Jones Shane: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeJones Shane: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 31 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12207. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SHANE JONES (Labour):Technically you are Mr Assistant Speaker but with the augustness of the position I thoroughly enjoy regarding you as Mr Speaker. Given that you have more than a passing level of interest in what has happened in Tāmaki-makau-rau we now move to another part of Aotearoa.Ēngari i te tuatahi me mihi atu ahau ki te whānau i roto i tēnā pito o Aotearoa kua tae mai ki waenga tonu i a mātou ngā kaitōrangapū ēngari rawa mātou ngā kanohi Māori ā tēnā koutou. E kara e Bevan tēnei anō te mihi atu ki a koe. Ka mahara atu au i ō koutou mātua te wā i a Wī i a padre Huata i a Mackie i a Scott i ēnā kaumātua katoa kua riro ki te pō. Kua riro ko koutou hei pīkau hei whakatutuki i ēnei mahi i waiho mai e rātou hei ‘hakatutuki mā tēnei rēanga.[But first I must extend a greeting to the family from that particular end of New Zealand who have arrived here amongst us politicians and representatives of Māoridom so salutations to you all. Greetings to you as well Bevan the friend. I recall your elders of the era of Padre Wī Huata Mackie and Scott all of those elders who have passed on. You are the ones now to bear this and complete the tasks that they left behind for this generation to fulfil .]This piece of legislation the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill—I want to read it out. It follows a fairly important format which is that it uses our Māori language and it also identifies the deed of settlement. Let us not overlook how difficult and often unrewarding it is for hapū leaders to take on these roles where there are lots of reasons to doubt whether or not it is the right thing to do. There are always problems—whether or not this is the best strategy to pursue—because no doubt within the Kahungunu broader tribal community there would have been a debate as to whether you stick as one large entity like Ngāi Tahu or move into smaller groupings. But that is a decision that was made by the people from that iwi and long may they be good stewards of it.I want to recall the names in this bill. I want to recall the names in this bill because having suffered a few misfortunes such as having been formerly the chairman of the Fisheries Commission I know that your good works do not go unpunished. So I want to acknowledge Bevan Maihi Taylor a man who is very well known to a host of us Māori MPs as having been around in the world of Māori politics and resource management issues. In fact I took Geoffrey Palmer in 1988 to a hui about water in Kahungunu and Bevan Taylor was one of the people who on a busy weekend for reasons best known to himself came to the hui. He is still representing his people. Tānia Mārama Petrus—oh te rangatira o tēnā ingoa Petrus—Hopmans; Tamehana Pekapeka Manaena no stranger to me a very able accountant and someone who was the financial steward of the Poutama Māori Business Trust; Charmaine Dawn Kui Butler; Kerri Donna Nuku; Justin Owen Ian Puna; Frederick Roy Maadi Reti; and Elaine Rangituai Taylor.They are the trustees of the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust. The reason I want to recite their names to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is that these people deserve to be acknowledged for what has been no doubt an arduous task. Politics in Māoridom being what it is things move very quickly. What you thought took a long time can be forgotten in a flash. To these whānau and to these people I salute you today on behalf of my colleagues for taking an issue that does not have the media notoriety of something—dare I say it—like my own tribe Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu or Ngāi Tahu orTainui. It is in an area of Aotearoa not unlike Ngāti Pāhauwera that does not capture a lot of national media attention. Let the record show that. I am sure that when we get to the Māori Affairs Committee people will arrive with their submissions—some troublesome but largely positive.Let us talk about why this is an important settlement. It is an important settlement because not only is there land and forest involved but there are protocols involved. Talking about the protocols I want to isolate the importance of the fisheries protocol. In doing that I want to acknowledge Meka Whaitiri the successful contender of the recent election in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti who unfortunately has yet to give her maiden speech. As I said on the Māori news there are illustrious parliamentarians who have come from this part of Māoridom. There is a photo that was delivered here in 1998 by the trustees and various whānau of Kahungunu from the Ōmaha Marae for Tāreha the first parliamentarian from this part of the motu. He was replaced by Karaitiana. After Karaitiana came a very notable matua of Kahungunu stock Hēnare Tomoana. After him came the redoubtable Wī Pere who left the famous land trust in the East Coast called the Wī Pere Trust. Wī Pere