Henare Tau: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Henare Tau: Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:662;Page:10469] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 I was going to wait until the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Mr Finlayson spoke on the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill but I though that I might as well get in while the going was good. A while back—a long time ago—my nana used to say to me that when I was perturbed at somebody saying something I should just ignore that person. I will just stay on Part 1 of this bill. It sets out what this bill does in a way that nobody could misunderstand if he or she were to read it. It is about the restoration and protection of not only a body of water but also I think a people’s relationship with that body of water. It is not just about protection and restoration today; it is about it being restored and protected for the sake of generations to come. 
Part 1 gives effect to a deed of settlement that has in fact been signed twice: not only by Michael Cullen but also by our side of the House. It essentially recognises the significance of both the role that the river plays for the iwi and the effect that the iwi has on the river. If I can be so bold as to do this I will tell the people who stand up and say this legislation is not democratic that democracy is not about only the principle of one vote. Democracy is about participation. Democracy is about getting on and coming to the right decisions. It is not how we come to those decisions but actually getting there that is important. I think that what we see in front of us is all about participatory democracy rather than the one person one vote old-hat stuff that a lot of people pull out of their bag when they argue a point. 
I will finish on this note. I am no scholar of history but I believe—and I can be corrected if I am wrong—that the people in Tainui who refused to be conscripted were interred at Narrow Neck between 1914 and 1918 not in the 1940s as Mr Garrett has said. In the 1940s Tainui made up some of the very strong members of the Maori Battalion. It was from 1914 to 1918 that the Government conscripted members of the Tainui iwi and it was because of raupatu that Te Puea said they would not fight on behalf of the Crown. I say that just to correct something that Mr Garrett said. [ 
Interruption 
] Oh now he agrees with me—now he agrees with me. I think the great thing about this place is that one can go back read one’s  
Hansard 
 and then come back into the Chamber to apologise. But that is OK. 
One of the terrible parts of our history was the flu epidemic in 1918. My own great-grandmother died in the flu epidemic. It had an effect on the people who lived along the river. To my amazement even today when I look back on it and at what Te Puea did I see that the epidemic’s effect on the people was devastating—it was absolutely devastating. 
All that I will say is that this bill is a new era in co-management: a new era in trying to work together for a common purpose. This legislation is not about someone saying he or she has $200 million in a pocket; this is about the Crown iwi and local authorities trying to get together in order to clean up a waterway. It is a significant waterway not only to folks in Auckland who get their water from it but also spiritually to the people who live along and whakapapa to the river.