. Ka riro ētahi whenua o Ngāti Koi i taua wā ko Ngāti Koi ko rātou i tēnei tauhokohoko. I hoatu whenua ki ētahi atu, ko ēnei ngā pōraruraru ka puta ki tēnei o ngā ngaukino ki te iwi.

Haere tonu ka taka te wā ka kite i tērā i roto i ngā tau ngā tino raru ki a Ngāti Tara Tokanui. I te marama 1868 ko ngā rangatira o Ngāti Tara Tokanui tonu ētahi i hāina i tetahi whakaetanga me te Karauna kia whakatū maina, mahinga koura i Ōhinemuri. I te tau 1870 ka tono te rangatira o Ngāti Tara Tokanui tērā tipuna i kōrero te Whare, Te Keepa Raharuhi ki te Kōti Whenua Māori kia āta tirohia te taitara mō te Ōwhāroa kia whakāetia te mahinga koura nā runga i tērā nā ngā imi haere o ngā nama o te iwi te whai i ngā tukanga o te kōti ka pīkaungia e te iwi te taumahatanga ki runga i tērā, mā runga i tērā ka iti haere tō rātou nei mau ki ō rātou nei whenua ki ā rātou nei rawa. Hei tauira anō mai i te tau 1872 ka timata tētahi o ngā āpiha o te Karauna ki te utu tōmua i mua i te whakawhiwhinga taitara ki te whenua ki te tangata takitahi, i a mātou ka pānui i ēnei pire ko tēnei kaupapa i tīno kitea. Haramai te Karauna kātahi ka takitahi te Karauna i te whenua, ā tōna wā ka ngaro atu te whenua. I te mea he iwi takitini mātou te iwi, mēnā kei te takitahi te whenua, mea rawa ka ngaro haere. I kite mātou i tērā ki roto i ngā āhuatanga ngā tukanga o te kōti ki a Ngāti Tara Tokanui.

Tae noa ki te wā kua tino raru anō te taiao, ki ētahi atu kua paru i ngā toinga o ngā maina ki roto i te awa ka paru katoa mai i tērā o ngā āhuatanga kātahi ka porotū tō rātou nei tipuna me ngā Māori ki tērā o ngā āhuatanga. Me matua mōhio mai tātou ki ngā whakaaro o rātou mā nā te mea kei te noho tātou i roto i te horopaki o ngā pōraru o te āhuarangi i kite tātou ngā paru ki roto i ngā awa nō reira i whakaaro anō ērā o ngā tipuna i te wā i whawhai rātou mō ō rātou nei whenua. Anei anō ko Ngāti Tara Tokanui. He tauira anō mō tērā. Nō reira me kaha tātou ki te hoki atu ki tērā o ngā āhuatanga kia matua mōhio mai tātou, kia tiaki tātou te taiao ka tiaki tātou te tangata. Te piringa o te tangata ki te whenua; koira te take e kī ana he tangata whenua anō tātou.

Te rahinga o ēnei pire kua haramai i mua i a mātou te Kōmiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori, ehara i te māma, he uaua. He maha ngā aupiki ngā auheke, he maha ngā pouritanga ki tēnā i haere mai i mua i te komiti, nō reira kāore ēnei momo whakataunga kereme e āhei ana te ea i ēnā o ngā tino pōuri, heoi, ko tētahi mea pai o ēnei matapaki kōrero ētahi wā tautohetohe kōrero ko te puta o ngā kōrero kia tuku iho ki ō rātou nei mokopuna kia tukuiho ki ō rātou nei tamariki. Nō reira e tika ana te kōrero ko tēnei te wā o Matariki, me mānawatia a Matariki, me mānawatia ano hoki ō tātou nei hītori, te katoa, te hītori kei raro i ō rātou nei rekereke. Mā runga i tēnā te mārama o te tangata ki te hītori kei raro i ō rātou nei waewae kei raro i ō rātou nei rekereke. Ka taea e te tangata te tino mōhio ko wai ia, kei hea ia. He aha te take e pēnei ana te iti me te rahi o te whenua kei te Māori mā runga i tēnā ka puta tātou katoa ki te āo mārama.

Ki a mātou ngā Kākariki, ko tēnei mea Te Tiriti o Waitangi ehara i te kirimana noa ehara i te mea ka haere noa ki te hokomaha ki te tauhokohoko, kao. Ko tēnei mea Te Tiriti o Waitangi he kawenata he tūāpapa mō tātou katoa e noho ana ki Aotearoa nei. Ki runga i te ora ki runga i te pae, ki runga i ngā whakaaro o rātou mā i waitohu i Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Waitangi i taua wā. Nō reira ko ahau anō tēnei nō ngā Te Paati Kākariki e mihi kau ana ki a koutou katoa ngā ringa rehe ngā ringa hāpai o tēnei kaupapa Ngāti Tara Tokanui, tēnā koutou, otirā te Whare tēnā koutou katoa.

