Sharples Pita: Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 05 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10815. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs)on behalf of theMinister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: I moveThat the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time. Tēnā koutou. He rā nui tēnei mō tātou katoa ngā Māori katoa o Aotearoa nā reira koutou Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara nau mai whakapiri mai. Tēnā koe e Doc. Tō kaha ki te haramai i tēnei rangi tēnā koe hā ngā mihi nui ki a koe. Naida koutou katoa i tae mai nei i tēnei rā tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou.Ko ētahi kāre i konei—haere. Kua hinga rātou kua tukuna atu nā reira kei te mihi tonu ki a rātou ngā mate kua pā ki a tātou i ēnei rangi i ēnei tau kua pahure ake ā kei roto i ō tātou whakaaro i ngā wā katoa. Nā reira ko Parekura tētahi ā i hīkoi i waenganui i a koutou ā kua tukuna atu ki Te Kaihanga i te rangi. Anā kua hinga mai tētahi o Tainui i tēnei rā arā ko te tama tētahi o ngā tamariki a Tom Moana ā te ahiahi nei ka haere tōna tūpāpaku ki Horahora Marae i roto o Tainui. Nā reira ngā mihi ngā tangi ki a rātou kua ngaro atu. Haere koutou okioki pai mai.Ēngari ki a koutou kua tae mai Ngāti Whātua ki—[Interruption]—Kaipara whānui hari koa taku ngākau. Kia ora Naida. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara ngā tamariki mokopuna o Haranui Rēweti Kakanui arā Araparera ā me Puatahi marae tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. He nunui ngā mihi ki a koutou i tēnei rangi kua hara mai nei mai i Te Hiku o tō tātou Ika-a-Māui.[Greetings to you collectively. This is a great day for all of us Māori of New Zealand so to you of Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara welcome draw closer. Hello there Doc. I admire your strength to come here today. Well done and a huge welcome to you indeedto you too Naida and all of you who have come here today acknowledgments greetings and congratulations.There are some who are not here—farewell. They have passed away and have been released but we continue to acknowledge them the deaths that touched us recently and in years past. They are in our thoughts at all times. Parekura is one of them. He walked amongst you. He has been given up to the Creator in heaven. Now another has fallen in Tainui just today. He is one of Tom Moana’s children the son whose body will be taken to Horahora Marae in Tainui this afternoon. So tributes and laments to them who are lost from us. Depart and rest well there.But to you collectively who have arrived here Ngāti Whātua of—[Interruption]—Kaipara at large I am elated. Thank you Naida. Ngāti Whātua of Kaipara the children and grandchildren of Haranui Rēweti Kakanui and indeed Araparera and Puatahi courtyard salutations and greetings to you all. My tributes to you collectively who came here today from the Tail of our Maui’s Fish are enormous.]I would like to acknowledge all those who made claims on behalf of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and began this journey. I would also like to pause to remember and pay tribute to those who began the journey but are no longer with us in particular te rangatira Sir Hugh Kāwharu ā me ērā atu me ērā atu [and so on]. Moe mai koutou ngā rangatira moe mai rā.[Rest there esteemed ones. Sleep on.]We are here today to complete our consideration of a bill to resolve an injustice that began 169 years ago. It has been a long and arduous journey to get to this point. This bill settles the Treaty claims of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara by giving effect to the deed of settlement that Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara have negotiated with the Crown. This bill includes the Crown’s acknowledgment that it breached the Treaty of Waitangi and it apologises for those breaches and their consequences. This bill also provides for cultural financial and commercial redress in compensation for these breaches. He hōnore māku ki te pānuihia ēnei kaupapa nā te mea nā Minister Finlayson tēnei pire ēngari kua homai tēnei hōnore ki a au nā te mea kai te noho tahi tātou i Tāmaki—tēnā koutou.[It is an honour indeed for me to present these matters because this bill actually belongs to the Minister Christopher Finlayson. But he gave this privilege to me because we live together in Auckland—greetings to you collectively.]In 1992 Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara’s claim Wai 312 was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal with hearings from 1999 through to 2001. Negotiations began in 2002 but little progress was made until serious discussions began in 2008 with Sir Michael Cullen. He was then the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. It was not until December 2009 that an agreement in principle was signed. Then finally in September 2011 Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara signed their deed of settlement. So 21 years later we mark a significant milestone for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara as I move the third and final reading of their settlement bill.This bill will settle the grievances arising from the Crown’s persuasive and unrelenting land-buying policies that began with the purchase of