Mahuta NanaiaTE PIRE KIA UNUHIA TE HARA KAI RUNGA I A RUA KĒNANA / RUA KĒNANA PARDON BILLFirst ReadingHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): I move That Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.E ai ki te kōrero a te koroua Kotahi te ture mō ngā iwi e rua". Kua mana ana kupu i tēnei rā. E te mana nui e te tohunga e te rangatira Rua Kēnana Hepetipa moe mai rā e moe.Kāti huri noa i tō tātou Whare tēnā koutou. Tuatahi ki ngā uri o Rua ngā kaiwhakapono o Te Iharaira tae rawa ake ki ngā uri o Tama Kaimoana o Maungapōhatu. Koutou kua puta i ngā whārua o Te Urewera nā koutou i pīkau i tēnei kaupapa i roto i ngā tau me āna piki me āna heke hoki. Ahakoa ērā kei kōnei tātou i tēnei rā mō te pānui tuatahi a tēnei pire. Nā koutou nā tō koutou māia kaha hoki kua tae tātou ki tēnei rā. Nō reira kei ngā uri o Rua Kēnana tēnei te mokopuna o Piupiu Te Wherowhero e mihi kau atu nei.Ka tangi ki ngā tini aituā i roto i te wā. Tēnei mātou e tangi tonu nei i tērā o ngā taniwha hiku roa a Pita Paraone. Otirā kei ngā mate o tēnā marae o tēnā hapū o tēnā iwi puta noa i te motu haere haere hoki atu rā. Rātou ki a rātou ko tātou ngā kanohi ora o te tau nei ngā mahuetanga iho o rātou mā tēnā rā koutou tātou katoa.[The male elder once said "One rule for two peoples". His words are true on this day. The authority the spiritual intermediary the leader of people Rua Kēnana Hepetipa rest in peace.Turning to those in the House greetings. Firstly to the descendants of Rua the believers of Iharaira to the descendants of Tama Kaimona of Maungapōhatu. To those of you who have come from the valley of the Ureweras it was you who have carried this cause forward through its ups and downs. Regardless we are here today for the first reading of this bill. It was because of you because of your courage your strength we are here today. Therefore to the descendants of Rua Kēnana I the descendent of Piupiu Te Wherowhero acknowledge you.We mourn the many who have passed. We continue to mourn the passing of that man of great influence Pita Paraone. To those who have passed of the marae the hapū and the iwi throughout the country rest in peace. The spirit realm to the spirit realm and to us who have been left behind in the realm of the living thank you all.]In August 1916 Rua Kēnana—Tūhoe rangatira community leader and leader of the Iharaira faith—was convicted of moral resistance to a police attempt to arrest him earlier that year. The arrest had its origins in an earlier conviction for the illicit sale of liquor; however Rua believed he had already been punished for those crimes. Rua had in fact served time in prison in 1915 on such charges dating back to 1911 before he had returned to Maungapōhatu in 1915.In January 1916 Rua was summoned to appear before a magistrate in relation to a batch of 1915 charges also relating to the sale of alcohol without a licence. Rua advised police that he was busy with harvesting and requested that his case be adjourned until the next court session. The magistrate treated this as a contempt of court and imposed a prison sentence in Rua's absence.A first attempt to arrest Rua was made in February 1916. Rua told the constables that he would not accompany them and that he had already served a prison sentence. The constables were not prepared to use force and did not compel him to come with them; however this led to further charges against Rua for resisting arrest and using seditious language. In the midst of the First World War the authorities undoubtedly saw the autonomy claimed by the community led by Rua at Maungapōhatu as subversive.For the next attempt at arrest in April 1916 70 armed police set out. During the arrest there was an exchange of gunfire in which Rua's son Toko Rua and another young man Te Maipi were killed. Three other Maungapōhatu residents and four police officers were wounded. Thirty-one Maungapōhatu men were arrested and held up for three days. This incident has been described by some historians as the last shooting of the New Zealand Wars. It is an incident that has dwelt long in Tūhoe memories and has continued to cast its shadow over more recent events in our history. Rua's 47-day trial was the longest in our history until 1977. He was acquitted on the charge of using seditious language. Four other charges were thrown out by the judge and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on two others. The police attempted to arrest Rua due to the reactivation of his suspended sentence imposed in May 1915. It's unclear why this sentence was reactivated as Rua was not charged with any new offence between the imposition of the suspended sentence in May 1915 and its later reactivation. Rua spent 18 months in prison because of his conviction for morally resisting arrest in February 1916. The severity of his sentence was the subject of protest in a letter to the Auckland Star by eight members of the jury which convicted Rua. The Iharaira faith went into a serious long decline after the