Paraone Pita: Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Third Readings[Sitting date: 08 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6426. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First):Ā tihewa mauri ora tuku mauri ora ki te whei ao ki te ao mārama! Tū wāhi poto tēnei hei māngai mō Te Rōpū Aotearoa Tuatahi ki te tautoko i ngā mihi i mihingia e aku tuākana ki te ‘hakatau i a koutou aku whanaunga mai i Te Hiku. Aroha ana au ki a māua a Winitana nā te mea i ‘hakahuangia e tōku tuakana ko Waimā nō te hau kāingaēngari horekau māua i rongo i ō māua ingoa nā reira kia mōhio mai koutou i āianei kia ahatia?E tika ana kia tukuna atu ngā mihi ki a rātou mā ki a rātou i ‘hakatīmata mai i tēnei kaupapa ahakoa kāhore rātou i konei i waenganui i a tātou ā-tinana. Nā reira ka nui taku mihi ki a rātou me ēnā o ngā mate i hinga atu i ērā atu wiki marama o te tau hoki. Nā reira e tika ana ka nui ngā mihi kārekau kē te puna kōrero i mimiti ki a rātou kia ahatia? Ēngari e tika ana kia mihi hoki ki a rātou. Nā reira ki a rātou ki a tātou te hunga ora tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou! Tēnā hoki koutou aku mātua aku whanaunga karanga maha i haere mai tawhiti kia tae mai ki waenganui i a tātou. Ahakoa e āhua rerekē ana ēnei hāora ki te ‘hakaputa mai i ngā pire o te Whare nei ka ahatia? Ko te mea nui kua puta mai i tēnei rā![Behold the breath of life and so wellness to the natural and enlightened world! This is a short call as spokesperson for New Zealand First to endorse the sentiments expressed by my senior colleagues to you my relatives from Te Hiku. I feel sorry for Winston and me because my elder relation said that Waimā is from back home but we did not hear our names so you know now—but whatever!Tributes to them who have passed away are apt especially those who began this matter even though they are not here physically among us. And so a huge tribute to them and to those as well who have died in the past weeks and months of the year. Therefore it is appropriate that the tributes are huge as the pool of tributes to them will never run out—but to what effect? However it is right indeed that they are accorded a tribute. And so to them and to us I acknowledge salute and greet you collectively. I greet you as well my elders and relatives of many callings who have come from afar to arrive here amongst us. Although these hours are somewhat strange for bills from this House to appear so what! The important thing is that they have emerged.]I stand on behalf of New Zealand First to support the sentiments expressed by those who have stood before me and to acknowledge our relations from the far north who have travelled a long distance to be here in spite of the challenges facing them not only in terms of arranging travel but also in terms of the social and economic difficulties they face in the north. I want to start off by prefacing this contribution with reference to the comments made by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations with regard to Dame Whina Cooper and the Land March of 1975. Can I say that the idea of a land march actually had its genesis at a meeting of the Ngāti Wai Land Retention Committee where the point of debate was its concern at the amount of coastal land that was being lost or taken under the public works legislation for public utilities. It was at that meeting that the idea that a land march should take place was raised and later that year it did take place. I am proud to say that we have in this House one person who was actually at that meeting and who can attest to what I am saying and that is the Rt Hon Winston Peters.This bill is the culmination of a long journey made by a number of iwi and I especially want to acknowledge NgāiTakoto and the fact that the Crown has recognised you as an iwi. Here am I from Ngāti Hine and my own family Paraone exceeds more than NgāiTakoto and yet you are recognised as an iwi but the Crown will not recognise Ngāti Hine as an iwi. Kia ahatia? I know the battles that you have had to fight and the journey that you have had to travel and so I am prepared on behalf of Ngāti Hine to make that same journey.The legislation concerns the following iwi: Ngāti Kuri NgāiTakoto Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa. Sadly it does not include our relatives of Ngāti Kahu. Ngāti Kahu have particular reasons as to why they have chosen to stand outside this settlement and I will allude to those later on in my speech. But suffice it to say the journey that has been travelled by these iwi should be recognised and each of them should be commended for the perseverance the tenacity that they have had to get to this point.The other thing that I am quite proud of about this settlement is that it has taken place because of the actions of one of their own and that is the Hon Matiu Rata. His contribution to this whole area of Treaty settlement and his foresight to establish the tribunal have led to a number of settlements taking place and although a number have already taken place this is the first substantial settlement that has taken place from his tribal area. I just want to again acknowledge the Hon Matiu Rata and his foresight. I can recall at the time people not supporting him but with his tenacity and perseverance he was able to see the establishment of the tribunal.I will refer to each of the iwi—first of all Ngāti Kuri. Ngāti Kuri’s claim is based on the fact that the Crown failed to recognise it in the first instance. Secondly the Crown failed to return land that it had taken unjustifiably. However the settlement does restore some of that mana—and the emphasis is on “some” because as we already know although these settlements are regarded as full and final they never ever fully compensate the claimants for what they have lost.In regard to Te Aupōuri like with Ngāti Kuri I want to acknowledge their negotiators. They have pursued the settlement with great determination. They faced many challenges and it has been a long fight for them. The settlement legislation sees the demise of Te Aupōuri Māori Trust Board. I can recall making comment about this in the first reading given that I can recall a number of the original members of that trust board. [Bell rung] I am taken aback by the bell because previous speakers had a much longer time to speak. So to those iwi whom I have not acknowledged I acknowledge you now.I want to conclude my speech by saying that we support settlement being made. However I want to refer to the fact that Ngāti Kahu applied to the Wellington High Court to question the settlement and how it affected them. The court subsequently asked the tribunal to reconsider their position. That has not been dealt with by the tribunal and although we support the right of each iwi to make their settlement we do it with some caution in the fact that here we have an iwi who will be affected by this settlement and without the tribunal considering the direction of the High Court.Mr Deputy Speaker I just want to thank you for your perseverance.I want to say that this attempt to settle the Muriwhenua claims has involved complex overlapping claims that have been made for many years and hence the action taken by Ngāti Kahu that is now reflected in the protest action that is being taken at the Kaitāia Airport which is just a mere reflection of what this settlement legislation has on Ngāti Kahu and their standing. I want to say that for Ngāti Kahu there their initial concerns were basically that they opposed those parts of the claims settlement bill that seek to deny the rights and entitlements of Ngāti Kahu—and I do not think that anyone would object to that.Secondly Ngāti Kahu whānau and hapū hold mana whenua and mana moana over their lands territories and resources and the Crown has failed to have regard for their customary associations and interests. Having said that New Zealand First will support the passing of this legislation because we think that it is unfair to hold up this settlement where other iwi are ready to proceed.I also want to conclude by saying that while listening to the debate I received an email message from a member of Te Rarawa stating that their particular whānau hapū did not support the settlement. So I have responded by saying that the best I can do is to have that recorded in the record of Parliament. What that does is signal the challenges that each of you will face after this settlement. I will reiterate the words that my father said to me when I was chairman of the Ngāti Hine rūnanga. He said: “Boy never forget to look behind you because if there’s no one there then you’ve got to ask yourself: who are you leading?”.Nā reira i roto i aua kupu kōrero ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou kia tau te rangimāria i te wā e noho nei i konei i te wā e hoki ana e hīkoi ana ki te wā kāinga nā reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai anō tātou.[So within those words congratulations as well to you collectively; allow peace to prevail over you while you are here; and as you are returning and travelling back home congratulations well done and thank you collectively and to us all once again.]