fell to Sir Apirana Ngata’s mentor who was Sir James Carroll otherwise known as Timi Kara who held both a Pākehā seat and a Māori seat. Then Wī Pere came back and then he was defeated by the greatest of all Māori parliamentarians Sir Apirana Ngata. But no one lasts for ever. He was defeated by Tiaki Ōmana otherwise known as Jack Ormond. When Jack Ormond completed his stint there was Tipene Wātene who was a famous figure of New Zealand Rugby League who died in Matangireia our former Māori Affairs Committee room in the late 1960s. After him came Brown Rēweti of Ngāi Te Rangi. After Brown Rēweti came Dr Peter Tapsell and if there was ever a man who joined the wrong party it was probably him but such is life. Things in a similar vein have been said about Shane Jones but that is another matter. I could not possibly work with Hone Harawira—I could not possibly work with Hone Harawira. After Dr Tapsell there was a short burst along with my tuakana over there Tau Henare of Mr Delamere. After Mr Delamere was Parekura Horomia and after Parekura Horomia is the person waiting for her maiden speech. Tēnā koe e te tuahine.We no doubt look forward to receiving submissions on the bill because we want to make sure not only that the bill captures everything that the whānau believe they have agreed to with the Minister but that the structure enables efficient decision-making because it is very difficult to turn a surplus out of assets that are in neglected parts of New Zealand. I say “neglected” in this sense: it is not a major hive of economic activity like Tāmaki-makau-rau. Tāmaki-makau-rau has its own dynamic. When you look at Tauranga Tāmaki-makau-rau and Hamilton that is what the economists call the golden triangle. Well there is the golden north but that is something else and there is gold to be had in other parts of Aotearoa. When we support settlements located in the provinces we want to ensure that the structures lead to efficient decision-making so that not too much pūtea is wasted on running the organisation but rather is dedicated to building the surplus and to supporting the efforts which will be extensive in terms of making a profit out of the Ōpouahi I believe it is called and part of the forest estate that is being put back there.The protocols not unlike the Maunga Authority talked about in relation to Tāmaki-makau-rau are very important. Why are they important? Because the reality is that all the property rights that we seek through settlements cannot be secured exclusively to tangata whenua. We are now in a situation where yes it is important that we reflect the tangata whenua interests through the settlements but it cannot unfortunately be done to the total exclusion of other stakeholders. That is just the political nature of the process that we are involved in. That is why I along with my colleagues think theseprotocols are a significant evolution. They did not exist in the late 1980s when we did the Resource Management Act. In 1990 in Simon Upton’s time there was I think a reference by Winston Peters and Māori parliamentarians of the time for kaitiakitanga. That then sent the Planning Tribunal the Environment Tribunal on a great quest as to what “kaitiakitanga” meant. One or three lawyers and a few Māori consultants may have grown mildly rich trying to define it. No doubt the developers complained that they were meeting the costs of that. Such is politically common in Aotearoa. I would not complain too much about it.The regional council is referred to in this bill. Who knows whether there actually will be a regional council in this particular part of Aotearoa. We know that the regional council is busily sponsoring an irrigation scheme. I only hope that settlements of this nature provide a new platform for the Kahungunu representatives to put forward all the necessary interests to ensure that such irrigation schemes if they do happen to take place whether in this rohe the South Island or any rohe do not take place neglecting tangata whenua interests etc. In my experience regional councils up and down New Zealand do a patchy job when it gets to Māori matters. If the law specifically requires them to go the extra mile they will. If the law is vague they will do very little. That is just the nature of the types of politicians and often the types of managers that are attracted to regional councils. It is when the law forces them to do something that it happens. This will be the passage of law that will require statutory resource management decisions in that area—hopefully in time throughout the entirety—of Kahungunu to take account of the interests and the right to participate of Kahungunu.The forest that is referred to here is an important forest because it provides jobs but those jobs can grow into more valuable propositions with I believe the provision of more Māori land for forestry or the involvement of our Māori people in the actual administration of the forest. With all these things—capital transfer asset transfer and relationships—we salute the people and support the Minister and look forward to the bill going through the select committee. Kia ora tātou.