Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill
I seek leave to present a legislative statement on the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill.
DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave has been sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is none, and leave has been given. The legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.
Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: I move, That the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.
Tākiri mai te ata, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea. E mihi ana ki a koutou kua tau mai nei i runga i te karanga o te rā.
E ngā mate, haere, haere, haere ki te pō. Ki a tātou te hunga ora, tēnā tātou.
Tihei mauri ora!
Ka mihi au ki ngā mana o ēnei whenua, ko Te Ātiawa, ko Ngāti Toa Rangatira, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko te Kāwanatanga tēnei e mihi nei ki te kaupapa o te wā. E Ngāti Hāua, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
[Dawn breaks, it lightens, it brightens, it is day. I acknowledge you who have come here in support of the call of the day.
To the dearly departed, rest in peace, go into the night. To us, the living, greetings to all of us.
It is the breath of life!
I acknowledge the authorities of these lands, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, greetings to all of you. The Government hereby acknowledges the undertaking of the day. Ngāti Hāua, thanks and greetings to you all.]
In March, I was welcomed on to the Ngāpūwaiwaha Marae in Taumarunui to sign Te Pua o Te Riri Kore, the Ngāti Hāua deed of settlement. It was a great occasion, and I’ll never forget it. The sun was shining in Taumarunui and I received a warm greeting. I want to thank the members of Ngāti Hāua who have gathered to watch the bill being read for the first time, both here in the gallery and online across the motu. You have shown great strength and determination in coming to this point.
It was a special occasion. I did make the mistake of deciding to drive myself from Auckland to Taumarunui and I got a ticket on the way back, but that’s by the by. I’ll set that aside. Today marks a significant milestone in the shared history of Ngāti Hāua and the Crown, and it’s a testament to the commitment of everybody involved that the Ngāti Hāua settlement journey has been a long one, and it’s important today to remember and pay tribute to leaders and the many whānau members who passed on before they could see the fruits of their efforts.
One significant leader was the late chair of the Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust Eugene Taupene, who passed away in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdowns. I personally didn’t have the honour of meeting Eugene, but his rich legacy has guided these negotiations. I want to acknowledge and thank the Ngāti Hāua negotiation team for their collective effort—the chair Graham Bell and his team: your wisdom, patience, and determination were critical in achieving this settlement, which truly promotes reconciliation.
On the Crown’s side, I acknowledge the work of my predecessors, the Hon Christopher Finlayson and the Hon Andrew Little. I particularly want to acknowledge the work of the Chief Crown Negotiator, Dr John Wood. I want to thank my ministerial colleagues, Crown agencies, local authorities, and members of Parliament who are here today to mark this occasion.
Today’s speaking marks another milestone for Ngāti Hāua in their settlement journey. Negotiations started in 2017 but Ngāti Hāua have been looking for justice for generations. As Ngāti Hāua negotiations manager Aaron Rice-Edwards said, “We’ve been an iwi that has been pushed in the shadows but we’ve always been a tough fighting iwi. We never give up. It’s taken us over 160 years to come to this point, to realise that vision of riri kore (no more fighting.)”
The settlement is grounded in the Crown’s acknowledgments and apology for its many breaches of Te Tiriti. I formally delivered the Crown apology to Ngāti Hāua at the signing of the deed of settlement in March. During the ceremony, we all felt the enduring hurt of Ngāti Hāua. The day was a poignant reminder of the importance of the Crown recognising and acknowledging its wrongdoings. At the ceremony, I also spoke of the statutory pardons for Ngāti Hāua tīpuna and Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu and Te Rangiātea, which are facilitated through the Ngāti Hāua settlement. Alongside the deed, this bill records the Crown’s treatment of Te Rangiātea and Mātene and the resulting intergenerational stigma and mamae experienced by their uri and by Ngāti Hāua. This bill will enact long-overdue statutory pardons for these Ngāti Hāua tīpuna who were treated so harshly by the Crown.
In recognising the harm caused, we’ve worked with Ngāti Hāua to build a redress package that addresses these grievances. It provides for the return of 64 sites of deep cultural significance to be transferred as cultural redress, including sites that will be jointly vested with some other groups; a cultural revitalisation fund; and recognition of the innate connection of Ngāti Hāua to their rohe, and their obligations as tangata tiaki, through a range of mechanisms such as Te Pou Taia—a joint management committee—relationship redress with many Crown agencies, and financial and commercial redress of $19 million for the right to purchase a number of commercial properties.
The deed of settlement also recognises the importance of Te Pou Tikanga to Ngāti Hāua, the innate values that underpin Ngāti Hāua’s aspirations for Treaty settlement, and the vision for a restored relationship with the Crown. It’s my hope that this settlement will mark the beginning of a strengthened relationship between Ngāti Hāua and the Crown, based on mutual trust, cooperation, and partnership.
Madam Speaker, friends: no settlement can fully compensate for the loss and prejudice that Ngāti Hāua people suffered. Through this settlement, the Crown hopes to restore its honour and alleviate Ngāti Hāua’s deep sense of grievance. Today is about looking forward to the future, while acknowledging the long and difficult journey it’s taken to get there.
I believe that the settlement lays the cultural and economic foundations for Ngāti Hāua to reestablish their connection with their rohe, strengthen their identity, and provide for a stronger cultural, social, and economic future for generations to come.
I think there are huge opportunities in the decades to come for Ngāti Hāua—particularly the new generation coming through—to thrive and prosper and build on the opportunity that is provided here, and to restore particularly economic prospects. I acknowledge that this is the first reading of three to support the passage of this legislation through the House, and my preference is that the bill should proceed without delay to the Māori Affairs Committee so that we can progress this settlement as soon as we can. I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Ko te mihi tuatahi ki te Atua nāna nei ngā mea katoa. Ko te mihi tuarua ki te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koe. Āpiti hono, tātai hono, te hunga mate ki te hunga mate. Āpiti hono, tātai hono, te hunga ora ki te hunga ora.
Ki ngā uri o Ngāti Hāua, tēnei te mihi maioha, tēnei te mihi whakamānawa ki a koutou. Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, huihui mai tātou katoa.
[Thank you, Madam Speaker. The first greeting is to God to whom all things belong. The second greeting is to the House that stands here, greetings. As the lines of descent connect us all, the deceased come together. As the lines of descent connect us all, the living also come together.
To the descendants of Ngāti Hāua, affectionate and venerated greetings to you. And so, thanks and greetings to you, to all of us gathered here.]
Today marks a significant moment in the House; one of reflection, one of long overdue recognition, and one—hopefully—of hope, as well, for the future. I’m humbled to be able to speak today in the first reading of your bill, the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill, that gives legislative recognition to Te Pua o Te Riri Kore, the deed of settlement between the Crown and Ngāti Hāua, signed on 29 March at Ngāpūwaiwaha Marae in Taumarunui.
This is not the beginning of the Ngāti Hāua story, nor is it the end. It is a chapter that, I believe, carries a great weight—a chapter built on strength of the generations of your uri whānau, hapū, and the leaders who never gave up pursuit of justice, truth, and tino rangatiratanga.
Your rohe encompasses the Upper Whanganui River, stretching from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu to the townships of Taumarunui, Ōwhango, and National Park as well. In the early 19th century, some Ngāti Hāua hapū also settled in Heretaunga in the Hutt Valley, where I hail from now. Their history is one of connection, connection to the whenua, to the waters, to the taonga, and the natural world, as well as one another. But it is also a history that is marked by systemic marginalisation and profound breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
From the 1840s onwards, the Crown failed Ngāti Hāua in its most fundamental responsibilities as a Treaty partner. In 1846, when conflict broke out in the Wellington region, Ngāti Hāua tūpuna were targeted and punished not for wrongdoing but just for their presence, for their resistance, and for their identity. Te Rangiātea was sentenced to life imprisonment and died behind bars. Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu was hanged. Five others were exiled to Australia. These were the actions of a Government not seeking peace; they were acts of domination, they were acts of fear, and they were acts of injustice.
This set in motion decades of Crown aggression in Whanganui, in Taranaki, and in the Rohe Pōtae of Ngāti Hāua that stood beside the Kīngitanga in times of war. You stood to protect what was rightfully yours, your culture, and your rangatiratanga, and yet the Crown continued to meet Ngāti Hāua with force, with confiscation, and with legislative trickery. From the 1860s onwards, the Native Land Court used much of this to individualise and alienate Ngāti Hāua land. Much of this was done without any consultation, without informed consent, and with no fair compensation. The Waimarino Block was awarded in hearings where many Ngāti Hāua never knew it was even happening, and was quickly purchased by the Crown, including lands where kāinga once stood. Promises made during the construction of the North Island main trunk railway were not kept.
This is an opportunity for some of these injustices to be addressed, for what is contained within this bill to enable Ngāti Hāua to move forward. I want to say today that I look with hope for this to be moved ahead, and I wish to acknowledge all of those who have come here today for the passage of the first reading of this bill today.
He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa. Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, huihui mai tātou katoa.
[Warm regards to you all. And so, greetings and thanks to you, to all of us assembled here.]
Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Kia ora, Ngāti Hāua in the gallery. It is always tough reading, but it particularly strikes me, reading your settlement bill—and I commend the size of it and the scale of it—that, from that first decade since the signing of our founding agreement, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Ngāti Hāua has been mistreated by the Crown, and in every subsequent decade from 1840, when the tūpuna were wrongly killed and five exiled to Australia, to Tasmania, with the specific instruction that they be treated poorly. “Treat the prisoners harshly” were the instructions of the Crown.
In the 1850s, Hāua joined the Kīngitanga movement, a movement to defend the lands of iwi Māori from invasion by the British. They were at Parihaka; they supported that protest. When the Crown invaded, in 1881, they arrested Hāua people and destroyed their property. In the 1860s, they were labelled as “hauhau” and “rebels” by the Crown and have suffered the stigma of that labelling. Then, through to the 1880s, the Northern Main Trunk Railway was put through their lands. The Crown used public works legislation, and when we speak in this House, to this day, about the problem of public works acquisition of Māori land, here it is; it begins during the colonisation of Aotearoa and the Main Trunk Line. Further, land was acquired for dams, the Taumarunui native township, the Crown establishment of the Tongariro National Park, without consulting Hāua—incident after incident, in decade after decade. It is a means of understanding the unrelenting mistreatment by the Crown of this iwi.
