Street Maryan: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Street Maryan: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
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Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 E nga iwi o Ngati Apa tenei te mihi ki a koutou. Tena koutou tena koutou kia ora koutou katoa. It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak to this third and final reading of this Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill which has been a long time in the making. I pay my respects to the tupuna and the leaders of Ngati Apa who have gone before and who have not lived to see this day. I pay my respects also to those who have carried their torches faithfully—the young people whom the Minister has just named in her korero—who have now brought this settlement to fruition. I pay my respects to them also. 
I think it is a striking element of this settlement that we have the emergence of a generation of young leaders who are now more than well-equipped to settle a grievance of long standing. I recognise that and I recognise the people who have gone before them because they are the ones who have prepared them and equipped them for this task. I hope today that in fact the Government with this third reading puts the seal on something that should have been honoured a long time ago as the Minister has said. 
I will make a couple of points about the legislation and I will refer to a few things one of my colleagues said earlier in his first speech—I think in addressing the first reading of this legislation when it came to the House. My colleague the Hon Mita Ririnui had this to say about this legislation: “Ngati Apa entered into a process which basically began with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi for a simple purpose: they encouraged settlement but at the same time they wanted to be recipients. They wanted to be in the position where they could benefit from much of the technology brought here by the settlers. So they entered into many discussions with Crown agents many of whom are mentioned in the preamble to this bill. Certainly they are mentioned in the historical account.  
But that did not happen. In fact Ngati Apa went through a process of being subjected to land confiscation and land acquisition to the point … where they were left with simply 1 percent of their original land holding. For them that had a tremendous impact … It led to the undermining of their culture the loss of their language and the fragmentation of whanau hapu and iwi to the extent that they did not participate in the development of the Rangitikei area. In fact they were what we might call onlookers. The development of that area was undertaken at their expense and they at no time were able to participate in it.”  
The history of this settlement is painful to read. It is good that it is traversed in some detail at the beginning of this legislation so that it is written down in our law for all to read that the land confiscation the alienation and the oppression of Ngati Apa which deprived them of economic well-being as well as spiritual and physical well-being can be referred back to by anybody who cares to look because it will now enter our statute.  
From a brief traversing of the history and by reference to my colleague Mita Ririnui’s words but also in recognition of the words the Minister spoke a few minutes ago the next step to come to in the legislation is the apology. Because the first thing that must happen in order for a settlement to be a settlement of a grievance is an apology. There is no settlement without the apology. I quote from the text of the apology in the bill: “(1) The Crown recognises the efforts and struggles of the ancestors of Ngati Apa (North Island) in pursuit of their claims for justice and redress from the Crown and makes this apology to Ngati Apa (North Island) and their descendants. (2) The Crown profoundly regrets and unreservedly apologises to Ngati Apa (North Island) for the breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles acknowledged above. (3) The Crown regrets and apologises for the cumulative effect of its actions and omissions over the generations to the present day which have had a detrimental impact on the traditional tribal structures of Ngati Apa (North Island) their access to customary resources and significant sites economic and social development and their physical cultural and spiritual wellbeing. (4) Accordingly with this apology the Crown seeks to atone for its past wrongs begin the process of healing and make a significant step towards re-building a lasting relationship based on mutual trust and cooperation with Ngati Apa (North Island).”  
If I say nothing else in this speech tonight the text of that apology is sufficient to begin a settlement process. Also within this legislation are the other elements of a settlement process with which we are now familiar. There is the cultural redress there is the compensation and there is the return of lands. All of those elements are prerequisites for New Zealand Aotearoa to begin to move forward as people who work with each other and treat each other in a way that is respectful and equal. We can start to build a different society on that basis. It is my great pleasure to commend this third reading of the Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill to the House. Kia ora.