[Greetings, Speaker. I stand here as a representative for the Greens to extend a warm welcome to all the members of the House. To you Ngāti Tara Tokanui, if you are here present or if you have tuned in via the radio station or TV, we are here to support, and to also support the acknowledgments to our loved ones who have been received by the night, and to everyone who gave their indefatigable efforts in the years to settle this bill to its full completion, and so to the experts of this matter here are the Greens in full acknowledgement.

As I was researching the relevant information regarding this bill, because I think it’s important to understand the genealogy and the connection to the land, through that you will understand the difficulties by the Crown towards these nations, and so acknowledgments to you all, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and to your history. I searched up your webpage so that I could fully understand your history from your ancestors.

So in the old times, Ngāti Tara Tokanui left from Maunga Tautari and then set up their village near the small town Paeroa, which brings back memories regarding not my Māori side but my Cook Island side, when my families moved over from the Cook Islands where Paeroa was the first town in which they all settled. Then, like the majority of the rest that moved over from the Cooks, we all ended up in Auckland, and so I would like to acknowledge everyone still living in that town.

Tara has connections because he is the younger sibling to Te Kauwhata and Tūkōrehu who are all grandchildren of Raukawa, and a first cousin to Marutuahu. In the bill that I read in the past weeks those names appear often because if we think about Tikapa Moana no doubt there were times of separation, connections and time of strife as well, however, it is through genealogical connections to family, to nations that connects us together.

According to research, the name of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, a rock that the kawenata thought was between the river of Ngāti Tara and the bridge of Ngāti Hako, and it was through the genealogy to Ngā Mārama to her marriage to Hoturoa, also, Tarawa is from Ngāti Hako and Ngā Mārama, these are the genealogical links. Moreover, as I read all the bad in the bill from way back, because that’s how it was in all the old bills, in this bill it starts between the year 1865 to 1868, where the Crown confiscated around 2,090 acres of land around the Tauranga region. There were multitudes living around this are, although the Crown gave back most of that land to other Māori and held on to about 50,000 acres for the Crown, including an area of Tara Tokanui that was confiscated. In the year 1864, the Crown bought some lands in the Katikati and Te Puna blocks for itself from other tribes. Some lands from Ngāti Koi at that time, they were selling and buying. Land was given to others, these were some of the challenges that the iwi had to go through.

Moreover, as time went on many troubles came before Ngāti Tara Tokanui. In the year 1868, the leaders of Ngāti Tara Tokanui signed the agreement with the Crown to establish a gold mining project in Ōhinemuri. In the year 1870, the leader who is spoken about in the House, Te Keepa Raharuhi sent to the Native Land Court to carefully look at the title for Ōwhāroa to approve the goldmining, and due to that the difficulties of following that rules made it hard on that, and because of that their ability to hold on to their land and assets became difficult. Another example, in the year 1872, one of the Crown officers started to pay early before given the title to the land to the one person, and so, Speaker, when we read the bill this matter is very evident. The Crown came and then they divided the land, in time the land was lost. Because we are a multi-nation people, if the land is divided, in time no doubt it would be lost. We saw that in the court procedures to Ngāti Tara Tokanui.

Right up to when the land becomes waste, to others the leftover waste from the mine made its way to the river and due to that it became filthy, and then their ancestor and the Māori of the time protested. We really need to understand how they felt back then because we sit in the context with different challenges, they saw the waste in their rivers and so that was what they fought for when fighting for their lands. And that is Ngāti Tara Tokanui. Another example. And so we must be wise to go back to that process so that we are properly informed. So that we take care of the land and the people. The connection of the people to the land; as the saying goes, people are the land.

The many types of bills that are presented before us, the Māori Affairs Committee, they aren’t easy; they are hard. There are many ups and downs, and sorrow shown with what comes before the committee. So these settlement claims will not fully satisfy for the difficulties that have happened, however, some benefit moving forward is the discussions to have, and with the children as well. So it’s correct to say give thanks to Matariki, to honour Matariki, and to honour our history under their presence. People can fully understand who they are where they are and why the small and big things are done by Māori on their land, and through that we are all born to this world of light.

To us, the Greens, the Treaty of Waitangi is not only a contract; it’s not as if you just go to the shop to buy things, no. The Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement a foundation for all of us living here in New Zealand. Bonded by love and life, bonded by the people who signed the Treaty of Waitangi during that time. So this is me from the Greens thanking you all the experts and leaders of this kaupapa, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, thank you all, and also the House, thank you all as well.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to take a call on this, the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill, and here we are again, in this House, talking about historical Treaty settlements. It is an uncomfortable truth for us as members of Parliament to come to this House, representing the Crown, knowing that it was the Crown that actually stripped Ngāti Tara Tokanui and many of our iwi across the land of their land, of their language, of their culture, and it’s an uncomfortable truth that we stand here today in this House and try and redress those wrongs.

You see, this is a shining example of colonisation, and I think that sometimes we don’t really—I think sometimes people that hear that word, they don’t dig into it, they don’t understand it, and so they put up a big barrier. If they were to only understand it—what we’re talking about right here now with this historical Treaty settlement, the uncomfortable truth about the actions of the Crown to alienate a people from their land and from their culture—then maybe there’d be a bit more sympathy out there in Aotearoa for the plight of Māori. But, unfortunately, there are still some people that will see this settlement, it will pass, and they will still believe that Māori are getting too much. They will still believe that we should not create spaces and places for Māori to be able to achieve the rangatiratanga and the mana motuhake that was signed up to in Te Tiriti o Waitangi all those years ago, back in 1840, and that covers the ones that did sign it but also the ones that didn’t sign it as well, because there’s plenty of iwi that didn’t sign it, but they were affected by it.

So this for me represents an attempt at trying to bring mana back to the people of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, to bring some redress, for the Crown to be able to accept the part that it played in that whole space, and an opportunity for, hopefully, the wider New Zealand public to understand that actually we’re still not out of the woods. We should be doing a better job of publicising these settlements so that we can share some of the hurt and the pain and the suffering, the loss of housing, the loss of land, the loss of language. We can share that with wider New Zealand so that they actually understand the pain that sits in these documents—the absolute pain.

For that reason, I need to read some of the acknowledgments, because I fear as though we don’t do a good job in this House of acknowledging that. I hope that some very intelligent people out there cut this up into little videos and play it out there on social media and share it so that people understand this settlement and the role that it plays in the history and the milestones of the people of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, but also understand that this is part of a long process that we’ve been on.

While some iwi have done really well—they’ve settled, they’ve moved on, and they’ve been able to address that historical pain—there are some that are still in the line and there are some that aren’t even in the line that wish they could get in the line. This is kōrero that’s going to go on well past my time here in Parliament, but if there’s one hope that I have, it’s that we do a better job of telling these stories.

So for that reason, I’ve got some time; I’m going to read through some of the acknowledgements that are listed as clause 9 in this settlement bill: “(1) The Crown acknowledges that until now it has failed to deal with the long-standing grievances of Ngāti Tara Tokanui in an appropriate way and that recognition of, and provision of redress for, these grievances is long overdue. (2) The Crown acknowledges that the Tauranga confiscation/raupatu and the subsequent Tauranga District Lands Act 1867 and Tauranga District Lands Act 1868 compulsorily extinguished all customary interests within the confiscation district, including those of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and this was unjust and breached te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. (3) The Crown acknowledges that it failed to actively protect Ngāti Tara Tokanui interests in lands that they wished to retain when it initiated the purchase of Te Puna and Katikati blocks in 1864 without investigating the rights of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and this failure was in breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. (4) The Crown further acknowledges that—(a) Ngāti Tara Tokanui whānau and hapū had no choice but to participate in the Native Land Court system to protect their land against claims from others and to integrate land into the modern economy; and (b) the native land system caused division between hapū, and the Native Land Court title determination process carried significant costs, including survey and hearing costs, which at times led to further alienations of Ngāti Tara Tokanui land; and (c) the operation and impact of the native land laws, in particular the awarding of land to individual members of Ngāti Tara Tokanui rather than to the iwi or hapū, made those lands more susceptible to partition, fragmentation, and alienation; and (d) this contributed to the further erosion of the traditional tribal structures of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, which were based on collective tribal and hapū custodianship of land, and the Crown failed to take adequate steps to protect those structures and this was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. (5) The Crown acknowledges that—(a) it sought to purchase Ngāti Tara Tokanui interests in land blocks before title to the land was [even] determined by the Native Land Court, making payments that sometimes took the form of goods from storekeepers charged against Ngāti Tara Tokanui land; and (b) it made these payments despite recognising that they created severe divisions among Māori of the area; and (c) it agreed to lease the Ōhinemuri block from some of the owners in 1875 and assumed control of the leased land without the consent of all the owners. All the rents payable to Ngāti Tara Tokanui were used to repay the advances paid before 1875 even though some of the owners had not accepted any of these advances; and (d) it resumed purchasing Ōhinemuri in 1877 despite its commitment in 1875 to refrain from purchasing Ōhinemuri lands; and (e) it used monopoly powers in all negotiations to purchase Ngāti Tara Tokanui lands; and (f) the combined effect of these actions was that the Crown failed to actively protect the interests of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and this was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.”

