Wall Louisa: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Wall Louisa: 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:3985. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr. Speaker. E nga mana e nga reo rau rangatira ma tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. Ko wai au? Ko Tongariro te maunga ko Taupo te moana ko Waikato te awa ko Ngati Tuwharetoa me Waikato nga iwi. Nga mihi nga mihi nga mihi ki nga whanau me nga hapu o Ngati Rereahu Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa me nga whanau o te Rohe Potae tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr. Speaker. To the authorities languages and the many leaders of a hundredfold greetings greetings and greetings to you all. Who am I? Tongariro is the mountain Taupo is the lake Waikato is the river Ngati Tuwharetoa and Waikato are the tribes. Acknowledgments greetings and salutations to families and subtribes of Ngati Rereahu Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and King Country. Greetings to you all. 
]  
It is my pleasure to be a member of the Maori Affairs Committee. I represent the electorate of Manurewa and I also sit on that committee with my colleagues the Hon Parekura Horomia and Rino Tirikatene. I want to acknowledge our chair the Hon Tau Henare and also the two Ministers who are overseeing these two bills the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill and the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill the Hon Chris Finlayson and the Hon Tariana Turia. I am really privileged to be on the Maori Affairs Committee. 
It is a privilege to be part of this Treaty settlement and redress process. It is a process that I think affirms tangata whenua identity that affirms mana whenua identity and that affirms the status of our hapu and our iwi in our country as the first Sovereign. I want to acknowledge that status and the acknowledgment of that status through that process. It is a status that needs to be acknowledged by everybody. We are not just another racial group in Aotearoa we are not just another ethnic group and I think that this process consolidates that for all of us. 
I want to take the opportunity to talk about some of the wahi tapu sites that will be returned in this settlement process. The reason I want to highlight the return of these wahi tapu sites is because of how precious this whenua is for the whanau of Maraeroa. We have the return of Nga Herenga Koromiko Kotukunui Pikiariki Whareana and Pureora o Kahu. There is also an acknowledgment of the historical and traditional sites of Nga Herenga Pa site Nga Turi o Hinetu Te Punawai a Waipapa and Opaku. 
What I want to say is that this Treaty settlement process actually started in 1891. It did not start post-1985 when the Crown established the process. Actually it started right back in 1891 when the lands were taken. I want to acknowledge what Brendan said about the three brothers and the fight for justice that the whanau of Maraeroa have gone through like every other iwi group in our country. It was not some other group who confiscated these lands who perpetrated these inequalities; it was the Crown. So I want to acknowledge really the generosity of spirit that Brendan talked about and the ethic of generosity in the settlement of all Treaty settlements because what we do know is that iwi and hapu get a fraction of what they are entitled to. It is just a fraction but with that fraction I know that it will multiply. 
So I share my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta’s position that the whanau will now have an asset base and it is for us to do with that asset base as we want to. If we look at the history I will use Nanaia’s tribe of Tainui. They got their settlement. It was $170 million and now that asset base is more than $650 million. So what we do know is that Maori are definitely going to be part of the future fabric and economic drivers of the New Zealand economy. 
I want to acknowledge also the ethic of forgiveness that these Treaty settlements actually provide our country with. It is that forgiveness about what has occurred in the past: the fact that lands were taken they were taken under duress and they were taken because surveyors did not survey the lands properly. But basically they were taken to give to other people to build an asset base whereby they and their families have been able to enjoy a quality of life that unfortunately some of our whanau have not. So I celebrate the opportunity of our whanau to have this asset base and to actually realise what tino rangatiratanga means. For a lot of us you cannot have tino rangatiratanga if you do not have a whenua to stand on if you do not have a base a capital base to be able to build a future for whanau. 
So I just want to thank the whanau of Maraeroa for this settlement. I will acknowledge the Crown’s contribution to it but a lot of the people involved in the Crown’s part of the equation are paid employees. The whanau are not paid. The whanau have come down here of their own volition. We have not given you any money to be here and you are here because this really provides a starting point for you to get on and contribute positively as you already are doing to our country. So I want to acknowledge the opportunity that this settlement provides. 
But I also want to highlight the post-Treaty relationship that all iwi need to start forging with the Crown. That post-Treaty settlement is about our taking our rightful place around some decision-making spaces in our country whether it be on the conservation board whether it be a formal part of resource management processes—whatever they might be. The post-Treaty phase for whanau hapu and iwi is about our being around that decision-making table. So I acknowledge all whanau who are here today. 
I just want to reiterate again that it is a privilege for me to sit on the Maori Affairs Committee. It has been a pleasure for us to be involved in this bill and the further bills that we will hear today and I commend the bills to the House. Thank you.