Twyford Phil: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTwyford Phil: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:694;Page:575. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū):Ka tangi te tītī ka tangi te kākā ka tangi hoki ahau tīhei mauri ora! Kua hinga te tōtara i Te Waonui-a-Tāne te kaumātua nō te iwi o Te Kawerau ā Maki arā ko Matua Eru Thompson. Moe mai rā e te rangatira hoki atu koe ki ō mātua tīpuna moe mai rā moe mai rā![The sooty shearwater cries the parrot cries and I cry too. Behold the breath of life! Uncle Eru Thompson the elder of the tribe of Te Kawerau ā Maki alas the podocarpus of the Great Forest of Tāne Mahuta has fallen indeed. Oh revered one slumber there return to your forebears as well sleep and rest there.]I want to add my voice to the contributions of colleagues already made in this debate as to the condolences of this House to Te Kawerau ā Maki for the loss of Eru Thompson. As the member of Parliament for Te Atatū in west Auckland it has been my pleasure to get to know Mr Thompson a little bit. The iwi’s settlement was of course important to him and today it is with some sadness that we debate this first reading of the Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill with his loss so fresh in our minds.Labour supports this bill as we do the broad Treaty of Waitangi reconciliation of historical breaches by the Crown to Māori. It is great to see the Te Kawerau ā Maki settlement arrive at this point today. I want to acknowledge the commitment the hard work and the leadership from both the iwi and the Crown that went into achieving this agreement. Te Kawerau ā Maki’s experience of colonisation and land loss is not the biggest financially or geographically it is not the most dramatic or even the most colourful such story in our country’s modern history yet it is as poignant as any. This iwi whose customary interests stretch from the Tāmaki isthmus through west Auckland to the upper Waitematā into the North Shore and up to the Kaipara and Mahurangi were through the Crown’s actions and sins of omission rendered landless to the extent that today they are left without even a marae or an urupā on their own land.It goes without saying that this state of affairs has had devastating consequences for the well-being of Te Kawerau ā Maki. I want to quote from the deed of settlement the Crown’s acknowledgment of the impact this experience has had on Te Kawerau ā Maki: “The Crown’s failure to ensure that Te Kawerau ā Maki were left with sufficient land for their present and future needs was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. This hindered the social economic and cultural development of Te Kawerau ā Maki as a tribe and undermined the ability of Te Kawerau ā Maki to protect and manage their taonga and their wāhi tapu and to maintain spiritual connections to their lands. The Crown further acknowledges that this has severely impacted on the well-being of Te Kawerau ā Maki today.”Colleagues have touched on the history of land alienation. In 1841 the Crown investigated pre-Treaty purchases but failed to properly consider Te Kawerau ā Maki’s interests. It granted settlers certain lands according to the historical record and retained a surplus for itself—for the Crown—of 22000 acres. Shortly afterwards the Crown purchased an extensive area called Mahurangi and Ōmaha without consulting Te Kawerau ā Maki. It failed to set aside reserves and failed to provide compensation and this pattern was repeated throughout the 19th century. In the 20th century the Crown acquired the remaining remnants of Te Kawerau ā Maki interests through compulsory purchase under the Public Works Act. So it is great to see in this settlement package both cultural redress and commercial and financial redress.I want to finish by noting the inclusion in the cultural redress provisions of the original Te Kawerau ā Maki names that will become official geographic names of some of the natural features in west Auckland like Te Wai-o-Pareira - Henderson Creek which runs through my electorate. It is not the most important part of the package but it is still an important daily reminder of Te Kawerau ā Maki’s mana whenua and as guardians of our place. Thank you.