Henare Peeni: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Peeni: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:562. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau):Ā tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kāti e Te Whare Reo Māori. Kia hiwa rā kia hiwa rā! Kia hiwa rā ki tēnei tuku! Kia hiwa rā ki tēnā tuku! Ka whakapurua koe i te toto ka whakapuru tonu ka whakapuru tonu! Ka whakapuru tonu! Ka whakapuru tonu ngā tai ki Te Henga e tangi tīari ana ki runga o Te Taupaki kāre koa ko au e kimi ana e hahau ana i ngā pari rā i ngā piringa ahakoa ko wai. Ka tō te rā ki tua o te ākau ka ara mai ki runga i a Maki e tū nei. Tihewa mauri ora! Ki Te Pane o Mataoho ki Te Ara Pūeru kua tau te kākahu taratara te kākahu rērea ki runga i tōna tihi.E te pāpā e Eru e taku rata tūtahi e te kākākura o Te Wao Takunui ā Tiriwā. Kua roa rawa koe e hāpai ana i te mana o Te Kawerau ā Maki o Ngāti Te Ata Ngāti Mahanga Ngāti Pukenga o Tainui Waka whānui. I rauhī koe i ngā moemoeā me ngā maruāpō o te tini o te mano i tau ki runga o Tāmaki Makaurau. Kua pōhara mātou i tō ngarotanga atu ērangi ka ora tonu koe ki roto i ēnei kōrero me ngā mahi ka tīmatahia ki roto i tēnei Whare i te rangi nei. Nō reira ka tāpae atu ki runga i a koe ko ngā mihi ki ngā kaumātua me ngā kuia katoa i ngaro atu ki te pōkākā o ēnei mahi. Kotahi tonu te kōrero mō rātou kua ngaro atu ki te pō rire rire hau Pai mārire! Ka whakahokia mai te rārangi kōrero ki te tāhuhu o tēnei Whare ki te hunga ora ki a koutou e ngā puāwaitanga o Te Kawerau ā Maki tēnā koutou tenā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Thank you Mr Speaker and to the House. I am going to speak in the Māori language. Be alert and wary be alert and wary! Be alert and wary on this and that rampart in case you are crammed up repeatedly by blood! Tides cram repeatedly up at Te Henga and shriek and reverberate above Te Taupaki. Without a doubt it is I seeking out and striking against those cliffs havens and whomever. The sun sets beyond the coastline and rises above Maki standing here before me. Behold the breath of life! The barbed cloak that flies at the top of its peak has come to rest at Te Pane Mataaho and at Te Ara Pūeru.And so to you uncle Eru my lone standing rata tree precious orator of the great forest of Tiriwā you spent many many years raising the integrity of Te Kawerau āMaki Ngāti Te Ata Ngāti Mahanga and Ngāti Pukenga of the Tainui canoe at large. You fostered the dreams and aspirations of themany thousands whosettled in Auckland. We are impoverished by your loss but you will live on in these talks and in the work that will be initiated in this House today. I place upon you the tributes to all the elderly men and womenfolk who died in the stormy nature of these deeds. There is but one statement to them lost to the void rire rire hau Pai mārire! I bring the talk back to the ridgepole of this House to the livingand to those of you the descendants of Te Kawerau ā Maki my greetings congratulations and accolades to you all.]The Labour Party supports the first reading of this bill and recognises Te Kawerau ā Maki who despite mourning the recent loss of one of their leaders in Eru Thompson have continued to forge ahead with their future today and I acknowledge them. Throughout the speeches on this matter my esteemed colleagues from within the Labour Party will take us on a journey that brings into light the rich history of Te Kawerau ā Maki. We will also speak to matters in this bill and time permitting highlight some of the opportunities that will mark the future for Te Kawerau ā Maki.The fact that Te Kawerau ā Maki are here today is cause to celebrate. Their story is a tale of established settlement in and throughout wider Tāmaki-makau-rau from just south of Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa otherwise known as the Manukau Harbour stretching north to the southern Kaipara Harbour. We greet Te Kawerau ā Maki today. This settlement saw Te Kawerau ā Maki grow and thrive for hundreds of years. At their disposal were the vast resources of land and sea. This is illustrated by the following proverb of Te Kawerau ā Maki: he toka hāpuku ki te moana he kaihua ki uta. [A rock in the sea where hāpuku abound a tree where birds are speared on the land.]The term “mana whenua” has no doubt been long debated in this House much to the amusement of iwi Māori and indeed of Te Kawerau ā Maki today for the rich history and genealogy of Te Kawerau ā Maki has been handed down through many generations. This history tells of the feats of their many ancestors who guided their people through prosperous times; through war with Ngāti Whātua Ngāpuhi and other competing iwi and hapū throughout the Tāmaki isthmus; through trying times of colonisation that as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations pointed out saw systematic