Ngāti Hāua are virtually unable to exercise kaitiakitanga over the forests, waterways, the kāinga, and the wāhi tapu of the rohe, and have suffered poverty, poor housing, low educational achievement, and lack of opportunities for social and economic development. This, in turn, has damaged the spiritual and cultural wellbeing of the iwi and led to the dispersal of the Ngāti Hāua population to urban centres. They have persistently called for the maintenance and recognition of their rangatiratanga, and here today, in this House, it is our purpose, as the representatives of Pāremata, this Parliament, to take that step towards restoration of the rangatiratanga of Ngāti Hāua. I am very glad to be speaking in support of this bill, which takes that step.
I read the accounts of the court martialling and sentencing of Te Rangiātea, an elderly and sick and immensely unwell man, who was confined for life, and Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu, to be hanged by the neck until dead, and the grisly and exceptionally harsh behaviour of the Crown. At the time of his hanging, the commanding military officer said it was “a most sanguinely display of vengeance”—vengeance? This is the nature and the character of the British invasion and theft of Māori land in our history, in this country, in this place. Here we must stand, in this House, and acknowledge it and make good. I want to say that this bill pardons Te Rangiātea and Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu for their convictions and recognises their character, their mana, and reputation as well as that of their uri, and we stand in support of that recognition.
We stand in support of that pardon, and we thank you for your presence here, because you, by your presence here, are in fact going some way to restoring the honour of the Crown. Kia ora koutou. I commend this bill to the House.
Thank you, Madam speaker. A bill that has been a long time coming has been introduced to the House today by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, who has reflected on the experiences he’s had in Taumarunui when the deed of settlement was signed. This is another step on the journey that this Minister is continuing on behalf of the Crown, on behalf of this Government, on behalf of this Parliament, and on behalf of New Zealand, to seek, as Ngāti Hāua has done, a meaningful relationship with the Crown in a peaceful way—a journey that Ngāti Hāua has been on for a long time—and this bill is recognising that.
Putting down the historical context of it, the stories, as we’ve just heard, the extreme martial law—extrajudicial—the way the British and the Crown acted over decades and decades has been put down on paper, and we’re trying to find a way forward as one people in this country, with our own pasts and histories and things to look back at, things to look forward to, but we need to make amends as best we can and seek forgiveness as best we can. That’s what this apology and this settlement is trying to do, on behalf of the Crown, today.
Thank you, Ngāti Hāua, for your patience and your persistence. Thank you to your representatives, who have come here today; I’m sure we will see many more of your iwi coming to this House as this bill progresses through the House. We need to accept what’s happened in the past and make amends as best we can; that’s what this bill is doing. The ACT Party supports this bill. Thank you.
Kia ora e te Māngai. Ruapehu Maunga, Whanganui Awa, mai i Te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa, ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au. Ngāti Hāua iwi, Ngāti Hāua tangata e tū, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou.
Ko Taranaki Maunga e mihi nei, ti’ei mauri ora.
[Thank you, Madam Speaker. Ruapehu mountain, Whanganui river, from the Alpine Clan to the sea, I am the river and the river is me. The people of Ngāti Hāua, the citizenry of Ngāti Hāua that stand here, greetings to you and to us all.
Mount Taranaki greets you, it is the breath of life.]
I am pleased to talk, as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, in this first reading of the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill. This bill gives effect to matters contained in Te Pua o Te Riri Kore, the Ngāti Hāua deed of settlement of historical claims. Te Pua o Te Riri Kore was signed earlier this year by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations on 29 March 2025, between the Crown, the Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust, and Te Whiringa Kākaho o Ngāti Hāua. The bill contains provisions related to redress that require legislation for their implementation. Other aspects of the settlement are provided for only in Te Pua o Te Riri Kore, as they do not require legislative authority.
I believe that anyone living in New Zealand cannot fully understand the place where they reside without the knowledge of its history, and a great place to start is the historical account contained in local Treaty settlements. When reading the historical accounts within this bill, you realise that breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi began immediately after its signing. The historical account illustrates the many occasions where the Crown did not meet its obligations as a Treaty partner. Of all the travesties that are accounted for in this bill, tūpuna losing their lives is a poignant one for me. One tūpuna—Te Rangiātea—was sentenced to confinement for life, and died soon thereafter in prison. Another tūpuna—Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu—was sentenced to death and was executed by hanging. This all occurred in the 1840s, where there was a conflict over land in Heretaunga between the Crown and Ngāti Hāua. During that conflict, a number of tūpuna were captured, including Te Rangiātea and Mātene. But other tūpuna were captured and exiled to Australia as well.
As the case is with other historical accounts contained in Treaty settlements throughout New Zealand, the Crown caused numerous wrongful conflicts. From the late 1850s, Ngāti Hāua joined the Kīngitanga movement and supported their whanaunga in fighting the Crown in Taranaki. In 1865, the Crown confiscated land in Taranaki, which included land in which Ngāti Hāua had interests. That same year, the Crown ordered an attack on the Kīngitanga at Ōhautahi Pā. Ngāti Hāua supported the peaceful protest at Parihaka against the Crown’s attempt to enforce land confiscations. In 1881, the Crown invaded Parihaka, arrested Ngāti Hāua people, along with many others, and destroyed their property, along with other great travesties. Since the 1860s, Ngāti Hāua have endured the intergenerational stigma of being labelled hauhau and rebels by the Crown. The amount of land that Ngāti Hāua were dispossessed of by the Crown is immense, from land for the North Island main trunk railway to the very large Waimarino block, to lands on the banks of the Whanganui River, or to the Taumarunui native township, all occurring with various wrongdoings by the Crown.
