Mahuta Nanaia: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mahuta Nanaia: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 26 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:4042. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 Tena koe tena koutou. E tapiri atu aku mihi maioha ki a koutou Rongowhakaata i pakaru te kaha ki te whakatutuki i tenei kaupapa kei mua i te aroaro i tenei wa no reira ki a koutou katoa ka nui te mihi atu. 
[ 
Thank you and salutations to you collectively. I add my loving regards to you Rongowhakaata who worked really hard to bring this matter before us at this point in time to a conclusion. I acknowledge you greatly 
.]  
It gives me great pleasure to join in the previous comments supporting the legislation that is about to go through the House today the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill. Having read the historical background in the bill and also listened to Minister Turia and my colleague the Hon Parekura Horomia I will tread lightly on the history of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi lest I tread in the wrong place. So please do not take my contribution as a diminishing of the intent of the legislation except to say I recognise in the bill a huge huge step forward in terms of the intent of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi in coming together to work forward for the betterment of your people and most certainly for future generations. 
With that in mind there are five brief words in this bill that we should all cherish when we think about Treaty settlement legislation: “This Act binds the Crown.” Underpinning those five small words is a deed of settlement with much of the substance of the intent of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi about what they want to aspire to. We should always remember that because this is Maori Language Week and when the good people of New Zealand look at Parliament and listen to the debates it is my sincere hope that they do not judge us just on question time. It is my sincere hope that they believe that we are contributing to trying to make New Zealand a better place and Treaty settlements are but one of the ways in which New Zealand is becoming a better place. Why? Because it resolves the historical injustices of the past. Why? Because it shows the magnitude and magnanimity of spirit that Maori have had despite history to try to move forward. Why? Because the Crown with some level of humility recognises that it has a long way to go to rectify the hurt of the past but also the necessity of ensuring the durability of settlements despite this. 
So to the good people of New Zealand who are listening to the debates on Treaty settlements in the House today it is my sincere hope that you see this as a positive step that can build a nation that is committed to rectifying history in some small way to telling both sides of the story. Part of Rongowhakaata’s bill seeks to rectify that story. We often tell the history of other iwi very poorly in this House and it is often drawn from what is written in the legislation but again it is my sincere hope that in the schools throughout New Zealand—and especially in this instance in the Rongowhakaata region itself in their schools—they can tell both sides of the story. They were never ever told to them their parents or the parents before them. But to their children yes history can be rectified. 
I also wanted to comment briefly on the magnanimity of the people of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi in ceding much of the varied claims in their rohe to be able to get to this point. Clause 14 outlines the extent and the nature of I guess the undertakings that had to be sought to be able to come to this point today. And we should never ever forget that many many smaller claims have made up the context of this bigger claim. 
It is important because often I have sat on a number of select committees where people feel very aggrieved at giving up their own Waitangi Tribunal claim to be able to join a larger comprehensive claim—that their particular grievances and hurts cannot be told. So I want to draw the attention of the House to each and every one of those Wai claims in clause 14 and I want to acknowledge for the record that it is no small matter that iwi have managed to consolidate collective interests of this nature. It is very significant. It is an important act of goodwill that I certainly as a member of this House want to acknowledge and I pay tribute to the leadership of those involved in negotiating the intent of this claim. Much of the debate has focused on the opportunities for successful implementation and again I remind us of those five key words: “This Act binds the Crown.” It should bind the Crown in every generation that seeks to give life to the intent of Treaty settlements but we have to be vigilant. Although politicians come and go the iwi collective memory is very vivid and it stays the same and people will carry the torch of intent of Treaty settlements in ways that we can never fathom or understand. We have to be diligent as parliamentarians and certainly when you are on the Treasury benches representing the Crown implementing the full extent of undertakings within Treaty settlements. So the cultural redress components are really important. 
Members before me have spoken about the need to return Te Hau ki Turanga back to Rongowhakaata and can I just say this one thing. Despite the nature by which this house has come into the public domain and provenance I want to acknowledge that this house has been a huge gift to the nation. For every person who has visited Te Papa Tongarewa for every person who has been able to get a glimmer of the richness and the value of Maori culture and its contribution to shaping the identity of New Zealand this particular whare has played a huge role. So I want to acknowledge that because it is not well said and expressed and I want that recognition to go into  
Hansard 
. 
The second aspect is really on the implementation of the protocols. Can I just say that there are a range of protocols here that give body to the opportunities going forward for the claimant groups. The conservation protocol the Crown minerals protocol the fisheries protocol and the taonga tuturu protocol—each of those will require the strong commitment of the Crown’s representatives through age and time to ensure that those protocols are able to be delivered upon. No matter which administration comes into force it is a minimum expectation. This is I guess the part of settlements where I become I guess very cautioned—probably by our own experience and our own settlement back home—that unless we as parliamentarians are diligent for the benefit of the intent of the Crown for successful implementation then memories will soon fade and the intents of these protocols will be lost and perhaps not as successfully implemented as is anticipated today. 
That is the very reason why I think the statement of the Minister is absolutely correct. When it comes to Treaty settlements this small part is a step along the way to a much greater intent and that is to see the full realisation of the dreams and aspirations of Rongowhakaata Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi realised in some very tangible ways which the Crown must give body to. 
With that small contribution again I want to commend the bill to the House and I am proud that our members of the Maori Affairs Committee have been unwavering and unstinting in their support of the four bills that have come before us today and have shown us that there is a lot to look forward to especially for the people of Rongowhakaata who are no strangers to providing opportunity for their people for looking for economic development opportunities for investing in the future of their next generation and more important for preparing themselves well to be able to move forward successfully. 
No reira i raro i tera o nga tino pitopito korero ka tapiri atu aku whakaaro ki era i waihotia i roto i te Whare nei tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
So after that really very brief contribution I add my thoughts to those presented by others in this House and commend you all. 
]