Little AndrewThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I move That the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time.Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi nau mai haere mai whakatau mai. E te ariki nui Tā Tumu nau mai haere mai ki Te Whare Pāremata. He rā tino nui tēnei mō koutou. He rā tino nui hoki mō Aotearoa. Nā koutou te kaha me te manawanui nō reira rau rangatira mā tēnei taku mihi atu ki a koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Ngāti Tūwharetoa tribe welcome welcome welcome. To the paramount chief Sir Tumu welcome welcome to Parliament. This is a big day for you. This is also a big day for New Zealand. You have had strength and patience therefore my esteemed elders this is my greeting to you greetings greetings greetings to us all.]I'd like to begin by extending a very warm welcome to Sir Tumu te Heuheu and to those members of Ngāti Tūwharetoa who have travelled to Wellington today to be here for the third and last reading of your settlement bill. Reaching this milestone has been a long journey for your tribe. Indeed this October marked five years since officials of the Office of Treaty Settlements first visited Waihī Marae at Tokaanu to initiate settlement negotiations.This bill will give effect to the deed of settlement signed by Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown at Waitetoko Marae on 8 July last year. The bill itself has five parts and includes impressive cultural redress and significant Crown apology redress. Ngāti Tūwharetoa's cultural redress will give the iwi greater influence over the management of some of the sites that are most sacred to them. They will also participate in regional conservation management initiatives and exercise mana and kaitiakitanga over the Taupō catchment in partnership with the local authorities. Thirty-two sites are also being returned to Ngāti Tūwharetoa through this settlement bill including sites at Five Mile Bay Huka Falls Parakiri the Tongariro National Trout Centre and Taurewa Landcorp farm. In addition to the funds the iwi received through the central North Island settlement Ngāti Tūwharetoa will also receive $25 million in financial and commercial redress.This settlement also includes Crown apology redress. Often when the New Zealand public think about what a Treaty settlement comprises they focus on the redistribution of financial assets and culturally significant sites such as the ones I've just mentioned. And of course they're not wrong to do so; it's clear how such redress helps Māori lay to rest almost 180 years of deeply held grievance and how it fosters the social progress and economic renewal of New Zealand's tangata whenua. But in a Treaty settlement the Crown also acknowledges the ways it has breached its obligations under Te Tiriti and formally apologises to Māori for this wrongdoing. To do this it agrees an historical account with iwi where both groups revisit and renegotiate the shared understanding of the events that happened between them. It can be easy to overlook the latent power of the historical record but its reassessment is as significant as any piece of cultural or commercial redress. Indeed it was ahead of this third reading that I reflected upon the restorative power of Ngāti Tūwharetoa's Crown apology redress.Ngāti Tūwharetoa's Treaty settlement includes one of our nation's most important examples of this process: Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino IV's tuku of the three central North Island volcanic peaks in 1887. For more than a century the narrative told and retold about Horonuku's act became an entrenched romantic myth of sacrifice and beneficence. The ariki's gift developed into a convenient albeit inaccurate parable that uncritically assumed Ngāti Tūwharetoa's wholesale agreement to the establishment of the Tongariro National Park the introduction of exotic species within its borders and the construction of recreation and public works infrastructure upon the mountain slopes. Through this Treaty settlement however Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown have officially reappraised the meaning of Horonuku's act and seek to finally overturn the fallacious myth of the old rangatira-style gift.As the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations I'm proud to state on behalf of the Crown that the ariki's tuku was not an unconditional gift. Horonuku intended the tuku to establish a shared responsibility with the Crown in order to protect and preserve the three maunga for Ngāti Tūwharetoa for all iwi and for all New Zealanders. To appreciate the difference between a tuku and a gift is to finally recognise that Horonuku sought a true partnership between Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown—a partnership with obligations that the Crown has not always honoured. To realise the difference between a tuku and a gift is to return to Horonuku the dignity that the myth of the gift has sought to diminish. And finally to understand the difference between a tuku and a gift means that the Crown accepts that the Ngāti Tūwharetoa view the mountains as living rangatira—deified guardians who watch over the tribe and to whom the people belong.This is but one very special example of how re-engagement with the past can help to re-forge Māori agency and identity in the new millennium. Reappraising our nation's historical record isn't about rewriting this country's history; it's about an equitable balanced reassessment of our past in order to invigorate a shared future. To understand this is to appreciate how Treaty settlements have the power to recast meaning from two world views rather than the Crown's alone and that this approach is the foundation of true partnership.This bill is testament to the hard work of many people over many years. I want to begin by paying tribute to Ngāti Tūwharetoa's ariki Sir Tumu te Heuheu and his forebears of Te Whare o te Heuheu. Sir Tumu and seven generations of paramount chiefs before him have worked tirelessly as advocates for their iwi. It's an honour to have you in the House today.I also want to acknowledge all the people who contributed to this settlement who have worked for many years to hold the Crown to account but who are no longer with us to bear witness to this milestone. Let this day be a tribute to the dedication of those dearly loved people who have passed on.The unflagging determination of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa negotiation team deserves special mention. Since 2010 Sir Michael Cullen led the entity mandated to represent Ngāti Tūwharetoa in comprehensive settlement negotiations with the Crown. He and his team have worked long days and I know many nights and made significant personal sacrifices to reach this milestone.From the Crown I'd like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Crown team led by chief Crown negotiator John Isles with support from the Office of Treaty Settlements the Department of Conservation Land Information New Zealand the Department of Internal Affairs the Ministry for the Environment and other agencies. I want to acknowledge also the chair and members of the Māori Affairs Committee who delivered their report in a timely professional manner. And of course it would be remiss of me not to also acknowledge once again on this very special occasion the work of my predecessor the Hon Chris Finlayson and the legacy that he leaves relived through so many Treaty settlements concluded in his time as Minister.Lastly I want to acknowledge the people of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Without their support courage and foresight we would not be here today. Their unflagging determination to hold the Crown to account for its acts and omissions and their desire to advance the social well-being and economic prosperity of their tribe have led us to this moment. With the passage of this bill I hope that Ngāti Tūwharetoa will be able to support and develop their people in ways that best suit their needs and that iwi will grow alongside the community in Taupō as everyone works together on projects that will build the prosperity of the region.This third reading concludes the settlement of Ngāti Tūwharetoa's historical Treaty claims. In doing so the Crown renews its partnership with iwi and commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and in the new year Te Kotahitanga o Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the new Māori-Crown relations agency Te Arawhiti will take our first bold steps together. I commend the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Bill to the House. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.