Ririnui Mita: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ririnui Mita: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 March 2010. Volume:661;Page:9794. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 Otira kai te Kaihautu tena koe. A tena tatou i roto i te Whare tena tatou e mea ake nei ki enei o o tatou whanaunga rangatira kua tatu mai roto i te Whare i tenei po; hei ata whakaarohia i nga korero pahupahu aha ranei o nga mema kua tu nei. No reira koutou ra nga rangatira mai i Hauraki mai i Ngai Tahu mai i nga wahi katoa i korerohia nei nga mema i te ahiahi nei; tenei ra te mihi ake ki a koutou ahakoa kua tu whakaiti kua tu whakahihi ano hoki tenei i te mea ra ka nui taku mohio na koutou nei tenei ture i arahi mai mai i tera rau tau tae noa mai ki tenei rau tau me ki ra ka roa koutou e hikoi ana; ka roa koutou e tautohetohe ana e taupatupatu ana a ki tena ki tena ki tena ki nga Kawanatanga katoa mai i taua hikoi i tenei ra na kua tatu mai koutou ki te mutunga ra o taua hikoi. Hoi ano ra ka nui ra te mihi ake ki a koutou. Na ka whai hua ra tenei ture o koutou ka whai hua te motu katoa. No reira tenei na e tu whakaiti e whakamihi ana ki a koutou. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker. Greetings to us in the House and to those who acknowledged these of our illustrious relatives who have arrived here in the House this afternoon to listen carefully to the contributions or mere rhetoric perhaps by members who have taken the call. So to you noble people from Hauraki Ngai Tahu and from all the places that members referred to this afternoon I humbly and proudly acknowledge you knowing full well at the same time that you guided this legislation through its journey from the past century through to the present century. Let us say that you have walked the walk for a long time and debated again and again for a long time with everyone and all Governments during that march; today at the end of your journey you have arrived. Indeed there is much to commend you for. Now should this legislation of yours bear fruit the nation as a whole will benefit. So I stand to humbly acknowledge you. 
] 
I want to start my contribution to this debate in the same way that my colleague the Hon Maryan Street did during her contribution and in the first instance that is by way of acknowledgment. I say that because I think everything pertaining to this settlement and its very very long journey to the House this evening has already been covered many many times over. My contribution is to acknowledge those who have made it happen. 
I want to acknowledge Te Tau Ihu Ngai Tahu Hauraki iwi and all those who participated in the discussions and deliberations all the hui around the country and all the hui with Government representatives be they Ministers members of Parliament or Government officials over a long period of time to ensure that this settlement was done in what I would like to say is a timely manner but I do not think it has been but certainly done in a fair way. As the Hon Tau Henare stated during his contribution to the third reading debate at no time during the discussions at the Maori Affairs Committee was there any sign of any dissension amongst the committee members. That was because the decisions made by and the solutions provided for the previous Government and this Government were provided by the iwi concerned. In other words there was a local solution to a local problem. That local problem and the solution will be of benefit for all of Maoridom. Although I fully understand the benefits for the aquaculture industry from the top of the South Island—in fact the South Island in total and Hauraki—I cannot resist the attempt to boast about the benefits for myself and my whanaunga across the House when it comes to aquaculture development in Te Moana-a-Toi—that is in the rohe of Mataatua Te Arawa and Takitimu. 
So what are those benefits? I heard the honourable member Tau Henare make a slight comment about the effect of the moratorium—was it in 2002—on the aquaculture industry and its development. For many iwi around the country those who were non-participants and had a difficult time in participating in this industry it was a breath of fresh air. In fact the brakes went on and Maori had the opportunity to examine this industry and look at how they could enter the industry and deal with how the issues around water space in particular—and I am sure that this has a lot to do with why this bill has been brought to the House—could be rationalised. I heard the Minister make a contribution on that. I served on the Primary Production Committee during the time of the moratorium and I heard many of the submissions made and to be fair many of them were opposed to the moratorium but at the same time they acknowledged there was a problem in terms of Maori entry into the industry although many parts of the South Island and Hauraki in particular were involved. 
As I said if I resist the attempt to boast about the benefits for my rohe I will touch on a couple of matters that I believe the House needs to be aware of. In terms of Whakatohea for example and its entry into the aquaculture industry with National—they are waiting; they are still on hold—the moratorium gave them the opportunity as an iwi to sit down and discuss ways in which they could maximise the potential or the benefit for the Bay of Plenty iwi. In this case I am speaking about Whakatohea and Te Whanau-a-Apanui and extending right up to perhaps Tauranga Moana with Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga right up to the boundary of Hauraki and Hauraki are here in the House tonight. So when I say there needs to be acknowledgment of the passage of this particular legislation the benefits as well need to be acknowledged. As my colleague the Hon Maryan Street stated a lot of the kudos and acknowledgment rightly needs to be directed to the iwi present in the House this evening. 
During the Maori Affairs Committee deliberations there were as I say no contentious issues amongst the members at the table simply because those who made submissions made it very clear that this has gone on long enough—that the Maori exclusion from this industry has gone on long enough. The outstanding issues around the Maori fisheries settlement from the early 1990s needed to be resolved and the affected iwi themselves needed to provide a proper solution to ensure that Maori could secure water space and they could enter that industry. I recall at the time a presentation by Te Ohu Kai Moana and their contribution to the advancement of this legislation has been acknowledged. I received a paper this afternoon that detailed the nature of the work they were involved in and that was news to me. 
 I need to acknowledge Peter Douglas; the former chair of Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd and his team; my colleague the Hon Shane Jones; and other commissioners as well. You see the work they were involved in was basically background work to ensure that Maori had in front of them all the information required to understand the industry. When I read the paper I thought to myself that this was a bit like the way in which we would approach land development—understanding the value of our product and the value the product brings to our land. It is very similar in terms of aquaculture: we understand our product and understand what value that product brings to the water space we have. 
I come from the Bay of Plenty from Te Moana-a-toi. Although I belong to a coastal iwi my background is in agriculture and horticulture. So I understand the value of products and the value those products bring to the value of our land. When I read through the background work that Te Ohu Kaimoana was involved in it reminded me very much of the work that the former Department of Maori Affairs used to do in terms of developing Maori farms and of adding value to Maori land through farming in an appropriate and marketable way. My family are dairy farmers but my family are now looking very closely at Te Moana-a-toi and at the opportunities that will come out of the passage of this legislation. We are looking forward to developing our coastline on Te Moana-a-toi and many are also at the moment in negotiations with local authorities to ensure that that will happen. 
I thank the iwi representatives here in the House this evening. I also once again thank the Acting Minister of Fisheries Dr Nick Smith who has led the bill in its third and final reading. I acknowledge also the speed with which the previous Minister of Fisheries Phil Heatley acted when he was appointed Minister. I have said to this House on many occasions that he moved with lightning speed as a new Minister which surprised me very very much. I also need to acknowledge the Hon Jim Anderton and the previous Minister of Maori Affairs and Associate Minister of Fisheries my colleague the Hon Parekura Horomia. Kia ora.