alienation of Te Kawerau ā Maki from their lands and resources; through to more recent times where Te Kawerau ā Maki have traversed the legal minefields to gain mana whenua status as dictated to them by the Crown.We need only look to the history of Te Kawerau ā Maki to define what mana whenua means. The historical place names that are still shared in traditional Māori schools of learning are finally coming to the light of public knowledge. It is in that vein I acknowledge the many ancestors and the many leaders within Te Kawerau ā Maki the storehouses of such precious and ancient knowledge. Indeed the name of Te Kawerau ā Maki as the Minister has already pointed out affords us a snapshot of a point in time for Te Kawerau ā Maki. He is the son of Maki and takes his name from a dispute between his father and the people of Ngāti Whātua over kūmara. On that point I must say to the House that the kūmara has a lot to answer for. Māori history speaks of the kūmara being a point of war between many tribes. I want to acknowledge Te Kawerau ā Maki who in their battle with Ngāti Whātua found peace and their shared genealogy today is testament to their enduring legacy of being not only a staunch warrior nation but also peacemakers in times of war.Te Wao Nui o Tiriwā otherwise known as the Waitakere Ranges is another name that has been burnt into Papatūānuku. I say it was burnt into Papatūānuku for if it was left to the Crown that name would have been lost for many years. In fact I would say it would have been lost to time. However that name has been held by Te Kawerau ā Maki and it is testament to this House and to them that mana whenua held by Te Kawerau ā Maki has gone on for many generations from circa 1500 to today and long may it continue into the future.The Minister acknowledges the breaches of the Crown with matters arising from Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te Tiriti o Waitangi we know is a founding document. We believe—certainly Te Kawerau ā Maki share this belief—that it is a founding document of this country. However I notice in the bill that it also refers to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. I want to echo the words of my grandfather in this very House who said: “Let it be a reminder to this House in the history of our people we did not sign the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. However we did sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi.” And it is from that kawenata or that sacred covenant entered into by our people that we find Te Kawerau ā Maki here and we have the first reading of the bill and of course we support it as the Labour Party.I want to just briefly touch on some of the details within this bill that talk about redress—cultural commercial and otherwise. We know that this bill affords to Te Kawerau ā Maki a seat at the table when it comes to matters pertaining to their wāhi tapu their sacred sites and to land held by them. Can I with caution congratulate Te Kawerau ā Maki and the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations on finding this compromise. However that caution I want to share is that when we consider tino rangatiratanga is this true self-determination? Yes I agree that it is a start. However I look forward to a more prosperous time for Te Kawerau ā Maki in years to come one that shares the values of tino rangatiratanga as left to us by our ancestors in Te Tiriti o Waitangi; not one prescribed by this House but one they hold dear to their hearts. Kāti ake rā. On the wāhi tapu that have been signed over to Te Kawerau ā Maki it is with great sadness that we hear that Te Kawerau ā Maki do not have a traditional marae on their traditional lands that they do not have a urupā where they can rest the descendants—the descendants of Te Kawerau ā Maki. And it is with great pleasure that I want to support the Minister and his officials in allowing and affording the people of Te Kawerau ā Maki a traditional right that was theirs from the beginning.Nō reira kāti ake rā e Te Whare. Ka huri tū atu ki a koutou e Te Kawerau ā Maki kua tatū mai nei ki runga i te tāhūhū o tēnei Whare ka tukuna atu ēnei kōrero hei tīmatanga anake. Ka uru atu ki te pānuitanga tuatahi o tēnei pire ki roto i te roanga ake o te haere o tēnei pire ka āta totohe ka āta kōrero tātau katoa i ēnei take e aku rangatira e Te Whare e Te Māngai tēnā koutou tēnā tātau katoa.[So enough for now for the House. I turn to you Te Kawerau ā Maki who have arrived here beneath the roof of this House and say that these sentiments are presented as a starting point only. When we enter into the first reading of this bill and into the lengthy progress that it will go through we will all carefully debate and deliberate over these matters together. So my acknowledgments and thanks to you my esteemed elders the House Mr Speaker and us all.]