Mahuta Nanaia: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 08 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6390. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato):Tēnei e tū ana ki te tāpiri atu aku mihi ki ērā i waihotia ki a koutou o Te Kawerau ā Maki Te Kei o Te Waka o Tainui. Ka nui te aroha ki tēnei tū āhuatanga kua tutuki i a koutou ā koutou kerēme arā kia mōhio pai mai te take i Tāmaki-makau-rau nō reira i roto i tērā tū āhuatanga e tika ana me mihi atu ki a koutou katoa i tae mai nei.[I stand to add my acknowledgments to those that were left with you Te Kawerau ā Maki the stern of the Tainui waka. There is much empathy to this manner of approach taken by you collectively to settle your claims—that is documenting the matter relating to Auckland so that it is understood well. So in that kind of situation it is apt indeed that we commend all you who have arrived here.]To the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations can I first thank you for the opportunity to recognise in this particular instance your officials at the Office of Treaty Settlements who played a key and constructive role for the Māori Affairs Committee. What they were able to achieve in a very delicate situation where there were some omissions were I think useful improvements to enable the relationship of Te Kawerau ā Maki with some local landowners there but more important they were a testament of their leadership and their place within west Auckland. Can I acknowledge too Sir Bob Harvey. The relationship with Te Kawerau ā Maki goes way back but of more recent times to my knowledge the relationship that you had accorded with Te Kawerau ā Maki under the former council certainly cemented a useful way of working with mana whenua in west Auckland under the new bigger council. I also acknowledge Alf Filipaina the councillor for the Auckland Council and your presence here today because that is a continuation of a relationship.Minister when I grew up as young spring chicken we had wānanga and in fact they were hosted by leaders of Te Kawerau ā Maki. We grew up with the knowledge that Te Kawerau ā Maki held the northern boundary of Waikato-Tainui. We grew up listening to the rich histories and about the culture and whakapapa connections through Te Kawerau ā Maki and extensively to the northern part of the country. We grew up learning karakia that were held by people in Te Kawerau ā Maki. Te Wārena Taua is here and so I have to acknowledge his role in being a vessel of historical knowledge traditional knowledge in our particular iwi. However that said vehemently Te Kawerau ā Maki held on to their own sense of identity. Recognising whakapapa connections the history of the land and the migration of ancestors they were able to not only share the broader knowledge within the iwi but hold the specific knowledge within their own particular rohe.I heard in the opening of your speech Minister that you made reference to the matter that Te Kawerau ā Maki neither had a marae nor a urupā within their rohe but when we were in the Māori Affairs Committee we heard their evidence that there were matters yet to be resolved in relation to Te Kōpironui and I want to take from a submission the representation that we had word for word so that it is in the Hansard and recorded as a notable point before the select committee. Although we could not determine the outcome—which I think in some vain hope might have been the prospect that people were seeking—that was not our role and unfortunately we could not do that.Here as the select committee heard it was the particular interest in relation to Te Kōpironui: “Te Kawerau a Maki have longstanding interests in the Woodhill Forest area and in particular interest the land blocks commonly referred to as Kopironui. Our founding ancestor Tawhiakiterangi lived at Kopironui and is buried at the Kawerau waahi tapu Hautu an urupa which is situated on Kopironui B2E2. Many others of our ancestors are also buried there. Kopironui contained important cultivations several significant pa and waahi tapu. These lands were occupied by our ancestors right down to the time when the Crown began to take the land from us in 1920. Kopironui is an old kainga of our people and it is of immense cultural significance to Te Kawerau a Maki that our tupuna buried our dead on the land. This is land we have always regarded as our own and which we regularly frequent to pay our respects. The 1934 and 1951 taking of these lands from my grandmother and other of our old people by the Crown meant that Te Kawerau a Maki were unable to access resources or the West Coast to collect seafood. Under the Agreement in Principle signed by the Crown and Te Kawerau a Maki the Kopironui lands were to be transferred as part of our settlement. Following an objection this redress was removed from Te Kawerau a Maki’s settlement package and was ultimately replaced with the process set out in Part 2 of the Bill. The objection to the inclusion of the Kopironui lands in the settlement package was disappointing given the good faith agreements we had reached with the Crown and neighbouring iwi.”I read this out as an extract from the submission that the select committee heard from Te Kawerau Iwi Tribal Authority simply to act as a pou. Because this matter is yet to be determined it will rely on numerous amounts of evidence and statements but the select committee heard this evidence. I make reference to it because within the context of the Treaty settlement process and the principles by which the Minister applies that process it was not able to be resolved by a particular select committee.The second point I would like to make reference to is one of the constructive outcomes to allow vehicle access to the Harre family in particular on Te Hēnga site. This was a matter that was considered very carefully by the select committee. The family were indeed asking for permanent easement rights. The select committee considered that but on weight believed that the nature of the enduring relationship between the Harre whānau and their land and also with Te Kawerau ā Maki to negotiate after 30 years another access provision would be a way of cementing the relationship. That was seen in terms of the spirit of Treaty settlements to be a more sustainable way to achieve an outcome. It was not what the Harre family asked for but the select committee I believe in good conscience wanted to balance the interests of Te Kawerau ā Maki and the Harre whānau and I am so pleased with the good grace of consideration that an outcome here was able to be determined. For Mr Bellamy his submission was a little bit more straightforward as he did have a legal easement agreement with the Department of Conservation. It was a simple omission which—the select committee had heard—had not been included within the context of the settlement. Again with the good grace of consideration by Te Kawerau ā Maki that was able to be affirmed as well.The third point that I would like to comment on before I finish is the nature of Te Kawerau ā Maki’s interests in the Auckland isthmus. With the brief time available to me it is useful to make reference to the way in which the city is developing but also to the relationship with the Auckland Council the largest council of our country. I hope that these types of settlements in particular because we are talking about Te Kawerau ā Maki today provide useful strong and enduring relationships at a political level and at a more functional level with the Auckland Council because as that city continues to grow and mana whenua are affirming what their interests are in our largest city we cannot but help to hope that the vibrant nature of Auckland will be reflected in the future development of that city which is our largest Polynesian city in the South Pacific. That is what a settlement such as this affords us: the opportunity to identify now who can legitimately have those interests reflected within the Tāmaki isthmus.Nō reira kāti rā! He nui ngā kōrero ēngari he poto te wā. Ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa i raro i te tuanui o tēnei o tō koutou Whare tō tātou Whare nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Therefore enough! There is much to talk about but oh solittle time to do it in. We appreciate you all greatly under the roof of this House of yours and ours so congratulations to you and to us all collectively.]