events arising from Rua's arrest. In regard to the Maungapōhatu invasion the Crown's treatment of Rua was unreasonable.This legislation will give effect to the 9 September 2017 agreement to provide a statutory pardon for Rua Kēnana between the Crown and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust to provide a statutory pardon for Rua Kēnana. The evidence relating to this instance has been thoroughly researched through the Waitangi Tribunal's Te Urewera inquiry. The Waitangi Tribunal report concluded that the police used excessive force in arresting Rua at Maungapōhatu. It is not clear that there was good reason to reactivate the suspended sentence for liquor charges which were used in large part to justify the arrest. Rua has borne a lasting stigma because of the Crown's treatment of him. The final form of this stigma was a guilty verdict for moral resistance.There are precedents in this House for pardoning individuals from our history. An example is the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Act 2013. There are also criteria for assessing whether a statutory pardon is an appropriate vehicle to achieve reconciliation. These were developed during the consideration of a pardon for Kereopa Te Rau as part of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi settlement.Let me test the circumstances briefly against those criteria. First the person for whom the pardon is sought has been convicted of offence. This is obviously the case for Rua Kēnana. The second criterion is that the whānau wish the pardon to be granted and understand its nature and effect. This criterion also clearly applies here. The trusts have been clear that they wish to pursue a statutory pardon. Third the pardon will achieve the intended effect of promoting reconciliation. The trust considers this is necessary to restore the character mana and reputation of Rua and promote reconciliation with the Crown. We have much work to do there. Fourth no other response from the Crown will sufficiently meet whānau concerns. Let me be clear that there are no other options available to meet the concerns expressed by the trust except through this bill. Fifth it is appropriate for Parliament to formally express forgiveness via legislation for the conduct that resulted in the convictions. The Crown has acknowledged in the Tūhoe settlement the manner in which it acted towards Rua and the Maungapōhatu community causing them serious prejudice and was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.The uri of Rua Kēnana and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira are still affected by the stigma that has resulted from the conviction of their tupuna and the resulting hardships for the community caused by that conviction. We cannot begin to understand what that feels like. In terms of the Crown acknowledgment this bill is required in order to provide an appropriate Crown response to these matters. It seeks to affirm and restore the character mana and reputation of Rua and his descendants. It is important that the Crown acknowledges that its actions which I have already talked about caused lasting damage to his character mana and reputation and carried by his descendants. It acknowledges that Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira including the descendants of Rua Kēnana have suffered ongoing hurt shame stigma as a result of the Maungapōhatu invasion. The Crown will through this legislation apologise to the descendants of Rua Kēnana and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira for the lasting damage to the character the mana the reputation of Rua Kēnana and his uri. It will also apologise for the deep hurt shame and stigma caused as a result of the invasion of Maungapōhatu.The bill concludes with the pardon for the conviction for the moral resistance to arrest. It declares the restoration of the character mana and reputation of Rua Kēnana his uri and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira. This bill is outside the Treaty settlement process. It will have no impact on existing Treaty settlements and involves no financial or cultural redress. However I consider that the bill will go a long way to restoring the reputation and mana of the Crown. We heard earlier this morning from Dr Taiarahia Black that this is a millennial moment. The first reading of Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill in my mind affirms the teachings of our prophets.Te koroua Rua Kēnana Te Whiti o Rongomai Tohu Kākahi Āperehama Taonui Tāwhiao me rekereke rātou katoa.[The elder Rua Kēnana Te Whiti o Rongomai Tohu Kākahi Aperehama Taonui Tāwhiao they must all be pardoned.]This is the millennial moment recognised so that we can be alert to the teachings of those tohunga our tūpuna to navigate our way ahead.Nō reira tēnei te whakaaro ake ki a koutou katoa. Te Ururoa i kite i a koutou i waenganui i a tātou. Tēnā tātou.[Therefore I am thinking of all of you. Te Ururoa I saw you amongst us. Thank you.]"