Paraone Pita: Rangitāne o Manawatu Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Rangitāne o Manawatu Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9780. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First):Tihei wā mauri ora![Behold the breath of life!]I want to just acknowledge Rangitāne o Manawatu.Nā reirakoutou nō te hau kāinga tēnā koutou tēnā koutou. Tēnā hoki koutou ngā whanaunga mai i Te Waka o Kurahaupō. Tēnei te mihi o ō whanaunga e noho nei i roto o Murihiku—arā ko Te Aupōuri tēnā. Nā reira tino koa te hari o te ngākau ka kite ana i a koutou i roto i Te Whare i te rā nei.Tua atu i tēnā kei te tautoko i ngā mihi i mihingia ki tēnā o ngā mate kei waenganui i a koutou. Ka kite atu i a koe e te tuahine Daniella nā ka hoki ngā mahara ki tō whaea ā ki tō tupuna a Barbara Devonshire. I rongo i a mātou i te kōrero o ētahi atu tō kaha tō māia. Mōhio ana au ā tēnā toto i heke mai i ngā e kī nei ngā Celtics—kia aha tia? E mihi hoki ki a Maurice me Matua. E kī nei te kōrero o te kāinga ā ko koutou ngā tokotoru tapu e kawe atu ana i tēnei kaupapa i mua i a tātou i tēnei wā nā reira ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou!E mihi hoki ki tēnā o ngā mate i ngaro atu ki te tirohanga kanohi. E tika ana kia mihi kau ana ki a rātou nā te mea nā rātou i kawe atu tēnei kaupapa mai rā anō. Nā reira kua ea te wāhi mā rātou ka hoki mai ki a tātou te hunga ora; tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou.[And so to those of you from back home greetings acknowledgments; and to you as well the relatives from the Kurahaupō canoe. This acknowledgment is from your kindred folk living in Murihiku—in other words in Te Aupōuri. Therefore the heart is absolutely overjoyed when I see you in the House today.Further to that I endorse the tributes paid to the dead in your midst. Whenever I see your sister Daniella well memories of your mother and your grandmother Barbara Devonshire come to mind. We heard the talk by others about your endurance and capability. I know it is said that that blood is inherited from the Celts—so what? I salute Maurice and Matua. Back home you are the three holy persons bearing this responsibility before us at this moment in time so I compliment you three.I pay tribute to those who have been lost from sight. It is fitting that they be remembered because they were the ones who began this journey long ago. So that segment pertaining to them is settled and we return to us the living; greetings salutations and best wishes.]As mentioned by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations this is a claim lodged back in 1990 and it has taken a long journey to get to this stage. It has not been without sacrifice. It has not been without commitment and a desire on the part of Rangitāne o Manawatu to do something about future generations. This is what this settlement is all about.The bill records the apology of the Crown for the prejudice and loss suffered by Rangitāne o Manawatu. It also by virtue of their acceptance of this settlement recognises again the “generosity of the iwi to our nation”. As the previous speaker Metiria Turei quite correctly articulated the total value of the loss endured by Rangitāne o Manawatu cannot be fully compensated. So the fact that they have accepted this settlement is testament to their generosity.Between 1840 and 1863 Rangitāne o Manawatu encouraged European settlement in order to participate in the settler economy. Leased tracts of land between the Rangitīkei and Manawatū Rivers were made available to settlers. However in 1864 the Crown purchased 250000 acres in the Āhuatūranga Block from Rangitāne o Manawatu. The Crown continued to urge further sales of reserve land by the iwi reducing the amount of reserve land from 5000 hectares to just under half of that amount.Reserve lands did not include many sites of cultural significance for Rangitāne o Manawatu and the Crown declined the iwi’s proposals to have these culturally significant lands returned back to Rangitāne o Manawatu as reserves. In 1867 the Crown gave 71 acres of iwi land to another iwi without consultation. That land would eventually become the area known as Palmerston North. In 1866 the Crown purchased 241000 acres in the Rangitīkei-Manawatū Block from three iwi including Rangitāne o Manawatu for a total of £25000. This iwi campaigned for receiving a 20 percent share from that sale. They received only £600. There were no reserves allocated to the Rangitīkei-Manawatū purchase so they sought reserves of 3000 acres as compensation for a disappointing share of the purchase money. The Crown subsequently offered a 1000 acre reserve to the iwi. In 1869 suspended rents from the Rangitīkei-Manawatū Block were settled and totalled £4699 in payments distributed to the iwi.So that is just an indication of some of the injustices that the Crown by its actions imposed on the iwi during that time. This bill acknowledges that those historical actions did cause prejudice to the iwi and breached the Treaty. The apology is for its acts and omissions which breached the Treaty and caused damage to the iwi.As part of this settlement there are a number of different elements of cultural redress including an overlay classification or whenua rāhui for two sites in particular: the Himatangi Bush Scientific Reserve or part of that and the Mākurerua Swamp Wildlife Management Reserve. It also includes statutory acknowledgments of 12 sites deeds of recognition covering another 11 sites of which six are Department of Conservation sites and five are rivers. It also includes a formal acknowledgment by the Crown of the special connection of Rangitāne o Manawatu to Linton Military Camp and Manawatū Prison and in particular the land and the buildings thereupon not the number of people who are resident in those properties.The settlement also includes a number of elements of financial redress. I do not need to articulate the amount other than to say that there are still a number of issues. There is the mandate dispute: inclusion of Ngāti Tauira as a hapū of the Rangitāne whakapapa by the negotiated authority which is the Tānenuiarangi Manawatū Incorporated and of course Ngāti Tauira rightfully belongs to Ngāti Apa. I think a member of the House is aware of that particular situation. He is quoted as saying: “We are very annoyed that [they] continue to include our hapū in their negotiations.” That is why I look forward to this bill being referred to the Māori Affairs Committee because I know that as with all settlements not every member of the iwi actually supports these settlements. I would certainly like the opportunity to hear from them and for them to articulate their concerns. I commend this bill to the House and I wish our iwi all the best going forward here on in. Kia ora.