Harawira Hone: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
Harawira Hone: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:665;Page:12816] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Kaiwhakawa tena tatou katoa. Tena koutou e nga iwi kua tae mai nei i tenei haora o te po kia rongohia i te tautoko o te Paremata nei ki ta koutou nei pire. Hakoa kua tu ke te pokokohua nei te whakatakoto i ona korero kaikiri e tika ana kia mohio ko ratou anake e kore e whakaae ki tenei pire. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us all. To the tribes who have arrived here at this hour tonight to listen to this Parliament speaking in support of your bill I acknowledge your presence. Even though this boiled head stood and expressed his racist views it should be noted that they are the only ones opposing this bill. 
] 
David Garrett 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I find the accusation of racism deeply offensive and I object to it. I believe it is unparliamentary and it is inaccurate. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: It is unparliamentary to refer to a person as being racist. I caught only part of the translation where the member referred to racist views. I say to the member that it is not parliamentary to call the member racist. I think he is sailing very close to the wind referring to a person’s views as racist; by implication he is saying that the person is. I caution the member and I ask him to speak to the bill as intended. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Tena koe e te Kaiwhakawa tena ano hoki tatou koutou ano ra kua tae mai ki te whakarongo ki nga korero tautoko i te pire nei. Me te mea ano hoki e tika ana kia mohio ai tatou e tangi ana taku ngakau te rongohia i te korero o te kuare o te tangata e kore e matatau ana ki te tangi o te iwi mai i ra ano. Tera kia whakahokia mai te mana o te whenua i roto i tenei kaupapa kia whakahokia mai te mana o te tupuna ara ko te awa o Waikato. No reira koinei matou o te Pati Maori o te Pati Reipa o te Ropu Kakariki me Nahinara e tautoko kaha nei i tenei karanga. 
No reira me mihi atu ki a koutou i haere mai nei i tenei haora kia korero tahi tatou ki tenei kaupapa rangatira. Kia kitea a tona wa i te puawaitanga o te whakaaro ma te aroha o te iwi ki tona tupuna ka ora ai. Ma te aroha o te tangata ka kitea tatou i te kotahitanga o nga Maori me nga Pakeha e noho tahi ana ki te taha o taua awa. No reira me mihi atu ki a koutou mo to koutou aroha i roto i te kaupapa i tenei po. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us once again as well as you who have arrived here to listen to the supporting speeches on this bill. It is fitting too that I make you all aware just how much it grieves me to hear remarks from an ignorant person who has no comprehension of why tribes have been in grief mode for such a long time to have returned the ownership of the land referred to in this bill which is the ancestral river of Waikato. This then is why we of the Maori Party Labour Party Green Party and National Party strongly support this call.  
So I must acknowledge the presence of everyone at this late hour as we address this noble matter. Its benefits will be for the future to witness and through the compassion of the people for their ancestors. Because of the regard that people have for each other Maori and Pakeha will co-exist harmoniously on the banks of that river. So I acknowledge you collectively for the compassion shown in the debate tonight. 
] 
E mea ana a Kingi Tawhiao: “Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma te miro whero me te miro pango.” King Tawhiao once said: “There is but one eye of the needle through which the white the red and the black thread shall pass.” Such are the threads taken up by the people of Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Raukawa and Te Arawa river iwi in their pursuit of the sustainability and health of the Waikato River for present and future generations through this bill which delivers a co-governance framework recognising the enduring relationship of the iwi and the river. No reira me mihi au ki a koutou e nga iwi e whai nei i teneki kaupapa rangatira. 
[ 
Therefore I must acknowledge you the tribes pursuing this noble matter 
.] 
Last week Ngapuhi was privileged to host the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples Professor James Anaya. He rightly noted the vulnerability of the principles of the Treaty the lack of Maori bargaining power in settlement negotiations and the lack of outcomes that provide full and adequate redress to Maori grievances. 
I note here that despite the well-known pitfalls of Treaty settlements and the obvious element of unfairness the iwi have accepted that the sacrifices they have made are a necessary commitment to ensuring the future health and prosperity of their river through the bill. 
I again commend all those who have carried this challenge for the breadth of their vision for the courage of their long-term view for being willing to set aside commercial gain and personal glory to put aside tribal differences for pulling together existing statutory frameworks for upholding the obligations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and for creating co-management arrangements with local authorities in the best interests of their ancestral river. 
This bill goes further than just the high-level stuff; it also deals with the detail: fishing regulations an integrated river management plan iwi environmental management plans accords between Ministers and iwi mechanisms for dealing with customary activities and joint management of resource management issues including preparing reviewing changing monitoring and enforcing Resource Management Act plans. 
The Maori Party supports this bill in advancing the aspirations of Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Raukawa and Te Arawa river iwi for the Waikato River; in recognising the vision and strategy for the river as expressed by its descendants; and in allowing these iwi groups to establish tikanga to ensure the well-being of their river with all the rights and responsibilities that come with the status of kaitiaki. We support that and we salute those iwi for their progress to date. We respect absolutely the patience and the commitment that the iwi have shown in getting the bill to this point and for all of these reasons we in the Maori Party are happy to support this bill at first reading. 
No reira e te iwi koutou i haere tawhiti mai i roto i a tatou o te Whare Paremata i tenei po ka nui taku mihi atu ki a koutou mo nga tupuna i whakatakotohia i te hiahia kia whakahokia mai te mana o te awa ki a koutou. Me mihi au ki a koutou i mahi i nga mahi tu te ao tu te po tu te ao tu te po kia tae mai ki tenei ra a tona wa kia whakatutukitia ai te wawata kia whakahokia mai te mana o te awa ki tona iwi. No reira ka nui tera maku engari i runga i te aroha o te Whare nei me tuku mihi atu au ki a koutou tena koutou tena koutou huri atu huri noa. Kia ora tatou katoa. 
[ 
So to you the tribes who came from afar to be with us of the House of Parliament tonight I greatly acknowledge your ancestors who wanted and sought to have the river returned to you. I commend you on your tireless efforts and the many many hours spent through nights and days to arrive at this moment a time when the desire is realised and the ownership of the river is returned to its people. Therefore that is enough from me but because of the empathy in this House I really must acknowledge everyone. So greetings to you within and throughout the House. Greetings to us all 
.]