large tracts of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara land bordering on the upper Waitematā in 1844. The Native Land Court exacerbated land loss by individualising titles so that by 1900 and within a single generation Ngāti Whātua had lost 90 percent of their lands in southern Kaipara. The 10 percent of land left for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara was fragmented uneconomic and hard to live off. This land loss also meant that the right of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara to uphold their own mana motuhake to exercise their own rangatiratanga was denied.But the people of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara survived and although it has been a long journey they are here in this House today pumping seeking justice and takingownership of their own destiny. Some also are here in spirit. An injustice that began in 1844 with the Crown takeover of vast tracts of lands in the upper Waitematā will soon be addressed by this Parliament the people of Ngāti Whātua and the people of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. All those things the families of Haranui Rēweti Kakanui Araparera and Puatahi have lost due to the actions of the Crown can never be totally restored and yet today Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara seek to settle their grievances with the Crown. We need to recognise that. In coming to this agreement to resolve past grievances we honour all of our ancestors. Importantly we also honour our descendants and we plan for the future.I stand to acknowledge Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara whose tenacity and leadership will soon see settlement for the hapū and marae of southern Kaipara. I commend the trustees of the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Committee and the trustees of Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara Development Trust for their passion and commitment. They have shown incredible leadership by working alongside other iwi and hapū of Kaipara Tāmaki-makau-rau and Hauraki.The support of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara people for the settlement negotiated on their behalf is clear. Two ratification processes held in August 2010 and August 2011 returned approval rates of 96 percent and 92 percent respectively—amazing. The Treaty settlement journey for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara has taken over 21 years and although it is not possible to provide full restitution to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara for the losses suffered the settlement redress provided for in this bill seeks to recognise the seriousness of their grievances and build a positive foundation for the future generations of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.The Hon Tau Henare made the point in the last settlement speech that perhaps New Zealand leads the world in terms of actually trying to do something to reconcile with its indigenous people. We looked at what is happening in America and other places—there are still signs up saying that Sitting Bull was a treacherous Indian and things like that. We have moved forward and it is really good to see. It is not just a mere apology; at least there is some real effort to embrace what happened in the past own it and make some sort of recompense for that. So we are really happy to be part of this process today.The legislation before us is much more than a new law; it is a history of a people and it is the future of a people. What was taken from these families can never be replaced—90 percent of the ancestral lands can never be replaced—and yet here they are willing to settle with the Crown. I acknowledge the sacrifice pain and injustice. I thank Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara for their leadership generosity and mana without which we would not be here today. I believe this settlement will support the healing of the relationship between Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Crown and I hope that the apology which forms part of the settlement will also assist with the healing. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara acknowledges that the Crown’s apology represents its commitment to build a positive relationship with them and to honour its obligation under the Treaty for the good of this and future generations.This bill acknowledges Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara’s relationship with their whenua. As part of this acknowledgment nine reserves and conservation sites of significance will be transferred to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara as cultural redress. These sites include Atuanui Scenic Reserve Mairetahi Landing Mauiniu Island Moturemu Island Tīpare Makarau Makarau Bridge Reserve Parakai and Ten Acre Block Recreation Reserve. This settlement will be a key step in allowing the iwi to move forward economically and culturally. The $22.1 million plus interest through their settlement and financial redress including the transfer of Woodhill Forest will provide Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara with anability to focus on and develop their future. I am very proud to stand and support this bill. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.