Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Mr Speaker thank you for the opportunity to rise on behalf of the National Party to speak on the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill. I want to thank Minister Little for the work that he's done in guiding this process through to date and I also acknowledge Ngāti Maru themselves who cannot be here today for what is an historic occasion as we guide this bill through the second reading and heading towards the third reading which hopefully will happen in the near future.I just want to say we feel you are here in spirit so to speak. We look forward to hopefully having you here at the third reading for what is a process that is a very big moment for Ngāti Maru o Taranaki and is a big moment in reconciling these claims which have taken a long time to get here. I want to acknowledge the negotiators the steering committee and Te Arawhiti staff for the work they've done in getting us this far. I do have a little bit of sorrow that we haven't been able as a select committee of which I am part to get out and actually talk to Ngāti Maru in their rohe and I hope to be able to do that at some point in the future. I'm part of the Māori Affairs Committee which has listened to submissions on this bill and that's primarily what the second reading is about today: just reporting back on where we've got to after the bill's been through the select committee and is heading towards the third reading which will culminate this process. The bill gives effect to the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Ngāti Maru to settle all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims. The area of interest for the iwi is centred on the inland Waitara River Valley and extends from Taranaki Maunga in the west to the upper Whanganui River in the east. The bill includes a summary of the historical account and as Minister Little spoke to he looks forward now to giving a formal apology when that is possible. The bill also addresses cultural redress relationship redress and financial redress and the vesting of 16 sites of cultural significance as part of that which we looked at as a committee.Interestingly the administration of the Whanganui River catchment area was something we needed to look at as a committee and clauses 57 58 and 59 of the bill provide for the transfer of three properties that are public conservation land within the Whanganui River catchment area. One of those properties is to be transferred as shared redress with Ngāti Hāua. These sites may contain riverbed owned by Te Awa Tupua the legal personality that comprises the Whanganui River but are administered and managed by the Department of Conservation. Te Awa Tupua - owned riverbed would not be transferred with the surrounding land as the Crown no longer owns it. We have been advised that Ngāti Maru Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui the post-settlement governance entity for the Whanganui River settlement; Te Pou Tupua the human face" of Te Awa Tupua; and Ngāti Hāua have agreed that it would no longer be appropriate for the Department of Conservation to administer and manage any riverbed running through these sites. Instead Te Pou Tupua should assume those responsibilities and they have agreed to do so. So as a committee we have recommended amending the bill to give effect to this agreement. The bill would require the trustees of Ngāti Maru and the Taranaki Regional Council to create a joint-management agreement for matters relating to the Waitara River and its catchment area. There's also a clause there which would apply to specified resource consent applications made to territorial authorities. In its submission the New Plymouth District Council—whom we heard from—sought clarification of its intended role in the joint-management agreement which we considered and although the drafting of clause 87 actively reflects the equivalent drafting in the deed of settlement Ngāti Maru have agreed that the joint-management agreement was only intended to apply to applications for resource consent between the Taranaki Regional Council and Ngāti Maru. The reference to territorial authorities in clause 87 was made in error and accordingly the committee has recommended amending the bill to accurately reflect the agreed intention of the joint-management agreement.The bill as introduced removed memorials on land pertaining to Ngāti Maru's redress. It also removed the Waitangi Tribunal's jurisdiction to order resumption in favour of Ngāti Manu. We understand that it is Crown policy to remove all remaining resumptive memorials on land in a region once historical Waitangi Tribunal claims have been settled through legislation and Ngāti Maru are the last iwi in the Taranaki region to settle their historical Treaty claims.Te Arawhiti advised us as a committee that it was considering whether to amend the bill to remove other resumptive memorials within fully settled areas of the Taranaki region. However as this was not considered or discussed with Ngāti Maru prior to the deed of settlement being signed Te Arawhiti concluded it would be more appropriate to remove memorials at a later time although this was the last settlement in the area and the committee supported this approach as this bill is focused on Ngāti Maru o Taranaki.So I do look forward to having an opportunity to speak more generally on the bill itself but given this is the second reading I've just focused on the select committee process and the considerations that we've had. I certainly do hope that Ngāti Maru are able to be here in person for the third reading which will be a historic moment and one I certainly look forward to. So with that I commend this bill to the House."