Mahuta Nanaia: Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 24 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11216. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): Tēnā tātou katoa. Tuatahi tēnei te mihi atu ki a koe Te Ariki e Tumu hei whakakanohi mai i a rātou mā i whakatū te pou ki Pūkawa kia whaia e tātou te mana motuhake o Te Iwi Māori nō reira ki a koutou nō Te Awa o Whanganui tēnei te mihi atu. Ka hoki mai ki a koutou o Ngāi Te Rangi Ngā Pōtiki nei te tino tāpiri atu aku mihi maioha ki ērā i waihotia i mua i a koutou nei aroaro tēnei pānuitanga o tā koutou pire; nō reira tēnā koutou katoa.[Greetings to us all. Firstly I acknowledge you paramount chief Tumu who are the face of those who erected the pillar at Pūkawa where we sought independence for Māoridom and to those of you of the river of Whanganui I greet you. I come back to you Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki and add my genuine and fond regards to those who left before you this reading of your bill; therefore congratulations to you all.]It gives me great pleasure to be able to support the first reading of the Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill and the intent of the legislation. I want to acknowledge both Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki for their longstanding efforts to get to this particular time and also commend their aspirations for the future.Can I acknowledge those negotiators who have already been mentioned but make special acknowledgment of my former colleague Mita Ririnui who was an associate spokesperson on Treaty settlements and of Matua Hauata Palmer who kindly hosted me when I was doing a little bit of research of my own. I will come to those salient lessons as I go through my speech.I want to also acknowledge Matua Waka Paama and Matiu Dixon. I had some personal interaction with Matiu during his time in the Waikato over a number of years. Can I say Minister that everything you said about Matiu was absolutely true. He made a huge contribution to the Waikato. He is sadly and sorely missed in our area because he was a community man. He understood the necessity of trying to hold on to and uphold the values that Māori have within an ever-changing world and I think he was absolutely consistent right through to his untimely death. Waka also made a huge contribution to the Hāhi Rātana. He was a kind soul and very wise and people who sought his advice would always get two sides of the coin I think. He gave very wise counsel.I came to this whole process of the Tauranga Moana Treaty settlement knowing those commonalities of our experience. Raupatu was all about iwi standing up for their own lands fighting to retain what was theirs in their own area. But let us put Tauranga Moana into some context because today Tauranga Moana has one of the most successful ports other than Auckland. In the future it will continue to be one of the most successful economic areas or engine rooms for the country.So when we think about the opportunities going forward it is no wonder that there has been some significant effort to try to retain some gains around local government representation. Mita Ririnui himself under some vociferous and nasty debate introduced the first provision for Māori seats at the regional council level. Once you understand the extent of the impact that that level of decision making at central government and local government can have I think the opportunities in this particular settlement can only be built on.I want to reiterate the comments of the Minister. The Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki Claims Settlement Bill really brings together what has already been debated at first reading in this House for Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga. However those things outstanding the Tauranga Moana framework—everything to do with what is happening in the marine space of Tauranga Moana—is absolutely significant. We have not mentioned the Rena but it did have a big impact on their area. The response may not have been as well accommodated for as iwi wanted but should it ever happen again—we hope it does not—the response should be much better informed with the direct contribution of iwi.Again the other issue about the Tauranga Moana framework which in time we may well get to support if it requires legislation is the ongoing ability of iwi within Tauranga Moana to have a say on the way in which the harbour develops because if for example any extension to the port or any dredging within that part of the marine space of Tauranga Moana is required iwi should have a say. The turnover of the Port of Tauranga just last year was $79 million so you calculate how long the port has been there and what the lost opportunity is for the people of Tauranga and then see what the ongoing obligation of any Government would be to try to include the people of Tauranga Moana within the development of their particular part of the world.Housing is unaffordable for people from Tauranga. Tangata whenua from Tauranga are being outpriced in their own region. That cannot be fair. The settlement does provide an avenue for opportunities and I was heartened by my visit to Ngā Pōtiki and looking at what they are doing to enter into the space of the provision of housing for their own people in the social housing space through partnerships. They are starting in ways that they obviously have a plan around and are doing good work in but the sad reality is that as Tauranga becomes more economically prosperous our question has to be: will this settlement enable them to continue to live and thrive in their own region? That is going to be the ongoing test of the settlement.I made mention earlier that I went to visit Hauata with the specific intent—I am the representative for Hauraki-Waikato and I am standing to make some very certain statements based on some research that I undertook because I had questions knowing that Hauraki iwi had made claims into Ngāi Te Rangi. My questions were very simple and from my own upbringing. If you understand your own history you use that as a platform to be whakahīhī enough to go and ask a question—nā runga i te kore mōhio nā runga i te kūwaretanga. He pātai noa iho kia āta kimihia te huarahi pai māku [be arrogant enough to go and ask a questionbecause of one’s lack of knowledge and ignorance. It is just a question of carefully seeking a way for me]—so that I could stand with a level of conviction about things. But I did have concerns about the extent Minister—and you know this—of Hauraki’s interests right into the central business district of Tauranga.My questions were simple. Was there a tatau pounamu? Was there a significant marriage that occurred? Beyond Ngāti Pūkenga—that history stands by itself—was there a significant marriage that happened between the people of Hauraki and the people of Ngāi Te Rangi that was enduring to this day? Was there an urupā? Was there a significant ancestor who came from Hauraki and had enduring interests like ahi kā within the area? I asked my kūare questions—I will say that in front of Hauata and he kindly responded—but I have come to know this having also gone back to Hauraki to ask questions. Minister the process does not lend itself too kindly to a Māori way of sorting out these things. If kaumātua had been able to be encouraged to sit down and sort this out I think the extent of Hauraki’s interests would have been where they rightly should be which is back in their own rohe.I say this as a member of Hauraki-Waikato and at the risk of not being elected at the next election because it is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do. We see so many times iwi coming to this House through the Treaty settlement process and being put in some very difficult situations where it is hard enough within their whakapapa connections arguing with one another let alone somebody coming from somewhere else and making all sorts of claims. But I do it because it is the right thing to do. I do it because I know that Tauranga Moana have had a very long history of trying to seek redress and it is a smidgen. But if the real opportunity of the collective of Tauranga Moana redress around the impact of raupatu within their rohe is measured then it is the way in which going forward any Government sitting on that side of the House would seek to continue to uphold not only its obligations due to the settlement but its ongoing obligations to support leveraging through local government and other decision making about the economic prosperity of the Tauranga Moana region because it can only flourish with all the iwi of Tauranga Moana.Nō reira he paku mihi he paku whakaaro hei tāpiri atu ki ēnei kōrero ki ngā kaupapa.[And so it is just a brief acknowledgment and thought to add to these contributions to the proposals.]