Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): E Te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe otirā ngā mema katoa o te Whare tēnā tātou katoa.Ōku rau rangatira ōku iwi o Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua tēnei te mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa i runga i te kaupapa whakanui. Harikoa te ngākau ki te kite i a koutou anō nō reira nau mai haere mai ki tō Whare tēnei koutou.[To the Speaker of the House greetings and to all the members of the House greetings to you all.To my many chiefs to my iwi of Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua this is my compassionate greeting to you as we honour this issue. I am elated to see you all again; therefore welcome welcome to your House greetings.]I'm pleased to take a call on the first reading of the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua Claims Settlement Bill and yes we probably can extend up to Waipareira and that may be the intention for Ngāti Kahungunu to become Waipareira so ngā mihi ngā mihi. [Interruption from the gallery] Oh kia ora e te whanaunga. This is indeed a significant day: the first reading of a bill that has taken years in the making. Can I please acknowledge all the negotiators—the iwi negotiators the Minister. Minister Little acknowledged the helpers on the side those that lay and lodged the claims—many who are not here with us here today but are in our thoughts. To the negotiators thank you for your mahi. To the Crown negotiators the Hon Rick Barker the officials from Te Arawhiti Te Puni Kōkiri and the other Government departments—I want to acknowledge your support—and of course the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Andrew Little and his predecessor Chris Finlayson for their mahi. Treaty claims aren't the easiest undertaking. They are an attempt to right a wrong and you heard both the Minister and the previous speaker talk about what happened to these particular people. I want to acknowledge that the people in our gallery at the moment and those at home watching descend from the kotahitanga kaupapa; a kaupapa that was formed for self-determination for self-governance and for national unity because too much of our land was being taken. And so what you have before you in the gallery are descendants of those rangatira who stood firm and fast at Pāpāwai—not once but twice—to indicate to the Crown of the day You are taking land that does not belong to you." and to return it. I want to acknowledge these descendants who played that critical role as we saw back in the 1880s. I want to share with members of this House that prior to the signing of Tiriti o Waitangi iwi Māori hapū were economically viable units. They owned their own whenua they looked after their own tikanga and reo they produced off their whenua and they traded—and they traded. But what they also did is they welcomed in the settlers they welcomed them in. They leased land. They allowed them to live amongst them. This was the graciousness of this iwi and many others. But what did the Crown do in return? The Crown in return said "Not enough not enough. We don't just want to lease your land we want to purchase your land." So here we are today acknowledging the huge sacrifice and the land grabs that happened for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua. And for today a small portion is being returned back to the people of Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua—a small portion because we know they will never return the tens of thousands of acres that were taken from the Maungaroa. They won't receive that. But this offer from the Crown is an acknowledgment of the hurt of the tāhae that went on for these people and I'm proud to stand in support of this first reading. It is only the first reading but I know these people have waited long enough. They have waited long enough and it is to this House that we passage this bill so it comes back from the select committee in an expedient time so we can pass it into legislation at its third reading so we can acknowledge the hurt the harm through this settlement for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua. I did mention around the claims that were lodged because without claims that are originally lodged you will have no opportunity to negotiate with the Crown. So I want to acknowledge all those tīpuna who lodged initially.Interesting that the mandate was agreed to in 2012. The AIP—which is the agreement in principle—was signed in May 2016. It was ratified in November 2016 and again the Crown acknowledged the ratification in December 2019. In March 2018 the deed of settlement was initialled—or the DOS—and then that was ratified in November 2018 and here we are in May 2022 having the first reading.Now those years that I've given from 2012 to 2022 do not—even though it's a 10-year period from achieving mandate to negotiate into the first reading 10 years may seem for a lot of people a long time. And it is a long time but if you add on the tāhae of land that happened in 1845 you're getting a real perspective of how patient these people have been to have their claims heard and that we are starting on this journey to complete. So I am pleased to raise in support of this first reading.Like the Minister said it will go off to the Māori Affairs Committee—which will be in good hands; I'm told good things of that committee—and I do ask all those including maybe some parties in this House that have problems with this particular bill to submit to submit their reasons for why and for anyone that has difficulty with what we are debating in this House today. It is an opportunity for all the public—and I encourage all those who have opposing views or want enhanced views to please submit to the Māori Affairs Committee who I know will come back to this House and report progress so we can see this bill completed.It is a great day for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua. I want to acknowledge all those that have travelled near and far to be here to witness the first reading. I want to acknowledge the people's patience while we finish this part of the process. But really the day belongs to you ōku iwi ōku rangatira e kui mā e koro mā. [my iwi my chiefs my female and male elders.] And also to those that brought mokopuna because it is for their lifetime that what we are doing today can improve their lot. Treaty negotiations never address all the issues or all the ills but it does enable an opportunity for the iwi to go forward.Like I started this kōrero—these people are descendants of the kotahitanga kaupapa which talked about coming together it talked about unity and it talked about national pride in who we are as Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua. So with those few words I wish this bill the speediest passage through this House and I look forward to its third and final reading where the iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua can duly celebrate in all their hard work their sacrifice their patience and acknowledgment of the wrongs of the Crown. Nō reira e te iwi tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa."