Ririnui Mita: Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Ririnui Mita: Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14605] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 Otira hei wahi tuatahi maku e tu tautoko ana au i nga mihi ki a koutou a Ngati Manawa a Ngati Whare. Koutou ra i takahia mai te huarahi mai ra te timatanga mai o tenei mahi a koutou tae noa mai ki tenei wa. Me penei ra te korero ka nui te aroha ka nui te mihi ki a ratou kaore i tae a-tinana mai. Ratou kua wheturangihia ratou ra hoki i arahi mai i a koutou kia tutuki pai ai nga moemoea nga wawata a koro ma a kui ma. No reira e mihi ake ra ki a Bill ki a Denise kihai i te haramai i tenei wa i roto i te tinana otira kei roto i te wairua a kua tae mai. Na runga i tena mihi kau ana ki a koutou. E kore e taea e tenei ki te mihi ki tena ki tena o koutou kei mahue ake etahi ki waho. No reira kia ora ra koutou mo te kaha o ta koutou mahi i tenei wa a ka nui ra te mihi. 
[ 
Firstly for me I rise to support the accolades accorded to you Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare. You were the ones who set out on the road at the very beginning of this task of yours and have finally arrived here today. Let me put it this way: there is much regard and admiration for those ones who could not be here physically. I refer to those ones who have since passed away and who led you here to ensure that the dreams and aspirations of the elderly menfolk and womenfolk are fulfilled. So I doff my hat to Bill and Denise who are no longer able to be here physically but in spirit only and say: it is done. With that I welcome you most graciously. It is not possible to acknowledge each and every one of you separately in case someone is left out. At this point I acknowledge the hard work that you have done to date. Well done 
.] 
I first join with my colleagues the Hon Parekura Horomia; the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson; and the Hon Tariana Turia. They are the previous speakers who paid special tribute to a very very fine individual a fine New Zealander he being the lead negotiator for the Ngati Manawa claim he being Bill Bird. He was a person well known throughout the claims community and certainly in the central North Island where he played a big part not only in leading the Ngati Manawa people to this point but also for his contributions to the settlement of Ngati Manawa’s interests in the central North Island settlement. So with those thoughts in mind I pay special tribute to him and to Denise Howden. They were involved in a very difficult undertaking. 
I first encountered Bill Bird and Denise Howden’s negotiation skills some time in 2005 I believe and I was really impressed by the way they handled themselves with absolute dignity. As the Rt Hon Doug Graham would say one gets some lessons in dignified behaviour from the types of people whom one meets in the negotiation process. The way they conducted themselves and the way they treated other people in particular Ministers of the Crown was an unforgettable experience. These people had to endure very challenging times in particular in representing not the easiest iwi to get along with—Ngati Manawa. 
At this point I declare a conflict of interest: I too am Ngati Manawa. I expect my cousin Paul Quinn to make the same declaration in this House. Having made that statement I really have no difficulty in representing the best interests of Ngati Manawa. The people who make up the iwi of Ngati Manawa in Murupara and areas throughout the central North Island are people who want to move on. They are people who want to put the grievances of the past the sadness of the past and the hurt of the past behind them. They want to create a benchmark or a platform for the development of their people. Their legacy to future generations is in the fact that they made the big decisions they did the hard yards and they made the hard decisions. That has made life easier for future generations of Ngati Manawa. Ngati Whare who are of the same area—in particular Minginui and Te Whaiti—have done that also. 
While sitting beside my colleague the Hon Parekura Horomia the previous Minister of Maori Affairs who played a big part in these negotiations he reminded me that I should make special mention of his whanaunga James Carlson who is in the gallery and mention that James Carlson is also a “Horomia”. I have never heard this translation before and I will be honest about it. “Horomia” in English means “pigheaded”. I said I did not think that was true but he said: “In our family it does.” Having thought about how difficult James Carlson was to deal with I think he is pretty close to the translation. James Carlson is here today and that takes quite a bit of grit quite a bit of substance and quite a bit of what my friend Parekura Horomia referred to. We will leave that subject there. 
