Paraone Pita: Taranaki Iwi Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Taranaki Iwi Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9765. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. “Tihei wā mauri ora tuku mauri ora ki te whei ao ki te ao mārama.” Ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou Te Iwi o Taranaki ā koutou e noho nei i roto i Te Whare ēngari i wareware ana au ki te mihi hoki ki a rātou e noho tonu ki te wā kāinga i te ‘hakarongo mai i ēnei kōrero ā me ērā atu e mātakitaki mai ana i runga i te pouaka whakaata; nā reira ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. “Behold the breath of life and wellness to the natural and enlightened world.” I pay tribute to you the tribe of Taranaki seated here but I must not forget those who remained at home and are listening in to these speeches and watching on television; my acknowledgments to you all.]The Taranaki Iwi Claims Settlement Bill continues a process that is aimed at addressing those deeds performed by the Crown against Māori since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. While I was listening to the contributions made earlier by my colleagues in the House here I remembered one of the earlier claims from one of the iwi of Taranaki—I think it was Ngāti Mutunga. I can recall the two people who represented their iwi before the Māori Affairs Committee at the time. There were two young gentlemen by the names of Jamie Tuuta and—I just forget the name of the other one other than to say that I have since found out that he married a niece of mine so perhaps I should declare a vested interest given that my niece or their children will certainly be beneficiaries of that settlement.However that aside I can recall my question to them: why were they accepting the quantum that was being offered to them? I will never ever forget the reply that Jamie made. He said: “Pita we do not have the same political clout as other iwi.” I can always remember that. When they talked about political clout they were talking about fellow citizens within the Māori world who seemed to have ready access to the corridors of power. I have never ever forgotten that response. Perhaps one could possibly place that analogy on this particular settlement but be that as it may we have heard—and I agree—that the settlement is about looking to the future.Although it has been said twice in this House that “Words are enlightening but the written one is binding.” I am not quite sure I agree with that because I come from an era where your word is your bond. I just want to make the point here that words may be enlightening but it is not always that people are bound by the written word—they may start out being bound by it but further down the track there is a departure from that. We all need to just remind ourselves of the Treaty of Waitangi itself.Be that as it may I ought to give some history to the background of this settlement bill. We all know that before 1860 Taranaki iwi were participating—successfully I might add—in the trading economy and retained control over much of their customary land. Perhaps having said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement might be of some interest to them. In 1860 the Crown purchased land at Waitara despite strong opposition from Wīremu Kīngi Te Rangitake which led to war between Taranaki Māori and the Crown. It has often been said that the Crown used a scorched earth policy destroying kainga cultivations and food stores. In 1861 peace was negotiated; however the iwi were left only Ōmata and Tataraimaka blocks to occupy. The Crown attempted to reoccupy these blocks as well and as a consequence life was lost amongst the soldiers and war resumed.Land was eventually returned 15 years later to some Māori—not all Māori; the “some” Māori were those who were described as being “loyal” Māori—through individualised title thus extinguishing customary rights. In 1866 Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi established a peaceful settlement at Parihaka on Taranaki iwi rohe. I think the subsequent events against them probably could be described as one of the worst if not the worst atrocities carried out in the name of the Crown. Hence the bill that we have before us to try to address that particular issue. None the less this whole process has been a lengthy one. Iwi of Taranaki have been referred to as having to endure hardship and having a strong resilience but also having a sense of survival. That is manifest in the presence of representatives of the iwi whānui. It is also represented by the work of those who have been responsible for bringing their claim to this point in its journey.The settlement details are articulated in the bill itself. It makes reference to cultural redress. I just want to articulate some of them—the vesting of 29 Crown-owned sites to Taranaki iwi 14 of which are vested in fee simple 13 are vested as historic reserves; there is the Maitahi Scientific Reserve to be vested as a scientific reserve; and the fee simple estate in the Sutton Road Foreshore Local Purposes Reserve which is vested as a local purpose reserve. There is joint vesting of Ngā Motu or the Sugar Loaf Islands. That will continue to be managed by the Department of Conservation. Of course there are 14 deeds of recognition and the relationship agreement between Taranaki iwi and the Ministry for the Environment.It establishes the following protocols for the iwi. One is the taonga tūturu protocol; then there is the fisheries protocol; and the protocol with the Department of Conservation conserving lands of Taranaki iwi interest. And then of course there is the local government participation redress which allows for direct iwi representation on the Taranaki Regional Council’s two principal standing committees. I just want to make the comment at this time that given that this year towards the end of the year there will be the local body elections I hope that the iwi will actually stand candidates to sit on the full council and then they can determine the membership of other committees as well.Just in closing I want to wish the iwi well. We know that this settlement will never fully compensate them. Again as in all other settlements the nation should be grateful for the generosity that iwi such as Taranaki iwi have allowed for New Zealand to continue its relationship in a way that our forebears anticipated when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Nā reira tēnā koe; tēnā anō tātou katoa.