Wall Louisa: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — Second Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Wall Louisa: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — Second Readings 
[Sitting date: 18 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3707. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. It is my pleasure as a member of the Maori Affairs Committee to follow one of the two Ministers who have put these bills to the House. It is one of the areas that we do have cross-Parliament support for and I too want to acknowledge how well the committee is chaired by the Hon Tau Henare in collaboration with my colleague the Hon Parekura Horomia. But it has been really interesting to come into this term and look at some of the histories of these claims. I do want to take some time just to look at the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill and the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill. So if we look at the history of this claim we see that in 1986 Charlie Wehi filed a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal relating to the blocks and other tracts of land which was Wai 630. Charlie Wehi passed away and I want to mihi to Charlie’s whanau and all the whanau who are here because I think a lot of the histories in our Treaty settlements were started by a lot of our tupuna who are not here anymore. So this is a very special day for the whanau because it is part of the continuation of that legacy. I want to note that Piripi Crown then became the named claimant and my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta has just said that he was recently honoured in the Queen’s Honours List for his services to Maori so I want to acknowledge that. 
Following extensive discussion with the Crown in 2008 the Crown agreed to negotiate with the trustees of the settling entity the Te Maru o Rereahu Trust and we are where we are today having a deed of settlement drafted. We have a bill before the House. So this bill is based on a settlement of a land block for named descendants only and I want to focus on that because it does not relate to the more typical hapu or iwi settlements. This is actually about the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B Blocks so it is a very special piece of legislation. I want to highlight the support that has been received within that context by the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board which is supporting the Te Maru o Rereahu Trust. When we look at the whakapapa it is interesting that Maniapoto lived in the 17th century and his father was Rereahu who is the descendant of the Maraeroa Block. Na Raukawa ko Rereahu so Raukawa begat Rereahu. Na Rereahu ko Maniapoto. Rereahu begat Maniapoto—mahi ara tau tika mai ki ahau [ 
to eventually work its way down directly to myself 
]. 
Here I boast of my noble line. I just wanted to recite some of that whakapapa and I also wanted to acknowledge that the incorporation will have one share that will be held by the trustees of the Maraeroa A and B Trust on behalf of the settling group who are the beneficial owners and that the settling group is defined by reference back to specific Native Land Court orders containing the lists of the original owners of the A and B Blocks. 
I want to talk a little bit about those blocks of land. Between 1916 and 1951 the remaining Maori who owned the areas of Maraeroa A and B Blocks were alienated. So today only 7.2 hectares from the Maraeroa A and B Blocks remain in Maori ownership. I think there has been a significant reduction in terms of the total land area that the original owners had and it was thought to be around 47000 acres. So when you think today that the return of those lands is going to be only 7.2 hectares there has been a significant reduction in the original ownership. So I also want to acknowledge that for this settlement there has been a reduction in what the original owners had owned. 
I want to thank the House for the opportunity to speak and I will give my colleagues further opportunity in the third reading. Kia ora.