Other people who need some acknowledgment in the first reading of this bill include the Hon Margaret Wilson who initiated the discussions on behalf of the previous Labour Government. The mantle was then transferred to the Hon Mark Burton for a short time and then to the Hon Michael Cullen who basically put the vehicle in top speed and gave instructions that this deal must be done. Although I congratulate the current Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations this evening in particular on the acknowledgments in his own speech I have to say that by the time he took responsibility for the portfolio the hard yards had been done! The hard yards had been done so from here on it is easy as far as he is concerned. 
Having said that I admire Minister Finlayson’s tenacity because as I read through the bill and previous speakers have gone through the components of the bill I see aspects of cultural redress that are quite rightly included; they are areas of specific cultural and historical importance to the people of Ngati Manawa and to the people of Ngati Whare. The commercial redress as my colleague Parekura Horomia said will never be enough. The people of Ngati Manawa and of Ngati Whare acknowledge that this settlement is the best they are going to do for now and the test for them will be how well they can grow it. 
A part of the settlement package that I am interested in is the relationships with other Crown agencies. I will say while the Minister is in the House that there are some concerns within the claimant community that this Government is no longer committed to securing relationships between iwi and other Crown agencies as part of a Treaty settlement. I hope I am wrong and that what I have heard was just a rumour but I know that a few iwi around the country are very concerned about that. Rumours being rumours I would rather not take too much notice of them until I hear the substance and that can come only from the Government. 
Protocols in terms of Ngati Manawa’s interests in fisheries are really important. There is special mention in the bill of their interests in the native eel industry. I had the privilege I would say of going walkabout in Minginui. I got an understanding of how vast and how commercially viable that industry is. I am not suggesting that Ngati Manawa or Ngati Whare will start to get into the commercial eeling industry but they could make a pretty good contribution to it given the geographic nature of the area they come from and the vast amounts of wetlands in the area. 
There are also relationships or protocols with the Minister of Conservation. That is important. I think it was the Minister who made reference to the importance of the Whirinaki Forest. Having been there and having seen  
Jurassic Park 
 the movie I can understand how brilliant that area is. I happened to be wandering around there one day when people were filming. It has incredible scenery it is an incredible environment and it is incredibly Hollywood as well but never mind! That was Minginui; the area where many of my tipuna lived. To see them on the screen was quite moving. One never knows: my friend Parekura Horomia might make the movies one day. 
The Minister of Energy and Resources is very important as well in terms of energy and alternative energy resources in the future. Those iwi like many other central North Island iwi will be very important in terms of alternative energy sources. We have seen the same with Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau with geothermal as with Ngati Tuwharetoa as well. We will soon see much more of that with Te Arawa particularly Ngati Whakaue. 
I think I have made my point fairly clear that Ngati Manawa went on a very very long journey to get to this point as did Ngati Whare. The reason why the journey took so long was that there were some points about the settlement legislation that needed to be understood and covered thoroughly. Although cultural redress has a very broad meaning when we get down to the tin tacks of the detail of what cultural redress means in particular for Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare we realise that there are some areas of land that cannot be forgotten cannot be left out of the discussion and cannot be taken off the table in terms of the settlement. We realise that their interest in these areas have to be acknowledged in the settlement legislation. As with commercial redress the challenges are there for them. 
The protocols with the Crown agents are equally important when we see what happened to Tuhoe recently. I understand that those discussions have reopened; it will be interesting to see what will come of that. 
Hon Christopher Finlayson 
: They never stopped. 
Hon MITA RIRINUI 
: Tuhoe say something else. I am glad to hear the Minister say that they never stopped but Tuhoe have a different opinion. I am sure we will see a lot of that come to fruition in the days to come but we also may not. 
In my closing comments I once again pay tribute to my people of Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare who have been on this incredible journey and got their people to this point. I say well done. Nga mihi o te ra ki a koutou katoa. Ma te wa ka whai hua ka puawai a koutou moemoea a koutou wawata. Kia ora tatou. 
[ 
The compliments of the day to you all. In time your dreams and aspirations will bear fruit and flourish. Congratulations 
.]