Kirkpatrick DanaDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast): Thank you Mr Speaker. Kia ora. He hōnore nui mōku ki te kōrero ki a koutou katoa. He mea nui ki ahau te tū i mua i a koutou me te whakanui i a koutou. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. [Hello. It is an honour for me to speak to you all. It is important for me to stand before you and celebrate you all. Thank you very much.]It's a privilege for me indeed to rise and stand and take a call on this significant bill for Ngāti Paoa. I'd like to acknowledge Ngāti Paoa a very proud iwi from the North and bordering on the Hauraki Gulf on the Auckland side as far south as Te Aroha. It is indeed a beautiful part of Aotearoa and I'd like to acknowledge the deep pride and connection to their whenua. In the 2013 census which was the information that was provided there were 3500 members of Ngāti Paoa but I am sure there are many more now.As a member of the Māori Affairs Committee I'm beginning my journey of understanding the historical events the raupatu and terrible atrocities that have found us in this House today in the second reading of this bill.To recap this deed was signed by Andrew Little at Kaiaua but there were many years of work that went before years of discussion and negotiation. Whilst many of us are new to this work we must pay tribute to the many who showed true fortitude commitment and dedication to their cause. Leadership is everything in these kinds of negotiations and Ngāti Paoa has shown that.Many of these people involved right from the beginning of this negotiation and working through the claims into a deed will not have been able to see the finalisation of their claim and we hope that they can now rest more easily knowing that the extreme effort they made will pave the way for a better future for their whānau their communities their tamariki and their mokopuna both here and those yet to come.National has always supported this bill and is pleased to continue to do so. Previous Ministers: of course the Hon Chris Finlayson KC made a significant contribution which was then followed by the Hon Andrew Little who completed the deed and was there for the signing and then the first reading through the House to the select committee stage. In fact negotiations began in 2011 when iwi members gave a mandate to negotiators to progress a comprehensive settlement with the Crown. An agreement in principle was reached in 2011 and following 10 long years the deed was signed in 2021. I would like to just make mention and thank Te Arawhiti for their work in getting this bill to this stage; the select committee both past and present; the negotiators; and everyone who has been involved to this point.The Ngāti Paoa Claims Settlement Bill is intended to be the final settlement of all historical Treaty claims of Ngāti Paoa resulting from acts or omissions by the Crown prior to 21 September 1992. It is made up of a package that includes an agreed historical account and Crown acknowledgments which form the basis of an apology to Ngāti Paoa; cultural redress including the vesting of 12 sites in the Ngāti Paoa area of interest which you've already heard from my colleague Rima Nakhle; a financial redress of a total of $23.5 million; and a commercial redress involving the purchase of some Crown properties.Ngāti Paoa are a maritime people as has also been mentioned today with their origins to the Te Arawa and Tainui waka. Their area of interest includes Mahurangi Tāmaki-makau-rau the Hauraki Plains and gulf islands and parts of Waikato. The 2018 census subsequently estimated that Ngāti Paoa had 4800 members—so there you go.Back in 2009 the Crown proposed a regional approach to four Treaty settlements to iwi and hapū including Ngāti Paoa with interests in the Kaipara Tāmaki-makau-rau and Hauraki regions.Over the course of the 20th century almost all of Ngāti Paoa's remaining land was alienated to private purchasers and the Crown. Land was also taken under the Public Works Act and these public works processes sometimes meant pā and wāhi tapu sites were destroyed. In 1908 the Crown authorised a project to drain and develop the Hauraki wetlands and over the following years the Crown altered waterways drowned the wetlands and changed the course of the Waihou and Piako rivers.By the end of the 20th century only 27 percent of Ngāti Paoa spoke te reo. The decline of Ngāti Paoa tribal structures and the loss of te reo Māori meant that the kaumātua felt they lost the mātauranga of their iwi and their whenua and the ability to pass it on to their tamariki. In the 20th and 21st centuries like many iwi around the country Ngāti Paoa experienced declining health and many inequities and accessibility issues.In the select committee stages of the hearing of this bill there were a number of submissions worth mentioning and I want to just focus on a couple that came through. This one from Tania Tarawa who said in her submission in the concluding remarks at the signing of the Ngāti Paoa Deed of Settlement at Wharekawa Marae [she] spoke about our vision for the future [and] About the promise of a new day and the dawn of a new tomorrow. Ngāti Paoa has lost and suffered much but perhaps the worst has been the erosion of our identity and the fracturing of our relationships. We are desperate for this process to be over. We are ready to build our own future and restore our cultural narratives back to ourselves. We anxiously await the time when what remains of our precious whenua will be returned to us and our mokopuna may be connected once again to the places that are our birthright. Most of all" she said "we want to and need to rebuild our relationships with each other and let go of the hurts of the past. The passage of the bill through the House will be the marker point that begins that journey for us."Of course we've already heard of some of the great words of Mihingarangi Forbes who also submitted to the process and has had a long association of whakapapa to Ngāti Paoa. She said the trauma of language loss plays heavy in her whānau—and my colleague Jenny Marcroft alluded to that. But what she said at the end was "It's time Ngāti Paoa begins to heal to revive our Ngāti Paoa reo our own customs and tikanga specific to our hapū."—and therefore she supported the bill and its journey through the House.Glen Tupuhi the trust chairman described the settlement process as long and challenging but ultimately a defining moment in Ngāti Paoa's history. His statement underscored the significance of the settlement in marking a new beginning for Ngāti Paoa allowing them to rebuild their estate and legacy while acknowledging the ongoing work to address other parts of their settlement.There were many great submissions to the process that were heard by my colleagues and I would like to just acknowledge all of those submitters who took the time and made the journey to come and speak and to be part of that process. It is sometimes difficult challenging emotional—and it's just one part I think of the start of that healing process.As I said on Tuesday when I spoke to the Ngāti Hei claims—the second reading for that bill—there is no redress no property no amount of money no apology that will ever be enough for those who have gone before us. It takes time dedication and the patience of a saint to calmly and methodically work through the claims process. I can only imagine the countless hours of discussion and negotiation that have brought us to this point the sleepless nights and the pain that comes with explaining the historical injustices that have been.In my part of the country the East Coast particularly Tairāwhiti—and my friend Cushla Tangaere-Manuel spoke earlier about this—and also in the Eastern Bay which forms part of my electorate I've seen firsthand the clarity that comes with finalising this long-held objective of Treaty claims. What I have also seen both at home and around the country is a growing mana; a confidence to own the issues to provide solutions and bring opportunity for jobs apprenticeships and the unlocking of potential in iwi. Whether that is the ability to now buy property buy farms or commercial entities the opportunities now come to Ngāti Paoa.The monetary value is not huge in the daily sense but empowerment is invaluable and the return of culturally significant sites and the ability now to have aspirations hope and to be the owners of their own destiny is powerful on its own—long-awaited and a tribute to those who have gone before who won't see the future this iwi can now bring to itself.I urge Ngāti Paoa to look up hold their heads high and take a deep breath. The past can't be changed but Ngāti Paoa can now define how it moves forward. My colleagues and I wish them all the very best. They have come a long way to get to this point. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time."