One cannot change the past, but you can change the future. This settlement contains a redress package that returns culturally significant sites. It has a cultural revitalisation fund, financial redress, and statutory pardons for the two tūpuna who were tried under martial law and treated with exceptional hardship, who I spoke of earlier. Settlement packages never go far enough in the minds of many, but I do truly hope that this settlement bill provides opportunities for a better future for a very proud iwi, which is Ngāti Hāua.
Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. I commend this bill to the House.
Tēnā rā koe e te Māngai o te Whare, otirā tēnā rā tātou. E tū ana ahau ki te tuku i ngā whakahōnore ki tō tātou ariki nui, Kuīni Nga wai hono i te po, te whare kāhui ariki whānui tonu, rire rire hau, pai mārire.
E ngā mana whenua o Ngāpūwaiwaha, e Ngāti Hāua, Ngāti Hāua ki te rangi, Ngāti Hāua ki te nuku, Ngāti Hāua e tū ake nei.
[Thank you, Madam Speaker, indeed greetings to us all. I stand to offer recognition of the honour of our great monarch, Queen Nga wai hono i te po, the wider royal family, peace and goodwill to all.
To those with authority over the land of Ngāpūwaiwaha, Ngāti Hāua, Ngāti Hāua on high, Ngāti Hāua on the land, Ngāti Hāua who stand here.]
I stand here sharing threads of hononga as an uri of what once was called Hauhau and Pai Mārire faith, and also as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou mō tā koutou hīkoi roa, mō tō koutou hokinga mai ki te ūkaipō. Tēnā rawa koutou.
[I hereby acknowledge you for your long journey, and your return to the homeland. Many greetings to you.]
Let us be clear: today is not a celebration of justice delivered. It is a solemn recognition of mamae endured, of rangatiratanga undermined, and of whakapapa forced to conform to a Crown-controlled process.
We mihi to Ngāti Hāua. We acknowledge your strength, your persistence, and all that your iwi have endured to reach this point. Ngāti Hāua have arrived here not just bearing the weight of raupatu but the burden of being forced to negotiate their identity through a framework not of your making.
The settlement signed at Ngāpūwaiwaha Marae on 29 March represents both the potential of redress and limitations of a system that remains fundamentally colonial. This Treaty settlement process is Crown controlled. We know the Crown sets the rules. These processes are determined by the Crown and often limit discussion, limiting an equitable redress. We know settlements are capped at representing 1 percent of what was lost, and the future generations will come back to 99 percent. “Full and final” for Māori, but never final for the Crown, who retain the power to legislate and override, forcing iwi to into Western legal entities—they must form Crown-approved legal structures.
Settlements create division: a process that fractures whakapapa, forcing our people into artificial legal entities, and a process that creates division, sometimes, and not unity among whanaunga. Let us not pretend this is justice. This is a political process, not a just one. It is what the Crown is willing to concede, not what Ngāti Hāua are truly owed. Still, within the constraints of this framework, Ngāti Hāua have carved a path forward. The statutory pardons for Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu and Te Rangiātea are powerful. They restore the mana of two rangatira wrongly convicted for defending their people. These were not just isolated acts of injustice. They were calculated attacks on an iwi defending its whenua, its oranga, and its tino rangatiratanga.
The return of 64 culturally significant sites, including Makakote Pā, Ngā Huinga, Whakapapa Island, and the guardianship of Hikurangi Maunga alongside Maniapoto—these are more than land parcels. They are reciprocities of identity, whakapapa, and wairua. The $6 million cultural revitalisation fund and $20.4 million in financial redress, while a fraction of what was lost, may support Ngāti Hāua in rebuilding the economic and cultural foundations endured by colonisation. The creation of Te Tātairango o Te Karauna provides a platform, though imperfect, for ongoing engagement.
But let us be clear: partnership was promised in 1840. It should not require a settlement to begin. This is not an end; this is a beginning, but one born not from justice but compromise. Ngāti Hāua iwi deserve more than an apology. They deserve full rangatiratanga. The Crown must now go beyond symbolic acts. It must stop weaponising legal processes and start honouring the full process and promise of Te Tiriti.
Ngāti Hāua, uri of warriors and orators, your mokopuna will stand taller because of what you have reclaimed. Ka tika a muri, ka tika a mua—when we put things right, when we put the past right, we clear a path for the future. Te Pāti Māori stands in support of this bill in its full entirety.
Mā te tika, mā te pono ka tū te mana motuhake. Tēnā rawa koutou katoa.
[Through truth and integrity will self-determination be realised. Many greetings to you all.]
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Ruapehu te maunga, ko Turakina te awa, nō Rangitīkei ahau. Ko Dossor Redmayne tōku w’ānau, ko Suze tōku ingoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata.
[Greetings to you all. Ruapehu is my ancestral mountain, Turakina is my river, I am from Rangitīkei. My family is Dossor Redmayne, Suze is my name. Greetings and thanks to you all. Welcome to Parliament House.]
