Davis Kelvin: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Davis Kelvin: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:655;Page:5057] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chair. I am happy to address Part 2 of the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill. This part is about the cultural redress in particular and our colleague across the Chamber Hekia Parata was most eloquent in describing what this cultural redress means. It is about helping to restore the mana and prestige of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika after the injustices that have occurred. 
In particular I take up Hekia Parata’s point about the restoration of place names around Wellington. The Maori name for Wellington is Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara which in itself has a whole story behind it. One place name that has been restored in the deed of settlement is that of Mount Wai-ariki. When I hear the word “waiariki” it conjures up an image in my mind—it is almost magical mystical spiritual. Unfortunately Mount Wai-ariki became Mount Misery; that is the English name. That is a crime; it is a disgrace. It is the antithesis of what “waiariki” means. Another name is Whiorau. In my mind—and I am not trying to rewrite the history of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika—a whio is a type of bird and rau means “multitude”. The name conjures up an image in my mind of birds fluttering around. Imagery is really important to us as Maori. Whiorau is known as Lowry Bay. I do not know Lowry Bay; I am not from Wellington. I do not know who the Mr or Mrs Lowry was of a few hundred years ago. But it is a crime that that name was deemed to be more important than Whiorau. 
Another name is Te Aroaro-o-Kupe. I raise this because Kupe is a famous ancestor of all Maori. He navigated his way from Hawaiki and circumnavigated New Zealand. As he went around he named many places and many places are named after him. He got to Wellington and named a rock Te Aroaro-o-Kupe meaning “the face of Kupe”. I bring this up because the injustices that happened to Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika occurred to all of us. When the name “Te Aroaro-o-Kupe” was changed to Steeple Rock we all as Maori lost a part of our heritage and history. So it is really important that the return of those place names is part of the cultural redress in the deed of settlement. 
I will also touch on the protocols relating to Government entities such as the Department of Conservation the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It is important that the needs and aspirations of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika are addressed when they are dealing with Government entities. It is really important that Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika are dealt with in a way that maintains their mana dignity and integrity. I recall an instance at the Maori Affairs Committee just a couple of weeks ago when we were dealing with another issue not the one before us. The Government officials who were addressing us said Maori had said this and that. One of the members of the select committee asked which Maori had said those things and which iwi the officials were talking about. When push came to shove the officials admitted that the Maori they had consulted with was a colleague in their office. We have to do away with this sort of Clayton’s consultation whereby the first brown face one runs into becomes the spokesperson for all of Maoridom. It is really important that the bill sets out these protocols that mean that Maori will be respected. 
Finally I will talk about the whole-of-Government relationship set out in the deed of settlement. It addresses the revitalisation and protection of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika. It is about the Government coming together with them and developing programmes and services that relate to their social economic and cultural development. This is really really important. The second aspect of the whole-of-Government relationship is the establishment of annual hui between Ministers of the Crown and iwi representatives to review the progress towards fulfilling the social economic and cultural development goals. With that e te iwi whanui hurinoa tena koutou katoa.