Ririnui Mita: Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Ririnui Mita: Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:16917] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Associate Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
Otira Tainui waka Waikato taniwha rau he piko he taniwha he piko he taniwha tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou. Mataatua waka mai i nga kuri a Wharei ki te Tihirau tae atu ki te tuawhenua tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou. A Te Arawa waka mai i Maketu ki te tonga a tena koutou tena koutou. Tena koutou nga tini karangarangatanga kei waenganui i a koutou kua tatu mai ra i roto i te Whare Miere e kia nei ko te ana o nga raiona tena koutou hara mai hara mai hara mai. Hara mai ra i runga i te ahuatanga o te kaupapa e kawe nei e koutou. Na to tatou ariki a Te Tumu koutou i arataki mai i te huarahi koia nei ra koutou kua huihui mai i tenei ra i runga i te rangi marie i runga i te ngakau mahaki. Hoi ano tenei ra e mihi ake tena koutou otira kia ora tatou. 
[ 
Greetings to you indeed the canoe of Tainui and the river of Waikato where there is a chief at every bend greetings. To the canoe of Mataatua from the dogs at Wharei to Tihirau including the hinterlands greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you. And greetings to you the canoe of Te Arawa from Maketu to the south greetings greetings. To the many callings among you who have arrived here in the Beehive referred to as the lions’ den greetings to you welcome welcome welcome. Welcome in the circumstances of the proposal that you bring with you. Our paramount chief Te Tumu has guided you on the way and that is why you are gathered here serenely and with dignity today. Enough; greetings to you and to us 
.] 
Madam Assistant Speaker once again it will come as no surprise to you that I stand in support of the Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill. And once again I declare a conflict of interest. Let it not be stated that I did not do that because it is appropriate that I do so. 
I have to say—and other members in this House may have had the privilege—that never in the 8½ years I have been a member of this House have I had such an experience. Never have I had such an honour as to be standing here speaking to such a dignified people—people who have guided their people all their marae through a very difficult process to bring this very very important kaupapa into the House. It is also very rare to actually introduce two settlement bills that benefit the same people in one week let alone within 2 days. That in itself is a major achievement. 
I will not divide political parties on this issue; rather apart from congratulating the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Dr Michael Cullen I thank all the members in this House for the support they have given to this very very important legislation. I acknowledge also the leadership and the incredible skills demonstrated by Dr Tumu te Heuheu who has led the collective of Te Arawa Mataatua and Tainui in bringing this bill to the House. 
For the negotiators who have had to deal with some very very complicated and difficult issues there needs to be a higher level of acknowledgment as well. They have been through some difficult times. Some of them and their families have been ridiculed unnecessarily but they have stood firm on their mission. They have stood strong on their kaupapa and they are here today on this wonderful occasion. I see amongst their representation many many young people—youth Maori youth rangatahi secondary school students our future. It is with them that this legacy will rest going forward. I hope they do not think that what they witnessed in this House this afternoon is normal practice in this House; it is not. I say to them that if ever they represent their people here they do not have to lower themselves to that standard. So I say to those young people: kei runga kei a koutou nga moemoea o koro ma o kui ma mo nga tau kei te heke mai. 
[ 
the aspirations of the old people men and women for the future are upon you. 
] 
I wish them all the best going forward. 
There is not a lot more to say about this particular day. In fact I am so humbled by what I have seen and experienced—as I am sure most of our members are—that I actually find myself on this very rare occasion stuck for words. But I applaud the passion and the emotion that has been demonstrated today in Parliament with the signing of this very very important deed of settlement. Not only that but the ink on the document is not even dry yet and here we are in this House conducting the first reading of the bill. If that is not commitment to advancing Maori going forward—commitment to Maori development—then I do not know what is. But that is the case today and certainly I have to congratulate everybody who has been involved. 
Some issues have been difficult to deal with as there always are. It would be very easy to flick these issues into the too-hard basket move on and say that somebody else should resolve them but that has not been the case in this settlement. I give as an example Taranaki iwi. Four iwi have settled their claims and four iwi are waiting to come forward to engage with the Crown. There is an issue for them with regard to their collective interest or their shared interest in te maunga Titohia a Taranaki and those issues cannot be resolved until all the iwi are in the same position at the same time. 
It is only fair that the Crown show patience in allowing Taranaki iwi to complete their specific interests before starting to deal with their common interests as it did with Tainui when they settled their historical land claims in the 1990s. Tainui had the outstanding issue of their interest in the Waikato River and a number of overlapping issues had to be resolved. I congratulate all those iwi involved on the manner in which they conducted themselves in sitting down with the Crown and actually laying down the kaupapa they thought appropriate to resolve these matters in terms of co-management and the health of the river going forward. What we saw from those iwi was the ability to be flexible and what we are seeing here today in terms of this collective is a strong desire for them to determine not only the process but also the manner in which the assets should be shared equally amongst the interested groups. 
I acknowledge again the presence here today of the tribal confederations of Tainui Mataatua and Te Arawa—all from around my area by the way and that is why I declare my conflict of interest. The young people here who are witnessing this very very important occasion and those out in TV land who are watching this debate and are seeing what is happening here today can be very very proud of the people who have represented them and I wish them all the best for the future. 
I again thank the Hon Dr Michael Cullen for the specifics he described in relation to the settlement legislation in the House today. There is no need for me to repeat what has been said. I also acknowledge the previous speaker my whanaunga from Ngati Tuwharetoa the Hon Georgina te Heuheu for her contribution to this debate this afternoon. But I will say that there are some great speeches yet to be heard this afternoon and I will leave some space so that new issues and new comments can be brought up in the debate this afternoon. 
Once again I acknowledge the presence here today of some very very important people and their supporters from all around the country. Although we have our tribal rohe our people are well spread not only around Aotearoa but also around the world and they are very interested in what is happening today. 
No reira kei te Kaihautu otira nga matawaka katoa e Te Tumu koutou ra i arahi mai i te kaupapa i runga i te huarahi koia nei kua tatu ki roto i te Whare i te po nei. No reira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
So to you Madam Assistant Speaker to all ethnic groups and indeed to you Te Tumu who guided this proposal it has landed here tonight in the House at last. So greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to us all 
.]