Sharples Pita: Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 12 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16634. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs):Ā tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa e hui tahi nei i te Whare. E tautoko ana i ngā mihi a Shane ki a tātou kia hui kotahi ai tātou ki te whakamana i ēnei kerēme kia puāwai ai ō tātou nei moemoeā i tēnei wā nā reira tēnā koe tēnā koutou katoa. Tāmaki Nui Tāmaki Herenga Waka Tāmaki Puia Tāmaki-makau-rau te pai me te pai rawa o Tāmaki. Ā tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou ahakoa kua puta ana te tokorua rā.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. Greetings to us all gathered together here in the House. I endorse Shane’s tributes to us collectively and for us to come together to give effect to these claims so that our dreams at this point in time bear fruit. So greetings to you therefore and to you all collectively Tāmaki Nui Tāmaki Herenga Waka Tāmaki Puia and Tāmaki Makaurau. How really great and wonderful Tāmaki is. So greetings acknowledgments and accolades to you collectively even though those two over there have just arrived.]It is my honour to welcome to this House the two who have just left the House descendents of Ngāi Tai Ngāti Maru Ngāti Paoa Ngāti Tamaoho Ngāti Tamaterā Ngāti Te Ata Ngāti Whanaunga Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Te Ākitai Waiōhua Te Kawerau a Māki Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua and Te Patukirikiri. Nō reira tēnā koutou.In September 2012 the mana whenua o Tāmaki-makau-rau gathered at Pūkawa maunga to sign a collective deed to settle their Treaty of Waitangi grievances with the Crown. I was honoured to take part in what was a milestone achievement for New Zealand’s largest city. The legacy created that day by the mana whenua o Tāmaki-makau-rau is one that will be shared by all of us who call Auckland our home. The legacy created that day by the mana whenua o Tāmaki-makau-rau will live on in other regions as a collective example to others yet to settle their Treaty grievances.The crucial part of the legacy that we are creating with this legislation is the restoration of the original names of Tāmaki-makau-rau. What is disappointing is that many New Zealanders remain bitterly opposed to the celebration of Māori place names of our spelling of them and so on. Look at Whanganui. They say things like: “It will cost too much money.” “Who cares?” “What’s in a name?” and so on. My response to them is that a name is not just a word; a name is our history our whakapapa and our heritage. A name is our identity. But the reality is that Tāmaki-makau-rau the largest Polynesian city on the planet has few modern Māori landmarks. The ancestral Māori landmarks in Tāmaki-makau-rau carry an incredible heritage but too often these places have been renamed and their Māori identity replaced.The time has come to tell the children of Auckland the incredible history of our city. The time has come for the children of Auckland to know the identity of these lands they call home. The children of Tāmaki-makau-rau should grow up knowing that the footprints of the mana whenua can be found not just in waiata or whakatau; they need to know that the physical footsteps of the mana whenua can be found on Motutapu Island in the Waitematā. More than half a millennium ago Māori were living around the Waitematā when a massive eruption saw a giant underground volcano surge up out of the harbour rushing skywards to form the iconic Rangitoto Te Rangi-i-Totongia-a-Tamatekapua.The footprints of those first residents of Tāmaki-makau-rau have been discovered between layers of volcanic ash on nearby Motutapu Island. Their hunting tools and fish hooks have been found buried beneath the ash at Rangitoto. Tāmaki-makau-rau holds an iconic and amazing heritage that all of us should know. Restoring the Māori names of these sites of significance is a practical way that we can help make that happen.The descendants of those first Aucklanders have acted with honour and generosity in settling with the Crown. They have demonstrated incredible leadership and rangatiratanga in resolving a wide range of mandate interests governance and allocation issues. The collective approach they have chosen is already being replicated in other parts of Aotearoa in our claims work. I would like to acknowledge the members of the Ngāti Whātua rōpū: Ngāti Whātua o Ōrakei Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua. Without your patience we would not be here today. The Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei agreement in principle was originally signed in 2006.I would like to acknowledge Marutūāhu whose mahi has been instrumental to the collective approach in Tāmaki. In its 2007 report the Waitangi Tribunal acknowledged Marutūāhu’s perseverance.Finally I wish to acknowledge the members of the Waiohua rōpū. Your commitment to finalising the redress in this deed has been key. Your willingness to receive the redress collectively with other iwi and hapū of Tāmaki-makau-rau has been essential. I also acknowledge the connections to Tainui through Waiohua and Marutūāhu and the blessing of the king and Te Kauhanganui.The transfer of ownership of 14 tīpuna maunga to ngā mana whenua o Tāmaki-makau-rau is a legislative landmark in the history of Aotearoa. Each iwi and hapū will have the opportunity to record their respective spiritual ancestral and cultural associations with each maunga on its land title. Twelve of the tīpuna maunga will be managed by a co-governance body which will govern and oversee their administration and their management. So mana whenua in Tāmaki will soon be involved in making decisions affecting their tīpuna maunga.The mana whenua and their incredible history in this region will be formally recognised by the council by the Crown and by all the people of Auckland. The footprints of those tīpuna are set in volcanic stone on Motutapu Island. When this bill is passed the footprints that we leave behind us will ensure that the history of Tāmaki-makau-rau is set in the laws of Aotearoa. Thank you.