There’s a lot in this bill, and I want to thank the people of the tribe that have gotten to this point. And, as a previous member suggested, there are only about 800 of them left. So to them, I acknowledge your pain. I acknowledge their suffering. I acknowledge their kuia, their koroua, their tūpuna kuia, their tūpuna koroua that are no longer here to be able to witness this. I wish them the best on their journey, and I hope—I really do hope—that we continue to make strides as a country by acknowledging these past wrongs, by acknowledging the stories, by taking down that wall that some people put up when they hear about colonisation, that uncomfortable truth of colonisation. I hope that our young people, when they’re taught history in our schools, understand their local stories. And I hope that those people that benefited from the raupatu, benefited from the confiscation by the Crown of those lands, acknowledge the history of that whakapapa of that land and how fortunate they are that they’ve been able to build their wealth on stolen land.

This is a really important part in the Treaty process. I really hope that we can continue to tell these stories—not just Ngāti Tara Tokanui, but I think it’s time for us as a country to revise some of those stories as well. Because, I tell you what: once these settlements happen, they get a staple and they go on the shelf. We owe it to the people of Ngāti Tara Tokanui to do more than just put a staple on it and add it on the list of Treaty settlements. We owe it to their tūpuna, to the people that were parted from their land, to the people that died fighting for their land to do more. To do more: to be able to enable the people of that land to achieve their tino rangatiratanga and their mana motuhake as well.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call on Todd Muller—five minutes.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can I just firstly acknowledge the contribution of Tāmati Coffey. There’s a strange thing in this place that when we have the moment to reflect on Treaty settlement bills, it tends to bring the best of politicians to the table—from all sides. I think we have heard it today from all speakers, but I think Tāmati Coffey’s determination for this House to hear the historical record and the pain that has caused Ngāti Tara Tokanui over the years—it was a powerful contribution and I want to acknowledge that.

Obviously, the National Party supports this bill, and we will support it as it goes through select committee. But, in the short time that I have, I want to simply continue Tāmati Coffey’s contribution by reflecting on some of the actions of the Crown—he got up to about the 1880s.

So, in 1882, the Native Land Court awarded the Crown 31,000 acres of land in Ōhinemuri for mining—only 3,700 acres were available to non-sellers, and particularly Te Keepa. But, by 1896, Ngāti Tara Tokanui were left with just approximately 2,500 acres. I often reflect, in the context of the conversations that we all have today and that people reflect on in terms of their own commercial interests, that it is beyond our ability to comprehend, actually, the pain that that would cause if you applied a modern context to that degree of confiscation. So you are just left with 2,500 acres. But, then, in 1895, the Crown authorises the discharge of mine tailings into the Waihou River and Ōhinemuri River, including cyanide-treated wastes. By 1900, a Crown official estimates that the local Māori needed an alternative water supply because the river was polluted and unfit for either human or animal consumption. The Crown eventually initiated a number of schemes to try and control flooding because of the discharge of mining waste into the rivers, causing silt. And all this area—the last remaining land for Ngāti Tara Tokanui—was the land that was being affected.

But it doesn’t stop there, because, in the early 1900s, the Crown established the Hauraki Plains drainage scheme to drain the swamp and develop it for farming. Through to 1995, the land which Ngāti Tara Tokanui had traditionally occupied was taken under the Public Works Act for works related for that scheme. So the 2,500 acres that Ngāti Tara Tokanui retained in 1896 was reduced to 232 acres.

I just want to reinforce the message that has been said, particularly by Tāmati today: that it is, in the summary of historical account and acknowledgments and the apology of the Crown, so critical that we—as a Parliament; and broader, actually as a nation—never lose sight of this. I think, again, it was a fair contribution to say that these bills are passed and they’re put into a file somewhere with a staple, and people move on. But, actually, it’s important that we allow that history to always be refreshed and understood that it is still with us today, as we all seek to build a stronger and more prosperous Aotearoa. This doesn’t get wiped from history; it is part of us. It should be acknowledged, and that is the power of what we’re doing today. Thank you.

I call the Hon Meka Whaitiri—five minutes.

He mihi tuatahi, e ngā mate o te wā. E te māreikura, Whetumarama Wereta, kua hinga, haere i te taha o tō hoa rangatira o Tūmanako haere, haere, haere atu rā. Ko tōna whānau, kua pūāwai, kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui.

