Tirikatene Rino: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Tirikatene Rino: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6663. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
:  
Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena koutou e te Whare. A ki a koutou e rau rangatira ma o Ngati Manuhiri nau mai hara mai ki te Whare Paremata e takatu nei mo tenei ra whakahirahira. Apiti hono tatai hono ratou te hunga mate ki a ratou tatou te hunga ora ki a tatou tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Salutations to the House. To you the leaders of a hundredfold of Ngati Manuhiri welcome to Parliament House in readiness here for this highly important day welcome. Draw together come together. They the dead draw together and we the living come together greetings acknowledgments and salutations to us all. 
] 
I am delighted to be able to speak at this final reading of the Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill. Labour members as we have all along wholeheartedly support this bill at this third reading. Genealogy is the key that unlocks the history of these iwi that come before our House and our Maori Affairs Committee. Today I reacknowledge my tupuna Maki of Taranaki and Kawhia Maki of Te Tai Hauauru who with his confederates travelled from Kawhia through to the Hokianga and back down into the Waitakere and Tamaki areas. As my ancestor chased his foe a chief of the Kaipara made disparaging remarks about Maki. As was usual word got back to Maki and in the relentless and unforgiving nature of Maori warfare Maki was particularly harsh on the people of Kaipara. 
But there was more to Maori warfare than out and out slaughter of the enemy. Sometimes a battle would not reach its conclusion because of the sudden withdrawal of support. More often than not a peace deal would be made and the politics of peace talks was begun. But these talks were more than just a way to stop bloodshed. It was an opportunity for chiefs to make political and strategic alliances. Often these pacts between chiefs and tribes were sealed with gifts of mere pounamu waka slaves or in Maki’s case wives. It is a wise man who gives up his daughter to stop further bloodshed as it was in those times. It will not go down well with the feminists of today but this was the reality of our tupuna. The reason was simple: give my daughter as wife to a victorious chief and my grandchildren will be of the rangatira lines of both tribes and so therefore it is less likely that old tribal feuds will be reignited. 
But time marches on inexorably and without prejudice. The whanau and hapu groupings swelled in number to the point that by the time the Treaty of Waitangi came about in 1840 those small family groupings had turned into large iwi. So with each passing generation bros became cuzzies and the degree of relationship diminished to the point where a new set of rules was applied by the participants. In 1840 Pakeha became a new formula in this equation. This man Maki—what a tupuna! Descendants can be found on the west coast of the North Island from as far south as Patea to Kawhia through to Tamaki and up to the Hokianga. His name can be found in the word “Tamaki”—Ta-maki. The tribe Te Kawerau-a-Maki are his descendants as are the people of Ngati Manuhiri and some of Ngati Wai. 
This settlement bill has been a long time in the making. Many hui over decades have been held. Strong and vociferous korero have been put forward in establishing hapu and iwi authority. More sadly people have passed on and all of that stems from whakapapa. For me Te Hauturu-o-Toi Little Barrier Island is of particular significance. Concerns were raised by Ngati Wai that Ngati Manuhiri would receive the island back in some form or another. They too have whakapapa links to the island and quite rightly made that clear in the many oral and written submissions made by the descendants of Ngati Wai. After thorough investigation our committee has left an opportunity for Ngati Wai to stake their claim to mana and a shared interest in Little Barrier Island. 
Our committee was aware of concerns also over allegations of possible conflicts of interest with regard to certain people and organisations of Ngati Wai and Ngati Manuhiri. Both tribes sent the same legal teams and some people ended up on both representative boards it was claimed. But that is not nepotism; that is whakapapa. The reason these kaumatua and kuia puta noa te motu up and down the country stand on one trust board and stand on another board is because of their genealogy. Our old people who lead the way for us younger ones do so from the safety and security of their whakapapa. Their families are likely to be of rangatira lines. It is like the way of our old people because to be able to recite your relationship to the people you are about to do politics with is very advantageous—a great leverage when negotiating. The close links between Ngati Manuhiri and Ngati Wai have been acknowledged. This committee has no reservations about conflicts of interest and the dual roles have been made plain to the community concerned. 
The cultural and financial redress in this bill is significant but it is never enough—not just for Ngati Manuhiri but for all hapu and iwi up and down the country. There will never be enough money for redress and there will never be enough land and buildings to be given back. Iwi have to make do with what is on offer. No doubt Ngati Manuhiri’s post-settlement entity will look to invest well. They have a number of properties and reserves coming back into their ownership old tupuna names will be revived and a new generation of Ngati Manuhiri will start. 
But can I make one point. I have noticed in my time on the Maori Affairs Committee this practice or trend of gifting back significant lakes mountains and islands with a clause that says it is for only a day or a week before the tribe magnanimously gifts it back to the nation. Minister Finlayson will be aware that 1840 to 2012 is 169 years. Why not give the island back to its iwi for 169 years and then let the people and the Government of 2171 sort out their continuing Treaty relationship? I know Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations that you will think that is a totally ridiculous situation with your high “EQ”—emotional intelligence. “It can never happen!” I know is what will be screaming in your head but I tell you Minister that there is no real mana in holding your long-lost taonga tuku iho land for a day or a few days or a week before being forced to give it back to the people of New Zealand. 
That little mamae aside I am proud to be a member of the formidable Maori Affairs Committee which is more than ably chaired by my Ngati Hine whanaunga the Hon Tau Henare. His guiding hand from the chair over what has been a very robust grouping has been very very Speaker-like so I mihi to my whanaunga. But I also implore him not to make any offhand remarks about smoking on this day because I guarantee you it will be those remarks about his smoking habit or something that is totally frivolous that will end up in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 or in the blogosphere and in the media and not the very very important hui that we have here today. So that is another korero I would like to pass on to the media. These are great days these Treaty settlement days. These are highly significant highly historic occasions and they should be widely reported to all the people of New Zealand. 
So just in conclusion I would like to acknowledge all the many people from both sides who were involved in this settlement process. I would like to acknowledge the Minister and all of his officials but more important I would like to mihi to all the whanau of Ngati Manuhiri. It has been a very long journey but this is a hugely significant occasion. So to all my distant relations I wish you all the very best in the future. Kia ora ano tatou.