Gudgeon Bill: Ngati Ruanui Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Gudgeon Bill: Ngati Ruanui Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:608;Page:5266] 
BILL GUDGEON (NZ First) 
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A ki a koutou Ngati Ruanui tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou. Ko Hikurangi tenei e mihi atu ki a koutou. No reira nau mai haere mai haere mai. I say to Ngati Ruanui: “Welcome welcome welcome. This is Hikurangi speaking to you.” 
New Zealand First is satisfied that the issues raised in the submissions have been considered comprehensively by the Crown and the tribunal and in some cases in the High Court. We note also that when considered by the High Court that tribunal found on the whole in favour of the settlement proceeding. Based on material received prior to and during the course of negotiations the Crown understands that Ngati Ruanui is one of eight iwi of Taranaki. It is generally recognised as such and is located in South Taranaki. On these findings and on its deed of mandate recognition which was open and transparent and had widespread support from the claimant community New Zealand First supports Ngati Ruanui in its claim to be settled. 
 I am thinking about the time not too many years ago when Government officials attended a hui in Ruatoria with Ngati Porou and the presiding official officially handed back Hikurangi Mountain to Ngati Porou. One of our kaumatua got up and said: “I did not know it was taken away.” However we have moved on since then and I say to Ngati Ruanui that I hope they will continue to do that very thing amongst their people in their own time. 
I will not harp on about the disputes of the past because there have been many of those throughout the country but I hasten to recognise the work of those responsible for bringing this bill to the House today. Many people have been responsible for that and I do not think it would be to the benefit of everyone who is here nor especially to the whanau back in Taranaki to name some. I say to Ngati Ruanui that everybody has felt those feelings ever since their whenua was taken. When I think of some of my ancestors’ involvement kaore au e whakama ki te whakaputa i enei kohimu i mua i a koutou: I am not ashamed to allow Ngati Ruanui to hear some of the things relating to my people and to what they were involved in. I te taha o taku Pakeha taha koia tenei o nga tangata i kona:  
Ngati Ruanui will recognise the name on my Pakeha side. One of my ancestors was involved there. But I must also add that he had no choice in what he had to do; he disagreed with the people who gave him the orders. Kei a au nga korero i roto i tona pukapuka; no reira ki a koutou nga mihi nui ki a koutou. 
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I have the information in this book; so we acknowledge you greatly 
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Ki a koutou Ngati Ruanui i heke mai e nga kawaitanga o nga rangatira: to those of Ngati Ruanui who are descended from the chiefly lines of that people I say tena koutou tena koutou greetings to you all. Kua whiti te ra i runga i a koutou i tenei ra: the sun has risen on Ngati Ruanui today ahakoa he aha te roa e tatari ana mai koutou kia whakamana tenei ra: even though it has been a long time and a long wait for the mana to be returned to Ngati Ruanui today. But I encourage Ngati Ruanui to look to its future and to put in place the leadership that will enhance it again as a people kia puawai ano koutou: so that it will bloom once more. I runga i nga korero o ratou ma nga korero no mai ra ano kia noho tahi tatou kia noho tahi tatou i runga i te humarie: the teachings of our people ever since have been that we stay together and remain humble; a tena ka manaakitia mai tatou e te Atua: if we do that the Lord will bless us. 
My challenge to Ngati Ruanui today is this. We have a world out there that is our oyster. How Ngati Ruanui handles its future will depend on what it does with it. And I tell Ngati Ruanui not to forget other people—its next-door neighbours te iwi Pakeha; na me noho tahi tatou i roto i tenei o tatou whenua: it does not matter how we think or what we are; we need to realise that we are still one people even though our cultures and languages may differ. Kia noho penei tatou—when we do live like that—ka rongo koe i te reka: then we will taste the sweetness of what this land is all about. 
No reira e hoa ma nga iwi Pakeha kei waenganui i a tatou i tenei ra ko koutou nga whanaunga tena koutou tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa. 
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Therefore friends the Pakeha people in our midst today you are our relatives: greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to us all. 
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