Kirkpatrick DanaDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast): Thank you Madam Speaker. Kia ora he hōnore nui māku ki te kōrero ki a koutou katoa. He mea nui ki ahau te tū i mua i a koutou me te whakanui i a koutou. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Kia ora it is an honour for me to speak to you all. It is a big deal for me to stand before you all and honour you all. Thank you thank you thank you everyone.]This is one of a number of settlement claims bills I've spoken on in this House and I'm particularly pleased that I'm here to speak on this one as it is deeply ensconced in my very electorate the mighty East Coast the best electorate in the country.Whakatōhea are one of the many proud iwi in my electorate. Proud kaitiaki of whenua and wai te reo and mātauranga in the area around Ōpōtiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Some of their kaumatua and whānau are here today to hear the second reading of their Treaty claims bill. I welcome you all and want to pay my respects to all of them to the hard work they've done to get to this point in time for the struggles and the heartfelt anxiety that still remains with many in this iwi today and for the vision that marks their determination to provide for their people despite the atrocities that happened to their ancestors.Might I also acknowledge all of those who have worked on the legislation and the deed: successive Ministers of the time Chris Finlayson and Andrew Little; past and present Māori Affairs Committees; Te Arawhiti's team Jake Pollock and Glenn Webber; the negotiators Maui Hudson and Jason Pou Gina Smith Vaughan Payne Arihia Tuoro and of course kaumatua Robert Edwards Graeme Riesterer and CEO of the trust board Dickie Farrar. Welcome back to the House for this the second reading of your claims bill. It's an honour and a privilege to speak.I want to pay tribute also to all of those who have gone before who may have not got the opportunity to see this settlement reach its conclusion. This is just as much for them today as it is for the mokopuna and tamariki here with you. Whakatōhea is a proud iwi with over 16000 members comprising six hapū: Ngāi Tamahaua Ngāti Ira Ngāti Ngahere Ngāti Patumoana Ngāti Ruatākena and Ūpokorehe. Whakatōhea was at the heart of some of the worst treatments in the Māori land wars. These have been addressed in the apology to Whakatōhea which can best be described as a small redress of the considerable hurt that was created by the actions of the Crown.In 1865 the Crown invaded Ōpōtiki and waged war on Whakatōhea. Crown troops killed many members of Whakatōhea—including non-combatants—and adopted a scorched earth policy destroying homes crops livestock and taonga. The Crown confiscated most of Whakatōhea's productive lands and forced hapū into insufficient reserves known as the reservation. The Crown's actions caused Whakatōhea to live with economic cultural and spiritual loss and created divisions between whānau and hapū. The Crown alone was responsible for those Treaty breaches and it is only right now for the Crown to apologise to Te Whakatōhea.Whakatōhea has been seeking justice from the Crown for generationsirstly in 1914 for the Crown to inquire into and provide compensation for the confiscation of land. That attempt was unsuccessful however the iwi continued to petition the Crown with many members contributing to those efforts. In 1946 Whakatōhea received a small amount of compensation for those confiscations£20000. In the 1990s Whakatōhea was among the first iwi to enter settlement in negotiations with the Crown and in 1996 they initialled a deed of settlement. That deed of settlement was never put to ratification because of concerns about the scope and sufficiency of the settlement and I'm pleased that many of those who took part in the 1990s process no matter their view at the time are here in support today. The current settlement negotiations began in 2016 more than 100 years on from that initial petition and 30 years on from these negotiations.Last weekend I had the honour of attending the Ahuwhenua Māori farming awards where Whakatōhea was one of two finalists. They didn't win but they took away massive learnings and some significant accolades for being the finalists. And what occurred to me at the time that evening was that it wasn't winning the Ahuwhenua that would have been the greatest achievement for the iwi but the reflection on what their first dairy farm had done for them.Purchased in 1946 with that £20000 grant from the Crown for the confiscation of land the farm was the first step into commercial ownership and diversified income for the iwi. Notably this strategy was voiced by the inimitable Robert Edwards who said If they won't give us our land back we will buy it back piece by piece." And that's what they did. That farm started a legacy continued by the iwi's vision and leadershipcommercial platform that in time would fund the purchase of