Rurawhe AdrianNGĀI TAI KI TĀMAKI CLAIMS SETTLEMENT BILLFirst ReadingDebate resumed.ADRIAN RURAWHE (Labour—Te Tai Hauāuru): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te W'are otirā tēnā tātou katoa. E tika ana kia tuku mihi atu ki a Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki tēnei ahau e tuku mihi atu ki koutou katoa kua tae mai ki Te W'āre Pāremata nei ki te w'akarongo ki te pānuitanga tuatahi o tēnei pire w'akatau i ō koutou kerēme. Nō reira tēnā koutou nau mai hara mai whakatau mai. Ā tēnā koutou ngā w'ānau me ngā hapū o Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki ā tēnā tātou katoa.[Salutations to you Mr Deputy Speaker but at the same time to us all. It is apt that Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is acknowledged and I acknowledge you all who have arrived here in this House to listen to the first reading of this bill to settle your claims. And so salutations to you collectively welcome come hither welcome. Greetings to you the whānau and hapū of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and to us all.]It is an honour to take a call in the first reading of the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Claims Settlement Bill. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations today this being probably my last contribution to settlement bills in the 51st Parliament. I want to acknowledge also the chair and the members of the Māori Affairs Committee for the work they do on Treaty settlement bills and the Office of Treaty Settlements and all of the officers. I want to acknowledge the Crown negotiators but especially the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki negotiators—anei ahau e tuku mihi atu ana ki a koutou [here I am extending a tribute to you collectively].I read with interest the historical account in the deed of settlement. After one has read a number of these historical accounts—I try to get the feeling of the particular historical account. The unfortunate part of going through the historical account is that you almost relive or try to imagine what it might have been like to go through those experiences. As a former negotiator myself I know what that is like. So I want to acknowledge Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki for their generosity in first of all allowing their story to be told. I want to acknowledge the magnitude of the impact of such loss.The chair of the Māori Affairs Committee mentioned that in one transaction a total of one-third of that land—it was agreed that it would be retained by Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Unfortunately that did not happen. The total amount of that land was 83000 acres—so one-third of that would have been 27666 acres which should have been retained by Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Nearly 28000 acres in Tāmaki-makau-rau—can you imagine what the value of that might be today?I agree with the kōrero of my colleague Peeni Henare where he talked about today's value of that land but more important than today's value what is actually important is the huge loss of opportunity for the descendants of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki—the loss of opportunity to enhance the economic phase as it would have been at that time right up until now. That is really what the purpose is of going through a settlement process. It is about looking at what has happened in the past and trying to find a way forward. That is why I thank Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki for their generosity. I think the whole of New Zealand and in particular Tāmaki-makau-rau should send their thanks for such huge generosity in bringing this settlement to the House.I also agree with what Peeni Henare said about the first part of this bill that it is about expressing the history of what these lands are and the people there. It is about the Crown acknowledging what it has done wrong and then making an apology also recorded in this piece of legislation. What we need to do is make certain—and I am talking about all of Parliament; not just the Government but every single member of Parliament now and into the future—that we stay loyal to those acknowledgments and most importantly the apology because unless we do that one would have to question how valuable that apology is. The way forward on that is for this Parliament to never ever put Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki in that position ever again. That is a real tough ask on politicians because sometimes we forget—and I am not just talking about one side or the other; both sides of this House have done that. So I mihi again to Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki.Beyond that the next parts of the bill are really about how we can work together so that Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki can move forward for its future generations and provide a legacy to help future descendants of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki in their future. The Minister has outlined a number of aspects of this settlement bill including a number of mechanisms within the cultural redress which we from the Labour Party support wholeheartedly because I think it provides an avenue for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki to express their traditional values and to express all the things that are important to them as mana whenua. This is a mechanism that gives them the ability to hold their cultural integrity. So I acknowledge all of the cultural redress items that are within this Treaty settlement.I also acknowledge the financial redress as well and I note that the financial redress is not a huge amount really in terms of the amount of land lost and the value that it has today. All I can say to that is that it would be great to hear the thoughts of individuals w'ānau hapū and the iwi through the select committee process. It is an opportunity for everyone to have their say. I ask and encourage members w'ānau of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki to make a submission. Sometimes the Māori Affairs Committee does not receive many submissions on settlement bills. What happens is if there is huge opposition to a bill then the select committee gets lots of submissions but I would also encourage everyone who agrees with this settlement to have their say and have it recorded in the records of this House. That is a way in which every w'ānau and every hapū can have their say and have it recorded as well.Mr Deputy Speaker thank you for this time. I greet the House in the spirit that these Treaty settlements are discussed in this House. Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa.