Hereora Dave: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Third Reading 
Hereora Dave: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19257] 
DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
:  
A kuahurinoa ki te whanau o Ngati Awa. No reira tena koutou a tenatatou katoa. 
[ 
And so I turn humbly to the family of Ngati Awa. Greetings therefore to you and to us all 
.] 
I take this opportunity to join my colleague the Minister of Maori Affairs in acknowledging the Maori Affairs Committee members for their work and effort and Te Runanga o Ngati Awa for its continued support towards achieving the purpose of this bill and for the overall implication that the bill represents another strand towards fostering positive relations and as we evolve as a nation settling historical grievances and striving for the resolution of the rights of tangata whenua. I am sure this can only be constructive. It leads to better understanding and of course an agreement that is designed to give strength to our communities and to New Zealand as a whole. 
Although the bill provides for the repeal of the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Act of 1988 it does not effect the restoration of the character mana reputations and pardon granted by section 11 of that Act in accordance with clause 14(2) and (3) in Part 3 and the schedule of the bill. I believe that not only is it necessary to revisit the words of section 11 of the original Act it is mandatory to place on record the words used for this purpose because when the words are uttered they are given life. I take this opportunity to read those words: “It is hereby declared that after the passing of this Part of this Act the character mana and reputation of the persons of Ngati Awa descent who were arrested tried and labelled as rebels in or about 1865 is restored to them and their whanau and to the iwi of Ngati Awa as a whole and a full pardon is hereby granted to them in respect of all matters arising out of the land wars in 1865.” I believe it is necessary that we place that on the record as part of this debate. 
As a background to the bill the select committee recommended that the definition of the term “customary rights” be amended to mean rights according to tikanga Maori. That is set out in Part 1 clause 3(1)(a): “customary rights means rights according to tikanga Maori (Maori customary values and practices);”. There are two reasons why I raise this issue. The first is the obvious one which is to try to give some object to the clause itself. The second reason is that yet again it is an opportunity for us as Maori to extend our language within the laws of our land—the legislation. As we progress and are given the opportunity to manifest that option then we are truly moving towards a nation of united people. 
 I also want to say that the process of healing and the process of dealing with grievances is most important for the purpose of moving onward. The main changes as has been said by the Minister are that the Maori Affairs Committee has recommended that the definition of “Ngati Awa” in clause 3 be amended to include the words “nga uri o ngahapu o Ngati Awa”—the descendants of the hapu. I did note the comment from the select committee that recommended this change because it is preferable for the definition to revert to the wording that was agreed in the deed of settlement and for the Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill and the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill to be consistent. The proposed amendment will accommodate as much as possible the wish of the iwi to include the words “nga uri o ngahapu o Ngati Awa” in the definition of Ngati Awa in the bill. An identical amendment was recommended by the Maori Affairs Committee in respect of the Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill. 
Finally I congratulate the iwi o Ngati Awa on their observations and on their strength in seeking solutions to find a way forward. I do wish them the best of luck. Kia ora tatou.