Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Associate Minister for Māori Development): Tēnā koutou katoa te whakakanohi mai i ngā hunga kua riro ki te pō kua riro ki te kāpunipunitanga o te wairua. Mā koutou anō rā te wawata e ora e tipu e rea mō ngā whakatupuranga e heke mai nei. Nō reira koutou e whāki nei i tēnei kaupapa nō Rēkohu tēnei te mihi ana ki a koutou katoa.[To you all who represent those who have passed beyond the veil those who have been taken to the gathering place of the spirits greetings. By your efforts the dreams of the future generations will be held safe to develop and grow. To you who have shared the details of the initiative regarding the Chatham Islands I acknowledge and thank you all.]I rise to make a contribution in the second reading of the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill and I do so with the understanding that historically to delve into the history of the people of Rēkohu and the history would be to gain a bit of an insight into much of the misinformation that has been portrayed in relation to the Moriori people. But I want to take this time to focus on the historical Moriori Treaty claims with the Crown. I should acknowledge those who are on the Māori Affairs Committee—Tāmati Coffey the chairperson; Arena Williams; Paul Eagle; Shanan Halbert; Joseph Mooney; Todd Muller; Teanau Tuiono; and Rawiri Waititi—because you had the opportunity to visit the people listen to the stories and listen to the many challenges of working through a Treaty settlement process. This bill as was said by the Minister for Treaty settlements is another step in completing a commitment to the Moriori. This settlement package will finally and comprehensively settle all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims relating to Moriori. It includes a Crown apology and redress cultural redress and financial and commercial redress to the total of $18 million. Moriori karāpuna or ancestors were the waina-pono the original inhabitants or tangata whenua of Rēkohu Rangihaute Hokorereoro—South East Island—and other nearby islands making up the Chathams. Moriori arrived some time between 1000 and 1400 CE and all Moriori hokopapa are descended from the founding ancestor Rongomaiwhenua. Māori accounts put the number of Moriori killed in 1835-36 at around 300 or about one-sixth of the population. Those Moriori who survived the invasion were enslaved and forced to do manual labour. In 1842 Rēkohu and the surrounding islands were annexed to New Zealand as the Chatham Islands. The Crown took no action before the late 1850s to alleviate the conditions of Moriori enslavement. Moriori sent letters and petitions to the Crown detailing their plight including the names of those killed in the invasion and those who had subsequently died of despair. The court awarded more than 97 percent of the land to the recently arrived Māori and less than 3 percent to Moriori. This has always been a subject of historical contention. By 1901 the Moriori population on Rēkohu had collapsed to only 31 out of a total Chatham Islands population of 418 comprising Moriori Māori and Europeans. At the turn of the century several prominent Moriori elders died. Intergenerational transmission of knowledge and customs—tikane Moriori—was severely compromised. In 1867 the Crown extended political representation to all Māori men who lived within four electoral districts. The Chatham Islands were outside all electoral districts meaning Moriori and other Chatham Islands residents could not vote or have political representation. It wasn't until 1922 that legislation was enacted to correct this. This deed is the final settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Moriori resulting from acts or omissions by the Crown prior to 21 September 1992 and it is made up of a package that includes the range of redress that I've already mentioned. What I want to share is that—notwithstanding a very complex history that has often been used to challenge tangata whenua Māori interests and perhaps their right to be called tangata whenua here in Aotearoa because of a lack of an understanding about how colonial history impacted on New Zealand—I want to I think draw the attention of the House to comments made by our lead negotiator who during his young years was given a very huge level of responsibility to pursue the aspirations of Moriori and that is Māui Solomon. In an article that I found in relation to the pursuit of justice he said these things: There cannot be peace without justice and justice must not only be seen to be done but must in fact be done. Even if it takes another 200 years to accomplish. Such was the commitment of my Moriori karāpuna to living in peace and sharing the resources of their islands that they refused as a people to ever fight to the death again. They had developed here on their home island a greater respect for the sanctity of human life and had agreed to observe the law of peace literally through life and death. In doing so they suffered greatly and many died. But they did not die in vain. Their legacy of peace and hope lives on through the thousands of descendants living today—many of whom are just learning the truth. For when all the wars and battles that have been fought what then? Humans must learn to live in peace with one another and with their environment if we are to survive and thrive as a species. That's the bottom line."—and he makes his final quote—"To quote Gandhi: 'Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart and it must be an inseparable part of our being.' "When you read the detail of the settlement and the aspirations and the way in which language revitalisation enables those Moriori descendants to connect to who they are and their history and their place and their sense of place going forward into the future you know that there is great aspiration that sits behind this particular settlement. The other thing that I'd like to add—and I'd like to commend the committee because they spent some time looking into something that was important to the Moriori but couldn't be addressed—is in relation to Te Ana-a-Nunuku the cave that was mentioned by Joseph Mooney which I understand members of the committee visited. No Treaty settlement provides any opportunity for private land interests to be impacted on. However I do appreciate the fact that the committee did offer some serious consideration about ways in which that site could be protected albeit on private land and in a way so that its national heritage can be recognised through other fora. I do hope sincerely as this settlement goes into its final reading that those who have the ability in so far as historical protection—the way in which the council might consider the significance of this site to the people of Rēkohu—draw on the committee's insights as to the importance of Te Ana-a-Nunuku as another step towards rectifying our history but also restoring justice back to the Moriori people. Kia ora."