Sharples Pita: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSharples Pita: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 09 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17133. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs)on behalf of theMinister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations:I move That the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time. Ā tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou kua tae mai ki tēnei Whare mō te wā whakamutunga. Kua oti te tono mai te whiriwhiri ngā kōrero me ērā atu. Nā reira kua tae pai mai koutou i tēnei rangi tēnā koutou katoa tae noa ki ngā mihi ki a rātou kua ngaro atu rātou kua tukuna atu ki te kōpū o te whaea. Nā reira haere ngā mate. Waiho rātou ki a rātou tātou ki a tātou e kawe nei i tēnei kaupapa mō te rā nei. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Greetings to you all. Salutations to you collectively who have arrived here in this House for the final time. Submissions statements and everything else have been completed. Therefore you have arrived here safely on this day so we acknowledge you all including the tributes accorded to those who have passed away and have been interred in the womb of mother Earth. So farewell the dead. Allow them to remain there among their own while we deal with this matter that is before us today. Greetings and acknowledgments to you all.]I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the members of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū who have travelled here to join us on this important day. I acknowledge those who carried the burden of the wrong suffered by Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū many who have passed away without seeing this day. Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū are tangata whenua within their takiwā. In their takiwā they have held and continue to hold ahi kā roa. Their takiwā extends from Maungaharuru Range in the west to Tangitū in the east from Waikari River in the north to Waiōhinganga and Keteketerau in the south. This is the takiwā of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū who are commonly known as Ngāti Marangatūhetaua also known as Ngāti Tū Ngāti Kurumōkihi Ngāi Te Ruruku ki Tāngoio and Ngāi Tauira—tēnā koutou.In this takiwā Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū were the recipients of the Crown’s actions and inactions which cannot be ignored or excused. In this takiwā Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū were challenged on their own whenua yet despite this here they are today to settle with the Crown. The story of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū is therefore not a story about land loss but one of determined continuity. The settlement for Maungaharuru-Tangitū as encapsulated by this bill is a result of that determination. Prior to the arrival of the Pākehā Maungaharuru-Tangitū lived independently and without the need to leave their rohe to survive. The Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū whakatauāki “Ko tō rātou pā kai ngā rekereke” means that their fortified villages were in their heels and it eloquently describes that life for the hapū. Resources available on the coast of Tangitū and available on the inland areas mean9t that Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū had year-round nourishment without having to leave their tribal boundaries. These rich resources were and continue to be taonga to Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. The Crown’s actions completely changed this way of life.We are here today to consider a bill that resolves injustices inflicted by the Crown through its acts and omissions under the privileges of Te Tiriti o Waitangi arā Treaty of Waitangi. From the 1850s the Crown undertook a process that systematically confiscated nearly all of the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū ancestral lands. The Waitangi Tribunal recorded in its Mohaka ki Ahuriri Report that Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū suffered land loss through pre-1865 Crown purchase the operation from 1865 of the Native Land Court the 1867 confiscation and later Crown purchasing mainly conducted from 1910 to 1930. The impact of the land loss the lack of development opportunities the fragmentation and multiple ownership of tiny parcels of land and the lack of access to the remaining land completely undermined the social economic base of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. The impacts of that land loss can still be seen today.Yet despite that Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū are here today to settle with the Crown—me mihi ki a tātou. For generations Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū have sought redress for the many breaches of the Treaty by the Crown. From Te Teira Te Paea’s petition to the Privy Council in London in 1901 over the confiscation of Kaiwaka Block to the filing of claims with the Waitangi Tribunal in the 1990s Maungaharuru-Tangitū have continued to seek justice for the wrongs they have suffered.In May 2004 the tribunal presented the then Minister of Māori Affairs the late Hon Parekura Horomia with the Mohaka ki Ahuriri Report. It reported that the claims of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū were well founded. It concluded that overall it had identified serious breaches of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown in the loss of Māori land in their district. The Waitangi Tribunal recorded in its Mohaka ki Ahuriri Report many actions and inactions by the Crown a few I will mention here. It found that the Crown negotiated unscrupulously to purchase land at Ahuriri and Mōhaka in 1851. It described that the Crown was unjustified in its attacks on Pai Mārire followers at Ōmaranui and Pētane and its subsequent pursuit of the escapees and destruction of their property.Further the tribunal reported that the Crown unlawfully confiscated land from Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū and had no basis for depriving the hapū of ownership of the Tāngoio and Maungaharuru blocks. It did not provide any redress for this exclusion of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū from the title to the Kaiwaka Block in 1870 despite protests by the hapū over many years and the extensive legal action they successfully took to be included in the title. The Crown also failed to adequately protect the environment in Mōhaka ki Ahuriri including Lake Tūtira coastal reefs and other places. Through its failure to adequately protect the environment the Crown’s actions negatively impacted on the treasured resources of Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū and the little land they retained. With resources impacted upon the Crown failed to make adequate efforts to halt Māori depopulation and improve the health and living standards of the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū to standards equal to those of the Pākehā. These actions by the Crown and others cannot be ignored or excused and today Maungaharuru-Tangitū is here to settle with the Crown.Today this bill gives effect to the deed of settlement negotiated between the Crown and Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. This bill provides for cultural financial and commercial redress in compensation for these breaches. It is a way that the Crown can acknowledge that it breached the Treaty of Waitangi. It is a way the Crown can apologise for those breaches and their consequences. This bill looks to make amends for the Crown’s past actions and to build a shared future with Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. The legislation before us is much more than a new law. It is a history of a people. It is the future of a people. It allows Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū and the Crown to acknowledge the past grievances and look forward to a more prosperous future. It is about creating a bright and prosperous future for Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū.At this point I just want to pay tribute to Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū. They have suffered heavily at the hands of the Crown but Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū have a proud history of seeking justice and have not remained passive as these injustices have occurred. They have continued in their kaupapa resolute and determined. I stand before you to acknowledge the courage and determination you have shown. However my words can only briefly touch upon the mamae and the pain that Maungaharuru-Tangitū have had to endure and carry. This settlement will support the healing of the relationship between Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū and the Crown. It also serves an important lesson for the Crown to ensure that the devastation inflicted on Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū is never repeated. I hope the apology that forms part of this settlement will also assist in this healing. We acknowledge that as a consequence of the Crown’s actions from 1850 Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū have been left bereft in its own whenua yet they have come today to settle with the Crown. I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā koe.