Sharples Pita: Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 16 April 2014. Volume:698;Page:17421. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs) on behalf of theMinister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: I moveThat the Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time. Ka haere tonu ngā mihi ki a tātou ki a koutou kua hara mai nei ki te tautoko i tēnei rā nui tēnei rā whakahirahira. Tēnā koutou. Kua mihia ngā mate waiho rātou ki a rātou. Ko te mea nui i tēnei wā ko tātou ko koutou e hui tahi nei ā kia whakaoti ai tēnei kerēme i mua i te aroaro o te Kāwanatanga arā te Whare Paremata i tēnei rā. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou nau mai whakapiri mai.[The tributes to you collectively who have come here to support this important and great day continue. Greetings. Tributes to the dead have been accorded. Allow them to be there among their own. The most important thing at this point in time is us and you gathered here today to conclude this claim that is before the Government in other words before Parliament today. Salutations and greetings to you collectively welcome draw closer.]Whakapapa connections developed over many generations and hundreds of years bring together the families and tīpuna of Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui. Tēnā koutou katoa. I stand to acknowledge the families and tīpuna of Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga four distinct iwi linked by whakapapa by history and by determination. Ko Aorere te moana koTainui te waka ko Hoturoa te rangatira ko Ngāti Kōata te iwi. KoTainui te waka ko Rāruaioio te tangata ko Ngāti Rārua te iwi. KoTokomaru te waka ko Tamariki te tangata ko Ngāti Tama te iwi. KoTaranaki Kōpiripiri ngā maunga ko Waitohi te awa ko Waikawa te marae ko Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui te iwi.[Aorere is the sea Tainui is the canoe Hoturoa is the chief and Ngāti Kōata is the tribe. Tainui is the canoe Rārua-ioio is the man and Ngāti Rārua is the tribe. Tokomaru is the canoe Tamariki is the man and Ngāti Tama is the tribe. Taranaki Kōpiripiri are the mountains Waituhi is the river Waikawa is the courtyard and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui is the tribe.]Nearly two centuries ago the peoples of Tainui and Taranaki ki te Tonga resided in Tainui Kāwhia and Taranaki lands on Te Ika-a-Māui. Facing hardship from the 1820s onwards Tainui and Taranaki ki te Tonga tīpuna headed south. Wars were waged with the tribes throughout the bottom of the North Island and eventually across the top of the South Island. Those Tainui and Taranaki alliances and bonds remain strong to this day as tīpuna established permanent communities across Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui.By the time the Treaty of Waitangi was signed the families of Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui exercised tino rangatiratanga over lands and resources in Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui. However we stand here today because the Crown has consistently failed to protect failed to honour and failed to guarantee the legal rights of Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga families.For Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga families back in 1840 the world was a different place to what we live in today. Te Tau Ihu whānau were a major part of a booming economy. They helped create it and they owned much of it. Flax wheat potatoes timber and maize was grown harvested and processed on Te Tau Ihu lands by Te Tau Ihu families. It was then moved across New Zealand and shipped to Australia. The vessels that shifted it across were owned or leased by Te Tau Ihu families. This is what economic political and cultural rangatiratanga looks like. But when you take millions of acres off a people who have only ever known a life of enterprise and self-determination you take more than land away. You remove a way of life a culture and an identity.The Crown’s Governors and officials acted ruthlessly sidelining the Treaty of Waitangi and deliberately giving new settlers advantage over Māori. As a result the Crown’s purchases left Te Tau Ihu Māori in dire poverty. Much of this has been said in the other settlements leading up to this one but clearly it happened and clearly it happened in Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka. Today the Crown stands alongside those families of Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga and acknowledges the social economic and cultural devastation carried by generations of families. But through it all the peoples of Tainui and Taranaki ki te Tonga remained steadfast. They remained at the prow of the waka of Māui and they did not leave. Their identity was attacked but was never destroyed. They lived in poverty but they stayed. Their way of life was devastated but was never wiped out.All those things were lost due to the actions of the Crown and they can never be totally replaced and yet the peoples of Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga are here today. They wish to settle their grievances with the Crown with honour and mana. The journey to get to this day has not been easy or brief. We remember those who have passed on but whose determination has led to the legislation that this House is considering right now. Today we witness a milestone in a journey that is taking place right before our eyes. We introduced legislation to resolve the historical grievances of eight—eight—tribes of Te Tau Ihu. It is legislation that will strengthen the ability of future generations to carry on a proud legacy of economic and cultural rangatiratanga.This is what has been the marvellous thing about settlements. Despite the fact that a settlement is a mere pittance of what was taken away—stuff that can never be made up for and opportunities that have been lost—our people have taken it with two hands andmade something of it going forward. There are many instances of tribal success after settlements that we can look upon.I wish the eight tribes of Te Tau Ihu the same success as they move forward now taking life into their own hands and remembering that once they ruled the area and its economy and owned ships that took produce across the Tasman Sea. It is a long cry from when I went to school and they called us dumb Māoris. Prior to that we were not so dumb. We grew the crops and we sold them and we owned the transport and everything. Now the tribes will move into that area again.So it is an honour for me to stand here and open up this discussion. I would just like to acknowledge the iwi who have come here today. He maha o koutou whakaaro kia hoki nga mahara ki a rātou kāre i konei i tēnei wā engari ko te mea nui kei konei koutou. Kei konei koutou ka whai atu ā koutou tamariki kia kawe ai i te kaupapa me te mana o ō koutou iwi tēnā koutou katoa.[Your thoughts to recollect those who are no longer here are numerous but the most important thing is that you are here collectively. Presently you are here to be followed by your children who will take responsibility for the scheme in question and the integrity of your tribes. Congratulations to you all.]This is legislation that will strengthen the ability of future generations to carry on a proud legacy of economic and cultural rangatiratanga. Ngā iwi o Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui who are at the prow of the great voyaging canoe of Māui are at the prow of their own destinies and future. I commend this bill to the House.