Tremain Chris: Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
Tremain Chris: Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15816] 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
: 
 Tihei mauri ora. Tuia ki runga tuia ki raro tuia e herenga tangata no reira tena koutou. Ki te Whare e tu nei tena koe. Ki a Papatuanuku kei waho tena koe. E te Mangai tena koe. Ki nga rangatira o te Whare Paremata tena koutou. Ki nga hoa o te Whare Paremata tena koutou. Tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. Ko Chris Tremain toku ingoa. Ko Tatara toku maunga. Ko Tutaekuri toku awa. Ko Kel Tremain toku papa. Ko toku papa he tangata rongonui he All Black. Ko Pam Tremain toku mama. Ko Simon raua ko Mark oku taina. Ko Angela toku hoa wahine. Tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Behold the breath of life. Thread it above thread it below interweave mankind. Therefore greetings to you. Greetings to the House standing before me Mother Earth outside Madam Assistant Speaker parliamentary leaders and fellow parliamentarians. Greetings greetings and greetings to you all. My name is Chris Tremain. Tatara is my mountain and Tutaekuri is my river. My father is Kel Tremain a famous person an All Black. Pam Tremain is my mother. My younger brothers are Simon and Mark. Angela is my wife. Greetings greetings and greetings to you all 
.] 
Madam Assistant Speaker you may wonder why in rising to speak to the Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill I begin with my mihi and acknowledgment of some of my whakapapa. You may ask that question. In that mihi I mentioned two places that are very significant to me. The first is Otatara which is a mountain—a small mountain for that matter—that sits behind Taradale and is the place where the Otatara Pa used to sit many many years ago. It has now been purchased by the council and sits there in perpetuity. 
The Tutaekuri River flows quietly beside Otatara and is also a place of significance to me and where I was born and grew up. 
Just 2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of walking to the top of Te Mata Peak as part of a remembrance for Sir Edmund Hillary. Standing on the peak and looking around Heretaunga—Hawke’s Bay—at all the different land features that are part of Hawke’s Bay I could see out to the east Waimarama Beach and Cape Kidnappers and to the west the Kaweka Mountains. From up there I could see Otatara and the Tutaekuri; to the south Kahuranaki and to the north Waipatiki Beach and Ahuriri in Napier. All of these places have significance not only to me but to many many people in Hawke’s Bay. They are significant to many Pakeha and obviously to many from Ngati Kahungunu and other iwi from that region. Many of us have lived in New Zealand for more than a generation and have very strong ties to the land—the whenua. For many of us and certainly for Maori the land is our point of reference. It is the place that we know we can return to and we feel at one with. It really provides our sense of identity. When we sit in a pub overseas on our OE say in London or Australia we miss not only our families—our whanau—but features of the land. That is what we remember and sometimes pine to return to. 
Mostly these features are in public ownership and access is largely available to all. Where it is not many Kiwis would like to see some of those features returned to public ownership and tangata whenua in particular would like to see them returned to ownership by tangata whenua in fee simple title. Many of us want access to those areas. When I stood on Te Mata Peak most of the features I saw and just mentioned were in public ownership and that gave us the ability to access those features. 
Such is the case in Tauranga at Mauao—Mount Maunganui—and this bill returns an important taonga to the iwi of Tauranga while still guaranteeing access to it for all New Zealanders. It is critically important to many Pakeha that we still have unfettered access to those iconic features. That is especially important to me. I understand the significance of those features to local Maori—Ngai Te Rangi Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga. These tribes embarked on a journey when that land was put into Crown ownership in the 1880s and they have sought to have the fee simple title brought back under their ownership. I acknowledge and respect what the Crown has achieved here not only returning the fee simple title to the iwi but also maintaining access for New Zealanders going forward. I feel that is critical. 
The Mauao land in Tauranga is iconic also to Pakeha. The translation of Mauao is “caught by the dawn” and that is interesting. Mauao is an iconic maunga on the isthmus of the peninsula. The mountain is 232 metres high and has a 3.4 kilometre track around the base— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I thought it was 3.6 kilometres. 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: My reference says 3.4. It is a 45-minute walk to the top. Maybe the previous speaker Dave Hereora took a little bit longer to walk it. 
Sue Moroney 
: He was running. 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: Running! It is a national playground and has amazing platforms to view out to sea and all around. We can see why it is so iconic to New Zealanders when we know that in January alone some 110000 people either walked on the track or visited that taonga. Throughout last year 700000 Kiwis visited that place. So it is important real estate. It is important to all Kiwis not just to Maori. 
Sue Moroney 
: Are you going to carve that up as well? 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: It is an important piece of real estate that is very important to all Maori. Many Pakeha see the mountain as iconic and part of their identity. The bill shows that we have been able to transfer fee simple title to Maori while maintaining ongoing access for all people. That is a good thing and I support it. 
A similar situation arose a few years ago at Bastion Point in Auckland. In 1990 Ngati Whatua o Orakei reached a settlement with the Crown of their historical claims over the Orakei block including Bastion Point after the Waitangi Tribunal had issued the Orakei report in 1987. As part of that settlement ownership of the reserve lands at Bastion Point and Okahu Bay was transferred to Ngati Whatua o Orakei with Auckland City and Ngati Whatua o Orakei jointly managing those lands for the use and enjoyment of the public of Auckland. The interesting thing is that that transfer was done many years ago but importantly it has allowed unfettered access by Aucklanders and all New Zealanders to a key iconic piece of real estate which they are able to access in perpetuity. I think that transfer of fee simple title while still maintaining access is where a partnership has been achieved and that is an extremely good thing. 
The way I see it this bill is a benchmark for moving forward in terms of key iconic and culturally significant landmarks. 
I have no problems at all with places of outstanding cultural significance being returned to tangata whenua conditional upon unfettered access being available to all Kiwis. I see Bastion Point as a case in point where that has been successfully achieved—Aucklanders have had no problems with accessing it. 
Most Kiwis increasingly identify with landmarks here in Aotearoa. As I mentioned in Hawke’s Bay there are all sorts of different landscapes and features and Kiwis increasingly relate to the land and wish to care for it. To this end I say that although tangata whenua may claim first right they do not have the only right. They do have first right but Pakeha need access to these key bits of land. In this bill we have seen a partnership in that respect. I think that this land is going to be enhanced by the relationship between iwi and the council. As my colleague pointed out recently there is the ability for ongoing and better management by the iwi up there which is fantastic. 
I stand in support of the bill and I close with the whakatauki I commenced with that in short means: “Bind it above bind it below bind us together.” In this case I think we have been able to achieve that with a partnership on Mauao in Tauranga. Tuia ki runga tuia ki raro tuia te herenga tangata. 
[ 
Thread it above thread it below interweave mankind 
.] 
Bill read a second time.