Flavell Te Ururoa: Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:650;Page:18934] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 This is just a short call to follow on from Mr Tau Henare and to say that I agree in this instance with his korero which is the reason why we put up the amendment in the first place. I reflect back firstly on the note that I have received from Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao. Here we have a legal entity that has been established. It has a track record and there is a desire on its part to ensure that the issue of mana whenua for Ngati Wahiao not only around this issue but as I said earlier around the Whakarewarewa Village issue is maintained. 
No one denies that at home at home base there is reference to Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao. Other members talked about that before—the kapahaka and so on. I have no issue with that. But the real fear that was presented on the part of the submitters to the Maori Affairs Committee was that by coupling them up the distinct entity called Ngati Wahiao would be basically wiped off the earth. That is how Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao viewed the situation. Whether that is true is not for me to say but in representing the interests of the constituents that I represent I say it was very clear that Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao felt that this legislation set up the fact that in time the iwi would basically be subsumed by Tuhourangi. The question would be whether it could live with that. I think the best perspective I got on that was that a number of the people who came to the select committee hearing said that their whakapapa is Ngati Wahiao tuturu. They said their mother was Ngati Wahiao and to all intents and purposes the other side of the bridge the southern side of the bridge was Ngati Wahiao land. 
Mr Henare talked about the eruption of Tarawera and said Ngati Wahiao out of aroha gave some land interests to Tuhourangi to come and live on. Naturally in living close to one another they formed relationships and intermarried and over time—and I have asked questions about intermarriage of a number of people—yes there has been intermarriage almost to the point that some say it is the natural korero that Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao are as one. But clearly when a legal entity tells us straight up and down that it wants to ensure that its interests are protected in light of mana whenua issues then we have to sit up and take some notice of that. More to the point that was endorsed by a kaumatua a senior kaumatua of Tuhourangi who said he had no problem with the notion of separating them out yet lo and behold as Tau Henare reflected the pressure has come on regarding the issue of uncoupling. 
I also respect the issues the Minister has to face around this issue but I think it is important to note in  
Hansard 
 for the record that at the heart of this is a serious issue for those associated with Ngati Wahiao and it is not to diminish the relationship with Tuhourangi—not at all. There is however a concern to protect Ngati Wahiao’s mana whenua interests particularly—this is what I got—in respect of the Whakerewarewa Village. Why? Because Ngati Wahiao has huge mana whenua interests there; it is mana whenua. It is set out in the Maori Land Court records that Ngati Wahiao holds mana whenua interests and because it has been coupled with Tuhourangi in this bill it fears that when we get to the next bill—and we have had the signing and a number of statements in respect of that one and no doubt we will debate this issue again when that bill comes to its first reading in the House—it wants to make its issues really well known and clear. 
I just ask the Minister where he goes and what we do as members of Parliament when a legal entity that represents those people in this case Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao makes a statement and basically because of the time limits—Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa has been carrying this particular settlement for some 5 or 7 years or so now—it has been caught up in the cogs and left to the side. I hope that we can look at some mechanism that will be able to address this particular issue. I recognise that that will probably not happen but it is still important to at least look at doing that when the Whakarewarewa Village bill comes up. In fact there is a desire on the part of those of Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao to meet with politicians and put their issues to them—at least to have the opportunity to do that. We cannot do much more than that. I stand to support—in some ways very much—the sentiments expressed by the Hon Tau Henare. I hope that in the future some way may be found of looking at this issue in particular if there is a legal entity that is willing to put the issues on the floor.