Mahuta Nanaia: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
Mahuta Nanaia: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10257] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 Tenei e tika ana me whakahoki nga mihi kua wharikihia nei e koutou kei waenganui i a tatou i tenei Whare e pa ana ki taku whaea a ki a ratou katoa e huri ki tua o te arai. No reira tena koutou katoa. Tenei ano e mihi atu ki nga tini mate i whakapau kaha ki nga mahi hei whakahoki i o matou nei whenua i raupatutia ana ki te kite i tenei wahanga kei waenganui i a tatou i tenei rangi te whakahoki o to tatou nei awa tupuna a Waikato. 
[ 
It is apt that I respond to the tributes that you expressed amongst us in this House specifically to my mother and indeed to all those who have passed beyond the veil. A personal greeting to you all. I too acknowledge the many who have died and were involved in this settlement to have our confiscated lands and our ancestral Waikato River returned to us. They worked hard exhausted themselves and regretfully did not see the part of the settlement before us today 
.] 
I stand and acknowledge the many tributes that have been put forward in this House specifically to my mother and indeed to the many people who have passed and have been involved with both the Waikato River settlement and the Waikato raupatu settlement. Many people have exhausted their effort determination talent expertise and wisdom to see the return of Waikato lands and our awa to our people so that we can look forward and so that there is a future for the next generation. 
I acknowledge that this is the second reading of the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill and I want to add a contribution that may be helpful in terms of the debate that is about to take place in the Committee stage that will lead on to the passing of this legislation. I want to acknowledge the key tenets of this settlement. They are mainly to see the health and well-being of the Waikato River restored. Unlike the lands settlement the major benefactor of this one will be the Waikato River itself. It is a very different kind of mind-set or space to put oneself into when we are talking about the health and well-being of the river and the challenge over a generation to see it restored to what many of our old people remembered a clear and pristine state. 
Many people in the House may say “Look this is an unachievable task.” but back in 1987 when a statement of claim was put forward to the Waitangi Tribunal to say that the Waikato River and those lands that were confiscated from us belong to us and we belong to them and they will be returned a lot of people did not believe that. The passage of time has now seen the realisation of that very very ambitious aspiration and we should really acknowledge that that in itself is a huge huge milestone. 
I acknowledge that the two key elements underpinning this settlement are quite simple: the mana of the awa and manawhakahaere for the awa. If I can I will add some clarification for the House because many interpretations have been put forward. It is my belief that if one were to condense a sense of what mana of the awa is to our people there would be no straight interpretation but history will show that Waikato at no point ceded authority over our river to anybody. We still maintain and affirm the strong sense that the mana of the awa is intact and we are merely its caretakers custodians or caregivers if one likes and that that mana has basically transcended everything else over a long period of time. 
That is why manawhakahaere becomes so important because the future will show that our relationship to the river and our ongoing connection to the best interests of and outcomes for the river will sustain our people and lead to the well-being not only of the Waikato but also of all those who live in our region. It is about the ongoing care protection and management of the river. That is my interpretation of it. 
The challenge to negotiate a precedent-setting agreement such as this has not been without sacrifice and struggle. I did say in 1987 when the statement of claim was lodged that nobody believed that it would happen but it has happened and we recognise that. I acknowledge both the National and Labour Governments which have played their respective roles in the challenge to see history rectified to see past wrongs rectified and to see that justice is served. It is pertinent to note that the signing of the Waikato River settlement on 22 August was a ground-breaking opportunity for the nation. Never before had co-governance or co-management been a concept so willingly accepted by the Crown. In that respect I pay tribute to Michael Cullen for his leadership because it took leadership to make something like that happen. 