Today we celebrate Ngāti Hāua. One of the tangata whenua tribes of Te Kāhui Maunga, Ki Tangaroa—the mountains to the sea. The work to reach this day, the first reading of the Nati Hāua Claims Settlement Bill, spans decades, with resilience, persistence, and aroha passed down through your kaumātua, your negotiators, and your whānau.
There are many to acknowledge and thank: Graham “Tinka” Bell, chair of the Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust, and vice chair Lois Tutemahurangi, who couldn’t be here today due to the recent passing of her brother Keith Rama—ngā mihi; Brett Anderson, Aaron Rice-Edwards, Joey Allen, Louise Wahapa, Piki Taiaroa-Whatarangi. Ngā mihi to all those trustees past, too, who have played a significant role: Jim Anderson, Rumātiki Henry, Teresa Hall, and others. And finally, to those who are no longer with us, but on whose giant shoulders this mahi started: Eugene Topine, Hikaia and Celia Amohia, Titi Tihu, Archie Taiaroa, Kevin and Flo Amohia, Ngaire Amohia Etana—just to name a few.
I want to acknowledge you all, Ngāti Hāua: your strength, your dignity, and your unwavering pursuit of justice. For generations, your people have carried the weight of the Crown’s actions. Today, the Crown acknowledges and apologises for its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. You suffered extensive harm as a result of unjust and unlawful Crown actions. This included warfare, the unlawful deaths of your tūpuna, the confiscation and wrongful purchase of lands, and the erosion of your tribal structures and leadership. These actions tore at the fabric of your iwi. They caused deep intergenerational trauma and enduring loss of tūpuna, of land, and of your reo.
Today, the Crown seeks not to erase history but to recognise it, to apologise for it, and to look to a shared future. The settlement includes both financial and cultural redress as a means of restoring the Crown’s recognition of the mana of Ngāti Hāua and enabling a new era of prosperity and self-determination. It recognises Ngāti Hāua’s deep and enduring connection to your whenua, your awa, and your taonga tuku iho. But more than redress itself, this is a foundation. It’s a platform from which Ngāti Hāua can continue to grow on your own terms, in line with your aspirations and grounded in your tikanga.
Tinka, I am truly grateful for having got to know you over the last couple of years. Your determination and commitment is infectious; your kōrero wise and inspiring. During our most recent conversation last week, while you were sitting on the side of the hill in a bush, you talked about Minister Goldsmith’s commitment to this process. You were gracious and grateful. He turned up and fronted up, you said. As did you, Ngāti Hāua—96.6 percent of your members agreed to the settlement package and post-settlement arrangements. I know you’re excited about the future, Tinka; excited about creating a powerful and revered region for all whānau, for Māori and non-Māori. I could feel your energy for the name of your post-settlement governance entity, what it symbolises, and the mana it carries, which lives in your heart and the hearts of Ngāti Hāua.
Te Whiringa Kākaho o Ngāti Hāua takes inspiration for its name from the whakataukī “Whiria ngā kākaho, e kore e w’ati”—“Weave together the kākaho reeds, they become unbreakable”. Your name emphasises strength and unity. Ngāti Hāua, you knew before the Crown acknowledged it: unity is a key driver of any collective endeavour. Te Whiringa Kākaho o Ngāti Hāua reflects and celebrates this kaupapa. To the people of Ngāti Hāua, thank you. Thank you for your generosity in engaging in this process. Thank you for holding to your mana and for walking a path that was never easy but always principled.
As we look ahead, may this settlement be a stepping stone to renewed prosperity, cultural strength, and enduring rangatiratanga for Ngāti Hāua. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Ki a koutou, Ngāti Hāua, kua tae mai nei i tēnei wā, e mihi ana ki a koutou. E mihi ana ki a koutou i whakarangatira i a mātou i tēnei wā. Rawe. Rawe ki te kite i a koutou, ngā kaumātua, ngā rangatira. E mōhio mātou ki ā koutou mahi ki te kōkiri i tēnei kaupapa. E mihi ana ki a koutou. Waimārie ana mātou i tēnei wā ki te kite i a koutou. Nō reira tēnei te mihi ki a koutou katoa.
[Thank you, Madam Speaker. To you, Ngāti Hāua, who have come here at this time, I acknowledge you. I thank you who have honoured us at this time. Great. It is great to see you, the elders, the leaders. We aware of your work to progress this endeavour. I acknowledge you. We are fortunate at this time to see you. And so, I hereby greet all of you.]
After that mihi, Tinka, I’m a bit worried about you and your National Party affiliations—a bit too close there, I thought! I thought you were with us there for a few years, when you were with Te Puni Kōkiri, but clearly you’ve changed sides, as we have to in this changing world. But I want to mihi to our last MP who put that kōrero out there, because that’s what it’s all about: getting to work with Governments, whoever they are. So ngā mihi nui ki a koe, Tinka.
You know, sometimes I feel I’m part of you, too, you know? As you know, I’ve got a long relationship with Taumarunui. That bloody Archie Taiaroa used to drive me crazy. He used to tell me I was an urbanite who was lost and needed to find my way home, and my mother used to tell him to shush up. And she used to tell Shane Jones to shush up too, because he was the chairman of the fisheries commission. We remember Archie Taiaroa well, don’t we, Shane? He was such a rangatira in terms of this kaupapa.
