te Heuheu Georgina: Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
te Heuheu Georgina: Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:650;Page:18912] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I am pleased to stand during the second reading of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill. I was pleased to hear the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations outline some of the changes that will be made by a Supplementary Order Paper. This is a very important settlement and that was very clear from the first reading speeches of the members of this House. I remind members that the bill settles the claims of a number of Te Arawa iwi in the Rotorua and Kaingaroa area representing 24000 people and addresses grievances that occurred quite some time ago. The Minister is correct in saying that this settlement has had a very lengthy gestation. Some mention should be made of the generosity in the end of Te Pumautanga in setting to one side temporarily the agreement it had negotiated with the Crown back in 2004. But I would say that neither Te Pumautanga nor the Crown had any choice given that the brakes were pulled on this settlement by a quite scathing report from the Waitangi Tribunal and also by court action by the Federation of Maori Authorities and Tuwharetoa—those who were concerned that this settlement would undermine other interests that traversed the central North Island as well. 
But here we are today at the second reading. The Maori Affairs Committee was very pleased to give this matter the urgency it deserved. I make reference to the hearings that we held one in Taupo and one in Rotorua and particularly to the iwi representatives who came to the committee and made very forceful in some cases and comprehensive in most cases submissions. All of that process laid the settlement open to public scrutiny which was good. In a settlement of this size and nature that is always desirable. I add my thanks to those of the Minister to those submitters who responded and appeared before the committee. 
I will address two or three issues which have already been addressed by the Minister. On the issue of the flight path over the Ruamata Marae the Minister would have heard some signs of agreement on the course that he is taking to address that so nothing further needs to be said on that. When there is a claim in front of the Waitangi Tribunal and we see that that claim might be of no purpose once this bill is passed then clearly it is an issue of great importance to those trustees that this matter is being addressed. 
The other matter of concern to us as Maori—but to others as well particularly those of us who are very proud of our own ancestral connections and very territorial about where we come from and who should represent us and who should not—is those submissions that were raised in relation to the definitions of collective groupings under schedule 1 and in particular the submissions presented by Ngati Wahiao in terms of its coupling—as it has been referred to—with Tuhourangi and those of Ngati Tahu and Ngati Whaoa. 
I certainly take on board the advice the officials brought to us in the select committee but I personally also have some anxiety about the way entities that might have thought they were in existence on their own account are now suddenly coupled with another grouping in legislation. Certainly there are whakapapa relationships that bind various tribes iwi and hapu together. However when sitting on the Maori Affairs Committee we heard heartfelt and passionate submissions particularly by a grouping of Ngati Wahiao. They take umbrage at being coupled with what is obviously seen by some as the senior—Tuhourangi—but none the less for themselves in matters of this nature it is pretty important because this has ramifications for the other bill coming down the line possibly over the next day or so which is to do with the Whakarewarewa geothermal valley. I have to say that my colleague Tau Henare and I were at pains to explore this issue along with Te Ururoa from the Maori Party because in the end we do not know what ramifications lie down the way in the future for couplings of this nature. I do not know whether there is a better word Parekura other than couplings— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: —I am sorry I am referring to Minister Horomia—but that is the way we have been describing it at the select committee. 
There is the issue of whether Wahiao some of whom see themselves as an independent iwi or hapu with their own mana their own standing would become subsumed further down the track because they are now coupled with Tuhourangi as simply one of the affiliates of the Te Arawa settlement. 
Of course the other issue is Ngati Tahu and Ngati Whaoa. Ngati Tahu in particular in terms of physical proximity are close to Tuwharetoa my own tribe and I have to say that over the years in which I have been involved in some of these matters it seems unusual to me that Ngati Tahu and Ngati Whaoa would be coupled. Again the submitters who came to the select committee questioned the mandate of Te Pumautanga to represent their interests in tandem with Ngati Tahu and now with Ngati Whaoa. Those views are passionately held; but it is not only that—for some it goes to the heart of who they are. Their whakapapa clearly says who they are and if they are being lumped into a basket with someone else who they did not necessarily think should be there—and now they feel they ought not to be there—then this is a real issue. As I say I for one regret that the Minister has not been able to find some way of addressing that issue. I accept what the officials say but I say to the Minister that in the end everything is possible. None the less we support the second reading. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: I will just mention a couple of other things before I take my seat. One of them is the issue around Tukiterangi the ancestor of Wahiao. That was one of the other issues brought to us at the hearing. Wahiao were somewhat aggrieved over the fact that they were being lumped under the one ancestor Tuhourangi. I understand that the Hon Mita Ririnui went and did some work in this area as I understand he did on the flight path issue as well. The Government has acceded to including and recognising the ancestor of Wahiao and having that inserted into the bill—putting Tukiterangi into the legislation. I hope that that may go some way to appeasing Wahiao on the fact that at this point nothing has changed in relation to the coupling of Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.