Roche Denise: Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 24 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11211. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green):E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe tēnā koutou e Te Whare; ka huri aku whakaaro ki te hunga mate rātou ngā tūpuna o Ngāi Te Rangi me Ngā Pōtiki kua wehe atu ki te pō i runga i te ara roa o te kerēme nei. Haere haere haere oti atu rā! Āpiti hono tātai hono te hunga mate ki te hunga mate āpiti hono tātai hono te hunga ora ki te hunga ora. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa ngā uri kua tae mai nei.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and to you collectively the House; my thoughts turn to the dead to the ancestors of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki who have gone to the void upon the long road of this claim. Depart leave and go forever! Let the dead link up and remain with each other we acknowledge you; let the living link up with each other. Acknowledgments to you collectively and to you all the relatives who have arrived here.]I want to start by firstly acknowledging the people of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki who have passed on. I particularly want to acknowledge those who have spent their lives—and it has been over many generations—fighting for justice for their people. This bill signals the last of a series of settlements relating to the iwi of Tauranga Moana. The larger iwi Ngāi Te Rangi negotiated to work collectively with Ngā Pōtiki to achieve this joint settlement and that is what we are celebrating today.The history behind this bill is a history of betrayal by the Crown. It is a history of raupatu in both the 19th and the 20th centuries. The Crown brought war to Tauranga Moana in order to justify confiscation and to gain access to the fertile lands there and in a bid to limit Ngāi Te Rangi support for the Kīngitanga. In particular General Cameron brought a reign of terror to the Waikato which was also because the Crown wanted that land. The consequences of the battles in Tauranga were a massive confiscation of the land of these two iwi and a betrayal of the promise that only some lands of those involved in the fighting would be confiscated. A large area was taken as we have heard from Kelvin Davis the previous speaker and when some of it was returned it was returned to individuals not to hapū which when you analyse it is how you alienate the collective hapū from their land. It undermines the hapū rangatiratanga.Given the importance of this history and the Land Wars’ impacts on these iwi and many others you would think that the Crown in 2016 would be ensuring that this history would be taught in our schools. How many people for example would know that Te Papa Peninsula which is today where the Tauranga central business district is was included in the confiscations? That is acknowledged in the deed of settlement and in the acknowledged history.In addition to the large land loss and destruction of social and economic structures the 20th century saw a continuation of the attack on the people of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki via the use of the Public Works Act. The sacred burial site of Ngā Pōtiki tūpuna Tamapahore at Mangatawa was destroyed firstly by a quarry and subsequently by a reservoir. The Public Works Act was used to build sewage works that would pollute their food basket and undermine their kaitiakitanga. This is acknowledged in the deed of settlement and I just want to quote from it. It says that “the development of the Port of Tauranga the disposing of sewerage and wastewater into the harbours and waterways of Tauranga Moana and the construction of effluent treatment ponds on Te Tahuna o Rangataua have resulted in the environmental degradation of Tauranga Moana and reduction of biodiversity and food resources which remain a source of great distress to Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki.”It also says in the deed of settlement that since 1886 on top of the thousands and thousands of acres of land that were confiscated or swindled from iwi “421 acres of Ngā Pōtiki lands have been acquired for public works purposes.” To this day the Public Works Act is correctly considered to be an instrument of oppression against tangata whenua lands and this is why my colleague Green MP Catherine Delahunty has a bill that has been selected from the ballot to prevent any more collectively owned Māori land being taken under the Public Works Act. It has been hugely supported by iwi across the country. It may not stop it all but it is a start and many tangata whenua are supporting it because the Public Works Act has done enough damage.Although we acknowledge the journey that it has taken to get this bill to the House the Greens also maintain that this bill does not represent a full and final settlement. It is not final because at this stage we do not know how the past actions of the Crown will impact on the generations yet to come and it is certainly not full when we compare the redress package with the huge losses suffered and the previous speaker spoke about that.We also have strong reservations about the process which is that the Crown determines whom it will and will not negotiate with. We worry that this will cause more breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi because it can pit iwi against iwi and hapū against hapū. Make no mistake: the settlement although it is to be acknowledged and celebrated is a deal. It is the best offer iwi could negotiate at the time but we still need to recognise that it is a deal.The financial redress package for Ngāi Te Rangi is $25 million and for Ngā Pōtiki it is $3 million. They will receive interest and there are some commercial properties as well but as it says in the deed of settlement this is for setting up an economic base. It says that the financial and commercial redress is aimed at providing Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki with resources to assist them to develop their economic and social well-being which was basically stripped from them with their land. The iwi will also have the opportunity to buy back some properties—about 37 of them for Ngāi Te Rangi and 32 for Ngā Pōtiki.I think we have to acknowledge the generosity of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki for agreeing to this settlement. The compensation is a drop in the bucket. Tomorrow is Budget day. That is when the Government will decide how many millions it will allocate for its various projects. With a total of nearly $30 million for this settlement it does not come anywhere near the $1.7 billion that this Government allocated to bail out South Canterbury Finance about 4 or 5 years ago and those investors did not even lose their land.The relationship redress sets out how the Government agencies will interact and consult with Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki. It includes provisions for the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Office of Treaty Settlements to write letters introducing members of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki to governance entities like Government agencies local authorities education providers and State-owned enterprises. There are also some reserves that will be vested in Ngāi Te Rangi as cultural redress. That will give the opportunity for the iwi to work with the Crown to protect and enhance the conservation values.Last but not least the legislation contains the apology from the Crown to iwi. That apology is to be valued. It can never be underestimated. Again we acknowledge the generosity of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki. We hope that this settlement will help with setting up an economic base for their people and that the apology will go some way towards healing the hurts from the past but we have a long way to go before they are fully restored to their place in Aotearoa New Zealand. Having said that we will be supporting this bill.