Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill

I move, That the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.

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I acknowledge and extend a warm welcome to the members of Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, who are in the public gallery or joining us online, and have shown extreme patience at this 11th hour of the parliamentary term whilst we progress secondary legislation this morning.

This current moment marks a significant step and milestone on the respective settlement journeys of the imi of Moriori, and the iwi of Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. More than six years ago—mid-February 2020—the Crown and Moriori signed a deed of settlement for their claims under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. On 17 August 2026, on a beautiful day in Wharekauri, the Crown signed a deed of settlement with Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. Both these deeds recorded the Crown’s commitments to provide shared redress to Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. The Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Deed and Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill deliver on those respective commitments.

On 16 September 2026, the Crown and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, some of whom are here today, signed the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Deed, and I acknowledge Moriori have not signed the deed at this time, but may in due course. I wish to acknowledge both the imi and the iwi for your commitments reaching this milestone; it has not been an easy journey to reach the point where we are today, and dare I say there will be some challenges ahead as well.

I want to acknowledge the work of lead negotiators, Harioa Daymond, your kuia, and Tom McClurg from Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, and Maui Solomon for the imi of Moriori. They’ve worked many, many years, tirelessly alongside others, to reach this point in time.

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I also wanted to acknowledge the trustees of the respective organisations: the Moriori Imi Settlement Trust—Thomas Lanauze, Kushla Allen, Chas Taurima, Billy King, and Hayden Preece—and the trustees of the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust: Melodie Eruera-Fraser, Monique Croon, Deena Whaitiri, Di Grennell, Megan Lanauze-King, John Preece, and Paula Page. There are no doubt others who have been an integral part to enabling us all to reach this moment.

The various generations and whakatupuranga of the imi of Moriori and iwi of Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri who have maintained your identities and languages—both ta rē and te reo—and often have had intermarriage and cross-pollination across the imi and iwi. Today’s reading is intended to acknowledge these groups, and the deep and enduring connections of Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri—to your henu, your whenua, your ūkaipō.

It’s also an opportunity to acknowledge the grievances, and the mamae, and the long-standing concerns carried by uri of both groups as a result of the Crown’s breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi. I’ll also acknowledge the Crown officials, some of you who are here today, some of whom are probably at Copperfield’s—officials, advisers, and all those who have worked in good faith throughout the negotiations that have led to the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Deed.

This bill, before the House today, differs from many of the settlement bills that have come before it. It’s bespoke and unique in nature. This bill does give effect to matters, but does not settle long-standing historical claims, or “herstorical” claims, or recount the interactions between Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, and the Crown. Those matters are dealt with in the respective deeds of settlements, with the imi and with the iwi, and the settlement legislation that has arisen through those kōrero. Instead, this bill gives effect to the shared redress between these people and others, the iwi and the imi, on Rēkohu Wharekauri, through arrangements for the vesting and management of areas of cultural, spiritual, and ecological, environmental, taio, importance. It establishes a framework for the ongoing recognition and stewardship, kaitiakitanga, of those places.

The bill vests four cultural redress properties, at Tikitiki Hill Conservation Area, in the trustees of the Moriori Imi Settlement Trust, and in the trustee of Te Korowai o Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Trust. It also vests in those entities—Te Whanga Lagoon, and five adjoining areas, sites to be administered by the Te Whanga Lagoon management board, which will be constituted by representatives of Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, the Chatham Islands Council, and the Director-General of Te Papa Atawhai, the Department of Conservation. That board will act as a guardian, with a focus on protecting and enhancing the cultural, spiritual, ecological, and environmental values of the lagoon. The bill establishes a permanent joint planning committee of the Chatham Islands Council, and members of that committee include councillors as well as appointees representing both the imi of Moriori and the iwi of Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. It provides for the Moriori Imi Settlement Trust to nominate a member of the Chatham Islands Conservation Board, and an equivalent provision will be enabled through the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri settlement legislation. The bill provides commercial redress, through an opportunity for the Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri governance entities to jointly purchase, and lease back to the Crown, the whenua at Kaingaroa School.

Finally, it restores a number of traditional names of various areas across Rēkohu Wharekauri, and the motu tautoko that includes Chatham Island, and the wider Chatham Islands, which will be officially recognised under ta rē Moriori, te reo Māori, and English-language names. This bill reflects the relationships between the Crown and Moriori, and the Crown and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. It also gives effect to redress that acknowledges the significance of Rēkohu Wharekauri, and the enduring connections that both groups hold with it.

