Davis Kelvin: Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDavis Kelvin: Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:694;Page:580. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KELVIN DAVIS (Labour—Te Tai Tokerau):Ko Ngāti Kuri Te Aupouri kia kotahi mai tātou katoa mai i Te Rarawa. Ngāi Takoto Ngāti Kahu kia kaha mai rā. Āwhinatia e tātou ngā uri o Muriwhenua kia whiwhi ai i ngā taonga nei o ngā tūpuna. Mr Speaker ko ēnā ngā rārangi kupu o tētahi waiata e pā ana ki tērā wāhanga o te motu arā ko Te Hiku. E tika ana kia mahuetia aua kupu i te mea e akiaki ana i ngā iwi kia kaha ai kia whakakotahi ai kia whiwhi ai i ngā uri i ngā taonga o ngā tūpuna. Nā reira ka mihi ake ahau ki a koutou i tae ki raro i te tuanui o tēnei Whare ki te whakarongo ki tēnei te pānuitanga tuatahi o tēnei pire mō Te Hiku. Nā reira tēnā koutou ōku tuākana ōku tēina tuāhine mā tēnā koutou.[Let us from Te Rarawa be united Ngāti Kuri and Te Aupouri. Work hard to ensure this too Ngāi Takoto and Ngāti Kahu. We must help our kin of Muriwhenua to receive these ancestral possessions for them. Those are some lines from that song pertaining to that part of the country in other words Te Hiku. It is appropriate that those words are retained because they urge the tribes to be strong and to remain united to ensure that descendants receive possessions from their ancestors. So I pay a tribute to you collectively who have arrived here under the roof of this House to listen to this the first reading of this bill about Te Hiku and so my accolades to you collectively my elder and younger siblings and sisters. Well done.]I started off with the words of a song that is in fact sung at most schools up in the Te Hiku area. It urges the five tribes to be strong and to be unified so that they may reap the treasures and the benefits of their ancestors. I think it is just an appropriate way to begin the speeches for the Te Hiku claims. The five iwi up in Te Hiku have a rich intertwined culture history and whakapapa. Much of that history is still alive and we live it every day up there. I have to state for the record that I am not from Te Rarawa NgāiTakoto Ngāti Kahu Te Aupouri or Ngāti Kurī. I am from Ngāpuhi. It is just a signal that we have shared whakapapa because I descend from Tōhe.Tōhe was our tupuna who lived up in Kapowairua. The story has it that he and his servant Ariki marched down Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe or Ninety Mile Beach as he went in search of Rāninikura his girl in his older years. His iwi implored him not to go because he was so old that they did not think he would make it back. He said to them: “Mehemea ka mate ahau kapohia taku wairua.” [Should I die grab up my spirit.]—“If I should die then grab my spirit as it passes by.” Hence the name Kapowairua—Spirits Bay. So he walked down Ninety Mile Beach and got to Ahipara and named it Whārō because “whārō” means to measure with your arms. He asked his servant to measure how far the tide had gone down. He carried on swam the Hokianga Harbour got to a place called Baylys Beach which is called Rīpiro and there he actually passed away. One of the stories of the naming of my hapū of Ngāti Manu is because there as he was dead lying on the beach seabirds ate his eyes. So that is my connection to Te Hiku through whakapapa. As I say many parts of the country might not realise how we are still immersed in our history and our whakapapa and it is not something separate that happened a long time ago.One of the stories that we tell up there is of a warrior from Te Aupouri. His name was Te Houtāewa. Apparently he was 7-foot tall broad had the longest stride on him and if you listen to Te Aupouri he had a good sidestep and a fend. One of the things that he liked to do was to antagonise Te Rarawa down at the southern end of the beach. Apparently he could run the length of the beach in between the tides. He used to run down there and pinch a couple of kits of kūmara put them under his arms and run back antagonising teasing and tormenting his pursuers. They could never catch him. I remember Shane Jones telling me that he believed that he was created in Te Houtāewa’s image. Earlier this morning we listened to Te Kawerau ā Maki and my colleague Peeni Henare said that the kūmara has got a lot to answer for in terms of creating tension between tribes but also in terms of soothing the peace as well.Anyway roll on 200 years and one day there I am in the capital of Te Aupouri a place called Te Kao in the changing rooms of the rugby club wearing the colours of Te Rarawa about to go and do battle against Te Aupouri our traditional foe. Our captain at the time a young fellow—everyone knows him; Gibbon Harrison—is there extolling us to rise to great heights and to get out there and basically lay our bodies on the line for Te Rarawa against the old foe Te Aupouri. He got himself so worked up and he said: “Let’s get out there and let’s teach them not to steal our kūmara!”. Well we went out there and we got soundly thrashed. That is an example of how the deeds of our ancestors are not something separate. They are not something that happened years ago. Our ancestors still walk with us and we still carry them with us.I was at the signing up in Ngātaki earlier some months back now where the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson acknowledged the misdeeds of the Crown and gave an apology and it was quite lengthy. It was an extensive apology. It was actually very emotional listening to the extent of what was done not just to Ngāti Kurī. Well at that stage it was Ngāti Kurī  but what happened to Ngāti Kurī was the alienation the disempowerment and the disenfranchising that occurred to all the iwi up there. I am glad to see that we are here now acknowledging it and trying to make reparations and move forward.There are five iwi up there but really the main acknowledgments go to four. I was contacted by the negotiators from Ngāti Kahu. They asked me to read some stuff out on their behalf. I said to them look the process is that we will do the first reading and then we have got the select committee consideration. That is when people can come forward and lay out their views as to why they disagree or agree with the whole process. They said: “Yes we know the process; we just don’t have any faith in it.” and they asked whether I would please read out just for the record some of their objections. I have two documents that I will table after. Bear the indulgence because this is a time for celebration but I just have to acknowledge that Ngāti Kahu are not quite so happy.They ask that Part 14 be removed from the bill. Part 14 refers to the Ngāti Kahu Accumulated Rentals Trust. They want it removed from the Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill before it goes to its first reading. I received this on 18 July. That was not possible so here I am now making this request on their behalf. They want to leave the Ngāti Kahu accumulated rentals from the Aupōuri State Forest Crown forest licensed lands and the Crown Forestry Rental Trust. They spell out in some detail the prejudices they believe they have suffered. Like I say I will not read it out now; I will table it for the record. They also object vehemently to the bill vesting some 12000 hectares of land exclusively in other iwi. Whether you agree or disagree I was requested by them just to state their objections for the record.I am somebody who likes to see these claims settled so that we can move on be positive and ensure better outcomes for our people. Therefore with that I just acknowledge again everybody here. I would also like to thank the Minister for allowing his officials to brief me. I agree with what he says about Maureen Hickey. I tried to throw some curly questions at her; she had the answer for every one. So I just acknowledge Maureen. E ōku whanaunga i takahia mai i Te Tuarā o Te Ika mai i Te Hiku tae noa ki konei ki Te Upoko huri rauna i Te Whare tēnā koutou katoa.[To all my relatives throughout the House who traversed the Back of the Fish from the Tail until you eventually arrived here at the Head I doff my hat to you.]