Jones Shane: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill 
Jones Shane: Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill 
[Volume:672;Page:18710] 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 A te Kaihautu o te Whare tena koe. Kati hei timatanga korero mihi atu ki nga huanga o roto i nga whare tatai i te tuauru Maniapoto a whakawhiti atu ki Te Tai Rawhiti Ngati Porou me ana toronga katoa a heke iho ki roto i te awa o Mohaka a Ngati Pahauwera tena koutou tena koutou katoa. Na runga i te hiahia i pupu ake i waenga tonu i a matou nga kanohi Maori ki tenei taha pena e taea te rauhi i enei pire kia wawe ai te taenga atu ki te komiti uiui. Kia kawa rawa atu enei pire e waiho ki konei kia tarewa i roto i tenei wahanga o te rerenga o nga pire me te matau ara noa atu te poti whakataetae e tu mai nei kei te paunga o tenei tau. Na koia ta matou e mihi ki a koutou i amene ai ki tena whakaaro na ko tona tikanga ka whakawateangia te huarahi kia whiriwhiria tonutia ai e te komiti uiui raro i te whakahaere a te Honore Tau Henare nga take a me nga wahanga iti e tika ana kia whakahangaitia pea. Na koia ta matou e tautoko i te Minita i tenei ahiahi. Na reira tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker of the House. To begin with I acknowledge the relatives from within the ancestral houses of Maniapoto to the west across to the ones of Ngati Porou on the East Coast and all its branches and down to the ones of Ngati Pahauwera by the Mohaka River. Hello there and greetings to you all. Because of a desire that welled up within us Maori members on this side we sought to have these bills made cognate so they would get to the select committee faster. These bills must be allowed traction and not be held up on this side of the process as we know full well that there is the matter of competing for votes at the end of the year to contend with as well. That is why we compliment you on allowing this to happen. Accordingly it clears the way for the select committee under the astute leadership of the Hon Tau Henare to consider matters about these bills including any clauses that might be deemed appropriate. That is why we were most supportive of the Minister this afternoon. So greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to us all. 
] 
We join with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson. This exercise I understand is to be regarded as a “cognate” exercise as I am told is the expression. That is somewhat unusual but as I have said in Maori this is a busy year and the people who bring claims forward and wait for many years despite the best efforts of the current leader of the ACT Party to deprecate them are actually positive and busy people. If the business of the House can be ordered in such a way that we can facilitate the expeditious consideration of these bills then there is not a sliver of doubt in our minds that we should support the current Minister to effect that outcome. I only hope that his enthusiasm for bilateral ventures stretches beyond 26 November when we will treat him in a similarly charitable fashion. 
I must correct one element. The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations described the current chair of the Maori Affairs Committee my kinsman Tau Henare with the adjective “great”. I want that word struck from the  
Hansard 
 record because it reflects an inaccuracy. 
I turn first to Ngati Maniapoto. Obviously our colleague Nanaia Mahuta will expand on what her Maori colleagues here are saying but it follows on from the tauira—the model really—that was laid down during the time of Dr Cullen and revived by the current Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson. It really broke the back of longstanding traditions in resource management. It has caused some consternation to certain elements of the House but we have seen no degradation in the quality of water we have seen no diminution in the property rights of farmers etc. and we have not seen a dilution of people’s rights to participate in statutory resource management. The fact that it should extend to as we say in Maori the whare tatai of Maniapoto just shows that this area of governance is improving and it is providing an opportunity for greater Maori input. 
Our wealth comes from our primary sector including our mineral sector—although I will get to that small point in a moment. Improvement in how we as Pakeha and Maori are able to participate in statutory resource management ensures that when those decisions are made there is a balance between ecology environment cultural heritage and rangatiratanga but also there is not ignorance about the importance of the economic utility of our resources. If we overlook that importance we are actually deprecating the opportunities that are available in a post-settlement phase for iwi hapu and whanau. There is no reason why this particular bill does not lay down the platform for the continuation of the Maniapoto claim. 