My hope, and certainly the hope of the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith who sends his aroha and apology today, and the redress that it provides will support the aspirations of both groups, strengthen their respective relationships with the Crown, and with the kāwanatanga, and contribute to the long-term wellbeing of people and place, communities and whenua and wahi tīpuna, of ancestors and tīpuna of their respective iwi.

I consider that this bill should proceed without delay to the Māori Affairs Committee, and under the wise stewardship of the illustrious members of the Māori Affairs Committee. I commend this bill to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): Ko te pātai kia whakaaetia te mōtini. [The question is that the motion be agreed to.]

Tēnā koe, e te Mangai o te Whare.

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I think, as far as I can remember, this is the first bill where there is redress between two different groups contained in one piece of legislation. I may be wrong, but it’s quite unique in that sense, and it reflects the complex history that this bill represents. It is an important step in recognising the history of Wharekauri and giving effect to the shared redress between both Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, as well as the Crown.

At its heart, this legislation is about acknowledging history, recognising that there are enduring relationships there to whenua and to taonga, and creating practical arrangements that will enable tangata whenua to participate in decisions that have deep cultural significance to them, both environmental and historical. It provides for shared ownership and management of those places, including Te Whanga Lagoon and Tikitiki Hill Conservation Area, and it establishes structures that bring together Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, and local government in conservation agencies to protect these places for future generations.

Labour supports these measures because Treaty settlements and associated redress are more than just acknowledging those past grievances; it’s also about creating a meaningful framework in which to move forward. That is what the Treaty of Waitangi should be providing us, that framework not only for us but for future generations to enable us to work together between iwi and the Crown, but also to provide tino rangatiratanga, to provide certainty, to provide clear connection for iwi and those places that are so meaningful for you and for future generations going forward.

The Waitangi Tribunal’s landmark Rēkohu report documented the devastating consequences of invasion, dispossession, enslavement, and Crown action that left lasting scars on generations of Moriori. It also examined the experience and the claims of Ngāti Mutunga, whose own history was shaped by displacement, conflict, and Crown decision making. While no piece of legislation can undo history, Parliament has a clear obligation to recognise, in honesty, and support processes that allow communities to move forward with dignity and with mutual respect. That is why the shared redress of this bill is so significant.

This bill reflects an agreement reached by Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri themselves about how particular sites and resources should also be managed as well as protected. It reflects a commitment to cooperation, a shared stewardship, and respect for cultural values that both of those groups hold in these places. The establishment of the Te Whanga Lagoon Management Board is a particularly important aspect on this legislation that we’re considering today. It is one of the defining natural features of Rēkohu. The board’s role as a guardian and steward recognises not only the environmental importance of the lagoon but also its cultural and spiritual significance.

Likewise is the establishment of the Joint Planning Committee that ensures Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri have a permanent voice in planning and resource management. How important that is to have your voice included in the future planning of that resource and how it has looked after. That is consistent with the modern understanding of partnership and participation that is enshrined within Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It recognises that decisions affecting whenua, decisions affecting natural resources and cultural heritage, are stronger when tangata whenua are genuinely involved. Recent events concerning the ancient waka discovery under Rēkohu have reminded New Zealanders of the extraordinary cultural and historical significance of your islands. They are a huge part of our history and so important to have today.

I would like to conclude by saying that this is a really unique piece of legislation. I commend all of you for being here and making the effort. It’s been a privilege to be able to meet some of you. From the depths of my heart, I genuinely hope this framework provides a strong basis for you to move forward in your area and have pride, confidence, and tino rangatiratanga on your whenua. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Kia ora koutou. Those of you from Moriori and from Mutunga o Wharekauri back in the gallery, mōrena. This bill is not without its challenges. I’ve been reading the background on it, and I think it would be remiss of us to not acknowledge those challenges, and that Moriori have concerns around the settlement implications with Wharekauri and questions of tino rangatiratanga. These are tensions that must be acknowledged and must be recognised.

I sit on the Māori Affairs Committee with most of my colleagues who are in the Chamber today. We grapple with overlaps in iwi interests in different properties and lands all the time, most recently Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana where there’s well-understood overlaps in similar pieces of land with different iwi and hapū. The relationships between those iwi and the historic tensions—I will give examples, without speaking to your specific example, of the East Coast where some were deemed as loyalists by the Crown and some were deemed as rebels, and those two groups ended up in conflict with each other.

