Tamihere John: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Tamihere John: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:619;Page:15179] 
Hon JOHN TAMIHERE (Associate Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 E te Kaihautu te whakaruruhau ki a matau Jonathan tena ra koe. E nga tuahine tuakana i roto i te Whare Paremata kei te mihi nunui ki a koutou. No reira e te rangatira mo nga hapu o Ngati Awa kei te mihi nunui ki a koutou. Kei te tautoko i te mihimihi a Mita raua ko Parekura kei te mihi nunui ki a koutou. Kei te tautoko i te mihimihi a he tipuna ratau. No reira koutou ma tena koutou kia ora huihui mai ano ra tatau katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Speaker the one who shelters us Jonathan greetings. A huge greeting to you sister and brother colleagues in the House to the chief of the sub-tribes of Ngati Awa and to everyone else. I endorse the tributes made by Mita and Parekura. They have done a fine job too and I support their efforts. And so greetings to all of you and to all of us who have gathered here 
.] 
I acknowledge my two colleagues Parekura Horomia and Mita Ririnui for the contribution they have made to the debate today. It has been on song on point and representative of this Government’s position in its negotiation process with Ngati Awa. 
I want to comment on a number of observations and points made by members opposite. I regret to say that I do not have the same level of dignity and humility of some of my comrades in the Maori caucus—but notwithstanding that we make a reasonable team. I reject absolutely the divide and rule tactics of the member for Bay of Plenty who has just resumed his seat. He always makes a very pithy and pious contribution to this House. He is consistent in doing that. I regret that; he should stop taking evil and ugly pills. 
In the event that certain people do not vote for the members of the Maori caucus of the Labour Party we could end up with an ACT - National Party Government. We heard the ACT member who has just resumed his seat say that we are animists. I have to look that up in the dictionary because I do not really understand it but whatever it means we as Maori people honour the integrity of our mountains and rivers honour the integrity of our ancestors. These are great things. I am also a Catholic—a failed one—and the reality is that we also honour our saints and some of the great people in history who have made a contribution to the continuity of that faith. All of a sudden a member from ACT stands up and says he does not understand this mumbo-jumbo and this sort of spirituality. He farms the high country in the South Island and he will bang his desk in this House over that debate and say: “I’m culturally and spiritually entwined with my land that we have farmed for generations.” but when it comes to a Maori debate he will reject that argument. That sort of nonsense needs to be challenged because we get it here day in and day out. Any person who has the audacity and temerity to come to this House and suggest that New Zealand will make millions of dollars by farming kiwis and selling them to KFC has really got something wrong with him. That is what that member did. 
In terms of the contribution made by the Green Party member we could wail in difficulty and victimhood which that member always makes a contribution on. I regret that because no one has a monopoly on hurt hate hunger and the rip-offs that have occurred and that this process is looking to alleviate. Ngati Awa will know just as a number of our other hapu and iwi know that we have all been scarred. But members of the leadership of Ngati Awa have made a determined determination—that is they have documented their hurt and understood their difficulty and now they will provide some clear opportunities for their people. The only thing that I agree with the member for Bay of Plenty on is the huge range of opportunities that this Government has made available. This settlement is coming at a wonderful time and Ngati Awa can actually make some marvellous contributions to the Bay of Plenty. 
I also acknowledge Ngati Awa for setting the precedent on the eastern seaboard of this country. Here is another point that Mr Ryall should get his mind round if he can—that is the easy settlements were done by Douglas Montrose Graham. The hard ones are where the real Maoris live. Seventy percent of Maoris live north of Taupo and those settlements will be difficult because that is where the numbers are that is where the population of the Maori nation is. It is about the Bay of Plenty and places heading north. We will settle and will set good precedents in place. As I said I regret that I do not have the dignity or the humility of the Minister of Maori Affairs but I will not stand for the tripe cant and nonsense that have been spoken in some of the contributions to this debate. 
I conclude by once again bringing the debate back to the real people. I congratulate Ngati Awa on their effort and work and I commend them for bringing this bill to the House. I commend the select committee for the way in which it will respond to it and bring Ngati Awa closure. Kia ora.