Whaitiri Meka: Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill Te Urewera Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill Te Urewera Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19469. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):E te Kaiwhakahaere o te Whare tēnā koe. Koutou hoki ngā mema Pāremata o te Whare nei tēnā koutou. Tēnei au te mema Pāremata mō Ikaroa-Rāwhiti he uri hoki o Kahungunu o Rongowhakaata e mihi nei e tangi nei ki a koutou ngā uri o Tūhoe Pōtiki. Ko tēnei te pānui whakamutunga o tēnei pire tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. Greetings to you also members of the House of Representatives. I am the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti kin as well of Kahungunu and Rongowhakaata acknowledging and lamenting you here the descendants of Tūhoe Pōtiki. This is the final reading of this bill and I congratulate us all.]I rise with members of this House as the proud member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti to support the third and final readings of these two bills the Te Urewera Bill and the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill. Following on from Anne Tolley the previous speaker it is probably significant for this House in attempting to correct the historic wrong of what has occurred to the people of Tūhoe and today’s passage of this legislation and what is contained in it will never replace what was taken from the people of Tūhoe. So I stand in acknowledgment of what has occurred to you and the atrocities that you and your uri have faced through the actions of the Crown. The passing of these two bills is an acknowledgment of what has occurred but also it is an acknowledgment and a statement of the commitment to the future of Ngāi Tūhoe.Like my colleague Nanaia Mahuta has said the development of Tūhoe would definitely rest in your hands so I stand and acknowledge those who have gone and those who are no longer with us. I acknowledge our kuia and kaumātua who have travelled here to join us in the House and the many uri who are listening at home and watching these third and final readings of your bills. In reflecting on this significant day today it brings up many emotions. Some may be celebratory—that is a good day—some may be tinged with sadness some may be just sheer relief and some may be with hopes and aspirations that have not been quite rightly achieved. But like with all third readings of Treaty bills there is always hope that tomorrow will bring a better day and that the future will bring a better light particularly for our tamariki and mokopuna of Ngāi Tūhoe.So I do want to add to those who have spoken previously in acknowledging Ngāi Tūhoe particularly Tāmati Kruger and Kirsti Luke the trustees of your negotiating team and I acknowledge the support of the kaumātua and people of Ngāi Tūhoe who have supported your negotiations your commitment to bringing us to today’s important period.My contribution is really to highlight and uphold the institution of the Māori Affairs Committee. With legislation as significant as these two bills have been as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee I say that we were confronted with several contentious issues. I would like to take the time to reflect on what was presented to the Māori Affairs Committee and on how these contentious issues were dealt with. I was a proud member of the committee which was ably chaired by the Hon Tau Henare. Issues around the Waikaremoana lake bed were presented to the select committee. The board found that the dissolution of the Tūhoe-Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board and the vesting of its assets would be provided for under these bills: “The Board’s charitable assets will be amalgamated with two other existing Tūhoe entities to form a single charitable trust. Any other assets will be transferred to the Tūhoe governance entity Te Uru Taumatua. Among the Board’s charitable assets are 72 percent of the shares in the bed of Lake Waikaremoana. These shares were vested in the Board by the Lake Waikaremoana Act 1971. The previous individual owners became beneficiaries of the Trust Board and do not hold direct ownership rights in the lake-bed. The amalgamation of the three charitable entities was voted on as part of the ratification of the Tūhoe deed of settlement. [The select committee] note that the resolutions to dissolve the Trust Board and amalgamate the charitable entities were supported by approximately 86 percent of voters. Lake Waikaremoana will not become part of Te Urewera but remain separate with a continuing obligation for the Crown under the lease to manage it in accordance with the National Parks Act 1980.”In terms of the Wairoa Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board the committee “considered whether this change to the lake-bed ownership would infringe the rights of the Wairoa Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board which owns the remaining 28 percent of shares in the lake-bed. The board represents the Ngāti Kahungunu interests in Lake Waikaremoana.” However “[the committee was] satisfied that the change in the ownership arrangement for the Tūhoe shares of the lake-bed will not change the Wairoa Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board’s ownership of its shares in the lake-bed. [The committee noted] that the new governance structure for Te Urewera does not extend to the bed of Lake Waikaremoana which will remain private land. [The committee was] advised that this arrangement preserves the Crown’s ability to provide redress to Ngāti Kahungunu groups with interests in the Lake Waikaremoana area including Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa in the future as part of their Treaty settlements. … part of that solution was to seek representation on the Te Urewera Board for the purposes of expressing their interests in the management of Te Urewera.” And that clearly sits with Ngāi Tūhoe in terms of how they hope to take that forward.We also had submissions from Ngāti Ruapani which the committee received. That was their concern around the extent of the consultation but clearly the committee felt that “the bill also provides for national park land within the former Onepoto Military Reserve to become a conservation area. The land will not be transferred to the Te Urewera legal entity so that redress in relation to the land can be considered in Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana’s future Treaty settlement negotiations.” So I am raising these issues because they were presented to the Māori Affairs Committee and the committee felt that they were ably addressed without impinging the passing of these two important bills.Like previous speakers mentioned reflecting on the important and significant contribution Ngāi Tūhoe has made throughout the motu in terms of Te Reo made me think about my own connection albeit small with Ngāi Tūhoe. I too was ably tutored by Pou Tēmara at my time at Victoria University. A former friend of our family no longer with us Roger Toki who went to Te Aute College with my older brothers was another friend of the family who got me to visit Tūhoe. Of course in previous contributions to the passing of this bill I acknowledged the contribution of Ngāi Tūhoe in the education of my two sons currently at Lindisfarne College who would not have been able to attend that college without the Te Whaiti Scholarship. So I stand again to acknowledge Ngāi Tūhoe’s contribution across the motu but particularly for me on a personal note through the enabling of the education of my two sons. So tēnei te mihi ki a koutou katoa.In closing I too want to acknowledge the work of the Hon Chris Finlayson for the passage of this important bill my colleague and whanaunga the Hon Tau Henare and my Māori Affairs Committee members and the work that we have done to ensure that the passage of this bill has been completed. Of course we would not get there without the officials and I do want to acknowledge them. So in closing heoti rā ka whakakapi au i Te Reo Māori ko tēnei Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori nō reira whakanuia tō tātou Reo Rangatira. Ko Tūhoe he iwi kaiārahi i Te Reo mō tātou katoa kia ora. Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa.[And so I conclude in Māori. This is the week of the Māori language therefore we should celebrate our chiefly language. Tūhoe are a people who have been leaders of Te Reo for us all. Thank you for that. So congratulations to us all.]