Whaitiri Meka: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 09 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17135. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa ngā mema o te Whare nei.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Greetings to us all members of this House.]It is an honour to rise and speak in the third and final reading of this significant bill the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill. It is an honour on a couple of fronts. It is an honour because I am the local member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti from which these people descend. But more important it is an honour for me to rise in support of this bill because I share common ancestry with my kinfolk who have joined us here in the public gallery today. My great grand-uncle Harvey Whaitiri is borne in the urupā of Pētane and I share common ancestry with the Spooner or Puna whānau. E te iwi kua tae mai tēnei wā nau mai nau mai haere mai. Hoki mai ki tō tātou Whare i runga i te kaupapa whakahirahira. Nō reira ōku rau rangatira e kui mā e koro mā ngā mātua ngā mokopuna tamariki hoki kei te mihi kei te mihi kei te mihi.[To the tribe who have arrived here at this point in time welcome welcome welcome. Return to our House in regard to this important matter. And so to you my leaders of a hundredfold my elderly women and menfolk my parents grandchildren and children as well I acknowledge salute and greet you.]The Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū deed of settlement is the full and final settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū resulting from acts or omissions by the Crown prior to 21 September 1992. It is made up of a package that includes an agreed historical account and Crown acknowledgments that form the basis for a Crown apology to Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. It includes cultural redress and it includes financial and commercial redress. The benefits of this settlement will be available to all members of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū wherever they may live.All Treaty claims are unique and there is no difference with this particular claim. I want to acknowledge the envy that I share with the people of Maungaharuru-Tangitū in terms of their takiwā and what it stands for. To members of the House and to the people who are listening if you ever get the opportunity you see amongst us a proud people—a proud people who enjoyed prior to the wars of the past and the confiscation of land that occurred the absolute subsistence of a beautiful forest out at Maungaharuru and all of the bounties of the coastline. Maungaharuru-Tangitū ki te tai Maungaharuru-Tangitū ki uta.[Maungaharuru-Tangitū to the shore and Maungaharuru-Tangitū towards the hills.]I mihi to you all in your tenacity and commitment to getting to today’s final reading of your important bill.The Hon Pita Sharples has amply described the history and the mamae suffered by these people. Like I said every settlement is unique. When I look over the settlement of Maungaharuru-Tangitū I want to touch on two particular areas that for me are unique to this settlement. I did mention them in my second reading speech when this bill came through the House. Unfortunately we had bad weather so we could not get the whānau here but I know that you were all here in spirit as we spoke of that.The unique point of difference for me in this settlement is the speed with which the claims were actually settled. The speed that I acknowledged in my second reading speech was on looking at it 3 years and 7 months. Some people will say that that may be too fast and others may say “Phew that was really efficient.” but I do want to acknowledge your negotiators. I do want to acknowledge that without the people of Maungaharuru-Tangitū getting behind the process I do not think you would have met those time lines. I know Tānia Hopmans. I mihi to Tānia and Uncle Bevan and the others involved in the whole negotiation process for not only the swiftness with which you presented the claims but the way you shepherded your whānau the hapū to actually get to this point.Like I said the deed of mandate just for the record was signed on 20 October 2009. The agreement in principle was signed on 22 September 2011. The deed of settlement was signed on 22 March 2013 and it was ratified by the whānau on 25 May 2013. So from go to whoa—and I mention that the significant difference that stood out for me in this settlement was the speed—in 3 years and 7 months is pretty tough going. As a former Treaty negotiator I can say that that needs to be acknowledged. Underlying it is the work that went on behind the scenes. Also being a former mandated negotiator the pressures on the whānau to move that swiftly cannot be underestimated. I am labouring this point but I am doing it in acknowledgment that you would have got to this point only if you had the buy-in and commitment of the whole kainga so again I mihi to you all for that.The second significant part that jumps out at me in this settlement is the strong emphasis Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū have placed on the cultural redress in this bill. I acknowledge the many reserves the lake beds and the coastline that they have obviously fought to return some sort of control back to ngā hapū of Mangaharuru-Tangitū. Without dwarfing the financial redress it speaks volumes of the importance that those cultural redress sites and those sites of significance have to a people who were left I guess desolate in terms of the land that they lost. So again that was clearly a strategy and a commitment from ngā hapū of Maungaharuru-Tangitū to ensuring that our lands our waterways and our coastline have returned back under the mana where they rightfully sit. So I want to acknowledge that as a significant component of this settlement.I also want to quickly turn to the select committee process. I too want to acknowledge our chairman the Hon Tau Henare. I am not going to say farewell—that will come in due course. The hearing that we had in Napier which many of our whānau attended was ably chaired by Te Ururoa Flavell. Because Tau likes to keep us moving in the Māori Affairs Committee we had half the committee up at Auckland on that day and the other half came to Napier. So I do want to mihi to those who attended that hearing. The issue that came up that was addressed at the select committee hearing was hapū not feeling included and also the cross-boundary issues between Maungaharuru-Tangitū and Ngāti Pāhauwera. I can say that through the work of the select committee we were pleased that no one was going to miss out—no one was going to miss out. That became clear in the submission response on behalf of Maungaharuru-Tangitū that those whānau—who are our whānau—who felt they were not being included now would be. So the select committee process was fairly straightforward and robust and we were very happy to support this bill in getting to where we are today.As I close it is important that I acknowledge people who have shepherded this bill to the House today. I do want to pay tribute to our kaumātuas first and foremost—those who are here and those who are not here—for your wisdom your guidance and your patience in getting us over the line. To the negotiators the settlement claim members I mihi to you all. I mihi to ngā hapū for your involvement in ratification and the Hon Pita Sharples mentioned the hapū. Also I mihi to the Hon Chris Finlayson the Office of Treaty Settlements and Government officials for their support and making sure that we got here today. I mihi to you Mr Finlayson. Finally I mihi to members of our select committee who did the job expected of us to ensure that when this bill got to this House we had dotted every “i” and crossed every “t”. I can say without a doubt that that was done ensuring that our part in this process was completed to the satisfaction of this House. I join with all members in this House in celebrating with ngā hapū of Mangaharuru-Tangitū this full and final reading of this bill. I commend it to the House. Kia ora tātou.