Horomia Parekura: Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Horomia Parekura: Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 25 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:3993. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
:  
Tika atu i runga i te tu nei e mihi kauana ki a koutou katoa e whai kaha atu i konei i te wahi nei i te Whare Mieremo o koutou kaha. Ki a koutou ngatupakeke i a ratou e rere atu e kore i konei e tangi ana te ngakau. Engari ki a koutou katoa e noho ana ki nga roto i te wahira o to hau kainga e mihi kauana. E mohio atu tatou te roaroa haere o te kawenata nei. E rongo atu koutou ki ngaahua o ngapakanga ki te tahae hoki o te Kawana nga raruraru peratonu i te mahi porotehe o wetahi o ngakaimahi o te Kawana. E pai ana e tae atu tatou i te rangi nei hei whakatikatika i terataumaha. No reira koutou moto kaha ki te tae ki konei e Makino e mihi kauana tena koutou. E tika atu i te mihi atu ki ngatupakeke te koroua Te Ariki e mihi kauana. Mai raanotonakorero i tu mai ngawahi o nga marae e kaha ana te koroua ki te korero atu mo te ahua o tona iwi. No reira i a koutou katoa tena koutou.    
[ 
It is appropriate as I rise that I acknowledge you all in your efforts to come here to this place the Beehive. I salute your efforts. I also pay a tribute to the elders and those who are no longer with us. I mourn them. I also acknowledge those living by the lakes back at your homelands greetings. We know this settlement has been a long journey. You have heard the nature of the fighting the theft by Government problems like those relating to protest actions by some Government workers. We have reached this day to remedy that hardship and that is great. Therefore I commend your efforts to get here Makino well done. It is right that I acknowledge the elders in particular Te Ariki. I commend you. From the outset he has stood up on marae and vigorously debated the plight of his people. So I commend you all 
.] 
It is certainly an honour to be part of this great end today. It would never meet the heights of what it should be. But certainly I want to commend the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson for his effort; past colleagues Michael Cullen Mahara Okeroa and Mita Ririnui; and Minister Turia. We join with them in bringing what has been a long journey—at times unnecessarily long—to fruition. It is important to congratulate and thank Awhi Awhimate like I said the koroua Te Ariki Morehu Morris Meha Neville Nepia the Ngati Makino Heritage Trust and—as usual in naming people you are leaving people out—all of those other people involved. At times it is a risky thing to name people because you forget some auntie or uncle. But I certainly want to mention kuia like Te Hirata Sykes and those ones who have been there from the beginning to now and recognise that they have played a part in it and that they have shown the way forward. So kia ora koutou. To the officials thanks again. At times it is an unthankful job but certainly they fared well in this one. 
The record will tell us that the land deeds and practices of the agents of the Crown were certainly unwise unjust and unfair. We can wax lyrical about how bad they were but in this case they were terrible and the fact that they removed rights and removed property is something that the Ministers past and present have tried to put forward. The Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill recognises through an apology to Ngati Makino those historical acts including the battle of Kaukauroa. That was huge land confiscation and it was unfair. Of course among Makino at the time there were differences between those who supported the Kingitanga and those who stood neutral and in their own sense they chose to do their part but certainly the British and the Crown did not care where the parties were and they did what they did. 
The transfer of the eight sites of significance to the Ngati Makino Heritage Trust is critical as is the whenua rahui classification of over 256 hectares of the Lake Rotoma Scenic Reserve which provides for the Crown to acknowledge Ngati Makino values in relation to the area. I think taking on from earlier speakers it is intrinsic in the sense of their cultural inheritance and their whakapapa that those values can never be put asunder by any deed or charter of the Crown. That can be recognised no differently than for the different parishes in this country that tend to serve one person and the other Pakeha organisations that seem to be differing in their views but certainly get to a collective point at a time of moving against Maori. 
That is what Ngati Makino need to be recognised for. They have more than pulled themselves together as I heard one person try to say the other week. There has never ever been a problem about them being who they were; it is about the perception of those people who have worked with them. This is an iwi who have stood the test of time and who have decided to go to where they have gone to. In the sense of the cause and the neighbours and whanaunga it is interesting the way that they started off. There was a deal approached to getting towards where they have got to today but they had different time lines and separate journeys and they chose to do that. 
We can cite the quantum as Minister Turia has spoken about—the money—and at the end of the day it is there and they will manage it well. They are pretty good at that. But in relation to the classifications and the jurisdiction that the Department of Conservation has Minister Finlayson I see that it has the authority again to allow easements or whatever else. Very interesting Minister—here we go again. So I want to say again Minister with regard to all these ministry thankyous and activities that you have promised that they will enact with iwi you must keep your finger on it. You know there is a bit of a history developing of these tari—these ministries—saying: “We’re going to do this. We wrote it in the charter. Here we go.” So again I respectfully suggest Minister that you keep an eye on it. If you are too busy you get Minister Turia or somebody else—or me—to watch them and I tell you I will keep an eye on them. 
Seriously it is something that our people need. It is something that they need. Let us not just be hodgepodge as it was in 1863 and 1853 and let it just drift by. So again Minister I will not ask you to increase the quantum this time but I will ask you to make sure they do the job. That is really important. I have been around long enough to hear people say: “Yep we’re going to do this.” and then they are talk about a green bike and they end up with a broken-down horse. So in relation to that I want to commend the Minister for getting through with this thing. 
The purchase of the balance of the Rotoehu West Forest licence land will provide for the transfer of approximately $9.9 million in accumulated rentals to the Ngati Makino Heritage Trust. That is really great and it is great that hopefully as the Deputy Speaker understands the interest will be going with the money. Kia ora Minister. You can look up now. 
 But look those old people need to be really commended for this effort—and all of them who have turned up here today. Some of the faces are very familiar. They have been along the battered highway of reproach to try to ensure that they get this settlement out of the way and that they can create a better lot for their people. 
I want to commend the chair of the Maori Affairs Committee Tau Henare for his efforts. I feel sorry for him because he has gone back to smoking. But I want to mihi to him because he really puts the effort in and makes sure we toe the line to get this stuff through. I want to mihi to the chair of the Maori Affairs Committee. We are overworked but like you said being on the Maori Affairs Committee is like being in the All Blacks. It is not like the Warriors. So I want to recognise the chair of the Maori Affairs Committee and all the other members there who have helped us to get to here. That he has got a bit of publicity today is another issue because he is a great bloke and I will not get into his point of difference with who he has been disagreeing with. But I know he agrees today about how great this settlement is for the Makino people. 
No reira teraano te whakaaro i roto i a au. I a koutou e kaha ana i te whakatu mana to whakapapa e mihi kauana. Ahakoangapiki ngaheke e pai ana te ora te whanaakuni e putaanamo te pai o te rangatahi. No reira i a koutou katoa nga rangatira nga koroua kuia te rangatahi pea o NgatiMakino e mihi kauana. Kia pai te hoki ki te kainga ki te wahi pai e mohio atu koutou. Tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
So that is my view. I really applaud your efforts to give your genealogy status. Despite the ups and downs benefits and funding for the young people will emerge eventually. Therefore I commend you all the leaders the old and young ones perhaps of NgatiMakino congratulations. A safe return home to the refuge that you know is good 
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Greetings to you all 
.]