Archie sort of set the base, didn’t he? I think of him sometimes when I’m back in Taumarunui with my Auntie Chrissy, who always has pakangas with you too! She tells you she should be running the tribe and running Ngāti Maniapoto, and then can’t get on the Ngāti Maniapoto board, you know?
I feel so much a part of Taumarunui, given my grandparents had a farm just outside of Taumarunui, at Matiere, and I played rugby down there. I should have made the King Country team, I thought. So I look at you today and I mihi to you and I acknowledge all the people. I think about all the people from that time—our people who know how to work with Governments.
So I just want to join in all the praise. I was going to get a bit negative—I feel in a bit of a negative sort of space—but I watched our Minister this morning, Minister Goldsmith. You know, it’s a funny time for us in te ao Māori, as we see what’s happening around us, and I’ll get on to that a bit later in the day—
Hon Shane Jones: Ha, ha!
Hon WILLIE JACKSON: We’ve got Shane Jones, as you know—
Hon Shane Jones: Kia ū ki te kaupapa, e kara.
[Stay on topic, my friend.]
Hon WILLIE JACKSON: “Ū ki te kaupapa” [“Stay on topic”]—that suits Shane Jones right now. I want to get on to his kaupapa at the tribunal, but I might save it for another time.
But this is a time to celebrate. It’s time to celebrate, and sometimes we have to say that, well, we got here. But we had some challenges from Ngāti Ranginui about our rangatahi—you know, “Who’s going to inspire us?”, they said, and I want to get on to that. But I think that’s one of the challenges for the tribe, particularly in Taumarunui, because you’re sort of in the middle of nowhere, right—I mean, Taumarunui is not exactly the most exciting town in Aotearoa. So how do we pass on the benefits of this settlement and inspire some of the rangatahi around Taumarunui, so that when they go to Auckland, they are representing Taumarunui?
You know, we hear all the kōrero from these Ngāpuhi that “Oh, I’m from Ngāpuhi.”, or we might hear “I’m from Ngāti Porou.”, but we don’t have enough of them talking about the tribe. But they should do, given the proud legacy that’s been put in place by Archie; by you, Tinka; and by you, kaumātua. You want them to carry the kaupapa all the time. You want them to say—you know, some of us can’t even say the tribe’s name well enough, you know?
We need to teach our rangatahi all of these sorts of things, because that’s part of being part of a settlement, isn’t it? It’s not just about the pūtea; it’s carrying the name, it’s carrying the iwi, it’s carrying the tīpuna, and I think these are the lessons from these settlements.
Long ago, we gave up on seeing justice in terms of the pūtea, because we all know in the House that the pūtea can never represent the justice. But the apology does mean something. The apology does mean something, and it gives us a chance to think, “Well, where to now?”
So I say today, and I mihi to you all and to the House for this acknowledgment. I look forward to the next steps in terms of this settlement and where you go as a tribe in terms of your inspiration with rangatahi, and, again, to you, Tinka—even though you’ve changed sides—mihi nui ki a koe, koutou katoa i tae mai nei, tēnei te mihi i a koutou, tēnā anō tātou katoa. Kia ora.
[Big congratulations to you, to all of you who are in attendance. This is my greeting to you, greetings to you all. Thank you.]
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Ko Ruapehu te maunga, ko W’anganui te awa, nō W’anganui ahau. Ko Carl Bates taku ingoa. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
[Greetings and thanks to you all. Ruapehu is my ancestral mountain, W’anganui is my ancestral river, I am from W’anganui. My name is Carl Bates. Greetings and thanks to you all.]
Welcome, Ngāti Hāua, to te Whare Pāremata. Welcome to your House, to our House. Welcome to this very special day in your journey.
Suze Redmayne, my colleague and friend, spoke to me after the deed of settlement was signed on 29 March earlier this year, and spoke to me about how significantly and how profoundly the morning had touched her and the kōrero and the stories and the engagement she had that morning. Willie has just spoken—
DEPUTY SPEAKER: Willie Jackson.
CARL BATES: Willie Jackson has spoken about who would like to go to some rohe around this country. Madam Speaker, I’m sure I can speak for you, as a member of Parliament in that area; my colleague Suze Redmayne; and, of course, myself as the member of Parliament, the mema Pāremata, for Whanganui—that we all love coming to Taumarunui to engage with you and see you. I’m looking forward in my future role—as the rohe that I am responsible for expands a little, maybe after the next election—to spending a little bit more time engaging and getting to know you.
Suze spoke about the significance of the statutory pardons for the tūpuna Te Rangiātea and Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu when she spoke to me after the signing of the deed of settlement. It was interesting that just late last year, I’d been reading a book, because the Prime Minister, in his wisdom, had added me on to the Justice Committee. I’m an accountant, not a lawyer. I’m the better of the two professions. I know how to look after the pūtea. But I thought I’d better learn a little bit more about the journey that New Zealand has been on, and I read a book, Fragile Foundations: The Application of English Criminal Law to Crimes Committed in New Zealand between 1826 and 1907. It spoke about the story of your tūpuna as one of many stories like theirs across the country, and the way in which the application of British law in New Zealand had been challenged and how we had these fragile foundations on which justice in New Zealand was built.
