Roche Denise: Hineuru Claims Settlement Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Hineuru Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 24 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11192. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green):Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe tēnā koutou e Te Whare. Ki a koutou ngā uri o Ngāti Hineuru e rere haere ana ngā mihi aroha o Te Rōpū Kākāriki ki a koutou katoa i tēnei rā whakahirahira ō koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and to you collectively the House. To you the descendants of Ngāti Hineuru affectionate empathy goes to you all from the Green Party on this inspirational day of yours so congratulations to us all.]I rise to take the call for the Green Party in this the second reading of the Hineuru Claims Settlement Bill and I am doing so on behalf of Catherine Delahunty who addressed Parliament at the first reading. So I am just taking her place for today. Firstly I want to acknowledge the people of Hineuru who have got the legislation in this settlement to where it is today and I include in that acknowledgment not only the people who have worked on the negotiations since 2010 but also those of previous generations who have worked their entire lives for justice for their people. And like the others before me I do want to acknowledge those who have passed on. I want to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee also the submitters who sent in their submissions and those who came and spoke to the committee in person in Napier. I have read through some of the submissions and I have also read the deed of settlement.I agree with my colleague Catherine Delahunty that the history of Ngāti Hineuru has been invisibilised. It is a harrowing read. But I feel it necessary to read of the tragic losses and grief that have been suffered by the people in order to understand this settlement itself. That history includes the alienation from their land and from the people of Hineuru through mostly foul means as well as the historical injustices that were meted out to the people. I want to just quote from one part of the summary of the deed of settlement: “Thirty-four Hineuru individuals were among the 86 prisoners of the Crown captured at Ōmarunuiand the conflict near Pētane. Most were transported to the Chatham Islands and detainedwithout trial in harsh conditions for almost two years. In 1868 the prisoners escaped and becameembroiled in a war with the Crown. During this war Crown forces attacked Ngātapa in January1869. After the attack a severed head reported to belong to Nikora of Hineuru was brought backto the Crown camp. Crown forces summarily executed a number of prisoners capturedat Ngātapa.”This history is important. This history must hurt a lot. And it is the scars that the people of Hineuru bear today that this settlement seeks to heal. This history is hardly known by Pākehā. This history is not taught in schools and that is another tragedyfor how can young Māori plot their future if they do not know their past? And a wider knowledge of the history of people—the frequently brutal story of colonisation—would maybe go some way towards preventing the ignorant and casual racism that pervades our society. So yes I think this history should be compulsory in schools.I want to acknowledge that in this settlement Ngāti Hineuru have identified six pou that they want to see realised and others have touched on them. They are the restoration and protection of Hineuru’s cultural heritage; the health and well-being of their people; the recognition of Hineuru’s mana and the restoration of their relationships with neighbouring iwi which is very important; the reassertion of Hineuru presence throughout the rohe; the ability to rebuild an economic base for the iwi; and the revitalisation of Hineuru’s role as kaitiaki of the environment and their resources. And I note that the negotiations have tried to achieve that with this redress package which includes financial redress of $25 million in the financial redress plus $2 million for cultural revitalisation plus some commercial redress and the statutory recognition and deeds of recognition of wāhi tapu in places where Ngāti Hineuru have special association.I also want to acknowledge that in this settlement Ngāti Hineuru have shown great generosity. One example is not only accepting this settlement which does not cover their losses but also things like the Waipunga Falls Scenic Reserve which will be vested in Hineuru and held by them for 10 days but then returned as a gift to all New Zealanders.I do have to say that although the Greens celebrate with iwi the great achievements in getting this settlement through the House we also have concerns about the settlement process itself. I note the supportive submissions of some of the neighbouring iwi like Maungaharuru-Tangitū but I also note the concerns of for example Ngāi Tahu ki Waikare about the competing interests in the Mōhaka-Wakare block. Our concern is that the Crown determines whom it will negotiate with and it obviously prefers to deal with large natural groupings—that is what it says. So essentially again the Crown holds the power. It determines who is in and who is out. I know it is a very difficult decision around who gets what but it is the Crown that determines it and our concern is that that reinforces the Crown’s position as a coloniser and it pits iwi against iwi hapū against hapū.We know that there can be many interests from hapū and iwi in some significant places because of the nature of relationships—the interweaving of the strands of whakapapa. However the decision about who gets what rests with the Crown and we worry about the potential that has to create additional grievances. Having said that we acknowledge the negotiators who have had to balance those interests and particularly the negotiators from Ngāti Hineuru who have achieved the best settlement they can.For the record I do have to state that the Greens never—and we do not with this one either—accept the settlement as full and final regardless of what it says in the deed of settlement. It is certainly not full when you compare the losses—the huge losses; the terrible hurts—with the compensation. It is certainly not a full settlement and we do not think it is final because the historical breaches—what happened in the past—may yet affect generations to come in ways that we have not foreseen and I know that Ngāti Hineuru in common with iwi across the country have no wish to short-change the children yet to come. We do however recognise that this settlement is the best that could be negotiated for Ngāti Hineuru in these circumstances. We hope that it will be an economic base a way to restore their mana and that their people will be restored to their rightful place. We therefore commend the bill to the House. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.