[First, acknowledgments to recent loved ones who have passed. The esteemed Whetumarama Wereta who has passed, farewell back to your husband, Tūmanako, I bid you farewell. The family has blossomed. Be resolute, be brave, and be strong.]

I was saddened to hear in the contributions today of the passing of Whetumarama Wereta, who was clearly somebody that had a significant role alongside many others in this particular bill that we are reading for the first time.

Can I mihi to Ngāti Tara Tokanui for the work that they have done in bringing this bill to the House. But I want to add the unjust Treaty process that we find ourselves in, because, at the hands of the Crown, these people’s land, as previous speakers have acknowledged, went from probably in excess of 290,000 acres, which was confiscated, right down to currently 232 acres—that was at the hands of the Crown. Not only did they confiscate their land, acquired their land; they put paru into their rivers, and so I feel very, very saddened for these people, Ngāti Tara Tokanui. But it is their day. It is their tino rangatiratanga that has brought this bill to the House.

But I wanted to acknowledge their hard work and acknowledge the passing of Whetu Wereta. Like many, maybe, in this House, I came to know Whetu as a very young person when I first started in the Public Service. She was inspiring for me, as a young Māori woman, to claim such heights, and she had such great mana, Whetu, as did her husband, Tūmanako.

So here we are discussing and contributing to a reading of the bill, but its premise is in an unjust settlement process that previous speakers in this House have alluded to. It’s unjust because not only has the Crown taken these people’s land but they determine the process in which we settle, and for Te Paati Māori, on their behalf, it is important that I put on record that Tiriti o Waitangi is not to be settled. It should never ever be settled, I say to colleagues in this House. We should never have “Te Tiriti” and “settlement” in the same sentence. It’s about honouring the Tiriti, if we go back to 1840 and the purpose in which it was signed, and that is why it’s important that we acknowledge that it’s an unjust process and an unjust system.

I do want to acknowledge all the work that the Ngāti Tara Tokanui negotiators have done to get it to this place. I don’t want to repeat what messages other contributors to this bill have said, but in reading particularly the deed of settlement, which gives us broadly how this bill came about, it gives an insight into the historical account. There were a couple of facts that my attention was drawn to that I want to raise in my contribution here, and that is that the deed of mandate, the process in which we acknowledge who is going to negotiate on behalf of this iwi, was signed on 29 June 2011. The agreement in principle (AIP), which is what iwi agree with the Crown are the key areas that we have negotiated for, was signed a month later on 22 July 2011. The deed of settlement was not signed until 1 June 2017.

So the question I have to ask is, why did it take six years from AIP to deed of settlement? Perhaps that’s something that the select committee can traverse and perhaps come back to this House on. I support this bill.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s my pleasure to speak on the first reading of this, the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill. E te iwi Ngāti Tara Tokanui, tēnā koutou katoa, ngā mihi nui. Kia koutou. Can I say as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee, it is an honour to speak on any claims settlement bill and it’s certainly been one of the highlights for me personally to work through each and every one of these claims that have come through the committee, this House, and to learn about the grievances but also the facts surrounding some of these, which are often at odds with how history presents itself. So I’m looking forward to taking this through the House.

I want to just focus on the big picture here, and it certainly gives effect to the elements of the Ngāti Paoa deed of settlement signed on 20 March 2021 between the Crown and Ngāti Paoa. You’ll see an explanatory note to the bill states that the deed provides for the settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Ngāti Tara Tokanui against the Crown. Certainly, the bill aims to address all aspects of the settlement that require legislation, and today is the start of that process in the House.

The settlement outlines, as they all do, the redress, which includes an agreed historical account. Sometimes, these can take some time to get right. The previous speaker talked about the length of time between signing the agreement in principle—the AIP—through to how it lands here. But I know, working through other settlements, that getting an accurate account of history documented as part of this process is very important—getting those Crown acknowledgments right, the apology itself. That’s critical, as is the cultural redress and financial and commercial.

When I look at the package that pertains to Ngāti Tara Tokanui, we know already that it includes $6 million in terms of the financial redress. Those seven sites of cultural significance for Ngāti Tara Tokanui include Mimitu Pā and Tawhitiaraia. Those two sites are jointly vested with the neighbouring iwi Hako and Ngāti Tamaterā, including Karangahake—that area, Karangahake, being especially significant to Ngāti Tara Tokanui. I know that the Minister Andrew Little talked about it being the manawa, or the heart, of their rohe. I’m pleased that their relationship with this area will be recognised through this redress and provided through the bill.

One of the things that’s been happening in Parliament of late has been some accords, and I guess those have been good processes for some who have settled, and this redress includes relationship protocols with Crown agencies. An accord of such may be something that they’d like to package to ensure that those things in the settlement are delivered upon.

There will also be statements of association for the 14 areas of significance. They include the Ōhinemuri River that enhances Ngāti Tara Tokanui’s ability to participate in the resource management process. An overlay classification for whenua rāhui, which provides for the Crown to acknowledge those iwi values in relation to Karangahake Scenic Reserve, and then that cultural redress payment for revitalisation.

We’ve talked a lot about the history today, and that’s been valuable in terms of recognising those who have put some work in here. I was at the settlement signing here in Parliament nearly a year ago, and so we’ve heard, also, that it’s taken many years to reach this point. So can I acknowledge the tūpuna, those members of Ngāti Tara Tokanui who have since passed but have very much been part of this process and who are not here today to see the start of what will be finalised, hopefully, this term.

I want to acknowledge the Minister—I’ve talked about the Hon Andrew Little, but also his predecessor the Hon Christopher Finlayson—for their work; their negotiators, Russell Karu and Amelia Williams, because they were the ones who were part of this process since 2011; the trustees of the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Trust, the governance entity for this settlement. They are not here today, unfortunately, but that’s an important part of the process too. Often, there is a change in the governance structure once settlement is made into the post-settlement entity and getting that structure right to deliver on those points I made earlier in terms of the financial redress, the cultural redress, but also to set them up in a way that they will be able to deliver on the promises and to do the things that they want to do in the way that they want to do it. I also want to acknowledge the work of the Chief Crown Negotiator Michael Dreaver and, more recently, the Hon Rick Barker, for their work too; those Crown agencies of Te Arawhiti and others who have worked together to achieve this settlement.

When I look back at when this process first started, it began at Ngahutoitoi Marae in 2011, and along with Russell Koru and Amelia Williams. That, essentially, was when the mandate was made to negotiate this settlement with the Crown. That was reached in 2011, and the AIP—the agreement in principle—was signed in 2017 right here, as I said.

There are some points in history that I want to reinforce they have been made well. I think one of the saddest things that comes through all settlements is, I guess, the Crown purchasing and the operation of the native land laws together, say, with the Public Works Act, where land is taken, the people are alienated, divided, and fragmented. That certainly was the case with Ngāti Tara Tokanui. I think one of the saddest things, for me, is learning that there was some authorisation made by the Crown in terms of some discharge, which would certainly not be allowed to be made in this time in the Ōhinemuri and Waihou rivers. Those discharges ultimately caused illness and death. It’s not unique, but it’s great that we’re able to be in a position where we’re able to acknowledge those who passed, and, for many, they may not have known why. So, for us to expose, document—and I made mention of getting the accuracy of the history right, because too often these sorts of incidents or the exposure of such incidents are so horrific that there’s a temptation not to ensure that they are put in. This is in the Crown address in terms of its history. I acknowledge both parties for achieving that. The third point on this is that by 2020, Ngāti Tara Tokanui was, essentially, landless.

That, I guess, sums up, for me, the first step in this House of addressing the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill. I look forward to working through this on the Māori Affairs Committee. I commend this bill to the House.

Well, thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise as the member of Parliament for Coromandel, an electoral constituency area that includes most of the rohe of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and it’s an area that I travel through regularly, have come to love, and enjoy its particular nature, its history, and its beauty. But there are scars on that rohe, there are scars on that land, and there are scars that some of my colleagues across the Parliament this afternoon have clearly set out. I’m not going to go further on that matter because I think Tāmati Coffey, Todd Muller, and Paul Eagle have done a very good job in that regard.

One of the slightly strange and perverse historical features of our Parliament is that every word is written down—every word that is spoken in this place is written down for the record and is kept for posterity, and that’s a good thing. Many of those words are wasted words, in many respects. Many of those words, and in too much of the work that we do in this place, are aggressive, are adversarial, are petty in some ways, and are partisan. But when it comes to pieces of legislation of this sort, there is unanimity, there is, I hope, a sense of trying, inadequately, we know—inadequately—but trying, genuinely and sincerely, to right some egregious wrongs.

I hope that in years to come, there won’t just be a staple on a piece of paper in a filed document somewhere; I hope that in years to come, when we’re all long gone from this place, there will be people yet to be born who will come and maybe look at the words that have been spoken in a debate like this, and they will learn something. They will learn something about the process of Treaty settlements, which were originally commenced a long time ago by Jim Bolger and Sir Doug Graham—highly criticised at the time, highly contentious. But, here we are, all those years later, still working our way through this process, still trying to right wrongs, still trying to educate people of my generation and other generations who were not taught the history, who were not taught the background, who were simply told that this is the way things were and that everything was fine, and we know better than that now.

