te Heuheu Georgina: Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
te Heuheu Georgina: Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15805] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
: 
 I am very pleased to stand in the second reading of the Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill. National supports the bill and I support all the remarks that have been made by the Minister of Maori Affairs this afternoon. Mauao of course as it is known to the Tauranga Moana iwi is more commonly known as Mount Maunganui and it is of hugely significant cultural traditional historical and spiritual importance to Ngai Te Rangi Ngati Ranginui Ngati Pukenga and Waitaha and this bill essentially sees the return of that maunga to the Tauranga Moana iwi. Therefore this measure is a reason to congratulate those iwi and to celebrate with them. 
The select committee process that we went through in recent weeks was a pretty memorable sort of affair I have to say. The Maori Affairs Committee went to Tauranga where a very fulsome gathering of iwi elders was there to greet us and I will come in a minute to the issue that most bothered them. I think one of the best things about being in Parliament when a transfer of this nature takes place is to go and visit with the iwi concerned to soak up the significance of it although I think most of us were aware of that anyway—and I include in that my colleague Bob Clarkson who filled in because he is a local member. He also has a very keen appreciation of the depth of association—the historical ties and spiritual association—of the Tauranga Moana iwi with their maunga. But in that they are not unlike other iwi who all associate and identify themselves with their maunga or their awa. 
It gave me an enormous amount of pleasure though—and I just want to refer to this again—to see the reasonably large gathering in Tauranga. It was very respectful but the iwi had mostly come to see the select committee about what they saw as a Clayton’s transfer of the fee simple to them. If I turn to the bill as introduced I see clause 7 reads: “For the purposes of any enactment … or rule of law Mauao historic reserve must be treated as if the fee simple estate in the reserve were still vested in the Crown.” That in combination with clause 5 “Mauao historic reserve vested in trustees of Mauao Trust” which included a statement that the fee simple was to be returned to the Tauranga Moana iwi had become a matter of some concern and I think considerable hurt to them. It seemed to them that on the one hand the Crown was giving something back to them but was taking it away in the same breath. It was a matter of such moment to them that representatives of the three tribes all turned up to voice their concerns and to see whether the select committee could do something about it. 
That is not always possible to do when one is on a select committee because obviously the two major parties the two major players in terms of most bills have pretty set positions and one does not always achieve the changes that one is sometimes asked to achieve. But fortunately in this case the arguments that were put forward were pretty potent— 
Pita Paraone 
: Thanks to the third party. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: Oh of course yes. Actually I failed to mention the third parties not because I was trying to imply that they were not influential but because the two big parties in the sense of the traditional adversarial system tend sometimes to dominate not just this Chamber but also the select committees. Although that did happen in this case the two major parties and the two smaller parties New Zealand First and the Maori Party were all in agreement and I think that is the main thing. 
I think that the Tauranga Moana iwi will be very pleased to hear that all the parties assembled around the select committee table were in agreement. We took on board what the iwi said—that this felt like a Clayton’s transfer of their maunga back to them. The matter was of considerable pain to them. They asked us to please go away and consider the matter. That is what we did and I am happy to say that thanks to the input of all a change has been made as the Minister has outlined. Although on the face of it the words possibly do not necessarily convey that a significant change has been made none the less I trust that the Tauranga Moana iwi are satisfied with and appreciative of what has been done to act on their request. 
We have now made changes to the bill. As the Minister has conveyed the fee simple passes to the iwi. But in fairness to the officials one of the things that I think they were always concerned about was to ensure that the responsibilities and management obligations that go with being the owner of any piece of land—not the least of which is the Mauao historic reserve—did not transfer to the iwi. So Mauao will return to the Tauranga Moana iwi in a form that they feel is more of a proper return than it was previously but as has been noted none of the obligations and responsibilities that are currently with the Crown in terms of the Reserves Act will be transferred. They will stay with the Crown and in terms of the day-to-day management of the reserve they will stay with the Tauranga City Council. 
The select committee process was good. It was consensual and everybody worked together to get a good result. This is again one of those moments in Parliament when an iwi or a group of iwi for whom an issue had been a gnawing pain in their side for a long number of years came to the Crown several years ago to ask for the return of their maunga. The Tauranga Moana iwi have patiently come forward and achieved that. Iwi have to have the patience of Job frankly to get themselves through one end of a settlement like this one and out the other end while still feeling reasonably intact but these people have done that in their quiet respectful and very humble way. They have done it in a way that does them credit and makes me feel very proud as a Maori as Tuwharetoa and as a member of this House. I am very proud that ultimately the right thing to do is being achieved more and more often in this place. 
I congratulate the iwi from Tauranga Moana. I thank all my colleagues on the select committee. It is satisfying to achieve these transfers of land and it is often fun as well especially when we know that after having discussions all around the table we will probably get a change that everybody can agree with including lo and behold the Government members. The Government members are often the ones who hold the power in the select committees but they too could see the utter sense and the justice of changing the wording of the bill in order to make the people feel that this is indeed a proper return of Mauao. So I salute the Tauranga Moana iwi I salute their maunga I salute their awa and I look forward to the quick passage of this legislation through the House in order for the Tauranga Moana iwi to complete the long journey they have been on. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.