Jones Shane: Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeJones Shane: Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 31 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12192. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SHANE JONES (Labour):Ā kia ora anō tātou. Ka tahi me mihi atu au ki a tātou i roto i te kaupapa i karangahia ai tātou kia hui mai ki konei i tēnei rā ki te āwhina atu i te whakaterenga o tēnei waka hou mai ki roto i te Whare Pāremata. Te waka e kōrero nei ahau ā ko te pire. Ko āna kaihoe te hia noa atu hapū e whai pānga ana ki Tāmaki-makau-rau. Nā reira kei te mihi atu ki te hunga kua tatū mai i roto i ngā whare tātai o Tāmaki-makau-rau tēnā koutou. Mihi nōki ki te Minita ki a tātou katoa e hui tahi nei i tēnei rā tēnā koutou tēnā tātou kia ora tātou katoa.[So greetings to us all once again. First of all my acknowledgments to us in regards to the matter that has beckoned us to gather here today to assist the launching of this conveyance into Parliament House. The conveyance that I am referring to of course is the bill. Its paddlers are the vast number of subtribes that have an interest in Auckland. So I extend a welcome to those from the genealogical houses of Auckland that have arrived here. Salutations to you collectively. I also acknowledge the Minister and all of us gathered here today. Salutations to you greetings to us and compliments to us all .]We will be supporting this Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill. We look forward to the inevitable submissions that come—will come should I say—to the Māori Affairs Committee. The reason that we support it is because it is something that has been agreed to by the civic leaders of the Auckland super-city council and it is something that comes with the blessings of those who hold mandate from the large number of hapū and iwi in and around Tāmaki-makau-rau.I also want to acknowledge the efforts of civic leaders of the past: obviously the current koromatua—the mayor—and the officials because although inordinate sums of money are not involved in any transfer terms within this bill it is quite a tricky proposal. It takes some of the most iconic features of the Tāmaki-makau-rau landscape and commits them to a co-governance regime. The regime on one hand has to deal with the needs and uses of utility companies not the least of which is Watercare Services the leader of which is Mr Mark Ford who probably spends precious time there now given he is on a quest to resuscitate Solid Energy.But on the Māori side it has been an arduous and long struggle. In fact one of the most celebrated cases of the Māori Land Court to do with competing hapū and iwi interests took place in and around Tāmaki-makau-rau. I refer here to the longstanding case that pertained to the islands in the outer Hauraki Gulf where you had applicants from Ngāti Whātua and applicants associated with Te Kawerau-a-Maki and Ngāti Wai. The Māori Land Court decisions not unlike they do today see-sawed. Hopefully we will not see a repetition of that.This bill has some innovative features and some omissions. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. I just intimated to him that during the select committee process we will find out the Māori names for Mount Roskill and other mountains because no tangata whenua can want to be a steward of a maunga if they do not know the Māori name for it. That is not in this bill so that is not good enough for me. A simple check with the Anglican Church would establish whether or not these maungas have Māori names and indeed the amateur ethnographer George Graham has got an exhaustive list of all the main maunga and sites of significance that were published in theJournal of the Polynesian Societymany many years ago. Given that we are having a struggle at the moment as to whether or not our brethren in the South Island like the name Te Wai Pounamu and whether or not North Islanders like the name Te Ika-a-Māui let us get the names right in this bill. That is something that the Māori members of the committee will endeavour to do. But that is a small matter.Hon Dr Nick Smith: What’s the member’s view?Hon SHANE JONES: I will resist the temptation to find a suitable name for that member from the South Island. Rest assured it will not be “greenstone”. It may pertain to something green but it will not be greenstone. But for fear of raising the ire of the Minister shepherding this bill through the House I will not trivialise these matters by any further references to Nick Smith.What I hope the select committee will focus on is what I think is an innovative set of arrangements for co-governance in the sense that a plan needs to be drawn up and some of the provisions in that plan have to take account of or make way for agreeable cultural activities. I say “agreeable” in the sense that I presume both sides of thegovernance group have to sign off on them. The bill very wisely identifies what some of those activities might be. It is not only I think some potential cultivations—there is a reference there to tangihanga. The notion of a tangihanga being on Mount Eden is I suppose better than all the Māoris being in Mt Eden but that lies in the future.The reason we will also support this bill is that where it is not possible for Māori exclusive rights to be recognised it is only fair I think given the current mix of New Zealand society—and nowhere is that mix more colourful than in Tāmaki-makau-rau—that the two sides come together: i.e. the proxy for the Crown and the representatives for the tangata whenua. Presumably the tangata whenua process will run smoothly to the extent that it can. We will test that out in the select committee as well. But a lot of these positions are actually volunteer positions virtually so we do not want to make them so onerous that the system breaks down because people are either not fully resourced or the level of obligation grows to the extent that it is beyond the wits or the ability of anyone operating in a largely voluntary manner. The notion that both sides should come together is I think a way for the future.There will be some areas as indeed there were in Ngāi Tahu where the property rights for the pounamu were vested exclusively in the iwi presumably with special interests for the hapū of the West Coast. Whether it is in law that is probably what they feel. The point that needs to be made is that this is a very good model for other iwi areas and I commend the Minister for the work that he has done there recently.I had occasion to talk about this bill when I went to the tangihanga for Laly Paraone Haddon. Despite the negative media treatment of the former Minister Doug Graham it was good to see him there in tow with the evergreen-looking Michael Dreaver. They came to pay their respects to the hapū for the loss of our matua Laly Haddon. I say that only because these settlements take a great deal of time. They burn out personalities and entire generations can pass away before you see the fruition.The notion that these maunga will now be regarded as something where the Māori footprint is as equally important as the other stakes reflected by local government is a very happy worthwhile day and it deserves to be celebrated. I will tell you what—it is a heck of a lot more lively and it is a heck of a lot more positive than the words on the obelisk. The words on the monument at Maungakiekie One Tree Hill are from a time when it was being contemplated and looked at that our tūpuna the mātuas of that area were about to put their heads on the pillow and disappear for ever.If anything small though the numbers of some of these hapū may be large is the opportunity for them to now influence a co-governance type of arrangement that gives good outcomes for Māori heritage and protects the interests of other stakeholders but puts the pou whenua of identity on to the political social and ecological landscape of Tāmaki-makau-rau. And as the place becomes more multicultural and as the place becomes more pluralistic this is a way of ensuring that the elements of Tainui Ngāti Whātua Te Kawerau-a-Maki and Manuhiri—who to the best of my recollection have some connections actually with Taranaki—have the opportunity to reflect their history and to show their fellow neighbours in Tāmaki-makau-rau that “We’re not just a bunch of Māoris. We are the kaitiaki we are the tangata whenua we are the descendants of the tūpuna who committed to the Treaty of Waitangi.”This is a way of giving it a very visible and a very positive expression today. So we support the bill and look forward to it appearing in our select committee where we will test what has happened to these Māori names. Kia ora tātou.