Sharples Pita: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — Third Reading 
Sharples Pita: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15299] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. First I would like to pay my respects to Tumu Putaura. Kai te rangatira Tumu Putaura takoto haere. Haere ki te okioki o o tipuna matua. 
[ 
To the chief Tumu Putaura lie there farewell. Depart to the resting place of your ancestors. 
] 
It is a pleasure for me to talk on the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill. There is a Maori tourist company in the electorate of Tamaki Makaurau that is picking up awards almost as fast as the Maori Party is climbing in the polls. Potiki Adventures won the best Maori women in business award Te Mana Wahine Tohu last year. It took out the outstanding business citizenship award the best new business award at the national women’s business awards and  
Vogue Australia 
 recently listed it as one of the top 15 things to do in Auckland City. The reason for its success is twofold: the breathtaking landscapes that Potiki Adventures takes tourists to and the pride of the two owners in sharing the beauty and the knowledge handed down from their tipuna about special locations all over Auckland. 
A particularly popular tour is that through the Waitakere Ranges rainforest and it is easy to understand why it is popular. The coastal belt to the west of the Waitakere Ranges—the real name of the ranges is Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa by the way—exudes a rich Maori heritage. There are signs of early habitation particularly on the islands and the headlands that constitute natural defence areas. The tour may also include an opportunity to view the unique and ancient inhabitants such as geckos rare frogs kereru etc. or one may wander through the mature native forest and marvel at the majestic sight of manuka kanuka kahikatea horoeka rata rewarewa rimu and kauri. The wilderness of the Waitakere Ranges rainforest the exuberance of the untamed coast and the warmth of the black sand come together to create the unique environment that will linger in the memory long after visitors leave the park. 
The unique landscape of the Waitakere Ranges is today being protected preserved and promoted by the mechanisms established in this bill. The distinctive tourist value of this area is however only one aspect of a space that positively resonates with an appreciation of a unique cultural heritage. Today we are taking a very important step in an investment in our future by preserving and caring for the history of past and present habitation in the environment. We are standing up to protect the national regional and local significance of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park on behalf of those who call this land home. 
We know just how important a step we are taking by the heat generated within the debate and by the intensity and vigour of the positions put forward by people on both sides of the debate about the bill. It was obvious to us all that those who live in the land of the Waitakere Ranges fiercely locate themselves and the generations before them as a distinct community of interest in this bill. One after another submitters traced back over the experiences of five or six generations in maintaining the Waitakere foothills bush environment. It has been a very inspiring process to feel the strength of the attachment that people from all walks of life have with this distinctive environment. 
In the spirit of inspiration I want to acknowledge the strength of this process as it has evolved in terms of soliciting the active participation of mana whenua. I commend Lynne Pillay who right back in February 2006 was recognising the solid contribution and support from iwi—support that she openly declared was central to the success of this bill. Kia ora Lynne. I commend the local authorities the Auckland Regional Council the Waitakere City Council and the Rodney District Council which have willingly endorsed the amendment I brought to the bill to establish and maintain processes to provide opportunities for Ngati Whatua and Te Kawerau-a-Maki to contribute to the decision-making processes. We in the Maori Party were extremely impressed by the ways that tangata whenua have demonstrated such fine leadership in working with all players in relation to the land specified in this bill. 
The Maori Party is very proud of the progress we have been able to achieve in creating processes to ensure that tangata whenua are actively involved in local decision-making. We are very pleased with the way the amendments to clauses 23B 24 and 28AA were received by the House. The amendments establish a mandatory rather than a discretionary obligation on the Crown or the local authority to enter into deeds of acknowledgment with tangata whenua. The amendments place a positive duty on the respective local authorities to establish and maintain processes to provide opportunities for Ngati Whatua and Te Kawerau-a-Maki to contribute to the decision-making process. That is unique. 
The key point of this bill that really stands out is not just about the nature of collegiality and cooperation reflected in the engagement of mana whenua of the local authorities of the sponsor of the bill and of the Maori Party. A crucial outcome of this process has been the precedent that has been established in enshrining the existing rights of mana whenua as a basis of recognition. The reaffirmation of tipuna entitlements is essential to the full expression of tino rangatiratanga. We have a whakatauaki—a proverb—from my own people Ngati Kahungunu that symbolises the concept of tikanga entitlements or tipuna rights: “Kaore koe e tu mokemoke ai.” 
[ 
You will not stand alone 
.] 
That whakatauaki speaks to me of the fact that no one stands alone because we are born of whakapapa and live within its embrace. So it is that Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua came to the Local Government and Environment Committee speaking of the need to protect the whenua their wai maori and the natural resources of taonga tuku iho designated within their tribal rohe. We heard about Ngati Whatua tribal constructs and both Ngati Whatua o Orakei and Ngati Whatua Nga Rima o Kaipara working together with the mayors of the three councils to ensure the respective mandate and participatory authority that are to be maintained by whanau marae and hapu across their takiwa. We heard also the perspectives of Te Uri o Hau Ngati Rongo Te Kawerau-a-Maki Te Taumata Runanga Te Runanga o Te Taou and how the significance of their ancestral associations could be protected and preserved within this bill. 
Te Tiriti o Waitangi anticipated the protection of Maori custom and cultural values. It also guaranteed the right of tangata whenua to possess and control that which is our tino rangatiratanga. It was an absolute declaration about the value that the Crown saw in its relationship with Maori. It is a matter of great joy to be speaking in this House about a model in which outcomes are anticipated that seek to exemplify the strength of a Treaty relationship. This bill provides us all with a model that shows how easy it can be for local authorities to establish a process to facilitate the involvement and participation of Maori in local decision-making processes. We have been extremely pleased that our Supplementary Order Paper succeeded that the voices of mana Maori and mana whenua were heard and that actions were agreed to that consolidate the formal relationship with tangata whenua. We in the Maori Party are proud to support this bill. Thank you.