Henare Tau: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 26 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:4040. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Te mea tuatahi ki a au ki aku rangatira tena koutou a tena koutou i haere mai i tenei ra i runga i te kaupapa o te ra nei no reira nau mai haere mai. 
[ 
First of all acknowledgments to you my leaders who came here today in respect of the matter of the day so salutations and welcome welcome 
.]  
I suppose I should start off by saying there is a conflict of interest but I do not actually see it as a conflict of interest so I will not. Can I pass on my respects to Stan Meka Jody Willie and the team for Rongowhakaata and everybody else who has been involved in that side of it. 
As I said last week in the second reading of the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill I find this story to be one of the most interesting that has not been told in New Zealand’s history. I want to give you if I may some parallels to other happenings around the world. Around about the same time as the battle of Waerenga a Hika and as Ngatapa—20 years difference or so after the battle of Waerenga a Hika and the slaughter and massacre at Ngatapa—is one of the world’s better-known massacres and that is the massacre at Wounded Knee. I suppose it brings me to the fact that this country had better start owning its own history. This is not Rongowhakaata’s history; this is our history—this is New Zealand’s history. We should not refer to it as their issue; it is our issue. We had better start teaching this stuff in our schools because although to some people “ignorance is bliss” most of the time when there is ignorance around you do not know who you are and you do not know where you are going. And you certainly do not know where you come from. 
There is a whole brilliant history in Rongowhakaata not only about the sad occasions. There are happy occasions as well that we need to be telling our mokopuna our babies and ourselves about like the fact that Te Kooti was not some layabout who sat around thinking about how to diddle the Crown out of whatever. He was actually out there as a business person seeking betterment for his own people. That is a trait that I think everybody in this House should and most probably does stand up and applaud. 
About this “deal” to call it a deal—I suppose a deal in real terms is when both sides are getting what they want. You know you go down to the car market and make a deal with the guy whom you want to buy a car from. It is pretty obvious that this is not that sort of deal and that all the power is in the Crown’s hands. But having said that the two sides if I can use those terms have come together and decided on a historical account some cultural redress some commercial redress and some specific research for Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi. I pick up where Minister Finlayson Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations so eloquently left off and that is about Te Hau ki Turanga. This is not just about the stealing of a whare by some Crown agents because that was just the start of it. To try to fit it into the Dominion Museum they cut most of the carvings apart. So it is in the light of that ongoing I suppose rape of our culture and violation of our culture that to see the return of Te Hau ki Turanga in the most appropriate manner—and might I say maybe as an arts centre for New Zealand—is I think one of the most appropriate parts of this settlement. 
For too long Maori have been told they are sick dumb uneducated and poor. I do hope that what we do today says to our people especially that you are not sick dumb uneducated and poor; you are the most brilliant people this side of the southern hemisphere and most probably beyond. I have so much respect and love for our people that it is not funny. From this day forth I will not ever speak of anything that is bad about my own because it is about time that we patted ourselves on the back regardless of the statistics and said that we are on our way and we have been for a thousand years. We should not compare ourselves with Pakeha Samoans Chinese or whoever. We should compare ourselves with the bright lights of our own people. We should compare ourselves with people like Rukupo like Ngarimu and like so many of our other ancestors. I am not going to buy in to any more of the statistics that basically are used to keep us down and make us feel sad about ourselves. There is nothing to be sad about. I think this occasion and these occasions as we have started from 9 o’clock this morning show that our people are with it and that they can sit down with the best of them and negotiate a reasonable deal. I will not say it is a good deal; I will never say it is a good deal. A good deal would be having it all back. But we know that that is impossible and so this is a reasonable deal. 
I want to close by saying what I said and what I will say continually. My message to Rongowhakaata is this: beware of companies and shysters bearing good little ideas on how to spend your money. It is your money and it is your settlement. It is for you to show the way for the rest of us. So please beware of those people out there who knock on your door and say: “Boy have I got a deal for you!”. As soon as they say that shut the door and make sure you let the dogs loose. 
It is fun; I am full of happiness and joy for Rongowhakaata and for Maori that we can boost ourselves up and we can boost our people up especially when they deserve being boosted up. No reira e aku matua e aku koroua tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai tatou katoa. 
[ 
So to my fathers and elders greetings salutations and acknowledgments to you and to us all 
.]