When I joined this House and had my maiden speech, I spoke about the story of Taranaki Maunga and its journey down the Whanganui awa, up the coast, ultimately settling to where it is now, and the tears that it left behind that create the awa that we all live by and are part of. When I shared that story and shared how I’d learnt that at primary school, I never thought in that moment that I’d be referencing that story so many times in such a short period of time I’ve had the privilege and the honour of standing in this House. I hope that through each settlement that I’ve had the privilege of speaking on as a member for the rohe that we all love and is close to our hearts—that each settlement that goes through this House breathes more life into our awa and enables all people who live by our river, by our awa, to look forward to what, in this case, the post-settlement entity is going to provide as an opportunity for your people. I look forward, in my role, to working with you and being part of that journey.
Today is a special day, and there are members who I think are probably more qualified than me to kōrero this morning who are going to be part of the journey as this bill is taken through the Māori Affairs Committee. But it really is a recognition, I think, from this side of the House that we have our local members of Parliament that represent the rohe in which these settlements relate speak on the bill, and hopefully be part of a positive journey where we can have a few less tears go down our awa in the years to come. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Otirā e tū tautoko ana ahau i te mihi ka tukuna atu e Te Ātiawa ki a koutou, ki a tātou, Ngāti Hāua, i tēnei ata. Nō reira nau mai, haere mai, whakatau mai rā.
[Thank you, Mr Speaker. Indeed, I stand in support of the greetings offered to you, to us, Ngāti Hāua, by Te Ātiawa this morning. And so, welcome, welcome, welcome.]
Rightfully so, today, Hansard will record the names Rangiātea and Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu in the records of today’s Hansard. I say that because I can’t imagine how difficult it has been. Ngā uri of these two kaumātua have had to carry the burden of what happened to their tūpuna, and it’s right that this House acknowledges the incidents that happened under martial law in Aotearoa. It should never have happened. It should never happen again.
I want to acknowledge all of the uri of these rangatira for carrying that burden. I won’t say the word, but they were labelled. It wasn’t right that they should be given labels, and they paid the ultimate price for standing up for their rights in our country. There have been many mentions of those who’ve been involved. I won’t name all of them, but I can’t help but think that uncle Archie Taiaroa will be happy today. I want to acknowledge everyone that has carried this kaupapa to this day.
I also want to encourage all of the members of Ngāti Hāua to submit to the Māori Affairs Committee. We heard from the chair, David MacLeod. I am absolutely certain that he will manage the process of getting this bill through the committee—every part of it—in a way that, hopefully, we see the second reading before the end of the year. I would so enjoy if we were able to pass this bill before Christmas, and it is possible. I’m saying to all other parties that we in the Labour Party will work collaboratively to make sure that that happens.
I want to also just highlight a recent report from the Controller and Auditor-General. The name of the report is How public organisations are fulfilling Treaty settlements. I encourage the leadership of Ngāti Hāua to have a read. It’s my sincere hope that the issues that have been raised in that report will not be a burden on Ngāti Hāua. If you read the report, you will see how the implementation of Treaty settlements have been impacted basically by the inability of public organisations to be able to deliver on the settlement. I’m not speaking out of turn here. It’s well documented that there are agreements that have come through this House that still have not yet been delivered on.
So there are a lot of mechanisms within this Treaty settlement that we’re about to finish the first reading on. I encourage Ngāti Hāua to have a look at it and to be vocal: tell the Government, tell the Crown—no matter who it is—that your expectation of delivering what’s in the settlement actually gets delivered—because no amount of apology will ever satisfy any of us if we don’t deliver on what we say we’re going to—so that this Parliament never ever impacts on Ngāti Hāua in the way that it has that’s recognised within the settlement.
Nō reira ki a koutou, ko te tūmanako kia uhia mai e te Runga Rawa āna manaakitanga ki runga ki a koutou, o Ngāti Hāua. Tēnā rā tātou.
[And so, to you, the hope is that the Most High covers you, Ngāti Hāua, with his care. Greetings to us all.]
E kara, e Atawhai, maranga wairua mai. Tēnei anō te rangi i whakaritea, ka kitea kua oti te whakaea, kua oti te whakatutuki ngā tūmanako i wahā mai e koe i ō hīkoinga maha ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-ika. Tēnei anō hoki te rā i whakaritea hei whakamihi mā te motu, hei whakamihi mā te Whare Pāremata ki te ngoi, ki te werawera, ki te kaha, ki ngā roimata i tukua kia taea ai e tō iwi, e tō hanga a Ngāti Hāua te whakatutuki i tā rātou i ohia ai i te wā i a koe e matomato tonu ana.
Nā reira e te iwi, koutou kua tatū mai ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-ika, tēnei te Whare e tū nei a mātou, he pononga nā koutou. Ko te kawa o tēnei wāhi, ka pau te toru tau kei a koutou te rangatiratanga me aha wēnei tuari, wēnei pononga wā koutou. Nā reira ko tā mātou he tautoko i roto i te pānuitanga o tēnei pire i tēnei rā. Te ngako o roto, ngā tikanga kua whakapūmautia ki te kapu o te pepa, me te wahanga i oti i tō koutou wā te whakaea.
