Luxon ChristopherCHRISTOPHER LUXON (National—Botany): E ngā mana e ngā reo e ngā hau e whā tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. Ngāti Maru tēnā koutou nau mai haere mai.[To the authorities the voices the four winds greetings greetings greetings to you all. Ngāti Maru greetings to you welcome welcome.]Before I begin can I just quickly acknowledge the return of Kiritapu Allan to the House and just say it is good to have her back with all of her energy and welcome back. I am honoured to take a short call on this Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill at its first reading. It's a real privilege to do so because these bills are especially significant and they're significant and they're important because these settlements acknowledge the hurt that's been caused by past wrongs and they also look to the future to support iwi to realise their own aspirations and opportunities.This settlement as my colleagues have talked about has been a long time coming. The iwi have been in negotiations with the Crown since the 1980s. There was an in principle agreement in December 2017 and then earlier this year a settlement was signed. I just want to acknowledge Ngāti Maru for their patience for your goodwill and for your graciousness. I'd also like to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Andrew Little; his predecessor the Hon Chris Finlayson; those involved in the negotiations both on behalf of Ngāti Maru and on behalf of the Crown; and all the officials that supported this settlement. I also do want to acknowledge Jamie Tuuta who I can see in the public gallery and say thank you for your leadership not just in Taranaki but also in a number of fields across the country.Ngāti Maru are centred as we all know in the inland Waitara River valley. The area of interest extends from Mount Taranaki east to the upper Whanganui River and north-east to the Waitara River spanning around 220000 hectares and that was whittled away to just 900 acres over history. My colleagues have spoken about that history and I think it is very important to continue to put it on the record so that we never forget it. Significant tracts of land belonging to Ngāti Maru were confiscated by Europeans in the 1860s and that included about half of the traditional lands. In the 1870s the Crown tried to encourage European settlement on confiscated land by really paying Ngāti Maru token compensation which then amplified the harm by dividing the iwi. Then much of the remaining Ngāti Maru land was put through the Native Land Court and of course ultimately Ngāti Maru did not retain any of their land awarded to them by the Native Land Court. By the early 1890s Ngāti Maru were left virtually landless.The response over decades from the Crown has been slow and inadequate and that extensive loss of land has created severe poverty and it has harmed generations of Ngāti Maru people. This bill starts to give effect to a settlement package which includes several components: firstly a Crown acknowledgment of and apology for historical breaches of our Treaty obligations an acknowledgment that we didn't ensure Ngāti Maru retained sufficient land for their present and future needs and failed to protect their rangatiratanga. It also includes an agreed historical account cultural redress financial redress and commercial redress involving a right to purchase Crown forests licensed land and sites from the Treaty Settlements Landbank.As many speakers have said and we'll continue to say we know that it will never be possible to compensate Ngāti Maru properly for the loss that they've sustained due to the Crown's acts and omissions. No settlement package can fully right the wrongs committed against Ngāti Maru and heal the enormous harm caused by the seizures of your land but we do genuinely hope that the financial and commercial redress provides Ngāti Maru with the resources to assist you in developing your economic and social wellbeing and we look forward with optimism that today signals a new era in relations between Ngāti Maru and the Crown. We can't overlook the pain the loss the significant injustice that has marred our country's history and we know that the quantum of the settlement can't heal the harm and hurt suffered by Ngāti Maru but we progress this settlement and this bill in the spirit of looking to the future. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. I commend this bill to the House.