Katene Rahui: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Katene Rahui: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:7701. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 I am honoured along with others to greet the Ngati Apa representatives who have joined us today for this historic occasion of the first reading of the Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill: tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. The grievances of North Island Ngati Apa are significant and longstanding. As with all settlements our tears flow with each injustice incurred. We are connected to Ngati Apa’s pain and we admire the courage of those people and their commitment in walking forward. This is a day to give effect to the deed of settlement and to set in process a final settlement of Ngati Apa’s historical claims but it is never as easy as all that. 
Some of us in this House may remember a 1960s classic: 
To everything there is a season  
And a time for every purpose under Heaven. 
A time to be born a time to die 
A time to plant a time to reap— 
[ 
Interruption 
] I am not going to sing it; no I am not! In many respects this bill as with other settlement bills gives life to those lyrics. We learn of the birth of this claim—learn that Ngati Apa has been raising grievances with the Crown for over a hundred years. I also want to acknowledge the people of Ngati Apa the people who suffered the breaches of the Treaty and who carried the grievances. I particularly want to acknowledge those who are no longer with us those who died with the hope of settlement still in their hearts. 
Over the century the Crown has failed to deal with the longstanding grievances of Ngati Apa in an appropriate way. From 1848 the Crown purchased over 400000 acres of land in which Ngati Apa held interests. The 1848 Rangitikei-Turakina purchase stated that that block would be for all of Ngati Apa to collect and settle on yet native land legislation enabled those lands to pass through the Native Land Court which awarded land interests to individuals rather than to all of the iwi. That essentially excluded many Ngati Apa from ownership of iwi lands which was a clear breach of the Treaty and its principles. The cumulative effects of the Crown’s actions have left Ngati Apa without land—a landless people—leading to the situation in which today most of Ngati Apa live outside their rohe. 
Ngati Apa have also lost control over many of their significant sites including wahi tapu which has affected their physical and spiritual relationship with the land—“a time to be born a time to die”. The bill is a clear recognition that grievances are long overdue for settlement. As I listened to my colleague the Hon Tariana Turia and the speaker who followed her the Hon Mita Ririnui it was again brought home to me the gnawing pain that can destroy the spirit and turn a people to despair. But with the strength of their tupuna behind them the people have risen up and stood to share their history with the nation while at the same time determining a pathway forward. That pathway lies in cultural redress and revitalisation—“a time to plant a time to reap”—so in this bill we have specific and strategic initiatives for the collective of individuals who descend from one or more Ngati Apa ancestors. 
A distinctive part of the settlement is cultural reconnection in respect of the transfer of 12 sites of significance. Of those sites nine are public conservation land with public access and third-party rights protected for all but two sites. In addition there is a full range of other cultural redress instruments over Crown-owned land and relationship agreements with certain agencies. It appears that Te Runanga o Ngati Apa and those involved in the negotiations have valued the experience and opportunity of having to be innovative and creative in relation to formulating the redress packages. 
As part of that the bill provides for the issue of protocols by the Ministers of Conservation Fisheries and Arts Culture and Heritage on how they interact with Ngati Apa on specified matters. It is a very significant development that specified departments and Ministers are invited to work closely with Ngati Apa to consider how their priorities align with issues emerging across tribal boundaries. Ngati Apa’s areas of interest extend from the north of Foxton up to south of Whanganui and run east from the coast along the Oroua River past Hunterville. It is a big area of land so the relationship with Government agencies along with the return of 100 acres of papakainga sites are vital steps to further enhance Ngati Apa ahi ka roa and cultural development of the iwi. The protocols with relevant Government bodies will assist Ngati Apa in being able to cooperate on freshwater fisheries on the export and identification of taonga tuturu on sustainable taonga fisher species and marine aquatic life on cultural materials on the protection and restoration of wetlands and on cultural and intellectual property. This is a very specific and tailored approach which demonstrates the willingness of Ngati Apa to work with the Crown and its respective agencies for the long-term aspirations of the people. 
But the relationships extend beyond the Crown to also encompass relationships with other iwi. There is a clear commitment to working towards ensuring overlapping interests from other tribal groups within the rohe. This is an important development of which we in the Maori Party are fully supportive. Indeed it is in the strength of our relationships that we can be assured of our ongoing strength as people. We have stood in the House in many settlement debates prior to this and have voiced our deep concern at the way in which the Treaty process has been used in many rohe to divide and rule. We have raised our belief that the framework within which Treaty settlements take place is seriously flawed. In effect the process cannot be supported while recognising the significance of iwi rights and their needs to settle. We are well aware that an apology assumes a promise not to breach again yet the Crown continues to do so by pitting iwi against iwi and hapu against hapu. Ngati Apa has fought the practice of divide and rule holding fast to its assurances that it would claim areas of interest as exclusively their own only as long as the available research was substantial and unopposed. This is an honourable position a stance that may well be influential in other settlements to follow. 
Another exciting innovation in this settlement is the cultural revitalisation package. The opportunity to re-establish papakainga is of significant importance to Ngati Apa and it will be proudly supported by the development and implementation of its cultural redevelopment plan. 
Finally I acknowledge the history that my colleague Tariana Turia has talked of which dates back to the Rangitikei - Turakina transaction of 1849. Despite a history of some 160 years—or perhaps because of it—the framework from whoa to go has been solidly impressive. I mihi to the young leaders of Ngati Apa who have given us all hope that our collective future lies in good hands. The bill seeks to recognise what is important to the people of Ngati Apa and to provide redress for historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. We in the Maori Party congratulate the people of Ngati Apa on their distinctive and practical resolution of the historical claims and we wish Ngati Apa well for the promise of a much stronger future. Kia ora koutou.