From time to time—not recently, I must confess—I have had an opportunity to cycle along the banks of the Ōhinemuri River. People who will know the Karangahake Gorge will know the road is on one side of the river, and now the cycleway, the Hauraki Rail Trail cycleway—it’s one of the most ridden pieces of the cycleway in the country. It’s beautiful, and I can recommend it and can endorse recommendations for anyone who wants to go and have a very good cycle ride to go and do it.

But as people cycle through that area, I can’t help but notice the physical scars on the land, and I’m thinking particularly of the Victoria Battery that stands on the banksides there where you can still see the massive concrete cyanide tanks that not only leached but flushed cyanide into the river and polluted it to a point where it could not be fit for either human or animal consumption. That’s very sad because those monuments, that physical stuff, are still there. If you go further up in to where the kilns were burning 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and burning massive, massive quantities of native timber—literally, just raked and pulled out from the hillsides and the hills around the Karangahake—and see those kilns there and the physical scars that are still there as you cycle through this, as I say, very peaceful, tranquil part of the cycleway, it’s a confronting physical aspect of our collective history. Then, more recently, there was the draining of the wetlands and the impact that that has had on the land and the people who occupy it and, sadly, those who are no longer with us.

So I want to join with others in this House in acknowledging what now has been a long journey, and when we were debating the Ngāti Paoa and Ngāti Hei first reading pieces of legislation only a couple of weeks ago, I reminded the House that the year 2011 is etched into my mind very clearly, because that was the year that I was first selected to be a candidate for Parliament, and then, later in that year, elected. People were saying to me right from that time, early in 2011, “Get ready, the Treaty settlements are coming. The Hauraki Treaty collective settlement is coming. Get ready for it. It’ll be six months away—get ready.”, and then, every consecutive six months for the last 12 years, people have been saying to me, “It’ll just be six months; it’ll just be six months.”

Well, here we are getting closer to what has been a very long six months, where the people of Ngāti Tara Tokanui have been patient, have been generous with their time, and have been very understanding of a settlement process that is by no means adequate or appropriate in terms of the hurt and the payment and the suffering and the history that has taken place. But their generosity of spirit and their patience brings us to the point where we are today.

We’re a step closer to a formalisation of the process. We’re a step closer, at the end of this debate in a few minutes, to the bill being voted on and then being sent to select committee, where some of the outstanding issues that have yet to be resolved and tested and talked about will take place at select committee, and that’s a good process. Then we’ll come back and have a second reading and then a third reading, and then the bill will be passed to become part of the law of the land. That is, I think, appropriate: slow—interminably slow—but a process none the less.

So, in acknowledging people who in years to come may read some of the words that have been spoken here today, I hope that this is another step along the way to a brighter, better future—a more prosperous, a more optimistic, and a more united future for us all and those that will follow us. I commend this bill to the House.

Tēnei ka tū au ki te tuku aku whakaaro mō te pānui tuatahi o te pire nei. Matariki tāpuapua, Matariki whanaunga kore Matariki tohu mate. Tērā a Pohutukawa e hāo nei e tō nei i te tini ki te pō. Tēnei me haere wheturangitia atu ra koutou ngā mātanga o Tara Tokanui, koutou kei te waka a Māui, kei te ika a Māui - te hautupua. Tupua Nuku kia hono atu koe ki te kāhui whetū hau e piataata mai na e whakanikoniko i te waka o Taramainuku. Whatu ngarongaro te tangata toitū te whenua toitū te kupu ko te kupu ki a koutou rā haere, haere, haere.

Ka tika me mihi atu rā Tara Tokanui ki a Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui tērā ki a Whetumarama Wereta me tōna momo kua rongo tātou te nui o tana mahi i te wā o te ora hei whakapou kaha kia hiki kia hāpai i ngā kaupapa mō te iwi Māori, he ringa rehe he kai rangahau he wahine humarie ki te nuinga o ana mahi. Nō reira e Whetu ka hoki ngā mahara i te wa ka noho koe kei runga i tērā o ngā poari hei whakariterite i ngā tūru Māori i raro i te komihana pōti, nui o mahi ki a mātou nei. Ko te whakaaro ki tō whānau i tēnei wā, ko tā rātou nei tāonga ko te wā ka mahue ake tērā pouri. Nō reira i tēnei wā tonu haere okioki e au te moe.

