Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the National Party as the National Party's spokesperson for Treaty negotiations to speak on the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill at its second reading. To the members of Maniapoto in the gallery I welcome you here—tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa—and to all those watching online I welcome you as well.This bill gives effect to the deed of settlement signed on 11 November 2021 between the Crown and Maniapoto. The deed will settle all the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maniapoto resulting from acts or omissions from the Crown before 21 September 1992. The Maniapoto area of interest encompasses the King Country including the adjacent marine environment—part of the exclusive economic zone—17.4 nautical miles out to sea. The principal townships within the area of interest are Taumarunui Maniaiti / Benneydale Mōkau Pureora Te Kūiti Ōtorohanga Te Awamatu and Kāwhia.This bill contains provisions related to settlement redress that require legislation for their implementation. Other aspects of the settlements are provided for only in the deed because they do not require legislative authority.The signing of the deed of settlement between Ngāti Maniapoto and the Crown has been a process that has taken over 30 years to complete. The settlement is testament to decades of hard work and negotiation between Maniapoto and the Crown and signifies the beginning of a new relationship between both parties based on trust cooperation and respect for the Treaty.Maniapoto's historical grievances relate to loss of life in conflicts with the Crown and bearing the costs of the New Zealand Wars. The Crown acknowledges that it deliberately undermined Maniapoto independence failed to uphold promises made in the 1880s relating to Maniapoto land administration and self-determination and acquired Maniapoto land in an aggressive way. It has been a long journey for Maniapoto to reach the journey that we are here today. No settlement can ever compensate for the mamae that Maniapoto have endured for many generations. However this is a very big and important step forwards and I wish to acknowledge those who whakapapa to Maniapoto in the House and in particular the Hon Nanaia Mahuta. I know this has been a big piece of work for her as well over many years. The settlement package is one of the largest negotiated and it includes financial redress which will in total be worth approximately $177 million relationship agreements with various Crown agencies the transfer of 36 sites back to Maniapoto as cultural redress the first right to purchase Crown lands in the future an agreed historical account and an acknowledgment of Treaty breaches and a formal apology for those breaches.We heard a number of submissions on the Māori Affairs Committee of which I am a member. There were some significant concerns raised by Rereahu and Te Ihinga-a-rangi. The committee carefully considered those and we sought further advice particularly around the mandating process and we also carefully looked at the Waitangi Tribunal which had considered a lot of these matters. We acknowledged those concerns and I take heart from Minister Andrew Little's speech before where he reached out to them and asked them to remain engaged in the process.There was an issue that I did raise that we wished to have clarification on at the very first reading of this around clauses 124 and 125 under Subpart 9 and section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environment Effects) Act and the interplay between those. I engaged with the Minister and I'm thankful for the clarification received from his officials which were incorporated into the report back to the House.The commentary states—and I'll just read it out—Clause 124 provides Maniapoto's statement of interest in the [Exclusive Economic Zone]. Maniapoto's interest extends to 17.4 nautical miles out from the coast not to the full extent of the EEZ. Clause 125 provides for Crown recognition of that interest as an existing interest under section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (EEZ Act). The recognition provided by clause 125 is only for the purposes of the EEZ Act. It is not an exclusive recognition and does not confer additional rights on Maniapoto. It does not preclude or exclude recognition of other existing interests in the same area. "The EEZ Act already requires the responsible Minister and consent authorities to notify iwi authorities of any proposed regulations proposed EEZ policy statements applications for marine consent for a publicly notifiable activity or applications for marine consent for a non-notified activity if the Environment Protection Agency considers an iwi authority may be affected by the application. "As such Maniapoto would already be notified under existing statutory requirements of such applications within the Maniapoto rohe. Other iwi authorities would also be notified should the application also fall within their rohe. This process provides for Maniapoto to submit about impacts on their interests which must be taken into consideration as relevant matters in decision-making by the Minister and consent authorities. "The recognition provided by clause 125 will give more certainty that Maniapoto will receive notifications it is already entitled to receive and provide a clear basis for Maniapoto to assert its right to have impacts on its historical interests considered by decision-makers. The recognition provided by clause 125 does not amount to a new interest an exclusive interest or a veto on proposed regulations proposed policy statements or applications for consent."So that provided clarity around the questions that I raised in the first reading and I'm grateful that those have been clarified as I hope they would be through the process and I thank the Minister and his officials for engaging with that to provide that clarification to the select committee and ultimately to the House.This is an important moment. We obviously have the third reading still to go and that will be the culmination of this process and the start of a new process for the relationship between the Crown and Maniapoto. It is a privilege and honour to be part of this process today and to be part of the journey towards creating that new relationship which is a hugely important one and recognising the importance and the growing future which will be a very exciting one for Maniapoto. With that I'm very happy to support this bill through to the third reading and I look forward to its further progression and the completion of this process and the beginning of a new one. Thank you Madam Speaker."