I think it’s very important that we make clear in this House that the Crown’s purpose with these settlements is to acknowledge the harm the Crown has done to iwi. The challenge that we face in making settlements and redress is to make sure we don’t cause further harm by committing further failings against Te Tiriti and further failings of obligation to iwi. We are well aware that, in the conventional settlement process, they’re often very divisive—the settlement processes—because of the structure that the Crown and the red book that the Crown imposes on iwi and requires iwi to meet to achieve a settlement. These things must be said and spoken. These truths must be acknowledged, and that is what I intend to do today.

I want to reflect on the nature of colonisation. There’s a gentleman called Mazin Qumsiyeh, who is an academic from Bethlehem in Palestine, and he came and he gave a very dispassionate explanation of the different courses of colonisation. One is assimilation, disposition, and genocide, and destruction of an indigenous people by the coloniser; the other is ejection by the indigenous people of the coloniser. That doesn’t happen very often. It happened in Algeria; the Algerians kicked out the French after 100 and something years of colonisation. The Indians kicked out the British. It does happen, but not very often.

The other one, the third option, is reconciliation and redress between the coloniser and those who were colonised, and that must be based on a principle of genuine mutual respect and coexistence. That is what we are seeking to do, I believe, in Aotearoa New Zealand: to properly reconcile and redress for the harms caused by the Crown to iwi. The complexities of the relationships contained in this bill are part of a story of how we make amends for harms done in the past, and how we make good for the future; that we may live in peace and mutual coexistence, in a way that everybody thrives, and the dignity, autonomy, and rangatiratanga of the indigenous people is upheld by the Crown. Kia ora koutou.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT party to speak in favour of this piece of legislation. The quote that Steve Abel just gave on the complexities of human relationships is nowhere more stark than in the need for legislation such as this.

The complexities of relationship between iwi and imi and the Crown have been seen in 2018, when we had a historical account, apology, and acknowledgment; and last night we did the first reading of the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Claims Settlement Bill. Those are dealing with the complexities of the relationship between the Crown and imi and iwi.

Here is a complication in the relationship, and I hope, in the same way Steve Abel has mentioned, that we are doing this in a way that isn’t unhelpful. It’s going to go through the select committee. I’m not a member of the Māori Affairs Committee, but I can see this is going to take a lot of working out and understanding; and making sure that, as Government so often does when it tries to help, it doesn’t makes it worse. I really do hope that the process that we’ll go through will make sure everybody who is trying to overcome the complexities of human relationships finds in this legislation the path to do so, for some of the most beautiful, productive, and important cultural, economic, and environmental places in New Zealand. I commend this bill to the House.

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I rise on behalf of New Zealand First in support of the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill. I’d like to begin my contribution by acknowledging the Minister who spoke first to this piece of legislation, the Hon Tama Potaka, and acknowledging that this, in his words, is a “bespoke” and “unique in nature” piece of legislation. We’ve heard that through some of the contributions we’ve had so far.

Yes, as humans we are a little complex in nature, and our relationships with ourselves and each other can at times demonstrate complexity in the way in which we interact with each other, and the way in which we have interacted with each other in the past. But that sets a foundation for building a new way of interacting into the future. Treaty settlement bills and redress bills enable us to reset our relationships, with ourselves, with our whānau, and with our wider communities in all their shapes and forms.

I believe these types of pieces of legislation enable us to move forward together as a people and as a society. The society on the Chatham’s, this idyllic setting to the east of the South Island, is a mere 500 kilometres or so away Wellington, but also a lifetime away from Wellington, which is not such a bad thing.

My colleague the Hon Shane Jones obviously has a deep connection with the Chathams. As the regional development Minister and fisheries Minister, he has focused heavily on the Chatham Islands through infrastructure funding, shipping, and transport support in fisheries management decisions. And it is his hope, through the course of this Parliament, that he’s been able to strengthen the bonds between the Chathams and Wellington.

And, of course, we heard last night in the Treaty settlement bill for Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri about the trip that many went on last year on the Air Force Hercules, which I was actually meant to be on myself. However, because there was a desire to take the Rātana band, some of us got left behind on the mainland. But it was a great trip, and the stories that have come back from that are legendary in nature.

Today does mark a significant step forward as we come together to discuss the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill. This piece of legislation is born out of patience, enduring commitment, and the shared vision of two distinct iwi: Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. It’s important to be clear about what this legislation represents. The bill gives legal effect to the key elements of the shared redress deed. And at the heart of this legislation is the recognition of shared connection to the whenua, to the awa, the moana, and identity. It is a collective effort designed specifically to acknowledge shared redress. Their areas of interest are completely overlapped, and that’s where that complexity comes in, and has been noted already, the Māori Affairs Committee with have some work to do, to panel beat it all into shape, so that everybody is satisfied with how the bill makes its landing—the final shape of it.

I will conclude that I am pleased—though I haven’t yet been able to get to the Chathams—I do have the mug. In fact, there are cupboards full of them all throughout the Parliament, probably the most generously given mug that Parliamentarians receive, particularly when we arrive in this House.

On that note, I wish everybody well as we honour the past, provide certainty for the present, and build a sustainable future and foundation for Rēkohu Wharekauri. I commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka. I’m very pleased to stand for this first reading for the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit when the previous speaker spoke about Shane Jones travelling over there, and I do wonder whether he’s actually one of the present day’s largest traders that goes to Wharekauri Rēkohu. He brings across plenty of his kumara from up the Far North there, in exchange for the wonderful kai that, of course, the islands are very famous for.

This redress bill is appropriate. It’s an opportunity for a new beginning. It will be interesting, as my colleague Steve Abel said, with the select committee opening up for submissions later on today. Hence, we’re wanting to get this done; let’s get this done expeditiously so we can start the process off. And, of course, with those submission processes, we do get lots of communications from different lenses, from all different sides of the debate itself. We hope that this redress is indeed what that word actually says: it is a redress.

I do want to thank the work of all those that have been involved with getting this particular bill to this stage here. I’m sure many of them are in the gallery today, as well as our officials from Te Tari Whakatau. They have a very important job themselves, in making sure that this is indeed a satisfactory process, and one that doesn’t cause further aggravation to what the Crown has historically done and what we’re trying to fix here. I acknowledge the work of the office and the work that they do.

So this bill here has a number of things. I think one of the interesting parts is Rēkohu, the name. It’s not, perhaps, so familiar to a number of people, being the Moriori name. I’m from Ngāti Mutunga, as I mentioned last night, and I’m very familiar with Wharekauri. I’ve got to wonder where the kauri came from, because on my visit recently I didn’t see too many kauri or trees around there, so it would be interesting to learn that story. But Rēkohu: I understand the meaning of that is “the mist before the sun”—another beautiful word, a beautiful name for the islands, and of course, part of this redress is looking at including the Māori and Moriori names within the certain landscapes over in the island there.

But without any further delay, I am very happy to commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

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I just wanted to acknowledge the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. He’s done, surprisingly, a really good job in the last year! Yes, they’re full of surprises, this National Party, sometimes! Obviously, he’s one of your relations; I want to mihi him. To Greg Fleming, who, no doubt, will have a kōrero, our Māori-speaking Pākehā member, I want to mihi to him for his tautoko. It has been a good committee—a really good committee—very bipartisan. To our deputy chair, too—I want to mihi to her for her contribution. Oh, there’s my mate Georgie at the back there, too. I’d mihi to the Māori Party too, but they’re having the day off today!

💬 Hon Tama Potaka: Like most days.

They’re having the day off today. It’s been a really good time, traversing these types of kaupapa—challenging for the committee, as it is challenging for whanaunga up there in the gallery.

I do think these types of kaupapa are real challenges for politicians and our communities and whānau to traverse: how we whakakotahi for this kaupapa; how we address this. This a unique settlement in terms of what happened to Moriori and, also, where the kaupapa conquest comes in. Those are the sorts of things that the courts traverse: how you apply that kaupapa conquest in terms of a people who were going about their own business for 400 years, until our chairman’s relations turned up and took over. Then they—and I should say “we”, too, because I am Ngāti Mutunga too. Their rights were breached by the Crown. So we as a Government, or whoever the Government is, have to get our heads around that, because there is no doubt that our people—first of all, Moriori, and then our Taranaki people—had their rights breached. The Crown breached those rights, so we don’t want to get into this—so it’s really hard. And then, of course, everybody marries each other, right? Everybody is relations in the end. We’re all whanaunga in the end anyway.

