Roche Denise: Raukawa Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Raukawa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12417. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Third ReadingDENISE ROCHE (Green):Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker.Tēnā koutoutēnā koutoutēnā koutou katoa. Kingā whanaungai te WharePāremataneitēnā koutoutēnā koutoutēnā koutou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and greetings salutations and acknowledgments to you all. To the relationships in this House of Parliament greetings salutations and acknowledgments to you all. ]I rise to speak on the first reading of this bill the Raukawa Claims Settlement Bill on behalf of the Greens and I maintain that it is a privilege to do so. Firstly I would like to acknowledge those in the gallery today who have travelled from Tokoroa and Te Awamutu. I particularly want to acknowledge the chair of the Raukawakaumātua kauniheraHōri Dean; thekaumātua James Clare and Lorna and Ross Pope; the deputy chair of the Raukawa Charitable TrustKataraina Hodge; the chair of the Raukawa Settlement Trust VanessaEparaima; trusteesMalvina McKenzie John Stokes and Chris McKenzie;Raukawa’s Settlement Trust chief executive officerMahangaMaha; and Treaty team members Nigel TeHiko and PhyllisTāhere. I know I will have forgotten a lot of people who are up there in the gallery today and I mihi to you as well. For those in the gallery and those who are watching this at home this is a great day because this is the first part of creating legislation that addresses the injustices that Raukawa ki Waikato have lived with since 1860.I also want to acknowledge those who are not here today. On the long journey there have been very many people over many generations who have worked to bring this settlement to the House. In particular I acknowledgekaumātua GeorgeWhakatoiRangitūtia who passed away nearly a year ago to the day. As the former chairman of the Raukawa Settlement Trust he played a huge role in the negotiations and his work was in turn a continuation of the work that his father had done before him. The first claims were lodged in the 1980s but the journey to this day started long before then.I also want to acknowledge and thank the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson and the member of Parliament for the area Louise Upston for their actions on the day that the deed of settlement was signed at Aotearoa Marae during the Queen’s Birthday weekend last year in taking the deed to Waikato Hospital so that GeorgeRangitūtia could sign the document. It was a great gesture and a completion of a life’s work to have thiskaumātua sign the document on behalf of the settlement trust.I do have to declare my interest. In Raukawa there is a saying: ko Ranginui tetuanui koPapatūānuku te papa kongāpoutūārongo keiPikitū ko tepoutokomanawa keiNgātira kongāpoutāhu keiTārukenga kei TeNgākauōnamaihi taka mai ki TeWairere kiHorohoro.[Ranginui is the roof Papatūānuku is the floor the rear pillars are at Pikitū the central pillar is at Ngātira the front pillars are at Tārukenga and Te Ngākau and the front barge boards hang downwards in the direction of Te Wairere and Horohoro. ]My iwi is Raukawa. Myhapū isNgātiHuri. Our marae isPikitū as is mentioned in the saying. Before entering Parliament I voted on this settlement and I was honoured—very honoured—to join the Crown on the signing of the deed of settlement at Aotearoa Marae last year.The importance of the apology that the Crown has offered can not ever be underestimated. In the bill—and in the piece of law that it will become—clause 10(2) ofthe apology says: “The Crown profoundly regrets and unreservedly apologises to Raukawa for its actions and omissions that led to the virtual landlessness of Raukawa in the Waikato and which caused suffering and hardship to generations of Raukawa.” Those actions and omissions of the Crown are listed in the deed of settlement.Other speakers have outlined in detail some of those injustices. For the record I will include some of them. These injustices include the fierce reactions from the Crown toRaukawa’s involvement in theKīngitanga movement and the Crown’s actions against Raukawa during the 1860s wars in Taranaki Waikato and Tauranga and the subsequent loss of Raukawa lives and the destruction of property. They include the confiscation of land in 1865—the raupatu—the creation of the Native Land Court and the introduction of laws that saw the alienation of Raukawa from their land the gifting of the 20000 acres of thePouakani Block to an iwi with no ancestral ties to the land and the refusal of the Crown to recognise the iwi status of Raukawa until the late 20th century a subsequent failure to respect the rangatiratanga of Raukawa.Section 3.10.2 of the deed of settlement document sums it up pretty well. It reads: “the cumulative effect of the Crown’s actions and omissions particularly its failure to actively protect the interests of Raukawa in the land it wished to retain left Raukawa virtually landless by the mid-twentieth century. The Crown’s failure to ensure Raukawa had sufficient land for their present and future needs was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.”Looking at the settlement it is obvious that the Treaty negotiation team have done a really good job in bringing this settlement to the House today. It also remains clear that Raukawa have been very generous in accepting the terms of the deal. The redress offered by the Crown will never ever compensate for the incredible losses this iwi have endured.The commercial redress package if the central North Island forestry deal is included comes to around $50 million but we need to put this amount into the context of other Government spending. I have said this before when commenting on the commercial redress in Treaty bills. We need to remember that the Government bailed out South Canterbury Finance to the tune of $1.2 billion and those investors did not lose their mana or their land.Too often we find the commercial redress packages for iwi are criticised by New Zealanders who are ignorant of our nation’s history. The history outlined in the House today in the settlement deed and in the bill is acknowledged by both the Crown and Raukawa as being accurate. It saddens me to have read of this terrible suffering of mytīpuna and to know that the ignorant in our society will call this attempt to right some of those wrongs a gravy train. As a nation we have a long way to go to educate all our people on these Treaty settlements and the partnership arrangement betweenMāori and the Crown which represents everyone else in Aotearoa New Zealand.The cultural redress aspect of this bill is also really important especially when we consider that Raukawa were not officially recognised by the Crown as an iwi until around 1988. Ensuring that Raukawa are named and have their relationship with local authorities and Government departments outlined in legislation enshrinesRaukawa’s rightful relationship with their traditional resources which include geothermal areas lands rivers and maunga and it means that right cannot be disputed.But it does not mean that Raukawa are the only iwi with claims in the area. Along with these negotiations neighbouring iwi have also been involved as these areas have shared cultural value. I note that Raukawa have been involved with the co-governance deal on the Waikato River and with Maniapoto on theWaipā River. Of course there may also be other iwi orhapū from whom theMāori Affairs Committee may hear whofeel that they have been left out of the process. That is not surprising given that it is the Crown that dictates who it will and will not negotiate with.For the record I should state that the Green Party position on these Treaty settlement bills is that we do not believe they are a full and final settlement. It cannot be a final settlement when there are generations of Raukawa to come who will be affected by the injustices of the past and it is not a full settlement because how can you compensate for what has been lost? Raukawa are generous in accepting these terms. It was a very good deal but it was a deal none the less. Having said that this is a day of celebration. I acknowledge that this is the time for Raukawa to plan for their future with a much better economic base.I will end with the last part of the Crown apology which says: “The Crown apologises for its past failures to acknowledge the mana and rangatiratanga of Raukawa and looks forward to building an enduring relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with Raukawa that is based on respect for the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.” It is my sincere hope that we can move forward with that in mind.Nō reiratēnā koutoutēnā koutoutēnā koutou katoa.