Wall Louisa: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWall Louisa: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:694;Page:576. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa):Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. E ngā mana e ngā reo rau rangatira mā ngā uri o Te Kawerau ā Maki tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa. Ngā mihi aroha ki te whānau o te rangatira o Te Kawerau ā Maki ko Eru Thompson. Moe mai moe mai moe mai e te rangatira.[To the authorities voices leaders of a hundred fold and descendants of Te Kawerau ā Maki greetings acknowledgments and accolades to you all and loving tributes to the family of the leader of Te Kawerau ā Maki. Rest Eru Thompson slumber and sleep on.]I want to acknowledge all the previous speakers. I think we have sufficiently canvassed the history of Te Kawerau ā Maki’s claim and I do want to take some liberty and talk about matua Eru Thompson whom I have known in my role as the member of Parliament for Manurewa but also as a member of the Counties Manukau District Health Board. I want to acknowledge Eru’s leadership as a cultural adviser as a kaumātua and as I believe a taonga not only of the west but of the south in brokering relationships between Waitakere City Council the Manurewa local board the Manurewa Marae and a lot of tauiwi organisations. I want to mihi to Eru because I believe he has provided the guidance to ensure that the status of Māori as tangata whenua as mana whenua has been represented in such forums as citizenship ceremonies blessings for Manurewa netball courts and in many different forums. So I grieve like a lot of the whānau who are here today and I mihi to you because I know you will be heading home after this to Makaurau Marae where Eru will lie in state until his burial on Saturday. I will be there representing our Labour whānau.So I want to acknowledge everybody who has spoken today because I think there is a lot of aroha in the House today. I also want to acknowledge the history of this claim. Wai 470 was lodged in July 1994 by Hāriata Ewe and Te Wārena Taua on behalf of Te Kawerau ā Maki. Days like today happen because of the resilience because of the persistence and because of the fortitude of our ancestors of our rangatira who on behalf of our hapū and iwi go through processes that eventuate in pieces of legislation that will rightfully acknowledge Te Kawerau ā Maki as one of the mana whenua in Tāmaki-maukau-rau. It is interesting to look at how we came to this place within the context of the Tāmaki Makaurau settlement process which without Te Kawerau ā Maki who were joined by Ngāti Te Ata Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Marutūahu Te Taou and the Hauraki Māori Trust board would have allowed for Ngāti Whātua and the Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei claim to be the only mana whenua of Tāmaki-makau-rau. So I mihi to Te Kawerau ā Maki for fighting always for their right to be recognised as an iwi across Tāmaki-makau-rau.I also want to mihi to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations because I think when he entered this portfolio the Tāmaki Makaurau settlement was in a place where I think we were stuck but what has happened through the process is the recognition of Tāmaki-makau-rau’s full history and the mana whenua of all our iwi across Tāmaki-makau-rau. I want to mihi to Nuk Korako who is the new chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. I have served on the Māori Affairs Committee and I have to say it is a privilege to sit on the Māori Affairs Committee.The process that we are involved in is about our truth and reconciliation it is about acknowledging the history and it is also about acknowledging I believe the incredible generosity of our iwi to enable us as a country to get to this point in time. There will be discussions at the select committee about the quantum because when we look at the land that was taken and the loss of our language and culture this settlement is only a fraction of the compensation I believe that our hapū and iwi deserve. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.