Clendon David: Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Clendon David: Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 19 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5492. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID CLENDON (Green) 
:  
Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kei te mihi atu ra ki a koutou ki te mana o Ngati Whatua o Orakei me nga hapu katoa o Ngati Whatua tena koutou katoa. I am pleased to take a call in support of this bill the Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill which we are debating this morning. I would like to begin by sharing a dream—he moemoea. It is not my dream not my vision but one that certainly does resonate with me. I am sure it will resonate with many people in this House and indeed outside of this House. He moemoea: in the year 2030 5000 descendants of Tuperiri live on the papakainga and contribute to tribal life hosting manuhiri participating in political debate and going to tangi birthdays weddings attending puna kura and wananga working the whenua or taking tourists out for fishing and waka ama on the Waitemata. The papakainga is self-sufficient. We sell electricity back to the national grid. We collect and use rainwater. We produce very little waste as the resource recovery depot allows whanau to trade their compost for worms for their own gardens. Many whanau have built their own whare while others are happy to rent off the tribe. Most of our whenua is regenerating ngahiri on the reserve land and in between buildings. The birdsong is now louder than the traffic on Tamaki Drive. Our elders hold regular wananga for the up and coming kaikorero and leaders. They go en masse to tangi and important hui in Kaipara Tauranga Waikato Rarotonga Tahiti and Hawaii to represent the hapu and maintain our economic and spiritual ties. Many whanau are employed by tribal and whanau businesses. On the papakainga they work in the nursery the whare tukutuku the arts and crafts and taonga centre the cafes and restaurants the ecological research and learning centre all looking out over the Waitemata. 
This vision this dream is expressed in the strategic plan of Ngati Whatua o Orakei their document planning ahead to 2020 and beyond. I think it is a testament to the determination and indeed the courage of the hapu who have come back virtually from the brink over the last few decades and it is an inspiring and empowering dream and a vision. I do commend it to people to read through to get a sense that it is not an idle dream; it is a dream that as we speak is being built on the ground. And the land of course on which it is being built predominantly is whenua rangatira—the land that the dystopian dream of the mid-1970s would have seen carved up subdivided buried under expensive houses for the elite of the Auckland suburbs. Instead of course we have this extraordinary asset both for Ngati Whatua and indeed for all of Auckland. It will be retained and it will build and will become a central hub. It will become one of the hearts of Auckland—one of the centres of it. 
Had that dystopian dream of the 1970s gone ahead it would have effectively completed the alienation of the land that was held by Ngati Whatua historically. It would have effectively removed the last toehold that Ngati Whatua retained through a process of alienation that began in the 1850s and continued right through to the middle of the 20th century. 
 As I said the fulfilment of that dream is under way as we speak. I am one of many here I am sure who has had the privilege of going on to the marae at Orakei and participating in the planting days on the whenua there. It is coming back. I think the planting of the trees is symbolic of the determination not only to restore that land but also to restore the community to restore the mana of the people to create a future for their own people and to see it go ahead. 
My colleague Catherine Delahunty earlier in the day mentioned the importance of naming. I note with pleasure that this bill does include reference to giving Ngati Whatua rights to name some of the places within the settlement. In a broader sense having lived in Auckland up until recently it is becoming much more commonplace now for Aucklanders Maori and non-Maori of all descent to reference Maungakiekie and to talk about Maungawhau and Owairaka. Pakeha names were given to those places over the top of those earlier names which are now being used more commonly and without embarrassment or without in any way being patronising. I think that is indicative of the work that has occurred and the fact that there is a willingness to acknowledge that Ngati Whatua are re-emerging as players as a significant part of Tamaki-makau-rau as indeed they have always been. 
As ever this settlement has not been without its tensions and its disputes. As a former Devonport resident and a person who to this day has a great deal of regard for that suburb that area I acknowledge the concerns—in many cases the heart-felt concerns—of the residents of Devonport who were significantly concerned and disturbed by the small 3.2 hectares of land at Narrow Neck which this bill allows Ngati Whatua to purchase. It is not to be gifted to them. The bill gives them the option to purchase as part of the commercial redress within this. I support that entirely. When the issue broke when it became apparent that there was an issue there it was slightly disturbing because I knew that we had Green Party members and supporters on both sides of that argument. I recall contacting at the time the leadership of our Green branch on the North Shore and asking what their view was on that dispute and I was really pleased and relieved to hear their response. They intended and I believe they did do it to go and stand on that land and sing waiata to acknowledge that it is was and will continue to be Maori land if that is the choice of Ngati Whatua. 
I think that the Maori Affairs Committee captured quite well the future for that small but clearly contested piece of property. In the commentary on the bill the select committee said that it encourages members of the Devonport community to work towards a positive relationship with Ngati Whatua considering that effective communication between affected parties especially as they could be neighbours in the future would improve understanding of differences and avoid mistrust. There is time for that healing to take place. In terms of the leasehold as was referenced earlier the land will be leased back in all likelihood to the navy for at least another 15 years and potentially for a century. There is time. Nothing dramatic is going to happen on that land. Access will not be denied. It is a beautiful place. I used to take students to that area routinely to look at the remnants of Fort Takapuna to talk about the modern history where indeed that whole area at one point was again in danger of being privatised and sold off for housing and the fact that it is a reserve. That it will continue to be open space for the foreseeable future is a good thing and I do hope that people of goodwill will undertake that admittedly difficult work of restoring trust and communication so that there need not be any bitterness about that. 
We know that Ngati Whatua are already significant economic players in the Auckland scene. The settlement under this bill and the return of land and other resource that will accompany it will increase that presence. Ngati Whatua have significant proven ability to affect Auckland socially as well and to better reflect Auckland as a city of the Pacific as a Maori city as a Pasifika city in a Pasifika nation. We look forward with pleasure to seeing this bill proceed swiftly through the House and we will continue to support it. Kia ora.