We have to understand, though, as Steve Abel talks about, who is the major fault here: who is the coloniser, who is running the divide-and-rule strategy, who is splitting the indigenous people? We have to get our act together so that our families and our young people can benefit, because the reality is that, whether it’s Moriori or Māori, we’re living off the smell of an oily rag, and it’s the Crown that keeps getting away with murder, because it is the Crown that has robbed Māori of the opportunity in terms of great potential, in terms of economic development, in terms of developing our reo, whether that’s Moriori reo or Ngāti Mutunga reo. It’s always the Crown at fault, and if we can focus on that area, we will see the benefits of these sorts of initiatives and kaupapa. I just want to say to all our whanaunga, all our people who have come here today, that this is a special bill, the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill, and it must be traversed in a bipartisan way, because of the problems that we have, in terms of overlapping claims, which is a constant problem for Governments, a constant problem, and people are missing out. If we focus on who has the pūtea, who has the resources, who has the chance to support our whānau, I think we will have a better result in the end.

The main thing is that we must whakakotahi for the kaupapa and focus on the Crown, focus on the Government, and get over what happened over the previous 400 years. I just want to make those points, congratulate everyone, and wish us all luck as we traverse this over the next few years. Kia ora anō tātou katoa.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I too really love that tie that you’re wearing. The chakra is green. I rise in support of the first reading of this bill. As we’ve heard from colleagues across the House, it is a bespoke bill; it is unique, it’s tailor-made, if we say it that way, and it needs to be, because we are dealing with a beautifully unique set of circumstances. I am really glad that this bill has been drafted in order to tackle the issues that are going to arise.

When we speak about overlapping interests and overlapping claims, when I was blessed to be placed on to the Māori Affairs Committee after being voted in, the first settlement bill that we dealt with was the Whakatōhea bill. I remember that was very emotionally taxing on myself and some of my colleagues. It was the first time I had been able to observe the whole issues arising from what people feel are overlapping interests. I am really glad that this bill has been drafted. I’ll be watching it from afar if I’m not blessed to be on the Māori Affairs Committee again, and I commend it to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai ki Pāremata.

It’s an honour to rise on behalf of the Labour Party to speak in support of the Rēkohu Wharekauri Shared Redress Bill. It has been a really interesting journey, learning about the shared whakapapa, from both my readings but also from discussions with my colleagues. I was fortunate to grab the Hon Willie Jackson for a few minutes this morning to get his reckons on it as whanaunga. The history is such a complicated one. I think one of the parts of this that really stuck out for me was that I remember learning about Moriori at primary school, but that story that was told was so inaccurate and didn’t address or speak to the people of Moriori in an accurate way. We know we have such a long history in this country of telling the wrong story about Māori and telling the wrong story about colonisation and what happened in New Zealand when the Europeans arrived.

It is a real pleasure and of great importance, but also comes with some sadness, that we are putting into our history books some correct information about what happened for Moriori and Māori during colonisation, and I think it’s important, because we need to set the record straight. I hope every single child in our primary schools is not learning the same stories, the completely made-up stories, that I learnt in primary school, and instead are learning the accurate information about the harm done by the Crown to so many Māori, including your two iwi. The sadness comes because of how many kids, tamariki like me, 30 years ago in primary school—the inaccuracy, and I hope that every 40-year-old is relearning, like I am, what actually happened and knowing the deep racial implications that colonisation had on everyone in New Zealand, especially tangata whenua.

I really want to acknowledge both the Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri for your time, for coming and making the effort to come to the House today.

As other speakers have spoken to, this redress bill is unique. The Hon Ginny Andersen said it’s the first time she thinks that we’ve had a bill of this nature. The compromise, the ability to work together, the ability to move forward, I think, is highly commendable to everybody who has been a part of this process. A lot of that mahi has happened over many, many years, and so I commend all of that journey that would have been painful and challenging but, also, one that looks to the future, and a future for two iwi who have such deep connections to whenua. I hope that, moving forward, those connections to your whenua, to your tikanga, to your reo, are only enhanced for your whānau as we move forward in New Zealand.

There’s been a huge question around tino rangatiratanga, both to do with this redress bill and the two iwi concerned but, also, in New Zealand as a whole, for many, many years. I hope that this is one tiny step in the direction of tino rangatiratanga for whānau and iwi.

It’s really fascinating to read more about this history. I feel incredibly privileged to learn more. Congratulations on getting to this point, for Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri. I commend this bill to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): Greg Fleming.

Pai rawa atu tō neketai.

[Your necktie is awesome.]

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): Oh, mihi mai—mihi mai [thank you—thank you].

GREG FLEMING:

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ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): Ko te pātai kia whakaaetia te mōtini.

[The question is that the motion be agreed to.]

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

Referral to Select Committee