Mahuta Nanaia: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 25 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13719. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I am pleased to be able to take a call on the first reading of the New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill. I also want to endorse the sentiments of the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee to congratulate Te Ururoa Flavell on bringing the bill to the House. It is a good example of where issues sit outside the context of Treaty settlements but where they are included within the context of Waitangi Tribunal claims. You can find a solution albeit it takes a long time getting there. So thank you Te Ururoa for the extensive history that you have given regardingNgāti Tapu andNgāiTamarāwaho’s interests in Tauranga Moana.I had the privilege to be able to sit alongside a member ofNgāiTamarāwaho and listen to some of their history and connection to raupatu that occurred over there. Much of the interests of that particularhapū as I understand it actually extend into the central business district of Tauranga Moana of Tauranga City Council. So there is a level of concern that within the context of their broader Treaty settlement claims the nature of their interests may not wholly be satisfied by the claims settlement process. We can only wait and see because the Government is continuing its negotiations with the Tauranga Moana claimants. But for the purposes of this discussion and in the interests ofNgāiTamarāwaho it is a significant interest within the Tauranga central business district and I hope that they are able to achieve some greater settlement recognition come that time.Te Ururoa made mention of theŌtamataha Trust in particular the contribution of AlbertPuhirakeĪhaka. I too want to recognise the hard work and effort that have gone into preparing the bill and in getting it to a point where the interests of the trust and the New Zealand Mission Trust Board have been able to converge and present something that this House can have a level of confidence in. When the bill gets to the Māori Affairs Committee I am sure that members around our table will be hearing for the first time some of the extensive interactions of the missionaries during the 1800s in Tauranga Moana and the impact that they had on thehapū in that region. There will probably be a smattering of familiarity throughout their story that will be common to other stories in other regions as well. But the point of all that is to ensure that anenduring opportunity to recognise the connection ofNgāti Tapu andNgāiTamarāwaho to this area can be achieved that there is a management structure in place and that there will be an ongoing opportunity for the management of the interests and purposes of what happens on that land that can take place.When I was reading through the notes on this particular bill I thought it was of some interest that the Waitangi Tribunal report was quite clear. Without repeating contributions of previous members I thought this particular statement was germane to how this bill came about. It is taken from the Waitangi Tribunal report on the Tauranga Moana confiscation claims. It said: “The Crown acquired the Te Papa lands without accounting for the implied trust which it was aware of. According to the Crown’s own records the land was held in trust for the benefit of Maori. In ignoring the trustee role the CMS”—the Church Missionary Society—“had in holding the land the Crown further breached the principle of active protection.” What we understand throughout the whole process of Treaty settlements and in the nature of interests that Māori have in instances like this is that where the Crown has failed its obligation in the active protection of interests there will always be an issue to remedy.So I am very pleased—very very pleased—that we have this bill which will go to the select committee. It will get a robust hearing that will inform the committee members of the history of the area and that will lead to what I predict hopefully will be a larger claims settlement bill that will hopefully come to the House before the end of the year for Tauranga Moana. I am sure that is the sincere hope of the member for Waiariki because the outstanding interests of the iwi in Tauranga Moana still need to be addressed.Nō reira ki a koe te memamō Waiarikitēnei te mihi atu ki a koeitau maitēneipireimuai tearoaro o te Wharenei.Tēnā koetēnātātou.[And so to you the member for Waiariki I commend you for bringing this bill before this House. Congratulations to you and to us collectively.]