Little AndrewNGĀTI MARU (TARANAKI) CLAIMS SETTLEMENT BILLThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I present a legislative statement on the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I move That the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time.Tākiri mai a na te ata ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi. Korihi ana te manu kaupapa ka ao ka ao ka awatea. Tihei mauriora.Taranaki maunga Taranaki whenua Taranaki tangata. Ngāti Maru iwi nau mai haere mai. E mihi ana ki te hunga mate haere haere haere atu rā. Ki a tātou te hunga ora tēnā tātou.He uri Pākehā au i tupu i te aroha o Taranaki maunga o Taranaki whenua. Tēnei au otirā mātou Te Kāwanatanga e mihi nei ki te kaupapa o te wā nō reira rau rangatira mā tēnei taku mihi atu ki a koutou tēnā koutou huri noa tēnā tātou katoa. [Dawn breaks a new morning and a dauntless heart. The voice of this issue now sings. A new dawn leads to the full light of day. I now begin.Taranaki mountain Taranaki land Taranaki people. Ngāti Maru welcome welcome. I acknowledge those who have passed. May you rest in peace. And to us who remain welcome one and all.I am a Pākehā who grew up under the embrace of Taranaki mountain and Taranaki land surrounded by the love of Taranaki people. I stand here we the Government stands here acknowledging the issue of the time. Therefore to the many chiefs this is my greeting to you all. Greetings greetings one and all.]I begin by acknowledging the people of Ngāti Maru today. E te iwi Ngāti Maru tēnā koutou. It's a great privilege and an honour for me to open this third reading debate as today marks this final stage in the progression of Ngāti Maru's Treaty settlement bill. It is testament to the years of hard work of their people of their leaders and the dedication towards negotiating te herenga takitaki and the long-awaited day of celebration. Although many are still having to watch this bill reading remotely I'm pleased that Ngāti Maru representatives are in the House today to watch this reading in person. I explained to Ngāti Maru folks who are here in te Whare Pāremata that for many of the Treaty settlement bills that we've had to progress in the last couple of years many iwi representatives have had to do so from outside the Chamber and it's great to have members back in the gallery.This is a special day for Ngāti Maru and I'm glad that they are here to be able to witness this in person. I thank Ngāti Maru for their fortitude and patience in reaching this significant milestone. It is as I said before a great pleasure for me to stand here today to support the bill's enactment. I pay tribute to Ngāti Maru tūpuna on this occasion for the grievances that they have suffered and for the legacy of peace which serves as a basis for the identity of Ngāti Maru to this very day. I also pay tribute to those who initiated this Treaty settlement process who cannot be here today to celebrate this milestone. Moe mai moe mai moe mai rā. I acknowledge and thank the Ngāti Maru lead negotiator Anaru Marshall for his work advocating for justice for Ngāti Maru and for his wisdom and leadership throughout the settlement process. I also acknowledge the wider Ngāti Maru negotiation team: Holden Hohaia Nathan Peri Jamie Tuuta Karl Burrows Tomairangi Mareikura Emma Gardiner and Paretutaki Hayward-Howie for seeing this settlement through.On the Crown's side I acknowledge David Tapsell for his guidance and able leadership as chief Crown negotiator. I thank my ministerial colleagues for their work and support. Thank you also to the officials who worked to develop and finalise a redress package with Ngāti Maru. The Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill gives effect to te herenga takitaki the deed of settlement between Ngāti Maru and the Crown signed on 27 February 2021 and settles all the historical te Tiriti o Waitangi claims of Ngāti Maru. The bill like the deed of settlement acknowledges the Crown's historic breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It also provides Ngāti Maru with a cultural and economic base to support future revitalisation. Today it is right to reflect on that history a shared and troublesome history and to record it in this House. For generations Ngāti Maru cultivated the fertile land on the Waitara River flats and utilised resources from the forests rivers and wetlands. Because of their inland location Ngāti Maru had limited contact with Europeans in the 1840s and 1850s and were not involved in the Crown's land dealings which led to the outbreak of war in Taranaki in 1860. Nor were they involved in the subsequent fighting. Their involvement was limited to providing refuge to Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke in accordance with the requirements of whanaungatanga. However when the Crown confiscated huge tracts of Taranaki land to punish the so-called rebels in 1865 approximately half of the traditional lands of Ngāti Maru were included. To repeat: half of the lands were confiscated. Many of their kāinga urupā and wāhi tapu were taken and some have never been returned.Following the confiscation Ngāti Maru continued to live on their lands. In the early 1870s the Crown attempted to promote European settlement on confiscated land by paying some Ngāti Maru compensation for the rights that the confiscation had extinguished. These deeds of session covering about 60000 acres created significant divisions within the iwi compounding the damage already caused by the Crown's confiscation. Much of the remaining Ngāti Maru land was then put through the Native Land Court. Ngāti Maru had no other option but to use that court if they wanted a title that could be legally recognised and protected from other claims. A legal title was also necessary if Ngāti Maru wanted to lease or sell land. However the individualisation of customary title made the land more susceptible to alienation and further damaged tribal cohesion. Ultimately Ngāti Maru did not retain any of the land awarded to them by the Native Land Court.In the early 1890s some Ngāti Maru were virtually landless and appealed to the Crown for help. The Crown's response was slow and ineffective. Legislation was not enacted until 1907 and the land provided was significantly smaller in size and not adequate to sustain the needs of Ngāti Maru. An agreement to consolidate individual awards into more economically viable family holdings was never carried out and landless Ngāti Maru people who were not named in the 1907 Acts did not receive any land. Despite further petitions from Ngāti Maru in 1946 the Crown finally declined to provide them any further land. Much of the tribe's remaining land later came under public trustee administration and were subject to perpetual leases that invariably benefited Pākehā farmers rather than the Ngāti Maru owners. The extensive loss of Ngāti Maru lands has eroded tribal structures; created severe poverty; and damaged the physical cultural and spiritual health of generations of Ngāti Maru people. The intense sense of loss and disconnection is expressed in the following Ngāti Maru lament: Maru hāhā hāhā te whenua hāhā te tangata. Maru of extreme loss and breathlessness the land is deserted. The people are gone and gasping for breath. I recognise that the Ngāti Maru settlement package does not fully compensate for the magnitude of loss they have suffered across generations. It's testament to the extraordinary honour and dedication of Ngāti Maru that they have agreed to accept the current package and move towards reconciliation with the Crown. I thank you for your generosity of spirit and I am hopeful for what our shared future holds. Today is a day for reflecting on our shared history of the relationship between Ngāti Maru and the Crown for acknowledging our troubled past and for recognising that the burden of history is one that Ngāti Maru will continue to bear. The events I've described today may have occurred in the past but for the people of Ngāti Maru the legacy of loss of deprivation and of justified anger is ever present. It is my sincerest hope that this settlement will help Ngāti Maru build a more prosperous future. Ngāti Maru are already doing work in their rohe to revitalise the iwi and teach rangatahi what it means to be Ngāti Maru. When enacted this bill will further empower those efforts and will mark a new beginning in the relationship between the Crown and Ngāti Maru based on mutual trust cooperation and true partnership. I look forward to meeting Ngāti Maru in their rohe sometime in the near future to deliver the Crown's apology. It wasn't possible during the time of COVID and the progress of these negotiations and of this bill to deliver the Crown apology prior to the legislation coming to this House but I am determined that we will find a time and I would be honoured on behalf of the Crown to deliver the much deserved apology to Ngāti Maru. On that note I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.