Ririnui Mita: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Third Reading 
Ririnui Mita: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14738] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 Hoi ano ra kai te Kaihautu hei tuatahi maku kai te tu whakaiti nei i roto i te Whare i te mea ra kua tae a-tinana mai oku rangatira oku kuia oku tuakana teina tuahine. Kua takahia i a ratou te nuku o te whenua kia kite ake ano i a ratou ki te tutukitanga o tenei kaupapa e kawe nei i a ratou ki roto i te Whare Miere. Kihai ra te wareware i a ratou kihai i tae a-tinana mai ratou kua wheturangihia. Kore e taea te whakahua ko wai ko wai ko wai kai mahue ake wetahi. Engari ano me penei ra te korero kore rawa tenei pai ki te wareware i a ratou me o ratou mahi a-ringaringa hei mea awhina i a tatou e ora nei me a tatou mokopuna kare ano kia whakatinana mai i roto i tenei ao. No reira na runga i tena kai e tika ana kia mihi atu ki a ratou i nga rangatira koroua kuia o Ngati Tuwharetoa o Ngati Raukawa o Te Arawa kua tae mai i te ahiahi nei. No reira tena koutou hara mai. Tenei ra te mokai te potiki e tu whakaiti e mihi ake nei ki a koutou tena koutou otira tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Indeed the first thing for me to do Mr Deputy Speaker is to say what a humbling experience it is for me to rise in the House because my chiefs elderly womenfolk older and younger siblings and sisters are here in person. They have traversed the land to witness the completion of this matter that they have brought before the Beehive. Those who are not here in person and who have died will never be forgotten. It is not possible to name each of them in case someone is left out. But suffice to say whatever their physical contribution was that enabled us to survive today and to make a better tomorrow for our grandchildren yet to come those deeds will never be forgotten. As a consequence it is fitting that greetings are accorded to them the chiefs elderly men and womenfolk of Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Raukawa and Te Arawa who came this afternoon. So greetings to you welcome. This servant and young one of yours stands humbly before you to acknowledge and commend you and us all 
.]  
I think I should begin by acknowledging the presence in the gallery of my elders from Ngati Tuwharetoa Te Arawa and Ngati Raukawa who have travelled a great distance as previous speakers have iterated to witness the final journey of a chapter that they have been involved in writing for many many years. I join with the previous speaker Tau Henare in welcoming them here tonight. In doing that I also acknowledge the ones who were not able to make it and who are no longer with us but who made a terrific contribution to the completion of this settlement legislation—may they always be remembered. On that note I pay tribute to those who are not here. 
It is interesting having listened to previous speakers to note that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson by right articulated all the aspects of this settlement legislation. I congratulate him on his tenacity and his dedication to settling this legislation in the interests not only of the claimants but also of the communities and of all New Zealanders in general. I also express my warm congratulations to the Minister on the announcements he made at the Kokiri Ngatahi hui this morning and I look forward to working with him on some of the issues he raised. I say kia ora to the Minister. 
In congratulating people I also acknowledge former colleagues—the Hon Dr Michael Cullen who played a major part in bringing this legislation to this point to its final journey; his predecessor the Hon Mark Burton who played an important role as well; and in particular the Hon Margaret Wilson who initiated discussions around our particular caucus table to ensure that the passage of this settlement in relation to the Waikato River was complete. It goes without saying that those former members played a tremendous part in the shaping of this legislation. They went through the trials and tribulations as we do but they were determined that the negotiations regardless of the highs and lows had to continue and that the settlement had to be completed. 
My esteemed colleague the former Minister of Maori Affairs the Hon Parekura Horomia could not be here today but he asked me to express his sincere congratulations to the representative of the three iwi here today and to wish them the best for the future. He has other commitments but he asked me to express his warmest greetings and congratulations to the people. 
Previous speakers as I have said have highlighted a lot of the technical aspects of this legislation and this being the final passage of this settlement legislation I feel no need to cover any of the information that has already been mentioned by the previous speakers. I agree with the chairperson of the Maori Affairs Committee the Hon Tau Henare that the issue about partnership varies in terms of its definitions. 
Earlier this week as members will be aware we had the first reading of the Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill and part of that bill covered the interest of those iwi in the Rangitaiki River and other waterways. It is interesting that the arrangements they had with Environment Bay of Plenty varied considerably from the arrangements that Ngati Tuwharetoa Te Arawa and Ngati Raukawa have with Environment Waikato. Notwithstanding that what is important about this whole process is that each iwi be treated differently in terms of their definition of their customary interest and their natural environment—and I mean waterways land maunga awa and takutai moana in whatever shape or form those may come. 
This legislation has proved and demonstrated that actually as with the Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare Claims Settlement Bill it is possible for iwi claimant communities to sit down with Crown representatives and define exactly what their customary interest or their ownership interest in any particular part of their estates may be translated into. In this case today we are witnessing as the Minister highlighted the definition put forward by these three iwi. 
Even during those negotiations there were issues that were difficult to deal with and one might say that most of those difficulties had been promulgated by the Crown and the Crown representatives. That was what I was told on many occasions and in many of the meetings I was in. But it is the test of any Minister to work his or her way through the issues to find common ground and to find a resolution that is suitable to all. During the select committee hearings in Rotorua I was pleased to hear that many of the issues that were raised were not insurmountable. In fact if we talked long enough we found common ground on which to resolve them. 
I was interested to hear the submission on behalf of Te Arawa Lakes Trust. It voiced some general concerns about its relationship with Environment Waikato and also about its relationship with the newly formed Te Arawa River Iwi Trust. But the committee concluded that whatever issues there were between the two bodies they were issues that the bodies themselves needed to resolve. The Crown could not impose a solution on those particular issues. As far as the Te Arawa Lakes Trust was concerned all of Te Arawa was represented and as far as the Te Arawa River Iwi Trust was concerned all of Te Arawa was concerned; there is no place for the Crown in terms of resolving any relationship issues. I was very pleased to hear from the chairman of the river trust Roger Pikia that discussions wherever necessary would be implemented that those issues would be overcome and that that would be something resolved by the bodies themselves. 
Other issues that came up during our discussion at the select committee hearings in Rotorua involved other iwi issues as well but by and large those issues needed to be resolved locally. All too often the issues between iwi are brought into the public arena and in some cases it is expected that the Crown will resolve whatever the differences may be. I am very pleased to say as was highlighted by the previous speaker the Hon Tau Henare that all those issues were to be resolved at a local level. 
I am really honoured to be standing in the House today and supporting the settlement of this bill in the last stage of its journey through this House. As the previous speaker said and as my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta also said from here on it is really up to the people. It is up to the people to give meaning to the legislation it is up to the people to drive a lot of the relationship commitments they have entered into and it is up to the people to determine the way forward. There is a process for doing that; it is in the settlement legislation where the iwi themselves have defined in the schedules what type of relationship they will have with various organisations. Those definitions have not been provided by the Crown although they have been discussed fully with the Crown. They are purely the views of those groups in particular. 
On that note once again I congratulate all those involved: the representatives of Ngati Tuwharetoa Te Arawa and Ngati Raukawa; their negotiators who did a tremendous job under difficult conditions; their technicians who had to work under equally difficult conditions; and their supporters who kept this whole thing together and ensured that their team had the support necessary to make this settlement possible. Kia ora.