Horomia Parekura: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Second Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:623;Page:18496] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 I move  
That Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill be now read a second time 
. I am pleased to sponsor this bill on behalf of Te Runanga o Ngati Awa and the members of Ngati Awa. The purpose of the bill is to give effect to the agreements between the Crown and Ngati Awa concerning the reconstitution of the structure and operations of Te Runanga o Ngati Awa. This bill is not just about managing a treaty settlement. It is certainly much more than that. It is also about building and maintaining capability within Ngati Awa. For Ngati Awa this bill provides the opportunity to succeed as Ngati Awa. It means that Ngati Awa are sharing the outcomes that are important to them whatever they may be. 
Leadership roles make it difficult to please everyone and to address everyone’s needs at every level. Leadership is about balance and about ensuring that enduring decisions are made in a strategic and well-managed way. This bill provides Ngati Awa with a mechanism to lead. We know from international studies that governance structures that are culturally attuned are more likely to achieve success. We want Maori collectives to have access to governance structures that enable Maori to succeed as Maori. This bill does just that. 
The current Maori asset base historical treaty settlements and the fisheries allocation mean that improvements in Maori governance will have a corresponding positive impact on the country’s broader economic social and cultural outcomes. So too will be the case with Ngati Awa—a people who have a long history of enduring long periods of time to get to the point that they have organised—a better place and we are there today. 
This Government’s confidence to face the future is buoyed by the optimism we share with Maori—that as remarkable as these achievements have been the best of Maori innovation enterprise and success is still to come and that is what Ngati Awa are hoping to achieve in the sense of reconstituting themselves as an organisation. But we must remember that there are many examples of our trusts and corporations that have met these same challenges before. There are numerous success stories and we must learn from them. We must learn from the expertise that is around us and draw on the experiences that we have collectively built over the generations. I am certain Ngati Awa will do just that. 
Ngati Awa have been strong confident and decisive in the sense of getting to where they are today. It is historic for them as a people and it is historic in this House that a lot of the heavy raupatu that happened in their area will now be put to rest. We need to be thinking about the philosophies and values that guide us—for example kaitiakitanga and the intergenerational nature of our unique assets are important to us as Maori. We need to keep reminding ourselves of the importance of succession planning and creating opportunities to ensure that the next generation does not start from scratch but is given the benefit of our experiences as we have had the benefit of learning from those who came before us—not that we always listened. Ngati Awa have really put in a lot of effort in consulting and discussing with their people in the sense of this reconstitution. It will enable Te Runanga o Ngati Awa to receive and administer settlement redress for and on behalf of Ngati Awa. It will also enable the representation and governance of the full range of Ngati Awa interests in the future. 
The Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill was reported back from the Maori Affairs Committee on 18 December 2004. The bill will give effect to the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Ngati Awa on 27 March 2004. To settle their historical claims arising out of the Crown’s various breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi it is a condition of the settlement that Ngati Awa establish a governance entity to receive and administrate the settlement redress. This bill provides for the reconstituted Te Runanga o Ngati Awa to be that body. Under this bill Te Runanga o Ngati Awa will become a stand-alone body corporate to be administered under the provisions of this bill and the charter referred to in the bill. 
Members of Ngati Awa have by postal ballot agreed to the reconstitution of Te Runanga o Ngati Awa as proposed by this bill and have approved the charter of Te Runanga o Ngati Awa. The bill was introduced on 11 August 2004 after a huge number of Ngati Awa people supported this reconstitution and it received its first reading on 25 August 2004. The bill was then referred to the Maori Affairs Committee for consideration. The select committee reported the bill back to the House on 1 December 2004. The select committee received and considered submissions on the bill: one from Te Runanga o Ngati Awa one from another Maori trust board and three from members of Ngati Awa. That shows us the solid support that the bill has back home. 
The committee also received supplementary submissions from Te Runanga o Ngati Awa in response to issues raised during the committee’s consideration of the bill. The committee also met with submitters in Whakatane on 14 October 2004 where all the submitters presented oral submissions to the committee. The majority of submissions received supported the purpose of the bill and were positive about the Ngati Awa settlement. 
After thorough examination of the bill the select committee has unanimously proposed three drafting-related amendments. Those amendments align the definition of customary rights contained in the bill as introduced with the definition of the same term in the Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill; amend the definition of Ngati Awa to try to accommodate the wish of the iwi to include the words “nga uri o nga hapu o Ngati Awa”; and correct a misspelling in clause 8(3)(c). I would like to thank all members of the select committee for their thorough examination of this bill. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Again I thank the Maori Affairs Committee for the effort and commitment it showed in getting this bill back to the House in a very timely fashion. I wish to thank the following people of Ngati Awa for the significant contributions that they have made to the development of this new governance arrangement: Hohepa Mason Kataraina Waiari Te Hau Tutua Dr Hirini and June Mead Wira and Jeremy Gardiner John Simpson Aroha Mead Taiawatea Moko Mead Maria Battiste Hiha Tangitu Niki Partsh Denis Simpson Tawhiao Keepa Wairata Aratema Te Kani Kiingi and Robyn Bargh and all of those who helped especially those who are at home and not here today. Yet again I wish to acknowledge and thank the members of the Maori Affairs Committee for their considered examination. If it were not for them we would not be here today. 
Issues that arise in the context of the treaty settlement discussions are never easy and I acknowledge the part that each member of the committee has played in ensuring that Ngati Awa are able to accept settlement redress once it becomes available. In particular I acknowledge the effort that the committee has made to accommodate the wishes of Ngati Awa. I wish to commend the committee for reporting the bill back to the House with the commentary on the bill in Maori. The promotion of te reo at this level is to be applauded. This is a significant step forward for these people. In conclusion I want to mihi Ngati Awa again and the runanga. I commend this bill to the House.