Mahuta Nanaia: Te Urewera-Tūhoe Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: Te Urewera-Tūhoe Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 22 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14135. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): He hōnore he korōria he maungarongo ki te mata o te whenua he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa. Arohaina ngā tāina me ngā tuākana i raro i te whakaaro kotahi i raro i te tuanui o tēnei Whare. Ngāi Tūhoe tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Ki a tātou pai mārire. Nei anō te mihi maioha ki a koutou mai i a Waikato-Maniapoto me ērā o ngā hononga kei waenganui i a tāua hei tū kei roto i Ōrākau ki te pupuri ā tātou whenua arā hei hāpai i ērā o ngā wawata o ngā mātua tūpuna te mana motuhake o ō tātou iwi Māori. Nō reira tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.[Honour glory peace upon the face of the Earth and goodwill to all mankind. Be of one mind under the roof of this House in being charitable to the younger and older siblings. I acknowledge you all the people of Tūhoe. Goodness and peace to us. An affectionate greeting once again from me to those of you collectively from Waikato-Maniapoto and those connections within you and me in Ōrākau. They hold our lands. In other words they elevate those other aspirations of the parents the ancestors and the independence of our Māori people. So I salute you all.]It is a great privilege to be able to support the passage of this bill the Te Urewera-Tūhoe Bill to the Māori Affairs Committee and to its final stages. We are in a moment of history that only in hindsight will people be able to recognise the significance of what is being achieved in the Tūhoe settlement. This is an important day for New Zealand not just for Tūhoe.I was reminded of all the great orators who have spoken in this House throughout the years on a number of I guess testy issues that have tested our aptitude as a nation to really live what it means to be a truly bicultural nation having greater regard to the aspirations of iwi of Māori in New Zealand and in the formation of our identity as a country. Just as we have great orators I thought I would draw on one of the great poems of a poet who is well known to you because it tells a story that I want to be able to draw on in my contribution. It goes like this:Had I the heavens’ embroidered clothsEnwrought with golden and silver lightThe blue and the dim and the dark clothsOf night and light and the half-lightI would spread the cloths under your feet:But I being poor have only my dreams;I have spread my dreams under your feet;Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.This in a sense draws upon the spirits of those ancestors I believe of Tūhoe and many others like them who had great aspirations to live in a country that they could hold on to enjoy preserve bring up children in and say: “This is ours.” But our chequered history has meant that so much of that hope and aspiration has been impacted on by interactions with the Crown.I hesitate to tell the history of others within the context of Treaty settlements because I know how important it is. But for anyone listening to this debate today a very important part of the Treaty settlement process is to have the history recorded in the deed of settlement and referred to within the context of legislation. And because we go through this debate referring to how significant these Treaty settlements are—and most important for Tūhoe today—for those young children who hope to build our nation in a way that makes mana motuhake the Treaty partnership a living spirit within our national identity it is important that they draw on the words that come into this House.As I looked at the aspects of this Treaty settlement there were a number of things that I felt compelled to say in its first reading. I too am not proud of Labour’s time in Government with regard to the police raids but what it has done is necessitate the commitment of both sides of the House to having an enduring Treaty settlement. So I am sure that in the future Labour’s track record on the Tūhoe settlement will be tested against the hopes and aspirations of the mana motuhake agreement and we will also be ensuring and committing to long-term enduring aspects of the way in which Te Urewera will be looked after in the future. I would like to be able to stand as testimony to say that this is a working living relationship that has been forged.So out of some very difficult times come some very positive opportunities. I want to commend the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations for being able to extend his vision around the way of looking at some very unique features of this particular settlement that are not in any other: firstly the way in which Te Urewera has been conferred its own identity. That in itself is a significant milestone in the way that we are looking at our lands our resources. The ability to look after them for future generations recognising that Te Urewera has its own identity inherently within that a mauri of its own and inherently in that the need to look after it for the preservation of its food source and identity for the people growing up and living around Te Urewera is significant. I would like through the select committee process to learn a little bit more about that if for nothing else than to see how that particular legislative approach can continue to innovate our way of looking at ongoing resource management conservation within the context of other areas in the country.I am excited by this settlement. I am excited by the opportunity that it provides for the people of Tūhoe to push their expectations on the way in which regulatory functions are carried out and management plans are implemented effectively taking account of tikanga. I am excited by the fact that it puts a higher regard on the Department of Conservation to really live the strongest principle that it has in the Conservation Act to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi principles. This I predict will be a pillar of future lawmaking approaches going forward as we continue to review the benefits that Treaty settlements have provided.There is also some explanation within the bill and detail around the governance entity the selection of trustees and how that is going to be approached. If I could perhaps offer a few comments—you know this has never been easy for any iwi going into a Treaty settlement process and I do not think anyone is immune to the challenges of having to ask themselves: “How do we want to reorganise ourselves for the future so that we’re going to have regard for everybody who is entitled to benefit from a settlement and also have a say through our governance instruments and arrangements?”. Again this is not the time to ask questions and seek answers but at the select committee level there will be a high rate of interest from members I suspect in the way in which Tūhoe has approached this significant question. If we can ensure that the governance entities are as robust as they can be within the context in which they have been designed then that is going to give the next generation greater opportunity and hope that what has been preserved for now will continue to be there for tomorrow.The other part of this settlement that excites me is the fact that it is an affirmation of a history that has not been as well understood by broader New Zealand. Correcting place names is an important part of that. Once we begin to ensure that place names are corrected and references within the context of our history are revealed in ways that become real so that when people passing through on that road that Anne Tolley was talking about which I have probably been on only once—Hon Member: Shame on you!Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I know and it was a long trip too. What it will reveal to those passing through Te Urewera is that they are in a very special part of the country. Place names do that rectifying history does that and recognising just how important the footprint is that Tūhoe has over its relationship with its domain is so significant.Again this is a first reading speech. There is so much more to say about the bill. I hope that the select committee process will not be too taxing for those who have toiled long and hard to get it to this point—over 5 years I would say. But we will give it the full attention it deserves to ensure that the expectations that have been set out in the deed align with the legislation. That is our job. It is a small part of a bigger wheel that has already been put in train but can I say that we are in a historical moment for this nation. Tūhoe being here today to settle their historical grievances means that the settlement will endure and on both sides of the House we need to ensure that we commit to an enduring relationship. Kia ora koutou.