Jones Shane: Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Jones Shane: Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1530] 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
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 I te tuatahi tena koe e te Kaihautu o te Whare huri noa ki to tatou Whare tatou nga kaitorangapu e noho tonu nei kia tutuki pai i a tatou nga mahi whakarite hai whai ma tatou i tenei rangi. Otira me huri atu ki nga upoko ki nga rangatira ki nga whaea ki a koutou katoa kua tatu mai ki Te Upoko o Te Ika te uranga o te ra mai i Poitikirua ki te Toka-a-Taiau huri noa ki te tihi o Hikurangi maunga maturuturu tonu a rere atu ki Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ma roto i te awa o Waiapu. Ko koutou nga kaitiaki ko koutou nga kaipupuru o te mauri kei tena rohe ko ta matou he whakatau he mihi atu ki a koutou i tenei rangi.  
Hei aha maku te whakahuahua atu i nga ingoa otira tautoko i te ahuatanga o te reo whakamihimihi i puta i to tatou Minita mo o koutou matua ratou kua poupou ki te matemate. Ta te mea hau tetahi i whakatipungia ai i roto i te kainga o taku tupuna whaea maku ano mo nga wahine e whakahua i te ingoa marae o Te Kawa he hoa tino tata ki tena tupuna oku me te mahara ki te wa i tatu ai matou ki waenga tonu i a koutou mihi ana tera hau tupua o roto i Te Tai Rawhiti ki a matou ka hinga atu i roto i tana mihi a Tawhai Tamepo. Na reira ratou ki a ratou tatou ki a tatou tena koutou tena tatou katoa. 
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Firstly greetings Mr Speaker of the House and throughout our House to politicians who have remained so that we can complete the business well that has been set down for us to pursue today. Indeed I turn now to the heads leaders elderly womenfolk and all of you who have landed here in Wellington from the arrival place of the sun at Potikirua to Te Toka-a-Taiau around the summit of Mount Hikurangi where the water trickles down and flows to the Pacific Ocean via the Waiapu River. You are the guardians and the holders of the life-force at that region and ours is to formally welcome and acknowledge you today.  
It is not for me to name you individually but rather to endorse the welcoming sentiments expressed by our Minister in respect of your forefathers who have passed on. Because I was raised in the home of my great-aunt and for the benefit of the women I will mention Te Kawa a very close friend to that ancestor of mine. I recall the time when we arrived amongst you and during the acknowledgments by a great East Coast ancestor Tawhai Tamepo died. Therefore let the dead remain there among their own and we the living among ourselves; respects and salutations to us all. 
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As I have said in Maori we acknowledge the presence today of one of the great tribes of Te Ao Maori. I should say that because they have a great man in this House in the form of Parekura Horomia. They are obviously a very sensible tribe because they sent him back here. I want to acknowledge as we have said earlier today the Ministers of the Crown on both sides whether they be in the time of Parekura Horomia Dr Michael Cullen or even stretching further back to Koro Wetere in the days of endeavouring to vest Hikurangi mountain back in the people of Te Tai Rawhiti Ngati Porou. They have all made their contribution. Indeed there has been a recent innovation to expedite the settlement of claims: they are called Crown negotiators. We have one I think in our midst Mr Paul Swain who after leaving the Labour Party found something possibly more valuable to do and that is represent the Crown in the settlement of historical grievances i.e. the Ngati Porou one. We acknowledge his presence.  
We also have in the audience some survivors of Te Rua Tekau ma Waru the 28th Maori Battalion and we also have a host of other soldiers who have been down in the dugouts and from time to time people have tried to dispatch them to the latrines. I think here of Api Mahuika. Tena koe Api. Your task must not go unmentioned and your record must not go unmentioned as we give our speeches. Unfortunately for those of you who reach those heady heights in our iwi affairs your good works do not go unpunished but we acknowledge your presence here today.  
Ngati Porou produced someone whom a number of us Maori members regard as the most peerless of all Maori parliamentarians Sir Apirana Ngata. It was he who during the 1937 debate over the ownership of petroleum—if memory serves me correctly—advocated very strenuously that there was a Maori interest in that resource. I rather suspect as the iwi go forward and turn this settlement into an enduring legacy that those are the kinds of challenges that the stewards of this settlement will face: how to strike a balance between an opportunity of economic significance the maintenance of cultural heritage and also the safeguard of environmental standards. The reality is that as a consequence of the passage of the Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill in this House both sides working with the Crown are watching a capital transfer take place. Whether it be in the form of commercial redress cultural sites reserves or indeed the actual recognition of interests in the takutai moana we are seeing something historic today.  
 There is not a great deal that we can add more than the fact that it is our duty as Maori parliamentarians to bear witness and testimony to this so that when others follow on behind us they can be reminded that each generation of iwi leaders each generation of Crown Ministers and each generation of Maori parliamentarians have to make their contribution. Those contributions are defined by the challenges of the time and the challenge of the time for this settlement process has been that it is not possible for current generations of taxpayers in our system either of society or politics to meet the full cost and weight of colonialism that fell upon this particular iwi. Dare I say it that this is an iwi that has given long and valuable service to their fellow New Zealanders whether it is the Maori Pioneer Battalion Te Hoko whitu a Tu; the famous 28th Maori Battalion; or their contributions throughout the theatres of war around the world. Indeed I bump into a number of them on a regular basis at the Manurewa RSA. I shall be encouraging them to go home and get their fair share of the spoils.  
This is a day where we should have an element of sadness for those who have gone on but an element that defines our Maori personality as being appropriately light-hearted. Because what the task ahead represents for those of us who have a life inside Maori politics whether it is in Parliament or out is that the real challenge lies in ensuring not so much that the assets are managed well but that they are grown. To seize growth opportunities is always going to involve haggling compromise and a clear plan that enables people to dedicate their capital but also finds a balance to protect heritage. Nowhere will we find finer carved meeting houses—wharemoko—than on Tai Rawhiti. Nowhere will we find land that stretches from the mountain right down to the takutai moana than the Tai Rawhiti. Nowhere will we find people who are very proud of their Ngati Porou ancestry and never shirk from reminding you of how proud they are!  
Ka nui enei korero ki tenei reo Pakeha me mihi atu au ki a tatou i roto i to tatou Whare; kia kaha kia u kia manawanui. Na koutou i whakawerawera kia tutuki pai ai nga wahanga i whiwhi ai koutou nga mihi. Nga wahanga horekau i whakaaengia me whakahe atu i a Robert Wahawaha McLeod i te kore o Hone i puta i tenei ra. 
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I have spoken enough in English. I acknowledge us in our House; be strong be committed be stout-hearted. You put the effort in to get the parts that you gained well—congratulations. The blame for the parts not agreed upon must be with Robert Wahawaha McLeod for Hone not making it today. 
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They have had a number of fine negotiators and one that I should mention is Robert McLeod who I am told unfortunately could not make it; Whaimutu Dewes working with Api Mahuika; and all their supporters because it has not been easy.  
Kia tau nga manaakitanga ki a koutou e oku huanga tuakana teina i roto i Te Tai Rawhiti. Na i roto i te pono o te ngakau te manawa roa te whakawerawera ka tutuki te roanga ake o nga moemoea me nga tumanako. Ko ta matou he tautoko i a koutou tena tatou kia ora tatou katoa.  
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Look after yourselves my relatives elder and younger siblings living down the East Coast. Long-term dreams and aspirations will result through faith resilience and effort. Our part is to support you. Congratulations and salutations to you and us collectively. 
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