Tirikatene Rino: Ngati Manawa Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill — Third Readings 
Tirikatene Rino: Ngati Manawa Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:678;Page:1472] 
RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. E aku rangatira o Ngati Manawa me Ngati Whare ratou katoa kua tae mai nei i raro i te tuanui o tenei o o tatou Whare tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. My chiefs of Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare all of them who have arrived here beneath the roof of this our House salutations acknowledgments and greetings to you all. 
] 
I rise in support of my Labour colleagues on this momentous day to celebrate the third reading of this settlement legislation for Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare the Ngati Manawa Claims Settlement Bill and the Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill. Indeed I do join with all of our colleagues in our House today. This is a momentous day and it actually hearkens back to my own memories of being in this House coming up to 13 years ago this year when I was sitting up there in the gallery for the passage of the Ngai Tahu settlement. There was a huge representation from my own whanaunga from down south on that day.  
This is a very momentous day and I would like to just acknowledge all of Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare representatives who have come here today. I acknowledge all of the kaumatua all of the leaders and all of the people who have been involved in the settlement process as the legislation has moved through the various stages. It has been a long and arduous journey so I salute you and mihi to you all for the hard work and perseverance in working to get the legislation to this stage. I would also like to mihi to Minister Finlayson and all of the Crown officials who have been involved with the settlements. Again it is a very long process but it is particularly gratifying to know that we have come to this third reading stage and that this is the big day so I would just like to mihi once again to Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare.  
In reflecting on 13 years of Ngai Tahu post settlement these settlements actually mark a significant turning point for all iwi. These settlements are a waka; they are a vehicle that can now take Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare into the future. I agree with my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta that these settlements are more than just words on paper. They are more than just cheques being written out. They are not about money; they are really about restoring the permanence of Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare to their ancestral landscape and they are about the Crown giving proper acknowledgment for the breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. Those are the real important aspects for these settlements. It is the acknowledgment and the apologies from the Crown and it is also all of the other cultural redress elements and the recording of the history.  
Just going through the aspects of the settlements it is those things like the deeds of recognition acknowledging the special association to the landscapes the place name changes the river redress and the joint sites that have now been vested back in Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare. I acknowledge the whanaungatanga of being able to work together right through the passage of this legislation because it was a unique feature that we put the bills together in a conjoined arrangement and that marks a first. All of those different elements to the legislation and to the settlements are the real important elements.  
I would just like to reiterate that the vast majority of these settlements are not about commercial or monetary recompense; they are really about the history having acknowledgment of that and having the apologies recorded and enshrined in legislation for ever. Your history and the Crown’s acknowledgment are enshrined in this legislation and that can be taught—and should be taught—to not only all of nga uri whakatupu but also the whole of our country. It is important that we all learn and understand the history of all our iwi across the motu and all the grievances but we also now have that recorded and now we can mark a future on the passage of this legislation.  
There is a new space opening up for Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare with the passage of these bills. The amazing thing about it is that the future is entirely up to Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare. They are no longer looking back in grievance mode. The future is now for them to chart their own course in their own right on their own mana and for their own people—from now and into the future—once this settlement legislation has been passed. So I mihi to Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare. It is a momentous day as I have been saying throughout my speech but it also opens up this new waka for you to move into the future. I look forward to seeing Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare prosper and progress into the future connected and rooted to their landscape to their whenua to their awa and right across all of their hapu for all of their people. Kia ora ano tatou.