Okeroa Mahara: Ngati Mutunga Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Okeroa Mahara: Ngati Mutunga Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6534] 
Hon MAHARA OKEROA (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Ka hoki mai nga kupu waiata ki ahau e noho mai i rongo atu i nga korero kua whakaputa mai a taua tangata e noho mai ra. E tu kau ana ra Taranaki te uru. Kua riro ra nga manu e noho i runga e. E toru ra nga waka o Taranaki ko Tokomaru ko Kurahaupo ko Aotea. E tu kau ana nga pou o Parihaka ka mihi atu . Mihi mai ratou ki a koutou e noho mai i runga ra mai i Waitara te tangata mai i Te Whiti te Pouwhenua mai tetehi atu o nga tau heke e tino kaitautoko. A me koe hoki e teUpoko o te Whare nei e noho mai i runga i to torona. Ka meatia mai taua tangata mai a Tai Tokerau e mihi mai ki a koe to whakaarahi mai i tenei pire mai i te timatatanga tae noa atu ki te mutunga. Ahakoa nga piki me nga heke e riro mai i runga a nga uri nei ka haere tonu te waka kua whakatutuki mai pea i te kaupapa ahakoa kua riro ai a roimata e hupe i runga i te kaupapa o te auwetanga i te ngarotanga o o ratou nei whenua katoa. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
The words of a song came back to me as I sat listening to that member over there who has resumed his seat. Taranaki stands barren in the west. It is bereft of bird life. Taranaki has three canoes: Tokomaru Kurahaupo and Aotea. I acknowledge the pillars of Parihaka Tohu and Te Whiti and the legacy that they left. I extend my greetings to you sitting up there in the gallery. I acknowledge you as well Madam Speaker and endorse the acknowledgments by that member from the north. You played a significant role in this bill from the beginning and continue to do so in its concluding stages. Despite the highs and lows upon these descendants the grief shed and the grievances over lands lost through confiscation the journey of the canoe towards a settlement continues. 
] 
I will make a brief reference to the previous speaker Te Ururoa Flavell. In spite of what I would call the grievance rhetoric and in spite of what I heard about tino rangatiratanga manaakitanga me era atu o nga kaupapa hohonu ki ta te whatumanawa a Maori [ 
sovereignty respectability and other such matters of deep significance to Maori 
] nowhere in that speech did I hear and I could stand to be corrected that member as a representative of the Maori Party support this bill. I find that to be hugely significant; that a party representing a certain sector of our population is not stating or articulating support for an iwi who exercise their own tino rangatiratanga in making their decision about where they want to go in the future. I am not concerned about waiting for invitations in the 22nd century—we will probably have developed scales by then and learnt how to swim underwater. My concern is about the here and now. 
In spite of the rhetoric if we are not clear in our agreement in front of the konohi of the people about where we sit then we should not be here. This is a major significantly critical occasion on which to show a cohesiveness and a collective will to allow an iwi to go forward into the future. That is what this is about and if we are not going to be upfront about that then we should not be here. We should not use this stage of campaigning and articulating tino rangatiratanga manaakitanga tiakitanga me era atu o nga tanga katoa [ 
sovereignty respectability protection and all those other “tanga” things 
] if when the time comes to exercise it we are not sufficiently courageous to do so in front of our people. 
The honourable Minister Mita Ririnui made reference to people who are not here to people kua whakawairua mai [ 
who have passed away spiritually 
] and I thought about that statement over time. I would also like to make a reference to the whole collective of those people who are not here and who cannot be here. Ka rongo atu ratou i o ratou nei taringa ki te tangi mai karanga mai a nga mareikura. 
[ 
With their own ears they hear the laments and calls from female supernatural beings 
.] 
In particular in my time I make reference to Hamiora Raumati a koroheke who for 40 long long years—members opposite talk about 9 long years; well they are going to get another 3 years and then it will be 12 long years—sat on the Poari Matua Maori o Taranaki and spent most of those 40 years along with those other kaumatua wahine and tangata finding a way forward to get some satisfaction for what every speaker has spoken about which is the confiscation of our land. I was fortunate to be able to sit with Hamiora and others as they told the history of their sufferings in auwetanga. Ratou katoa mai i Paraninihi ki Waitotara tae noa atu ki Taipake. [ 
grievances. All of them from Paraninihi to Waitotara including Taipake. 
] One statement was made which was probably made in terms of a prophecy. It goes like this. Nou te pahua tuatahi anei te korero a Te Whiti ma ki a ratau ra nga tuatara. Ana ma matau pea te pahua whakamutunga. He aha te tikanga o aua korero? He aha te tikanga aua korero poropititia e ratau? 
[ 
You plundered first was what Te Whiti said to them the reptiles. Perhaps the final plunder will be by us. What did those statements mean? What did those predictions by them mean? 
] 
Maybe we are starting to see that there could be some elements some threads and some strands of that prophecy because they have had the courage to take the waka Tokomaru forward. I do not quite agree with what the honourable member Pita Paraone said when he referred to the tino taimaha rawa atu i runga i o koutou nei pokohiwi. [ 
weighing heavily upon your shoulders. 
] 
I do not quite agree because to me that is a korero makutu. Ka taka mai te tangata i raro i te toimahatanga o nga korero i runga a pokohiwi. [ 
bone-pointing talk. A person with such responsibilities upon one’s shoulders is cursed and expected to fail. 
] I say this. I say they take the responsibility and they look to it as an opportunity. Go forth! 
We know of the extraordinarily difficult situation—well I personally know it. I just want to recall for the benefit of the House the kuia at Parihaka and I recall them humbly. Of the four kuia there is only one left. Her name is Auntie Matarena Rau Kupa. She is about 90-plus years. To the other three who included Auntie Neta my mother and Auntie Sally korero. They had this extraordinary belief in this phrase: “Whangai mai te hoariri.” It means: “Feed thy enemies.” What an appalling thing to insist that I do! But they carried that as a kind of precedent in regard to their relationships. It was a central part of their passive resistance ki a ratau nga tuatara. [ 
to them the reptiles. 
] 
I congratulate Ngati Mutunga. They are here not because of; they are here in spite of. They are here because of their collective implacable will unremitting commitment and determination; their wellspring of indomitable strength; and their capacity to overcome gut-wrenching disappointment and despair. May I say with due humility that I am proud to be part of such a whakapapa. Tena koutou. 
I end with this. This is a new dawning—e ata pohou tenei na. May Ngati Mutunga apply the same kinds of capacity determination commitment and collective implacable will in their future and I wish them the very best for their future hei huarahi mo tatou katoa kei roto o Taranaki. [ 
as a way for all of us in Taranaki. 
] 
I end by singing a very quick waiata: 
Na wai te po-i po-i e poia mai te ni’o na 
Na’au nei e Te Ati Awa a titi a iho to rauku-ra 
Aue ka titi aue ka titi titi ka titi ka titi ahau—e ka pai ra!  
I finish by saying that that waiata is a poi waiata that was celebrated at Parihaka on the return of those people who were jailed unjustly in Otakou. It was sung by the women our kuia. Mutunga mai i Te Ati Awa mai i nga iwi katoa tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai tatou katoa. 
[ 
And so from Mutunga Te Ati Awa and all the people greetings to you greetings to you and to all of us. 
] 
Bill read a third time. 
Waiata