He wā anō e haere ake nei, mā āpōpō anō āpōpō e kōrero. Māku, me tōku rangatira, a Winitana, me tō mātou pāti e kōrero mō tēnei wā tonu. Engari tukua māku anō tētahi kupu e whakatakoto ki tō koutou aroaro: ko te tau 1976, ahau te kaikōrero i te Manu Kōrero i tō mātou kura, i Tīpene. Ka meinga mātou kia haere ake ki Taumarunui. Kātahi te wāhi anuanu ko tēnā, koia ko Taumarunui.
Engari tokomaha noa atu ō mātou mātua o Ngāpuhi i heke ki reira, mahi puhi ai. Ko taku taokete tētahi, a Jim Reihana me tana wahine, te kaihana a Archie. Nō rāua te whare i te taha tonu o te marae i te pokapū o te tāone, i Taumarunui. I reira mātou, ngā poi o Tīpene, koia te wā i tūtaki ai ahau ki a Tiki Pāreti rāua ko Titi Tehu. Mēnā ō koutou kaumātua, nāna mātou ngā poi o Tīpene i whakatau. Ko te wā tērā i ākona matātingia ai mātou ki te hītorīa i tērā wāhi, me te whakapapa o tērā wāhi ahakoa 17 noa iho ngā tau.
Nā reira tēnei tūnga ōku he tuohu me te mahara ake ki ō koutou mātua. Nā reira tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.
[My friend, Atawhai, rise in spirit. This is the day that was determined to see the conclusion of the resolution and achievement of the hopes that you carried on your many journeys to Wellington. This is also the day that was decided on for the nation and Parliament House to acknowledge the energy, the sweat, the strength, and the tears that were expended so that your iwi, your people of Ngāti Hāua, would be able to accomplish what they desired while you were still with us.
And so, to the iwi, you who have arrived in Wellington, to this House of ours that stands here, it is your servant. The protocol of this place is that once three years are up, you then have the authority to decide what these servants, these attendants of yours are to do. And so, what we are doing is supporting the reading of this bill today. The essence of it, the procedures that have been enshrined on the surface of the paper, and the burden whose realisation was brought to completion in your time.
At a future time, it will be up to tomorrow to speak for tomorrow. It is up to myself and my leader, Winston, and our party to speak of this time. However, allow me to offer one more word before you: it was the year 1976, I was the speaker in our school, in St Stephen’s, in the Manu Kōrero speech competition. We were then made to go to Taumarunui. What a cold place that was, Taumarunui.
However, many of our parents from Ngāpuhi moved there to work in the forestry. My brother-in-law was one, Jim Reihana, and his wife, Archie’s cousin. The house right beside the marae in the middle of the town, Taumarunui, was theirs. If they are your elders, they were the ones that welcomed us, the St Stephen’s boys. That was the time at which we started to be taught the history of that place, the genealogy of that place, even though we were only 17 years old.
And so, this speech of mine is a bowing of the head in remembrance of your forebears. And so, greetings to you, indeed to all of us.]
Naturally, we stand and speak in support of the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill. As I said in our Māori language, we acknowledge the generations that have gone on, and one of them I have already done in an earlier speech in my career: read into the record the tohunga of this broad area of Ruapehu, Whanganui, Taumarunui, ā Titi Tihu, and also his fellow traveller, the descendant of the trader Barrett, known on the marae up at that area and a feature of the Kaitupeka Marae of the 1970s: Tiki Parete.
Now the task lies with those who will carry the settlement forward, and it’s a timely reminder how onerous, from time to time, that responsibility will be. It’s important that all of us take note of the recent report of the audit department that reminds each Government that these are ongoing obligations. The focus of giving effect to the Treaty will gather momentum when seen in the context of what did the Crown commit itself to do in relation to individual, specific settlements. I have no doubt in my mind, as further refinements go forward with other work pertaining to the broader Treaty debate, this is an area that will remain of high importance.
So, to the broader whānau of Archie Taiaroa, to the current leaders, to the community of Taumarunui: a place to shelter—I hope that this settlement represents a piringa, a place to shelter, in times of adversity in the future. Kia ora tātou.
Motion agreed to.
Bill read a first time.
The question is, That the Ngāti Hāua Claims Settlement Bill be considered by the Māori Affairs Committee.
Motion agreed to.
Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.
Permission has been granted for a waiata, and we’d love to hear your voices, please.
Waiata—“Koia Nei”
We’ll just wait until people leave the gallery—and perhaps other people are making their way in—before we take the next call.
Tēnā tātou e te Whare. E mihi kau ana ki a koutou i tau mai i tēnei o ngā rā. Ko te āhua nei ko te rahinga o koutou i tae mai. Heoi anō e taka ana te wā.
Ko tēnei te pānuitanga tuarua. Ka mutu tērā ko te committee of the Whole House. Ka mutu tērā ko te pānuitanga tuatoru. Kāre au e hiahia kia noho roa koutou, nō reira me tīmata tātou ināianei.
Nō reira nau mai, haere mai, whakatau mai ki tō Whare.
[Greetings to the House. I greet you who have come here this particular day. It appears that most of you have arrived. Anyway, time is passing.
This is the second reading. Upon its conclusion, it will be the committee of the whole House. Once that is concluded, it will be the third reading. I do not want you to be sitting for too long, so we should begin now.
And so, welcome, welcome, welcome to your House.]