Finlayson Christopher: Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFinlayson Christopher: Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 09 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17154. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations):To the representatives here today from the three iwi who have travelled from your homes for this occasion nau maihaere mai. Today we approach the end of a long road for a partial agreement was reached between the Crown and NgātiRangiteaorere as far back as 1993. In the early 2000s the three iwi took their claims to the Waitangi Tribunal’s central North Island district inquiry. Comprehensive negotiations with Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika began in 2008. In 2009NgātiRangiteaorere joined the collective and Ngā Punawai o te Tokotoru was born. All three iwi signed agreements in principle with the Crown here in Parliament in 2011. The Tapuika and Ngāti Rangiwewehi deeds of settlement were signed in December 2012 on a beautiful day at Ngāti Moko Marae near Te Puke. The Ngāti Rangiteaorere deed was signed not long after in June 2013 20 years after that first agreement.These bills the Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill the Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill and the Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill have received their previous readings as an omnibus bill. When the omnibus bill was read for a first time in July last year I acknowledged some of the key individuals from the three iwi who worked with tireless determination to make these settlements happen. Today I want to emphasise the collective achievements that these settlements represent. What I want to do now is speak briefly on each of the three settlements before the House. As the bills are being read in cognate I must necessarily be succinct in my comments. Mind you I am always succinct; the problem is for other people in the House to contain themselves! The Tokotoru iwi have been very gracious in accepting that as the election date has put pressure on the agenda of this House the bills themselves will not each receive a third reading. For this I am very grateful.Let me first turn to Ngāti Rangiwewehi an iwi based on the north-western shore of Lake Rotorua near the mouth of the beautiful Awahou River with interests stretching out toward the coast at Maketū.Te Ururoa Flavell: That’s right.Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: I hear my friend Mr Flavell approving of my geographical assessment and I am grateful for that. Water is of vital importance to all these iwi. For Ngāti Rangiwewehi Te Waro Uri—Taniwha Springs—and Te Puna-a-Hangarua—Hamurana Springs—are the dwelling places of the taniwha Pekehauā and Hinerua. The Taniwha Springs actually feed the Awahou River and that flows through the main settlement of the iwi and is a prized taonga. The claims at the heart of their settlement relate to the Crown’s role in alienating these precious waterways. In the 1890s the native land laws facilitated the Crown’s acquisition of Hamurana Springs. In the 1960s Ngāti Rangiwewehi lost Taniwha Springs through a public works taking. I have been to both those springs and one can understand the feelings that the iwi have for them.Other key Ngāti Rangiwewehi claims relate to confiscation war and the treatment the Crown meted out to two prominent 19th century tūpuna the scholar and rangatira Wīremu Maihi Te Rangikāheke and the warrior prophet Kereopa Te Rau. Over the generations the Crown’s breaches of the Treaty compromised the social and the traditional structures of Ngāti Rangiwewehi the autonomy of the iwi and the ability of its members to exercise important customary rights and responsibilities. With great sorrow the Crown apologises for its actions and for the impact that these had on so many individuals whānau and hapū. The iwi and the Crown negotiated a settlement of these claims that includes very importantly the agreed historical account Crown acknowledgments and the apology the quantum of $6 million and several commercial properties a statutory pardon for Kereopa Te Rau statutory acknowledgments and deeds of recognition over Crown-owned lands across the rohe and the return of culturally significant sites including 37 hectares at Hamurana Springs and recognition of the profound importance of this place to Ngāti Rangiwewehi.Can I say something about Tapuika an iwi based in and around Te Puke with an interest that runs from slightly to the north of Rotorua to the coast at Maketū. As I have said earlier water is the thread that links the Tokotoru iwi. The waterway most cherished by Tapuika is of course the Kaituna. Its waters are as precious to Tapuika as shimmering greenstone. Little wonder then that deeply felt Tapuika claims relate to the degradation and pollution of the Kaituna River in the 20th century. Other major grievances arise from the Tauranga confiscation: the line drawn by the Crown through the rohe in 1875 the ultimate exclusion of Tapuika from title to ancestral coastal lands and sacred sites and repeated takings by the Crown of burial lands for public works. The Crown profoundly regrets the anguish it has caused for Tapuika and for failing to protect the special relationship that Tapuika has with the Kaituna River and its tributaries.The settlement of the claims negotiated by Tapuika and the Crown includes the agreed historical account the acknowledgments and the apology the quantum of $6 million 17 commercial redress properties and rights of first refusal over 11 Crown-owned properties for a period of 171 years. It includes the return of 12 sites of special significance to Tapuika across their rohe totalling approximately 209 hectares three additional sites jointly with other iwi and crucially a framework for governance of the Kaituna River that recognises the great significance of the river to Tapuika which will help restore the mana and the mauri of the river for future generations.Thirdly I refer to Ngāti Rangiteaorere an iwi based on the eastern shores of Lake Rotorua near the Tikitere geothermal field. This iwi have successfully held on to and cared very much for Rotokawa one of the tribe’s cherished bodies of water. However the tribe was not so fortunate when it came to key ancestral lands—again largely as a result of the Crown’s introduction of native land laws. The individualisation of title resulting from the Crown’s award rendered the lands of Ngāti Rangiteaorere including the maunga more susceptible to partition fragmentation and alienation. On top of the quantum the redress negotiated and the settlement include the apology and the account quite a few statutory acknowledgments and the return of 321 hectares of Whakapoungākau reuniting Rangiteaorere with the maunga.So I want to conclude by expressing thanks to all those in the iwi who negotiated the settlements. I want to acknowledge my wonderful officials from the Office of Treaty Settlements and the chief Crown negotiator for these three iwi Patsy Reddy who did a fabulous job. I acknowledge her contribution as chief Crown negotiator to quite a number of settlements and look forward to her continuing work. She thinks she is going to retire; I have other thoughts.These settlements are three important steps towards a revitalised Treaty relationship and brighter futures for Māori and Pākehā in this country. As I said it is so very important that the post-settlement unit that is being set up monitors these settlements to make sure the Crown does do its job not just tomorrow but in the years to come. If the Crown lives up to the promises contained in these deeds of settlement things will go very well indeed. I commend these bills to the House.