Ngati Pahauwera are not too far away from a part of Maoridom where one of our tupuna Te Wera Hauraki made certain forays into the broader country of Kahungunu a little further along from where Ngati Pahauwera are. I remember for many years going down there and visiting the marae with Rev. Maori Marsden while we discussed resource management issues. That is where we were first introduced to the drama that was confronting them about the Mohaka River. As is the case with other claims this is an example of where a proud group of people—a tribe a number of hapu—were left landless. Unfortunately not all land can be restored back to the descendants of the original owners but the fact that the current custodians of that legacy on the tangata whenua side are willing and courageous enough to step up to the plate and give their approval to this type of settlement bodes well for the future. 
It is a part of Aotearoa that is not spoken about in a particularly wide fashion but we salute the people of Ngati Pahauwera their river their remaining lands and the Maungaharuru ridge etc. We know how difficult it is for any small iwi to capture the attention of the bureaucracy and of politicians and also to find the energy to sustain the journey to effect a suitable settlement to the claim. So there is no doubt in our minds where we should stand and support whether it is through Dr Cullen the Hon Parekura Horomia or Christopher Finlayson. 
The most important thing is that from here it is the responsibility of the tangata whenua. They have to stand up and bear that legacy and ensure that it is actually improved generation after generation. That will not be an easy task and whatever we do to the bill in the settlement today we hope it simplifies that process. 
Ko Hikurangi te maunga ko Waiapu te awa ko Parekura te tangata. Ngati Porou tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. Na wai ranei i teka me tu a Ngapuhi ki te korero mo nga whenua to koutou maunga a koutou tangata me nga awa katoa kei roto i Te Tai Rawhiti engari tenei ano te mihi atu ki a koutou. No roto i nga rangi pahure tata ake nei nui tonu nga korero i roto i te hui i tu mo to matou matua a Ta Ratima mo tenei kereme mo tenei nawe whenua. Nana ano i ki i te haerenga ake o Ta Apirana Ngata ki roto i Te Hiku o te Ika i te ururoa me te kanukanu o te ahua o te whenua nana ano i ki pena he toki ano taku tapahia me ahau te hiku o tenei ika kia tere atu ki te moana. Katahi a Ta ka mea mai ki ahau e hoa e koro e Shane ki te tu koe ki te mihi mo te kereme o Ngati Porou meinga atu ki a ratou nui tonu te mana o te Ropu Reipa i roto o Ngati Porou. Kati tena koutou. He rawe tenei ra. 
[ 
Hikurangi is the mountain Waiapu is the river and Parekura is the man. Greetings to you Ngati Porou greetings to you and greetings to you all. Who falsely assumed that someone of Ngapuhi descent should stand up and talk about lands your mountains your people and all the rivers of the East Coast? Nevertheless salutations once again. There was much talk at a symposium held recently for our uncle Sir Graham Latimer about this claim and objections about this land. He actually talked about the time when Sir Apirana Ngata came up to the Tail of the Fish and mentioned how the land looked shabby and was shark-like in appearance. It prompted me to exclaim that if I had an axe I would lop off the tail of this fish and set it adrift in the ocean. Then Sir Graham said to me “Hey mate hey old fella Shane should you get up to acknowledge Ngati Porou’s claim say to them that the Labour Party’s influence in Ngati Porou is right up there.” Enough said and congratulations. This is a wonderful day. 
] 
The Ngati Porou tribe are not strangers to the administration the bureaucracy or the antics of politicians or Governments. This is a very successful conclusion to a claim that has been afflicted by internal politics and I can say that because I am a member of the Ngapuhi nui tonu. No one is more afflicted than my own tribe. It is a part of Maoridom where we want to see the provincial economy recover. We want to see investments that recover the halcyon days when there were very prosperous strong and hardy landowning groups up the coast. If this small contribution through the historical Treaty settlement enables that to come to pass then every single Maori in the House should salute Ngati Porou on this significant day. 
We must acknowledge Hekia who currently has a difficult role dealing with her own relations in terms of why the exploration for oil and minerals is not such a bad idea. Although that is a difficult part I note that a protocol in this bill enables Ngati Porou to participate. 
Kia kaha kia manawa nui. Mai i Te Tai Hauauru ki Te Tai Rawhiti tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa.  
[ 
Be strong and stout of heart. Well done to you from the western shores to the eastern one and to us all. 
]