Korako NukNUK KORAKO (National): E Te Mana Whakawā tēnā rā koutou ngā kōwaitaka o tō tātou matua tīpuna. He kāmeha nui ki te mihi atu ki tō tātou Matua Nui i te Raki ko Ia te tīmataka me te whakaute kua tao katoa. Nō reira ka mihi au ki te kaihōmai o kā mea pai katoa.Ka maumahara mātou ki a rātou kai tu kua wehe ki te taha wairua. Nō reira āe e koutou rā o ia marae o ia iwi o ia waka e haere i ruka ki te ara o te whānui a Tāne kua tua o te ārai haere haere haere atu rā.Nō reira tēnā rā koutou o ngā uri o Tākitimu waka o te whanauka o Tākitimu waka. Nei rā te mihi hōhonu ki ngā uri o Tākitimu waka—uia mai ki a au ko wai te tangata e here ai Kahungunu me Tahu Pōtiki māku e whakahoki ko Tamatea Pōkai Whenua nāna i piki te maunga i tū runga i Rāpaki ki te whakakarakia ki tētahi tuhoka ki te hoatu te ahi hei whakamahana ōna iwi.Nō reira Ngāti Kahungunu me Rongomaiwahine nō reira nau mai haere mai tō Whare Miere. Nau mai whakatau mai e mihi atu e mihi atu e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.[Mr Speaker I formally greet you all the different strands of our common ancestor. I am honoured to pay tribute to our Heavenly Father He who is the originator and cares for all things. Therefore I pay tribute to the giver of all good things.Let us remember those yonder who have gone to the gathering place of spirits. Therefore yes to those of you from each marae from each tribe from each waka who have travelled the broad path of Tāne to beyond the veil farewell farewell farewell.I now greet you all who are descended from the Tākitimu waka who are related to the Tākitimu canoe. I pay my deepest regards to the descendants of the Tākitimu canoe—if you ask me who the person is who is responsible for joining together Kahungunu and Tahu Pōtiki I will tell you it was Tamatea Pōkai Whenua he who climbed the mountain stood on top of Rāpaki and delivered incantations to the priest/gods to give him fire in order to warm his people.Therefore Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine welcome welcome to the Beehive. So welcome welcome I greet you I greet you I pay my respects to you all.]It is indeed my pleasure to be able to stand to speak on the third and final reading of the Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa Claims Settlement Bill. I want to acknowledge the work of the Minister who has just resumed his seat the Hon Andrew Little particularly about this journey. It was indeed in the 51st Parliament that this bill actually started its journey and then the work in the first reading through to the submission process by the Māori Affairs Committee and then through to the second reading and then the committee stage and the third reading today.I think what's important for the Hansard for the record is I want to just to concentrate on a number of very very important points about this particular settlement and what it is part of because this is actually the record of Parliament which will be here for ever. The first one was to acknowledge the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and the history particularly around the fact that they did not actually sign the Treaty of Waitangi. The reason for that was because it was never sighted by them and so they couldn't sign it. The other part of it is that when the war did come around the colonial wars and the Land Wars they tried very very hard to step away from it. I think the important thing though that strikes at the heart of everything we hold dear as descendants of those Christian folk Māori and Pākehā alike who fought each other at Omaruhakeke kāinga on Christmas Day 1865—and for the record that is very much where this tragedy in a lot of ways actually begins.It makes me wonder at the desperation of the Crown that it would abandon values it said it held so dear and it would decide Christmas Day was an appropriate day to kill their fellow New Zealand citizens in 1865 and that it would be willing to command its Māori troops—whanauka to those who stood at the palisades across from their cousins—to fight on this day held so sacred by both sides. We remember and mourn all those who fell that day Māori and Pākehā alike but my heart especially cries for New Zealand citizens citizens of Māori descent looking to protect their lands from greedy hands of unscrupulous land dealers and a compliant Government—that the price they would pay would be death. Why was the Māori price of citizenship death for protecting the lawful property rights? Why were the people of Ngāti Kahungunu required to take sides against each other when both were seeking the same recognition of their inherent rights as New Zealand citizens?Fighting for the Crown didn't protect Māori from the greedy hands of those that sought to take their whenua