many other farms kiwifruit blocks forestry and the foray into aquaculture. The vision and confidence of the iwi to then use a portion of the returns from that platform for investment into social projects like education apprenticeships housing and much more has provided a long-lasting legacy that is testament to them.In fact Uncle Robert's enthusiasm was so great that when the CEO was away on holiday he bought a farm. And he now says with a twinkle in his eye he can't understand why she won't take holidays anymore—and that's a true story.The mussel factory and the journey of ownership apprenticeships jobs and putting Ōpōtiki on the aquaculture map has been nothing short of mind-blowing. The factory sits like a sentinel on the outskirts of the township but it has become a pivotal point of the local community and again the vision of the iwi to try and farm the sea has seen lots of purpose-built mussel boats travelling to and from the mussel farm well out to sea.The Whakatōhea deed of settlement contains Crown acknowledgments and a Crown apology for the breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles nd now transfer the assets liabilities and people to the post-settlement governance entity Te Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea with representatives from all hapū to administer the future for the people.With all of that in mind it would appear that the Whakatōhea settlement is accepted by the iwi at large. But there is nothing that makes up for the actions that were imposed upon this hard-working iwi across the past two centurieshe confiscation of vast tracts of land that left them virtually homeless without fertile land to grow their own food and create a prosperous existence for their whānau.Now throughout the process of hearing submissions there were some significant comments made by some of the people who gave their time to come and speak to us in Ōpōtiki. It's fair to say that not everyone agreed. Not everyone's in favour of the settlement and the hapū of Ngāti Ira and Ūpokorehe spoke at length about their desire to have the settlement delayed so they could work through issues in the Waitangi Tribunal. But the select committee debated this in depth on a number of occasions and on balance it was felt that it wasn't in the best interests of the people of Whakatōhea to delay this again.I've travelled through the Ōpōtiki rohe for the better part of 50-something years. I won't say how many 50-somethings but I am ashamed to say that I like many others have not appreciated the whenua or the historic nature of the district or your land and especially the stories of the people from there. As part of the submissions process we travelled to some of those significant sites. But I also wanted to make note of some of the comments made in the submissions hearing. I found the submissions difficult to listen to—harrowing in some cases and deeply moving in others. But from the eloquent and respected voices came a mix of regrets vision hope and determination.Te Kahautu Maxwell said in his submission and I quote "I was a leader in the opposition that turned down the Government offer in 1998 and I have regretted that ever since because my iwi became so divided. I thought I'd go to the grave with that. And this time I've put my heart and soul into this."Uncle Robert Edwards was the man that in 2003 initiated the first meeting since the 1998 determination of the deed. It has taken another 20 years to get to this point and to shore up the settlement for the people of Whakatōhea. In his own words Uncle Robert said "We can't live in the past we have to move forward. Representing your iwi is difficult but nevertheless rewarding. I am proud to have been a part of this journey upon which a better future for our mokopuna can be built by all those who follow."Now is the time to move forward to take this settlement and put it to the very best of work. If Whakatōhea can achieve all that they have in spite of what happened to them throughout the land wars and the disruption of the 1800s and the 1900s then I am convinced that this will now be another step forward in this century. Like I said there's nothing that makes it better but at least this goes a little way further to implementing the vision of your iwi.Uncle Robert said—the other night at the farming awards—"Yesterday is history tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift." The settlement is not a gift it is recourse for actions against you. But it is also another step in what has been a long and arduous journey and I applaud the patience and the way in which Whakatōhea has dealt with the challenges and the adversities. With the best of will tomorrow's mystery will now be a little clearer for our clever visionary and determined iwi from the mighty East Coast. I have only recently come to know you but it is indeed my privilege. Kia kaha my friends. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.Waiata—E kore au e ngaro"