Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare; thank you for this opportunity. When we discuss the Treaty bills, we always look towards the second reading, which is always considered after the considerations of the committee; the good work that’s done by the committee to make sure that members across the tribe and those impacted by the settlement—and in this case, the settlement for te Pire Whakataunga Kerēme a Ngāti Tara Tokanui—it’s a good opportunity to cover some of the issues, to discuss some of the matters in the bill, but more importantly how they relate to those that it affects the most.

We saw most recently, of course, in the Whakatōhea settlement bill, which passed through its third reading this afternoon, expressions from hapū about some of the dissatisfaction with their particular claims with respect to the bill. But there was a guarantee in there that the Waitangi Tribunal will continue the work it’s doing.

In the case of Ngāti Tara Tokanui, there’s an opportunity here to support the claimants and those who are looking towards addressing the past, but also making sure that Ngāti Tara Tokanui puts itself in a good position into the future through settlements. It speaks of a number of protocols in the bill that will allow Ngāti Tara Tokanui to be able to progress their interests into the future. It was made clear through the submissions, and of course in the bill here this evening, that the hard work has been done. The negotiations have all but been completed. Of course, it’s now up to this House to make sure that it progresses in a timely manner to allow Ngāti Tara Tokanui to get on with what they need to get on with. So it’s my honour to have a short second reading call on this bill here this evening and commend it to the House.

I rise to give a kōrero in support of this bill before the House right now, the Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill. We’re in the second reading, as the speaker before me, Peeni Henare, just mentioned, and for the benefit of people watching from home, including my brother, whose birthday it is today—happy birthday, Tony; I love you so much, but not taking away from the magnitude of this bill—this bill will give legislative effect to the provisions requiring so in the deed of settlement signed between the Crown and Ngāti Tara Tokanui in June 2022.

Now, if I may, just a brief background on a couple of areas—first, a brief background on Ngāti Tara Tokanui, the iwi. Now, it’s an interesting story. It’s composed of Ngāti Tara and Ngāti Tokanui. They had distinct whakapapa back in the day, but they were joined over many generations through intermarriage—[Receives water from member] thank you, my friend Tom Rutherford, great local MP—and together created the iwi known today as Ngāti Tara Tokanui. Now, worth putting on record, I believe, also is that during the 19th century, Ngāti Tara rangatira described themselves primarily as Ngāti Koi, so if we ever see this reference with respect to speaking about this bill, just for the benefit of members and others listening, that also can refer to Ngāti Tara Tokanui. They’re an iwi based around Paeroa in the Hauraki region, and they’re one of 12 iwi and hapū that have interests in the Hauraki region. The area of interest is centred around Paeroa and extends west into the Hauraki Plains and north to the base of the beautiful, breathtaking Coromandel Peninsula at Wharekawa.

Now, just a little bit about the historical account which underpins this Treaty settlement. In essence, the history between the Crown and Ngāti Tara Tokanui is one of land confiscation, land acquirement through misgivings, and gross disrespect and disregard for tangata whenua. It’s agreed that this kind of began around 1865, when the Crown confiscated almost 300,000 acres of land around the Tauranga area, thereby extinguishing all customary interests in the land. Some land was returned to other iwi by the Crown, but Ngāti Tara Tokanui had no land returned to them and did not appear to have signed the sale deeds or to have been paid by the Crown despite the fact that they had interests in the land that was included in the confiscation.

There’s so much—there’s so much history, and there’s so much that took place—but if I can come to a kind of summary, today just two acres, two out of all of Ngāti Tara Tokanui’s original holdings agreement with respect to creating a gold mine, remain in Māori ownership. The reason why I share these historical backdrops is because it’s important that they’re put on record and that members of the House and listeners at home, including my brother, receive a clear picture as to the extent of the damage and the ripple effect that land confiscation has on iwi for generations.

Coming back to our recent history and perhaps the impetus for this Treaty settlement, Ngāti Tara Tokanui formed the Pare Hauraki Collective in 2009, specifically for the purpose of negotiating a Treaty settlement. In 2011, a deed of settlement was initialled, but it wasn’t until June 2022 that a deed of settlement was signed, and this portrays once again, as we reflected on today when we were talking about Whakatōhea and other Treaty settlements, how Treaty settlements span not only years but decades and, indeed, generations. The genesis of the negotiations for this Treaty settlement occurred under the stewardship of the Hon Christopher Finlayson, then the Hon Andrew Little, and now under the care of the Hon Paul Goldsmith.

I look forward to the third reading when I would like to go into a little bit more detail about the past but also going into the future. We commend this bill to the House. Thank you.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time.