Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Ā tēna koe e Te Mana Whakawā otirā ki Te Whare e hui nei i tēnei ata anei te mihi atu ki a koutou ōku hoa mahi ki a Kelvin e whakatau nei i a tātou i te ata nei i te karakia. Ki a koe Nuk Kōrako ko koe tēnā e whakahaere i Te komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori na reira kei te mihi atu ki a koutou mōrena rā tātou ōku hoa mahi. Ki a koutou ō runga koutou o Ngāruahine ōku pou ōku rahi koutou e hāpai nei i tēnei kaupapa anei te mihi atu ki a koutou! Ko koutou tēnei kaupapa e kōkirihia nei āe i ngā rua tekau toru tekau tau kua pahure ake ēngari anō mai i te wā i tangohia kēngia nei te whenua kua whawhai tō koutou whānau ō koutou tupuna mō te whenua te take. Nā reira kai te mihi atu ki a koutou anō nā ki a koutou e hara mai nei mō te pānui tuarua o Hineuru. I tēnei ata kai te pīrangi au ki te pānui i tēnei o ngā kōrero. Te kōrero nei nā Ron Hudson i tuhi kai roto tonu i te deed of settlement. Kai roto i āna kupu te kiko o tēnei kōrero nā reira ka haere ahau ki āna nei kōrero. I ahu mai a Ngāruahinerangi mai i ngā ranginui e tū nei ko Rangitūhāhā ko Māreikura hei Māreikura ko Te Rangiwhakataka ko Taumakumaku ō ngā rangi ko Te Paraparawai ō ngā rangi ko Te Māriehou ō ngā rangi ko Te Matawaiwai ko Te Tuarā ō ngā rangi ko Te Matauarā ō ngā rangi ko Te Takinui ō ngā rangi ko Tūtewanawana ō ngā rangi ko Aoaoariki ō ngā rangi ko Kirikiri ō Mātangi ko Te Toi ō ngā rangi ko Ngāruahinerangi iwi o Taranaki nui tonu ē! "Maungarongo ki te whenua whakaaro pai ki ngā tangata katoa". I te wā i tīmata ai te muru me te raupatu i te tau 1863 i eke mai ai ngā hoia ngā pū me ngā pū repo i te awa o Waitōtara. I te tīmatanga o te muru me ngā raupatu i tērā wā i a tātou te tino rangatiratanga o tō tātau maunga awa whenua ngahere takutai moana hinuhou ngā whakairo ō tātou Māoritanga ō tātou marae ō tātou māra ō tātau kāinga ō tātou urupā i te mutunga i te matenga o ētahi o rātau i te raupatu i murua katoatia te whenua ā kai reira te kiko o te kōrero nei kai roto i te kōrero o tēnei o ngā rangatira. Kai te koroua kuia haere aku kamo koirā te take kāre e taea te pānui hoi anō rā kai te pīrangi au ki te mihi atu ki a koutou.[And so I acknowledge you Mr Assistant Speaker but at the same time the House assembled here this morning I acknowledge you my fellow colleagues especially you Kelvin who welcomed us today with a prayer. I acknowledge you as well Nuk Kōrako who conducts the affairs of the Māori Affairs Committee; well done. I say "Morning" to us my fellow work colleagues and pay a tribute to you of Ngāruahine seated above; my pillars my greatness and you who are supporting this matter well done. You are the ones pursuing this matter and yes not only in the past 20 and 30 years but further back to the time when the land was confiscated. Your family and ancestors fought it the land was the reason. And so I commend you for coming here to the second reading of the Hineuru bill. This morning I want to read this one of the accounts. It was written by Ron Hudson and is in the deed of settlement. The substance of this account is in his words and so I proceed to read it. Ngāruahinerangi emerged from the great heavens standing here before us Rangitūhāhā and Māreikura. From Māreikura came Terangiwhakataka Taumakumaku of the heavens Te Paraparawai of the heavens Te Māriahou of the heavens Te Matawaiwai Te Tuarā of the heavens Te Matauarā of the heavens Te Takinui of the heavens Tūtewanawana of the heavens Aoaoariki of the heavens Kirikiri-ō-Mātangi Te Toi of the heavens and thus the dominant tribe of Taranaki at large of Ngāruahinerang; indeed oh! "Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind!" In the year 1863 when the plundering and confiscation began the soldiers with their guns and cannons came from the direction of the river of Waitōtara. When the confiscation and plundering began at that time we had ownership of our mountain river land forest seashore oil carvings our Māoritanga courtyards gardens homes and burial places and ultimately some of them died as a consequence of the confiscation and all the land was wiped out. There then is the substance of this account. It is in the account by this one of the leaders. My eyesight is ageing somewhat and that is the reason why I was unable to read it. But so much for that; I do want to acknowledge you collectively.]Ngāruahine in the Waitangi Tribunal report said this: "They could be the