Turia Tariana: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Turia Tariana: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10830] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations 
: I move  
That the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill be now read a third time 
. Hauraki Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Raukawa Waikato tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. E rere kau mai te awa nui mai i te Kahui Maunga ki Tangaroa; ko au te awa ko te awa ko au. Na tenei kaupapa na tenei wananga ka puta mai te korero ko nga wai honohono i te po ki Parikino tena tatou. No reira kei te Kaihautu me nga mema Paremata tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
The great ancestral river flows from the cluster of mountains to the sea; I am the river and the river is me. From this philosophy and occult science emerged the saying the binding waters from the darkness to Parikino greetings to us. Therefore Mr Speaker and members of Parliament greetings to us all 
.] 
My river Whanganui connects me to the famous proverb “I am the river and the river is me”. Her origin—Te Kahui Maunga the family of mountains—is also the origin of the Waikato River. That connection is a matapihi the component that links the third reading of this bill to something preordained and succinctly outlined in the phrase uttered by my kuia: “Ko nga wai honohono i te po tena.” 
This is a most auspicious day in this Parliament and we are honoured with the presence of Te Arikinui Ta Kingi Tuheitia Te Whare o Te Kahui Ariki and the tribal peoples of Waikato-Tainui. In their presence we are connected to a noble line of leaders who have striven for the river to be restored to its former health and well-being. We pay tribute to the leadership and vision of Kingi Potatau Te Wherowhero Kingi Tawhiao Kingi Mahuta Kingi Te Rata Kingi Koroki and the beloved Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. The ancestors have laid a pathway for the people to follow and it is a pathway that is honoured in this settlement. I am reminded of the words of the late Sir Robert Te Kotahi Mahuta when talking about the river: “It is a gift left to us by our ancestors and we believe we have a duty to protect that gift for future generations.” We pay our respects to those of Te Whare o Te Kahui Ariki and today we think particularly of the legacy of the late Lady Raiha Mahuta who along with co-negotiator Tukoroirangi Morgan played such a distinctive role in the efforts to restore and protect the Waikato River environment. 
The Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill fulfils the aspirations of the people to protect the gift of their awa for future generations. A special feature of the settlement is that in seeking to protect the Waikato River Waikato-Tainui have established an impressive precedent in the form of a co-governance entity and subsequent arrangements. I have every confidence that the co-management approach which has been reviewed and refined over the last 2 years will provide a vital context for other river settlements. The co-governance approach will usher in a new era of resource management in which accredited commissioners appointed by Waikato-Tainui Ngati Raukawa Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Maniapoto and Te Arawa river iwi will be appointed to Waikato Regional Council hearing committees and boards of inquiry for applications for resource consent. 
The enhanced model represents a significant shift from six statutory boards to a single co-governance entity the Waikato River Authority. It is an inherently positive approach. The authority comprises equal numbers of Crown and iwi-appointed members with care taken to include other iwi with interests along the river. Iwi and the Crown will sit together at the table overseeing the management of the health and well-being of the river. It is as it should be and it is a sign of things to come. 
The authority will have a pivotal role in monitoring the implementation of Te Ture Whaimana which is a direction towards the development of the vision and strategy. Another key aspect of the settlement is the $210 million clean-up fund which we know to be vital to the economic environmental and recreational progress of the area. We know that a narrow reductionist approach to activities on the river has led to the degradation of the waterways. It is so pleasing that this bill provides the investment to support the iwi in meeting their kaitiakitanga obligations in caring for their puna wai roto and awa. The authority will administer a contestable fund that will be available to iwi local authorities landowners and others for initiatives to clean up the river. 
The challenge for iwi throughout Aotearoa is to ensure that w’anau hapu and iwi are empowered to implement their aspirations to be fully involved in the management of the awa. A distinctive aspect of the settlement is the importance placed on two fundamental principles that represent the essence of the awa and the essence of the people. The settlement promotes the concepts of te mana o te awa which is respect for the tupuna awa and manaw’akahaere which is the exercise of control access and management of the river and its resources in accordance with tikanga. These concepts are extended in provisions that recognise and provide for the exercise of customary activities by members of Waikato-Tainui. Iwi members are also authorised to harvest flora material for cultural purposes in accordance with a plan to be agreed to with the Director-General of Conservation. 
The span of the claims for raupatu in the rohe of Waikato-Tainui stretches out beyond 120 years of New Zealand history. Its story is punctuated at one end by Kingi Tawhiao leading a delegation to visit Queen Victoria in 1884 and at the other end by the deed of settlement signed in 1995. The search for justice and redress is rewarded today with a settlement that rightly returns iwi to a governance role in respect of their rivers. Again I return to Sir Robert’s vision: “The river belongs to us just as we belong to the river. The Waikato tribe and the river are inseparable.” 
Today is a tribute to te Kauhanganui Te Arataura and the representatives of more than 50 marae that have so much invested in the success of this settlement. I also acknowledge the commitment and support of the members of the Maori Affairs Committee in their work on this bill. This bill is a means of settling a longstanding Treaty grievance but fundamentally it is about establishing a robust basis for a productive and dynamic ongoing Treaty relationship with Waikato-Tainui. At the very heart of the relationship is a focus on the health and well-being of the awa and its tributaries. This is a vision of the iwi but it is shared by Environment Waikato. It is the ambition of all key stakeholders that there be an integrated holistic and coordinated approach to the natural physical cultural and historic resources of the Waikato River. I am immensely proud to be part of a Parliament that is providing an opportunity for everyone to unite for the single purpose of restoring and protecting the health and well-being of this river. Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma te miro pango te miro whero. 
[ 
There is but one eye of the needle through which the white black and red threads must pass 
.]  
Waikato-Tainui are to be commended for their leadership in protecting the unique life-force of their river in the interests of generations to come. My other river Whangaehu starts at Te Wai-a-moe on Ruapehu and cascades down to Nukuhau the beginning of Waikato-iti. Today my relatives of Ruapehu have gone to the Waikato-iti to pray and to acknowledge the third reading of this bill so that the Waikato at the puwaha will one day be as clean as it is at the foot of Ruapehu. I join with them all in spirit and in deed in extending our deepest blessings to all of Waikato-Tainui descent at this turning point in their tribal history. Tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa.