Mahuta Nanaia: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Third Reading 
Mahuta Nanaia: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19269] 
NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Tainui) 
: 
 E nga rangatira me o tupuna e maiangiana hei kanohi moratoukuahuri atu tena koutou. He mihi ki o maunga o awa o whenua ana ngawhakatupuranga. Tena koutou. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
To you the chiefs rising up as the face of your ancestors who have turned beyond the veil greetings to you 
.  
An acknowledgment to your mountains rivers lands and therefore the generations. Greetings to you. 
] 
My humble contribution to this process has been as chair of the Maori Affairs Committee and in taking on that task it has been an opportunity to help navigate this legislation as well as the settlement legislation through the processes of Parliament. I would like to thank the advisers the clerks of the select committee and parliamentary counsel who have all helped to support this process and I recognise that the efforts of Ngati Awa have been significant over time to bring us to this point. 
So here we have it—the evolution of an entity to represent the interests of Ngati Awa. In 1981 having established itself as a charitable trust to represent the interests of Ngati Awa because it did not secure Maori trust board status to progress its legitimate historical treaty settlement claims we had the first entity to represent interests in that area. In 1988 the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Act was passed under which as an entity it was formally constituted as a trust board under the 1955 Maori Trust Boards Act to help pursue and progress its historical treaty settlements claims. And now the Minister is introducing this bill as a member’s bill to release the shackles of ministerial accountability and to recognise that we have an entity that is set to take a new generation of Ngati Awa forward into the future—which is as it should be—in readiness for the transfer of ancestral lands and taonga back to Ngati Awa to be returned to Ngati Awa under its claims settlement legislation. 
The key intent of this bill is to restore and uphold accountability to Ngati Awa for Ngati Awa by Ngati Awa. There have been comments in this House that the charter should be in the bill. The committee considered that matter. It recognised that the restoration of rights includes responsibility and that the charter should stand outside the entity legislation so that Ngati Awa have the flexibility to grow and evolve. Again that is as it should be. I hesitate to defend the choices that Ngati Awa has made as I know that its challenge is organic and it is progressive and responsive to its needs at this point in time. 
The Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill—its construction the charter by which it abides—is for today’s generation holding tomorrow’s aspiration in view. The entity may change and the charter may change at some time in the future. We as parliamentarians should expect that from a modern progressive people—iwi who in this instance are known as Ngati Awa—in reaching a settlement of their historical claims. I regret that not all political parties or politicians will endorse the choices that Ngati Awa have made in reaching these agreements. A dispute resolution process is set out in the charter and with the exception of the terms of the settlement it is clear that it does not remove any right that a member of Ngati Awa may have to access the courts in respect of disputes with te runanga concerning the settlement assets and other matters. I make mention of this as it has been an issue that has been raised in the House at this point in time. 
 There is not too much to say here except that I commend the Minister of Maori Affairs for knowing when to let go. That is as it should be too. If we are serious about entrusting the challenge of Maori development we should know that it does not rest in this Parliament; it rests out amongst the people who have the tenacity to make things happen for themselves. Again that is as it should be. 
So I say to the Minister and to this House that I commend the bill and I urge support from all parliamentarians to meet the challenge of assisting to advance Maori aspirations as can be achieved in treaty settlements and in empowering legislation such as this. It is no easy task. We have spent many years during the time I have been in this House arguing over what could have been and should have been. But at the end of the day we have seen the tenacity of a group of people who have willing to sit down at the table with the Government and reach an agreement—with all its warts with all its challenges. That is no easy feat. So I urge parliamentarians when they debate issues such as this to consider the journey ahead. The past has been long and tumultuous for many iwi especially Ngati Awa. They will not tell that story in this House. Yet we in this House stand and speak as though we understand every part of their walk and their history. We criticise the decisions they make for themselves and then we have the audacity to say that they may not be durable. How can they be if there is no commitment in this House to help iwi achieve their aims and aspirations? 
I look forward to tomorrow’s debate first because it will be one of substance and I think one that will enable a group of people to get on with it and secondly because it will enable ancestral lands and taonga to be returned to the Ngaati Awa people so that they can do the things their ancestors taught them to do but have not been in a position to do until now. I also look forward to seeing the growth of real potential of people in Ngati Awa to move forward for future generations. No reira tena koutou katoa.