Okeroa Mahara: Ngati Mutunga Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
Okeroa Mahara: Ngati Mutunga Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6392] 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA (Minister of State) 
: 
 A ka tu mai au i runga i te taumata roimata hekeheke iho i nga kanohi o koutou ra Ngati Mutunga. Ko tenei tu e tu poroporoaki ki tetehi o koutou kua whakawairua i taua wa ara tetehi o nga wahine poupou e whakaarahi mai i te ara mo koutou mai ra ano. Na ka mate taua wahine ra i te ngarara kaitangata i ngaungau mai i tana tinana. Na ko taua wahine ra ko Teresa. I a au e kite mai i o koutou nei kanohi a ka hoki mahara mai ki taua wahine e takoto mai ra i roto i tetehi o nga urupa o roto o Te Ati Awa me ki penei pea e ngaungau noke te ingoa tawhito o tena i takoto ngatahi ai a ia i a ratou ra. No reira tena tatou. 
Ka mihi mai ahau ki te Whare nei i a koutou nei e tu i runga i te marae atea e whakapuaki ai koutou i nga korero mai i o koutou nei kaingakau. Ara ki a koe te uri o Te Rangiwewehi e whakahuatia mai i nga nawe mai i nehenehe nui a i runga i a ratou ra i raro i te maunga waiwai kope a Taranaki. Tae noa atu ki tena na o Ngati Hine e hamama a-waha i nga ahuatanga i whakahe pea i nga wawata i runga i te pokohiwi o nga uri o tetehi. Na i runga i te pokohiwi o koutou ra e noho i runga. No reira Mutunga mai i Titoki ki Te Rau o te huia hoki nga kamo ki te tuawhenua na ki taua pou whenua a Tara moku i te taha o te awa o Waitara e piki e rere mai i tana timatatanga tae noa atu ki te ngutu awa ki taua rohe. Tena koutou. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
I rise in terms of the tears that you have shed Ngati Mutunga and to farewell one of your number who has passed away. She was a pillar who paved the way for you from the outset and succumbed to that dreaded disease cancer. Teresa was that woman. Memories of her at rest in one of Te Ati Awa’s graveyards came flooding back as I looked at your faces. So greetings to us. 
I acknowledge this House and those of you who have spoken and expressed your views; indeed to you the relative from Rangiwewehi and your references to longstanding grievances upon those from beneath Mount Taranaki. I also acknowledge the contributions from the member of Ngati Hine. And so to you Mutunga from Titoki to the Plume of the Huia into the hinterland and along the banks of the Waitara River from its source to its outlet greetings to you 
. ] 
As a member of the Maori Affairs Committee and also as was said by the honourable member over there as Te Uri o Taranaki. In the discussion so far without doubt there is an opportunity to express a whole range of issues that people perceive as not being of assistance to a claims process. 
 Tau Henare the National Party member spent a lot of time talking about the quantum in terms of dollars and cents. Yet he was a Minister of Maori Affairs when those of us who were in Te Puni Kokiri at the time had to take around all the rohe Maori the notion about the $1 billion cap. We are seeing here I suppose in terms of a policy matter the implications of two issues that have affected claims after the Ngai Tahu claim and the Waikato claim—first the policy about the $1 billion cap; second the issue that tends to in my view limit the value of the claim which is termed the ratchet clause. So every claim that has come subsequent to that is in my view valued in a framework with those two major issues that still resonate in every claims process. 
So I would suggest to the honourable member Mr Tau Henare as he waxes glorious about the quantum for Ngati Mutunga that he reflect on the implication of what his political regime did with regard to Treaty claims. 
As the last speaker I take on board all issues that were expressed today and the honesty with which those issues were articulated. In a sense they need to be kept being articulated. For example the policy concerning what I would call whakataurimatanga—other people would refer to that as whangai—in a sense is counter to the whole issue about settlements based on whakapapa. Because often our descendants are not only Aotearoa based they are a part of a global village and as such they often form alliances with people who are non-Maori. But under the legislation as at present existing they have an equal right in terms of claimants. Yet in the Maori land tenure we have a principle under law that means that the alienation of Maori-owned land can be transferred only to what they call the preferred class of alienee which means one has to be part of the original whakapapa in order to inherit particular land rights. 
So those questions that have been asked do bear further discussion. In spite of that and in spite of those well articulated issues being put before this House I commend Mutunga for their persistence and consistency in taking a pathway forward which they describe as being pragmatic. 
Now whatever my thoughts were with regard to the pragmatic approach in essence I suppose for the iwi that makes the decision about whether to accept that is a responsibility and an issue that it must come to terms with. So Mutunga me o koutou nei raukura titia [ 
Mutunga and your feather adornments 
] this is only the second reading. There is one further reading plus a Committee stage where no doubt we will seek to address one major issue that has been brought up and that is in regard to the translocation or transference of assets from one point to another. 
I think this second reading has been thoughtful and definitely not adversarial because each member has taken a stance to express a particular view. Having done that members of this House must also take into consideration as well that Mutunga has accepted the offer. Na koutou ke te mana ehara i a matou. Ahakoa te teitei hoki o nga ngaru papaki mai. Ahakoa te koropupu hoki ai o to koutou kaingakau tangi ai. Na koutou ke e whakaaengia kia haere tika ai. Anei te tihi o nga whakataukitanga korero mai i a Taranaki: “To mua ano ki mua.” Ahakoa ra nga ahuatanga o muri ake. No reira tena koutou tena tatou kia ora mai tatou katoa. 
[ 
The authority is yours not ours. Regardless how high the waves are that crash on the shore regardless what bubbles up from within you and cries it was you who agreed what is appropriate. Here is a saying of all sayings from Taranaki regardless of the circumstances to follow: “What must be to the fore should be foremost.” So greetings to you and to all of us. 
] 
Bill read a second time.