Under the current Minister the Hon Chris Finlayson Waikato-Tainui were asked to participate in an independent review to look at some of the co-management provisions and to see whether they could be streamlined. If there are gains to be made from this example for other river iwi such as those who have spoken Waikato would be the first to offer its model as a potential way forward. However let it not be said that Waikato is imposing this model on any other river iwi. If any gains can be taken from it so be it but that is for river iwi themselves when they enter into their negotiations not only to be able to draw the gains potentially from this model but also to build on their own aspirations for how they want to see the future well-being and management of their own awa. We are not in a position of telling other iwi what to do because it is important that each iwi must find a solution that works for them. 
Some of the panel’s recommendations led to the establishment of a number of changes that a select committee considered which is where I want to focus my contribution: on the creation of the Waikato River Authority. There was a lot of debate at a political level about the five statutory boards and whether this was an onerous provision that would lead to a disconnection in relation to an integrated approach to decision making along the river. Time will tell whether the right decision was made but let us give it a shot. That is the message I want to give in the House today because it clearly was the message coming back from the tribe and from the many consultations it had. If this is going to be seen as an opportunity to move forward and make better decisions on the river let us give it a shot but when it comes time for the review let us look at it in a very serious manner. 
I say again that Waikato did not want to be in the position whereby we were saying to every other iwi along the river when they were making their decisions about the best interests of their parts of the river what they should be doing. I want that recorded in the House because when the review comes up we may need to relook at this decision at some point in the future. 
The other point to be made is the composition of the Waikato River Authority—five Crown members and five members from all the iwi along the river. Again there was a strong go-forward feel from the tribe on this issue but it should be recorded in the House that the concern was that Waikato did not want to see its interests diluted against the backdrop of the many other iwi certainly in the upper catchment. I raise that as a potential area that might be considered in a future review. 
The other change that resulted from the independent review panel was putting the vision and strategy directly into the regional policy statement rather than setting it at the national policy level. It has been proposed that there are a number of advantages for this being the case and that it is a more direct way of having an influence on the decisions as to what happens in regard to the setting of policy for the Waikato River. However I raise this point again because if at any time there is a concern from the territorial authorities about the implementation of the regional policy statement or any change in their commitment to reflect at a practical level what is happening within the development of policy or at an implementation level then the course of redress for Waikato must be directly with the Crown not with the territorial authorities. That is a very genuine concern that I raise and I want to ensure that it receives a full and robust debate during the Committee stage. 
Mention has been made of the clean-up fund which is a great opportunity for many people who are committed to participating in the cleaning up of the river and of the provision of the endowment fund to the Waikato-Tainui Endowed College. We want to see the intellectual wealth of our people focused and harnessed in this area of environmental management of stewardship and of having some practical cases being looked at as the best practice in the area of resource management. 
Then there are the joint-management agreements. I was absolutely delighted that albeit on a sad occasion the first joint-management agreement was signed on 23 March the day on which my mother passed. She would have liked nothing more than to be there. One thing she did say was “After me the work continues.” For the Waikato District Council to be able to sign the first joint-management agreement as a clear reflection of its intention to work with us in going forward on the Waikato River I think has been something that we back home have well recognised. 
I want to acknowledge the Maori Affairs Committee because of the efforts of the select committee. It goes without saying that the committee has to sit through a number of submissions some of which are very positive and some of which are very negative. Sadly some of those submissions have come to the fore now and I will spend time in the Committee stage debating that. The select committee should be commended for the work that it did in this area because it heard a number of submissions and went through all of the issues and presented its findings in what I think is a very good report for the House to consider. 
Last of all I acknowledge the negotiating team—both the Crown negotiators and Tainui negotiators. I think that every tribe that has participated in a negotiation process has realised that nothing worth having comes easy. It is as simple as that. Can I say with the leave of the House that the efforts of the co-negotiators for Tainui Tuku Morgan and my late mother have come with huge personal sacrifice struggle and a lot of personal criticism directed at them for having the courage to show leadership and say that this can be a better way forward for the future of our kids our grandkids and the generations after them. No reira ki a ratou katoa tatou katoa tenei te mihi atu ki a koutou.