Little AndrewNGĀTI KAHUNGUNU KI WAIRARAPA TĀMAKI NUI-A-RUA CLAIMS SETTLEMENT BILLThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I present a legislative statement on the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua Claims Settlement Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I move That the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time.At this point I would ordinarily have welcomed members of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua to the House. They are on their way. They travelled from Tāmaki nui-a-Rua right through Wairarapa down to Wellington today by steam train and would you believe it the steam train was late so it took a while to arrive at Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara and then their buses were waylaid by some activity out the front of Parliament by some people who are opposed to blood transfusions from people whose blood hasn't been cleared of vaccinations. So they are making their way to the House.But nevertheless it's an honour to be able to lead the third reading of this bill to the House. I want to be very clear too because this has been a troubled process certainly in the last five years or so and I'll come back to that shortly but I want to say that the message from Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and indeed some fellow iwi across the motu has been very clear: that it is time Ngāti Kahungunu says to move forward. Ngāti Kahungunu want to take back control of their destiny. The Crown is determined to be a better partner to be a respectful Treaty partner. As I said I'll come back to some of the issues that have been prevalent in the last few years but I ask that while we debate this bill we don't lose sight of those very important objectives of Treaty redress which is the ability for iwi to take back control and determine their future and for the Crown to truly honour its obligations under Te Tiriti.The Treaty process is not a perfect one and it requires compromise. It often requires painful decisions and tough conversations. It does not and it cannot fully address the pain and suffering that iwi across the country have had to endure at the hands of the Crown. However the agreements reached once they are reached are a step in the right direction. They provide valuable resources and we have seen over the years how iwi have been able to grow and support their people through the benefits of Treaty redress.The Ngāti Kahungunu negotiators in this case have done an outstanding job at holding the Crown to account and negotiating a package for their people. I'd like to acknowledge their hard work and to recognise the difficult position they are put in. Navigating Crown policy while considering the expectations of their people and the weight of the mamae passed down for generations—it's an extraordinarily difficult balancing act. The Ngāti Kahungunu negotiators and advisers of past and present have done an exceptional job and in this respect I acknowledge the Hon Ron Mark Ian Perry Robin Potangaroa Hayden Hape Haami Te Whaiti Marama Tuuta and Rawiri Smith. Nei rā te mihi ki a koutou. I know you have high ambitions for your people and the job has only just begun. But I hope they are able to take a moment to appreciate the fruits of their labour and eventually to enjoy a well-earned rest.I'd like to also acknowledge the work of Lee Grey Wi Tako Love Andrew Sharrock Mike Colson Jennifer Braithwaite and Monique van Alphen Fyfe. I also mihi to the settlement trust trustees of past and present who have also been putting in the hard work to get their people to this day.I want to take a moment to talk about the challenges of the last few years. Shortly after the settlement trust reached settlement there was a remedies application by a group the Wairarapa Moana ki Pouākani Incorporation for resumption of land the Pouākani land. That's the land that's in Waikato. Part of the history was that the Crown having pushed Ngāti Kahungunu off its land and undermined its cultural rights in respect of Lake Wairarapa and Lake Onoke then having frankly nicked land off Raukawa and Tūwharetoa gifted that land to Ngāti Kahungunu in some sort of compensation then later in the 1940s took a chunk of that land back under the Public Works Act to build the Maraetai hydro power station. The remedies application was to get back the land that the Crown had seized under the Public Works Act and hand it back to at least somebody representing Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa.The tribunal in March 2020 made some preliminary findings and those preliminary findings included that it would order resumption—it would order the resumption of the Pouākani land claimed and that it would make sure that Ngāti Kahungunu in that respect was properly compensated for what had happened. But it is interesting to note these comments that the tribunal made in its extensive preliminary determination in March 2020 specifically in relation to one of the then claimants for those remedies and that was the incorporation the Wairarapa Moana ki Pouākani Incorporation—bearing in mind that by this time the settlement trust had also replicated the claim for remedies in order to preserve its position. But in relation to the question of who should receive any land ordered back to Ngāti Kahungunu the tribunal said this: We do not consider we should recommend the return to them"—that is the Wairarapa Moana Ki Pouākani Incorporation—"of the 787 acres however because the value of that land and the assets located there is not proportionate to the prejudice they suffered as shareholders in 1949."The tribunal went on to say that "Even if we considered that the prejudice that the shareholders suffered from the compulsory acquisition alone might justify the return of part of the land to them we do not favour the exercise of our discretion in that way." The tribunal goes on to talk about learning about the shareholders of Wairarapa Moana ki Pouākani Incorporation and that there was a variety of size of shareholders but that in any event they weren't representative. The tribunal said for the reasons they've outlined "We are satisfied that the return of land to the incorporation would not be a just outcome." and went on to say "The recipient entity of the lands they do award must be demonstrably representative of and exist for the benefit of those who suffered prejudice in respect of the well-founded claims. The incorporation is not that kind of recipient."It is very clear that the tribunal when it made its extensive determination ruling had no intention of returning the land to the incorporation. Nevertheless the tribunal's decision was the subject of an appeal or at least a judicial review to the High Court. The High Court focused on a question of mana whenua and whether the lack of it was a disqualifying factor for the order of resumption. The High Court ruled in favour of the Crown and Mercury Energy and Raukawa and a number of others. That decision was then appealed not to the Court of Appeal as it ordinarily would've been but to the Supreme Court and last week the Supreme Court made a decision. Interestingly the Supreme Court said its decision would not affect the bill before the House although that is somewhat inconsistent with later statements in the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court took a different view on mana whenua and also laid out its expectation about how the tribunal would consider the issue of mana whenua in the future.Against that I as Minister have made a judgment about proceeding with the bill and the reason I've made that judgment is because I as Minister representing the Crown have to consider a whole variety of interests not just the interests of the incorporation who took the appeal and about whom the tribunal said they would not order resumption but the interests of Ngāti Kahungunu the only mandated entity for Wairarapa who've gone out to their people sought their support had a vote had not just one ratification vote on settlement but two after they renegotiated their settlement had it modified—that is to say improved—and won the support to proceed. It was Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua Settlement Trust who has said "We want to proceed because we want to face the future with certainty and with confidence and we're confident that we can restore our relationship with the Crown." Raukawa says "We do not want to be dragged into years and years of litigation defending our mana whenua rights anymore." and Ngāti Tūwharetoa supports the continuation of the legislation as well.The bill contains a variety of redress and compensation as well—$115 million of compensation along cultural revitalisation as well. The time has come to bring the benefits of comprehensive Treaty of Waitangi settlement redress to all of Ngāti Kahungunu. On that basis I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to."