Jones Dail: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
Jones Dail: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:645;Page:14880] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First opposes this legislation. We have heard from National members who have set out grounds for opposing the bill that are very valid and that New Zealand First agrees with. The Hon David Cunliffe made a very good point. He said that this bill is “standing on the shoulders of a whole lot of giants”. Well that is true—they were the giants of the 19th century and the early 20th century who put their hands in their pockets and bought the land that is now the 17000 hectares of the Waitakere Centennial Park. They were the giants. But what are the people today who are not willing to put their hands in their pockets but who are prepared to take by stealth—like the good socialists they are—the rights of those who live in the 10000 acres? They are certainly not giants. I know who they are but I will not use the antonym because they must know that themselves. The giants have long gone. It is a sad fact that now in New Zealand we do not have the type of person any more who is willing to pay for the land and who is willing to get out there work it and give it to society. Seventeen thousand hectares was given to the people of Auckland in that way; why can we not do that any more? This bill of the Waitakere City Council will prevent that from happening. 
During the course of the debate various comments have been made about the name the area and suchlike that are quite wrong. The preamble to the bill itself is also quite deficient. I will read from one of the books I have collected entitled  
West Auckland Remembers 
 which is edited by James Northcote-Bade and which talks about Waitakere and what it means. It also talks about the Maori background for the area which is actually contradicted in this bill. The name Waitakere according to this book is strictly the name of the large flat rock in the small bay between Ihumoana Island and Kotau Point. The book states: “Here the name refers to the action of the sea in sweeping over this rock. Originally this was not a name of great significance but after the death of a Kawerau chieftain during ‘Te Raupatu Tihore’ and the display of his remains on the rock the place took on immense significance.” So Shane Jones’ effort was really not to the point. The book goes on: “The small bay itself also became known as Waitakere as did the river that in times past flowed into it instead of to the south of Ihumoana as it does today. The outlet of the Waitakere River became known as ‘Te Puaha o Waitakere’ or literally ‘the mouth of the Waitakere River’.” 
There has also been comment made in the preamble about the quotation. The preamble is defective and does not do tribute to the Maori history of the area which is another reason for opposing the bill. I am disappointed in the Maori Party for not researching this. In the preamble there is a quote but that quote is wrongly attributed. The correct name of the person is Te Waatarauihi Tawhiao—[ 
Interruption 
] If the member of the Maori Party wants to make a mockery of the Maori language that is his affair. If he wants to insult the Maori people that is up to him but I am doing my very best. Te Waatarauihi Tawhiao was the Kawerau rangatira. He was not a Waitakere chieftain; he was a member of the Makaurau tribe. Once again the preamble is wrong but if the Maori Party member just wants to make a ridiculous semi-racist joke of it that is his affair. The quotation of course is accurate and the people who prepared the bill should be congratulated. 
But the important point is that reference is made to the tangata whenua of the Waitakere area as being people of an iwi or tribal group known as Te Kawerau-a-Maki. The west Auckland report on the Waitakere Ranges area says that although they are no longer in permanent occupation of their ancestral domain they are regarded in Maori terms as still holding mana whenua or traditional ownership of the land. I make that point because I ask why Ngati Whatua were brought into this bill when they were the natural enemies of Te Kawerau-a-Maki through the centuries. I ask Lynne Pillay the member who introduced this bill what rights Ngati Whatua have to this land when traditionally—and for centuries—they were the blood-sworn enemies of Te Kawerau-a-Maki. I question again whether the Maori Party has done its homework. Here I am just recently arrived in New Zealand off the boat yet I can go and do some research on the area. 
Hone Harawira 
: It shows. 
DAIL JONES 
: Exactly it shows because I have studied and tried to do something about it rather than live off a vote obtained by misleading people on things like the foreshore and seabed legislation as the member did. So New Zealand First opposes this legislation and I hope that I have now set the record straight on its historical background.