largest in the country. There may be no others where as many Treaty breaches had equivalent force and effect over a comparable time." We have heard today of the debate that has raged during this settlement but it goes back to the heart of this. There was a Treaty signed in this country of partnership. The member here Pita Paraone has just said that there was some debate as to whether or not there should be seats in a governance responsibility on regional council and council positions but partnership is just that—where two partners come together. The report itself highlights the breaches equivalent to none other: "[The] Treaty breaches had equivalent force and effect over a comparable time. We see the claims of standing on two major foundations land deprivation and disempowerment with the latter being the main. By 'disempowerment' we mean the denigration and destruction of Maori autonomy or self-government." In the whai kōrero that I just read out from the deed of settlement that is the heart of the matter: the loss of mana of power of autonomy and of rangatiratanga."Generous reparation policies are needed to remove the prejudice to Maori to restore the honour of the Government"—if it can be restored—"to ensure cultural survival and to re-establish effective interaction between the Treaty partners." Well effective interaction in my mind would mean co-governance arrangements over areas of environment and over the interests of the people in that area. "Ngāruahine record the following Tribunal findings: the whole history of Government dealings with Maori in Taranaki were the antithesis to that envisaged by the Treaty … the war in south Taranaki was commenced by the Crown without just cause and was contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi" and why was it commenced? For no other reason but to secure land for settlement. And why did the Government forces come out on the people of Ngāruahine? Because they simply refused to sell. Confiscation removed Ngāruahine's land entirely. The Government's purchase of the land offered inadequate protection of Māori interests and "did not meet the required standards of sincerity justice and good faith to be valid in terms of the Treaty;". And finally "the imprisonments without trial of several hundred Maori was contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi." Despite all of the conversations and the debates and the submissions that we have heard there is one thing that is clear: no matter what settlement redress Ngāruahine is able to be afforded through this process it will in no way make up for the huge injustice. It is merely a beginning. It must be acknowledged as it has been for many other Treaty settlements that this is in fact the largest koha or show of generosity from one people to another to accept such a minimal amount in order to redress the utter destruction meted out against the people of Ngāruahine and indeed the iwi in other Treaty settlements across the country. We have heard about the conflict with Āraukuku and I recognise that Ngāruahine in the submissions that we heard were very supportive of Āraukuku's claim so we recognise that. It was a matter of great debate amongst us in the Māori Affairs Committee. We wanted to ensure that everybody had their day to present their issues in front of the Tribunal and we recognised that Āraukuku had not been afforded that opportunity so now that has gone on to another court to see whether there can be a way forward. But we are here today for the second reading. We have heard the redress and the packages that are going to be offered. We have heard the apology that has come from the Crown and although that in no way makes up for the injustices that have been meted out upon the people of Ngāruahine it is again in their generosity that they come to this point and accept this settlement offer so that they can progress and so that they can move forward and start to put behind them the injustices so that they can build an enduring relationship with the Crown to progress forward and that also means their local government—their establishment of places on council—so that they can have a stronger part to play and say in the dealings of their people in the settlement where they live. No reira e te iwi nei te mihi atu ki a koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai tātau katoa. [Therefore people I acknowledge you collectively. Well done; my appreciation to us all.]"