Cullen Michael: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko  o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Cullen Michael: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko  o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:650;Page:19144] 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 I move  
That the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Maori Affairs Committee. 
Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika comprises people from Taranaki iwi including Te Atiawa Taranaki Ngati Tama and Ngati Ruanui who descend from signatories of the 27 September 1839 Port Nicholson Block purchase ancestors listed in the schedule to the declaration of the Native Land Court in Wellington dated 11 April 1888 and/or ancestors who exercised customary rights in the Port Nicholson Block on or after 6 February 1840 by virtue of being descended from one or more of the named iwi in this settlement. This settlement covers the area of the Port Nicholson Block which is an area of approximately 271000 hectares spanning the Wellington Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt areas. The claims of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika were lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal from 1987 onwards and the district report was presented in 2003. The Crown recognised the mandate of the negotiating team that settled the claims in January 2004. The terms of the negotiation were signed in mid-2004 the agreement in principle was signed in December 2007 and an initial deed of settlement was signed in June 2008. During June and July the post-settlement ratification process occurred which demonstrated sufficient support to proceed to the final deed of settlement in August 2008. 
The grievances to which this settlement relate stem largely but not solely from the Crown’s role in the sale of land within the Port Nicholson Block. In September 1839 the New Zealand Company a private land settlement company sought to purchase land in Wellington Harbour and its environs from Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika. Before the arrival of its representatives in New Zealand the company had already sold nearly 100000 hectares in the Port Nicholson area to prospective settlers and had held a lottery in London to allocate land to them. The company’s representatives negotiated the Port Nicholson deed which was signed on 27 September 1839 with Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika in an attempt to purchase a large district of Port Nicholson and its environs that was subsequently known as the Port Nicholson Block. That deed was later found to be seriously flawed by a Crown-appointed land claims commissioner. In 1841 the Crown assumed ownership of the harbour islands despite the deed’s flaws and it also proclaimed the Wellington town belt to be a public reserve without offering compensation. 
The 1839 deed provided that a tenth portion of the land conveyed by it would be reserved for Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika. The company intended that some of these tenths reserves would be occupation reserves while the remaining tenths reserves would provide an endowment fund. Despite the initial findings of the land claims commissioner the Crown established a process by which the company could validate its 1839 purchase. In return for £1500 which was negotiated between the company and a Crown representative Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika signed several deeds of release in early 1844 so that the company could complete its purchase. But it was always uncertain how much land had been purchased by these deeds of release. The Crown subsequently treated all of the land in the district covered by the 1839 deed as if Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika’s title to it had been fully extinguished. 
In 1846 in order to finally secure the lands to the company the Crown instructed the appropriately named Lieutenant Colonel McCleverty to find Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika alternative lands in exchange for their reserve lands around Wellington Harbour. As a result of these exchanges the iwi were pressured to move from their traditional lands to lands that proved inadequate to sustain their way of life. The Taranaki whanui grouping had no role in the administration of the remaining tenths reserves until 1985. There were long delays in establishing proper administration including delays in the passing of legislation. The Crown-appointed trustee also appropriated tenths reserves land for public purposes and much of this was alienated under the Crown-appointed trustee’s administration. In order to generate income from the reserves the Crown-appointed trustee established a regime of perpetual leases and over time the effects of inflation of course reduced rental returns. As a historian I should note at this point that such leases at the time did not seem to have the same disadvantage as they do these days because if anything prices were either stable or in the later 19th century actually declining so a guaranteed return seemed quite a good bet from the perspective of those who owned the land. As another consequence of settlement Wellington Harbour an important food and trade resource for Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika was adversely affected by the pollution and sewage generated by urban and industrial development as well as by reclamations around the harbour. 
There is much given even that brief recitation of the history for the Crown to apologise for. The Crown’s apology recognises that the Crown breached its obligations under the Treaty and its principles. This breach includes the Crown’s failure to consistently protect Taranaki whanui’s interests during the process by which the Crown and its agents acquired Taranaki whanui’s interest in the Port Nicholson Block the compulsory acquisition and endowment of their lands for public purposes and various acts and omissions in relation to delays in the implementing of legislation and administration of the reserves. This significantly undermined the tino rangatiratanga of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and this impacted upon their economic and social development. As part of the settlement and in response to the Crown apology Taranaki whanui have very generously provided a statement of forgiveness to the Crown. The Crown of course is forgiven for those matters for which the Crown is apologising and this is a unique feature in a Treaty settlement. The Crown will recognise the traditional historical cultural and spiritual association of Taranaki whanui with a vesting of 18 sites including three Wellington Harbour islands the beds of the Pencarrow lakes and two associated esplanade reserves three other sites in Upper Hutt the Petone foreshore and Seatoun. The bill provides that the existing reserve status will be maintained except for Pencarrow lake beds and esplanade reserves which will instead have a conservation covenant on their title. The sites’ natural values will be protected and public access will be provided for. 
In addition the bill provides for the establishment of a Harbour Islands Kaitiaki Board to administer the harbour islands with an equal number of representatives from the Department of Conservation and from Taranaki whanui. Other sites to be invested in Taranaki whanui include the land under Pipitea Marae subject to the final conclusion of an arrangement with the existing lessees the Ngati Poneke Maori Association; two Crown-owned properties in central Wellington and one in Waiwhetu; the former Wainuiomata College site; the former Wainuiomata Intermediate School site; and the former Waiwhetu School site; an urupa site at Makara; and two dendroglyph areas near the Pencarrow lakes. There are to be statutory acknowledgments over 13 sites in the Port Nicholson area that register the special cultural association that Taranaki whanui have with those areas and those will require therefore consent authorities to provide Taranaki whanui with all resource consent applications under the Resource Management Act that may affect the areas named in the acknowledgments. A deed of recognition will cover the Rimutaka Forest Park Wainuiomata Scenic Reserve and the Turakirae Head Scientific Reserve. The deed of recognition will oblige the Crown to consult with Taranaki whanui and have regard to their views regarding the special association they have with such a site. These are a form of non-exclusive redress meaning that more than one iwi can have a deed of recognition over the same site. Eight place names in the Wellington area will be changed by the bill subject to approval by the New Zealand Geographic Board. 
In the spirit of partnership and in recognition of the social and economic advances that Taranaki Wwanui have mapped out for themselves the deed of settlement provides for a number of relationship instruments including a whole-of-Government relationship with the Crown which will assist Taranaki whanui to reach social economic and cultural goals. There is of course financial and commercial redress. There is a financial settlement of just over $25 million minus money previously paid on account; the right to purchase specific properties including the former naval station at Shelly Bay; the opportunity to purchase land under certain properties in Wellington City and Lower Hutt; and a 100-year period of right of first refusal over specific properties. 
Finally may I pay tribute to the Port Nicholson Block Claims Team led by Professor Ngatata Love who have brought to the table a collective representing more than 16000 members whose affiliations span at least four iwi. This is a massive achievement on the part of that negotiating team. The bill of course will proceed to a select committee. I am sure there will be very widespread support. I know that this bill is particularly supported by the mayor and the council of the city of Wellington who see this as a great platform on which to move forward together in the Wellington region.