Turia Tariana: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Turia Tariana: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 25 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:3973. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Minister for Whanau Ora) 
on behalf of the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: I move  
That the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill and the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill be now read a third time 
. Ki a koutou o Ngati Rereahu hoki ano ra ki a Raukawa Maniapoto Tuwharetoa nga mihi ki a koutou i tenei Wiki o Te Reo Maori. Ka hoki w’akamuri nga w’akaaro ki tera papa a Charlie Wehi kua hinga i nga tau kua hipa. Ko ia te kaikereme tuata’i mo te poraka nei. I tukunga ratou te w’anau o nga kereme ki a Piripi Crown i te wa o tona matenga. Na reira e te matua Charlie kua ea kua tutuki te mahi moe mai ra. Huri noa ki a koutou o Maraeroa tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
To you of Ngati Rereahu and back also to you Raukawa Maniapoto and Tuwharetoa acknowledgments to you in this Maori Language Week. My thoughts go back to that elder Charlie Wehi who died some years ago. He was the original claimant for this block. When he died the family of the claims took them to Piripi Crown. So I say the work has been completed it has been done elder Charlie you can rest there peacefully. And turning to you all Maraeroa salutations acknowledgments and congratulations 
.] 
We are honoured to welcome to the House the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B Blocks: Ngati Rereahu Maniapoto Ngati Raukawa Ngati Tuwharetoa and other iwi and hapu. Today is a significant day an opportunity to set the record straight to acknowledge harms incurred to put words to an all too familiar legacy of loss and dispossession. 
This story starts in the midst of the volcanic plateau to the south-east of Te Kuiti. The Maraeroa A and B Blocks are a subdivision of the Taupo-nui-a-Tia West Block which was part of Te Rohe Potae district. Maraeroa is the location of significant wahi tapu. Within the Maraeroa Block rests the eponymous ancestor Rereahu protected in the village of Nga Herenga. The land is also rich in resources regarded as a kono kai from which a wide range of food could be harvested for all the iwi of the surrounding districts. Into this lush location came the Native Land Court and therein lies the history of grave injustice and dispossession. 
The combined operation of the Native Land Court and Crown purchasing breached the Treaty of Waitangi and was inconsistent with its principles. The Crown failed to ensure the owners of Maraeroa A and B Blocks benefited from the sale of native timber on their lands. Survey discrepancies reduced the owners’ ability to even manage their own land. Over successive years the people lost access to their wahi tapu nga wahi kohinga kai their cultural resources and materials for construction such as raupo for building w’are. In all their cultural connection to their ancestral lands was undermined the lands more susceptible to partition fragmentation and alienation. 
Today we face this history and we start a new chapter. These bills mark the beginning of a new relationship with the descendants of the original owners of the Maraeroa A and B Blocks. A new era began in September 2008. Draft terms of negotiation were signed with Te Maru o Rereahu Trust and the Crown commenced exploratory work with Ngati Rereahu interests in the blocks. The parties reached an agreed offer in July 2010 and then initialled a deed of settlement in December of the same year. The Crown signed the deed of settlement with the descendants of the original owners on 12 March 2011 at Pa Harakeke. 
As part of the process of healing and resolution the settlement bill formalises the Crown’s apology wherein the Crown profoundly regrets and unreservedly apologises to the descendants of the original owners. There is acknowledgment that the Crown and private parties benefited from the milling of the indigenous forests and that the milling of their forests removed the habitat of indigenous species. We learn in no uncertain terms that failure to protect the collective tribal structures had a prejudicial effect on the owners. 
The settlement bill includes the vesting of six sites of cultural and historical significance $50000 to purchase land of cultural significance a high-level partnership agreement with the Department of Conservation over lands within Maraeroa A and B Blocks an overlay classification over Pureora o Kahu 12 statutory acknowledgments over culturally significant sites on Crown land two official geographic name changes a financial settlement of $1.8 million the option to purchase part of Pureora North Crown forest licensed land and receive the associated accumulated rentals from the Crown Forestry Rental Trust and the right of first refusal over certain Crown properties. 
It is always impossible in describing such measures to really understand the impact of these initiatives in helping to shape out a new story for the descendants who will inherit this legislation. The two bills together the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill and the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill provide a road map for future prosperity and well-being of their people. It has been a long and complex journey since 1884 when the Crown monopoly over purchasing altered the course of history by the sweep of a pen. I want to mihi to the trustees of Te Maru o Rereahu Trust who gave their time energy and determination negotiating this settlement on behalf of all the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B Blocks. It is especially important to acknowledge Piripi Crown Brian Stanley and Glen Katu for their skilful leadership in guiding the negotiations. 
The legislation has been shepherded through the process due to the efforts of a highly diligent and enthusiastic Minister the Hon Chris Finlayson a constructive chair an efficient Maori Affairs Committee and the united commitment of this House to move these bills through in an expeditious way. 
Finally I want to refer to the words of Nopera Panakareao who at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 said: “The shadow of the land goes to Queen Victoria but the substance remains to us.” Less than a year later he was to say: “The substance of the land goes to the Europeans and the shadow only will be our portion.” Today we hope that the cycle comes full circle and the substance returns to its rightful owners. I commend these bills to the House.