and fighting against the Crown saw Māori labelled rebels on their own land when not 25 years earlier they had owned most of the country outright. Had the people of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa been allowed to take the role that they thought they would have had had they been able to sight the Treaty of Waitangi and sign it had they been left to their article 2 rights to retain their land had they been treated as equal British citizens with all the legal rights to protection of their lands that that entailed—if this had happened the only rebels would have been the Crown and the attendant land-grabbers themselves.It looks like their land-grabs is this particular record: in 1867 under duress Wairoa Māori were required to cede 42000 acres to the Crown despite protests from many of the iwi living in the rohe. In 1867 and 1868 the Native Land Court continued its destructive practice of awarding Wairoa land blocks to 10 individual landowners trusting that these individuals would act as trustees. But let's be clear: the courts knew full well that this would not occur and that 10 owners would be tempted to alienate land they owned at the expense of their own whanauka.In the 1870s taking land for public works purposes from the iwi and hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa—Te Ōpoutama the compulsory taking of land from Māori while leasing land from their Pākehā neighbours as well. In 1875 the Crown acquired 178000 acres of land near Waikaremoana by exploiting confusion about the legal status of the blocks and by paying off some iwi over others. In the 20th century the Crown misused its monopoly powers by purchasing property from individual owners after the owners had collectively decided against selling. We arrive at this point where 90 percent of the iwi and hapū live outside of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa and for those who remain trying to maintain their ahikā for all their whānau have suffered serious socio-economic deprivation.So it's only right in this House that today the Crown acknowledges all of the wrongs that have actually been done to this proud iwi and hapū and looking at Te Rohe o Te Wairoa the acknowledgment of that fateful 1865 Christmas Day attack on what was very much a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. Just to acknowledge the fact that in this settlement the vesting of the important five first which are the Kumi Pakarae Conservation Area the Mahia Peninsula Local Purpose (Esplanade) Reserve Morere Springs Scenic Reserve Otoki Government Purpose (Wildlife Management) Reserve and Te Reinga Scenic Reserve property B.The important thing is that those particular properties which are in this settlement are actually going to be part of this settlement but also this iwi and the hapū have actually required that they are also going to be shared by all New Zealanders as well—all New Zealanders—and that is mana that is real mana.So this settlement even though the quantum has been talked about nothing can actually I think right the wrong but at least this is a very very important step forward for this iwi and to continue now once this bill has been passed today. Ngāti Kahungunu ngā hapū o Te Rohe o Wairoa you are now here to complete the final step of your journey in this House before your settlement bill is sent to Government House for Royal assent and then your bill will become an Act of Parliament. Many have passed on since the beginning of your hīkoi to this place today and we remember them. Relationships have been forged and relationships have been broken but now is the time I think for reparation of those particular relationships.I'd like to acknowledge all of the officials negotiators and there are also people that have started but did not actually live to see this final day and we remember them also. The final part of that is that I'd like to acknowledge one person who I know worked hard on this settlement. I know the work that she did during my tenure as chair of the Māori Affairs Committee and know that she worked very very hard for her people on this bill. I do want to acknowledge the work of my parliamentary colleague whanauka tuahine the Hon Meka Whaitiri.Finally āpiti hono tātai hono rātou ki te hunga mate ki te hunga mate ki a rātou; āpiti hono tātai hono tātou ki te hunga ora ki te hunga ora ki a tātou. Ko te iwi o te rohe o Te Wairoa Ngāti Kahungunu Rongomaiwahine go well. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou e mihi e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.[Finally let the dead be the dead and the living be the living. To the tribe of the Wairoa district Ngāti Kahungunu Rongomaiwahine go well. I pay you my earnest and ongoing respects.]Kia ora.