Katene Rahui: General Debate 
Katene Rahui: General Debate 
[Volume:667;Page:14210] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Korero; tena koe e te Whare miere. Tuatahi he mihi aroha he mihi mamae ki a Jim Nicholls raua ko Sir Archie Taiaroa. Moe mai korua i te Atua. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Speaker and the House. But firstly a loving and painful greeting to Jim Nicholls and Sir Archie Taiaroa. Rest there in the presence of God you two. 
]  
It seems appropriate today as we mourn the loss of these two great men and in particular the loss of Sir Archie Taiaroa to acknowledge the distinctive legacy of Sir Archie Taiaroa in some of the fundamental issues impacting on tangata whenua. At midday the Land and Water Forum presented its report. It demonstrated that water is regarded as a taonga of paramount importance. Throughout the report we are acutely aware of the obligation of iwi to be responsible for the well-being of the landscape including our water and waterways. We think of the pivotal role that Sir Archie has played in the Whanganui River claim upholding the mana of Te Awa Tupua as an essential expression of the people. 
Sir Archie was a leading figure in Maoridom a statesman in this nation and an influential ambassador for tangata whenua both at home and across the world. We honour him today and we pay tribute to the guidance and leadership he gave to this Parliament and this Government particularly through the relationship with the Iwi Leadership Group. It is absolutely right that we pay homage to him as we turn to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. 
I place on record the utter appreciation and admiration of the Maori Party for the leadership expressed by the whanau hapu and iwi in the development process leading up to this bill. On the front page of the bill there is a statement: “The Bill recognises the mana tuku iho of iwi and hapu as tangata whenua over the foreshore and seabed of New Zealand”. It states further that the bill “contributes to the continuing exercise of that mana by giving legal recognition protection and expression to the customary interests of Maori in the area.” These are critical words and they represent the advice and the strategic wisdom of our finest iwi leadership. 
The Maori Party went into the process of seeking the repeal of the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act with a clear intent in mind and that was to ensure that the door was open to enable hapu and iwi to be at the table with the Crown. Our focus was first and foremost to legally restore the rights that the 2004 Act extinguished as if the Act had never been passed. We did that but in the process we have been able to achieve so much more than we ever anticipated. We see the critical role that tikanga plays in any application that can be made before the court. Clause 97 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill will allow the High Court to refer questions of tikanga to the Maori Appellate Court or to obtain the opinion of a court expert on the question. This is a distinctively indigenous solution. Another significant feature of the bill is the introduction of the shared burden of proof. The Court of Appeal in the Ngati Apa case challenged Parliament to recognise that the onus of proving extinguishment lies on the Crown and the purpose must be clear and plain. In this bill specifically clause 105 the Crown’s responsibility is made explicit—another distinguishing feature of the bill. 
I want to make some remarks about the role of the Maori Party in getting this bill up. We are quite clear that the Maori Party does not own the takutai moana. It is not for us to settle this issue. The ultimate goal of Maori is to have mana and tikanga in the takutai moana duly recognised in the law. Putting it another way recognition of customary rights is a matter between the Treaty partners—that is tangata whenua and the Crown. This bill creates a pathway for negotiations. It does not resolve the issue of customary rights but it opens the door that was slammed shut in 2004. 
Throughout this process we have been privileged to learn from the leadership of iwi for the benefit of all New Zealanders. It was iwi leadership that advocated for non-nationalised minerals to be removed from Crown ownership and it was our whanau hapu and iwi that insisted that mana be recognised as enduring inalienable and including the right to development. 
The bill achieves two key things. It repeals Crown ownership of takutai moana and it gives iwi the right to make claims for custom to court. It simply restores the rights of tangata whenua to argue their case. That is the challenge before us now: to ensure that the Maori Affairs Committee is the place in which all the korero is had and where the negotiating points are debated. We urge all New Zealanders to contribute to this debate and in doing so to truly give value to the intrinsic value of the marine and coastal area for every person in this land.