Paraone Pita: Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Paraone Pita: Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5510] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 A tena koe e te Kaikorero. Tihei mauri ora! Tupu mauri ora ki te whei ao ki te ao marama. A te Arawa waka te Arawa tangata tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou. Nga mema o Te Poari Maori o Te Arawa nga rangatira koutou hoki i kawe mai i tenei kaupapa i roto i nga piki me nga heke tena koutou katoa. Kei te koa kei te hari ka tae tenei pire ara ki te panuitanga tuatoru na te mea kei te roa rawa atu tenei kaupapa e haere ana. Kei te tata ake i a tatou kia tae atu ki te mutunga o nga mahi o tenei Whare e pa ana ki te pire nei. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Thank you Madam Speaker. Behold the sneeze of life that comes from within and out into the world of light the world of enlightenment. Greetings to you the canoe and people of Te Arawa greetings greetings. To you the members of the Te Arawa Maori Trust Board the chiefs and to those of you responsible for bringing this matter here through all its trials and tribulations greetings to you all. I am pleased and happy that this bill has reached its third reading because the process has been a very very long one. In respect of this bill we are nearly at its final stages where this House is concerned. 
] 
Madam Speaker I preface my contribution to this debate by acknowledging your own input into the whole process that pertains to this particular claim. Today marks another milestone in the history of our country and that is the formal recognition by way of this legislation of Te Arawa’s claim to the ownership of the lakes covered in this bill. The fact that it has taken almost a century since Te Arawa’s original claim to clarify their ownership of these lakes is a testament to the long and difficult journey they have had to travel to get to this point. The part of the journey that saw the initiation of this particular claim began in 1987. 
In 1922 13 years after the initial court application to clarify Te Arawa’s claim to ownership Te Arawa and the Crown agreed to an out-of-court settlement that essentially sought that Te Arawa concede the vesting of the fee simple in the Crown in exchange for the Crown admitting the rights of Te Arawa to their ancient fisheries burial reserves and all of the lakes. This agreement also included the granting of a number of licences to fish for trout at a nominal fee and an annuity of £6000. This agreement did not provide for a review of this annuity. The agreement thus declared the lakes to be the property of the Crown and extinguished any customary title that Te Arawa had to the lakes. It is important to note that this was not a Treaty settlement unlike this bill; it was an out-of-court agreement concerning ownership litigation. 
This is a settlement that is aimed at bringing finality to Treaty grievances from 1840 to 1992 as far as grievances relative to these lakes. This includes breaches associated with insufficient fishing licences and the Crown’s failure to review the annuity when it lost value due to inflation. It is to their credit—and I think it is important for the people of New Zealand to note—that during the Depression and the Second World War Te Arawa through its Maori trust board actually gifted a proportion of its annuity to the Crown. I suppose given recent comments on this particular issue of gifts that could have been described as a koha from Te Arawa to the nation. Again I think it is important to note also that Te Arawa’s goodwill continues in the form of continued access by the public. That is being protected under this settlement. 
I think it is important to recognise the role that Te Arawa Maori Trust Board has played in reaching this settlement particularly in view of the strong criticism expressed during the earlier stages of this bill towards its roll and I suspect that that criticism continues up to this moment. Much of this criticism is centred on the issue of mandate and therefore its right to enter into negotiations on behalf of Te Arawa—an issue that is becoming a common concern with many if not all settlements to date. I know that in earlier debates on this bill reference was made to the fact that Te Arawa number at least 40000 and that only 9000 are registered on the board’s beneficiary roll. Of that number only 4000 participated in the process regarding mandate and acceptance of the settlement. Although it can be argued that this is a rather small number of the overall Te Arawa membership—that is 10 percent—what has been overlooked is that at best only 26000 would be eligible to vote. 
I cannot recall during the process of this bill to this stage being categorically informed as to the reason for the low turn-out in voter participation. It had been suggested that this may have been due to dissatisfaction towards the mandated body with the process and the negotiated settlement. Although this is disappointing I must accept that if people choose not to participate then they have very little comeback on what is ultimately decided on their behalf. Similarly if there are members in this House who will choose to abstain from casting a vote one way or the other then I say to them that they are either for this bill or they are not. This is not a fence-sitting matter. 
What are the key elements of this bill? I will list them. First of all there are the acknowledgments and the apology by the Crown. There is the settlement of this claim. There is also cultural redress that includes vesting of lake beds—described in the bill as Te Arawa stratum—entrusted in the trustees of Te Arawa Lakes Trust. The water and the air directly above the lakebed are vested in the Crown and are described in the bill as the Crown stratum—and we did hear that that was the first time it had been described in these terms. Other elements include the limiting of liability of the trustees for contamination of the lakes; the establishment of the Rotorua Lakes Strategy Group for the purpose of contributing to the promotion of the sustainable management of the lakes and their catchment for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations while recognising and providing for the traditional relationship of Te Arawa and their ancestral lakes; the issue of protocols between Te Arawa and various ministries of the Crown; statutory acknowledgments; traditional provisions that allow for the dissolution of the Te Arawa Maori Trust Board; and of course $10.4 million of which $400000 is for the provision of fishing licences. 
Whatever criticism the opponents may have about the amount of this settlement the point that needs to be noted is that the duly mandated negotiators have negotiated in good faith and can I say that although it may not be perfect it is their settlement. It is probably not an appropriate time to make reference to the issue surrounding the claim on Lake Ngapouri by Ngati Whaoa. Athough the settlement has not actually delivered the outcome they desired it is hoped that they will—as will I hope other hapu and iwi groups who feel similarly aggrieved—feel some solace in the intention as advised to me of the trustees to allow for local input into the management of the respective lakes. 
It would be remiss of me not to mention the disquiet that I and my colleagues in New Zealand First have about this bill and this is in respect of the inclusion of the ill-defined—in fact undefined—references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. To say that we are disappointed at the inclusion of these references would be an understatement. We are reluctant to accept their inclusion particularly in clauses 13 and 14—they being part of the substance of the bill. Their earlier inclusion in the bill I can understand as this makes reference to their inclusion in the deed of settlement. I can only suppose that it is for this same reason that reference to the principles is included later in the bill. Because we support the process and the outcome we therefore support the legislation. This will not however detract from the intent of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill being sponsored by my colleague Doug Woolerton and already referred to a select committee of this Parliament. Instead of 33 pieces of legislation that have references to these undefined principles this number will be added to by the passing of this bill today. I reaffirm the support of New Zealand First for the passage of this bill. 
Waku korero mutunga he mihi tonu ki a koutou o Te Arawa 
. 
 Kei roto i a koutou ringa inaianei na ki te whakahaere o nga roto o Te Arawa. Na reira nga manaakitanga o Te Runga Rawa kei runga i a koutou i tenei wa me nga tau kei te heke. Kia ora ano tatou. 
[ 
In closing I acknowledge you Te Arawa. The administration of the Te Arawa lakes is in your hands now. May the blessings of the Almighty Above be upon you at this time and in the years ahead. Greetings to us all. 
]