Mehemea ka titiro ake ki te rohe whanui o Tara Tokanui māma noa te rongo ki ngā hononga ā-whanaunga, ā rohe, ki Hauraki whānui tatū atu rā ki Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui ā hipa atu ki te pūtake o te hononga nui ki a mātou ki Waikato. Nō reira e mihi ana ki te nui o ngā kōrero kua puta mai i tēnei wā te taumahatanga o te whakahaere o ngā take Tiriti. Ehara tēnei he huarahi māma he huarahi tino tino taumaha na runga i te āhuatanga o te hitori e rua ngā wāhanga ki a Tara Tokanui mō te rironga atu o rātou whenua tētahi mō te take raupatu ko ngā mahi o te Karauna kia tangohia ngā whenua o Tara Tokanui. Te mamae nui e kawea nei e rātou. Tuarua ko te ture, i raro i te ture o te Public Works Act tērā tētahi anō o ngā patutanga me ki kei runga i a Tara Tokanui.

Nō reira, ko tāku ki a rātou kia kaha kia kaha kia maia i ngā au piki me ngā auheke o te wā kia kaha kia maia ki te whakatakoto tika ā koutou nei kaupapa i mua i te komiti taketake te wetewete i te maha o ō koutou nei hiahia whakaaro kaore e kore ka puta mai ētahi o ngā whakaaro awangawanga i mua i a koutou; ēngari i te mutunga me anga whakamua mō te anamata te tino take ka tāea koutou tātou te rapu i ngā oranga o ngā take Tiriti.

Ka nui te mihi atu rā ki ngā Minita o mua ki a Chris Finlayson o ināianei ki Andrew Little arā ki ngā apiha o te Karauna ki ngā kaiwero o Tara Tokanui nā koutou te mahi nunui hei whakatakoto te nui o ngā hiahia kei roto ki tēnei o ngā kaupapa i tēnei wā tonu. Ka hoki ngā whakaaro ki te hononga a Tara Tokanui ki to rātou whenua ki te ia o Ōhinemuri ki a rātou nei marae maha tērā ki a Ngahutoitoi ko te tumanako mā ngā whakatupuranga e kite i ngā painga e kite nei koutou me mahia kia whakamahi i ngā painga mo ratou ake ake tonu atu. Tēnā tātou katoa.

[I’d like to stand and express my thoughts about the first reading of this bill. Matariki the rainy season, Matariki of the departed loved ones, Matariki the sign of passing. There yonder is Pohutukawa pulling and scooping the multitudes towards the night. Farewell to the wise and noble of Tara Tokanui, everyone on the great canoe of Māui and the great fish of Māui, the demigod. Tupua Nuku where you connect to the clusters of stars that adorn and beautify the mystical canoe of Taramainuku. People fade away but the land always remains, and so does the word, and this word I send forth to you, farewell, farewell, farewell.

It’s also important to acknowledge Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui, to Whetumarama Wereta and people of such calibre. We are very familiar with her huge efforts while she was still alive, her efforts to support and advocate for kaupapa pertaining to iwi Māori, a hard worker, a curious mind, a compassionate woman during her time working. And so, Whetu, I remember the time you sat on the board to manage Māori seats under the voting commission. We saw you worked a lot. The thoughts at this stage are to your family. What they have on their side is time to heal the sadness. And so, for now, farewell and rest in peace.

If you look towards the wider region of Tara Tokanui, you will also see the many kinships and relationships around the region, from wider Hauraki all the way to Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, and further towards the wider region of my people of the Waikato. And so I want to acknowledge what has previously been said pertaining to the difficulties and issues of the Treaty. This isn’t easy; it is very difficult, especially in regards to the past, in which there were two events that rendered Tara Tokanui without land: one was the taking of land by the Crown to take the lands of Tara Tokanui, the oppression of their people; second was the law, under the Public Works Act, which had major repercussions against Tara Tokanui.

I encourage them to remain diligent and brave during the ups and downs of time, and to remain forward thinking when it comes to laying down your case before the Māori Affairs Committee, to calculate and discuss your aspirations, and I have no doubt that there will be times where you will disagree with what has been said before you; however, at the end of the day, you must always push forward for the future is the main concern. Only then will we all see the benefits of te Tiriti.

I also want to acknowledge the former Minister Chris Finlayson and the current Minister, Andrew Little, and to the officials of the Crown, and to the leaders also of Tara Tokanui, whose huge efforts go unseen. I’d also like to acknowledge Tara Tokanui’s connections to their lands, to Ōhinemuri, their many marae, to Ngahutoitoi as well, with the hope that the future generation will see the benefits that you wish for them so that you can work towards that goal for ever and ever. Thank you all very much.]

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is, That the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill be considered by the Māori Affairs Committee.

Motion agreed to.

Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.