Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 October 2012. Volume:685;Page:6187. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Wednesday 24 October 2012 
( 
continued on Thursday 25 October 2012 
) 
Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill 
First Reading 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill be now read a first time. 
 I nominate the Maori Affairs Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and outside the Wellington area and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 188 190(a) and 191(1)(b) and (c). 
Tuatahi me mihi atu au ki a koutou kuahara mai neiiteneirangi mo te pireneimo Te whanau a Mokomoko. Na reira tena koutou nau mai hara mai. Whakatoheawhanui katoa mai kuahara mai koutou ki te Whare Miereiteneira nau mai hara mai. Hara mai me a koutou tiniaitua kia mihia kia tangihiaratou. Na reira ko te korerokuamihia kuatangihia haere haere a tatou mate. Kia hoki ki te kaupapa whakahirahiranei tena koutou tena koutou tenatatou katoa. 
[ 
Firstly I extend salutations to you collectively who have arrived here today in respect of this bill about the Mokomoko family. And so greetings to you collectively and welcome welcome. To all of you Whakatohea broadly welcome welcome. Come hither with your many many deaths so that we can acknowledge and mourn them. Therefore let it be said that they have been acknowledged and mourned so depart our dead farewell. And so in returning to this highly important matter I extend greetings to each of you collectively and to us all. 
] 
This bill gives legal effect to the agreement to introduce legislation to give statutory recognition to the Mokomoko pardon signed by me on behalf of the Crown and Te whanau a Mokomoko Leadership Group along with many more whanau members kaumatua pakeke and rangatahi at Waiaua Marae on 28 September 2011. This bill will formally restore the character mana and reputation of their tipuna Mokomoko a rangatira of Whakatohea who was executed by the Crown in 1866 for his alleged involvement in the murder of the Rev. Carl SylviusVölkner. You may recall that a free pardon was provided to Mokomoko in 1992 for his role in this event. There are significant unresolved matters related to the form and content of the free pardon that this bill is intended to rectify. I would like to pause here to acknowledge the passing of two esteemed kaumatua and members of the whanau leadership group Matua Tuiringa Manny Mokomoko and Matua Matenga Biddle. Na reira okioki pai korua. 
[ 
And so rest in peace you two. 
] 
I would like to emphasise the significance of this bill to the descendants of Mokomoko. The bill progresses the Crown’s express undertaking to restore the character the mana and the reputation of the tipuna Mokomoko and of the whanau by providing statutory recognition of the free pardon. It represents the efforts of the leadership group to bring the issue to the Crown’s attention to enable Te whanau a Mokomoko to finally start their healing process. The bill is a sign of the Crown’s commitment to restoring the relationship with the whanau by expressing its regret that the shame and stigma carried by the whanau was not remedied by the pardon provided in 1992. 
I was humbled by the welcome on to Waiaua Marae in September last year where I met Te whanau a Mokomoko and we signed the agreement that underpins this bill. I was delighted to see large numbers of whanau present inside the whare tipuna Ruamoko to witness the signing and demonstrate their support. Members of the wider whanau had only weeks earlier attended a series of hui in Wellington and Auckland and at Waiaua where they voted in favour of this legislation being introduced. 
This bill marks an important step in restoring the relationship between Te whanau a Mokomoko and the Crown and I am pleased to be able to promote this bill today. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the time and effort that Te whanau a Mokomoko Leadership Group has put into reaching this milestone. I acknowledge the long path that the whanau have trodden and the burden the shame and the stigma that they have carried in seeking justice for their tipuna Mokomoko. 
 It is now timely for me to provide some background to the events leading to the arrest of Mokomoko and the Crown’s earlier attempt to resolve this issue. The events surrounding Mokomoko’s execution are a blot on the history of the Crown-Maori relationship. It is important to remember these events so that we may acknowledge the sacrifices of their tipuna. I want to recount the story of events leading to the execution of Mokomoko in 1866 as I understand them.  
On 1 March 1865 the Rev. Carl SylviusVölkner arrived in Opotiki despite the warnings of Te Whakatohea to stay away because of the presence of Kereopa and other Paimarire prophets. Völkner had been accused of spying and relaying information about Mataatua and the East Coast Maori seeking to assist Waikato in their fighting with the British Army. Rev. Völkner was taken from the ship he arrived on and held until his fate was decided by those present including Mokomoko. According to korero from the whanau when the decision to kill Rev. Völkner was made Mokomoko departed. He later stated that he had tried to help the missionary escape.  
In retaliation for Völkner’s killing the Government sent soldiers to Opotiki to arrest his killers. The Governor Sir George Grey proclaimed that if soldiers encountered resistance land would be confiscated. Some resistance was encountered and this was used by the Government as the basis for the raupatu the confiscation of tens of thousands of hectares of Maori land in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Government soldiers mounted raids against Te Whakatohea and other iwi in the region as they sought out Mokomoko and his co-accused. According to some accounts many were killed kainga were destroyed and Whakatohea’s shipping fleet—the entire fleet—was burnt. The korero of the whanau is that Mokomoko’s wife Kimohia was repeatedly raped before being bayoneted to death by Government soldiers.  
Mokomoko surrendered in October 1865 to stop the persecution of his people but he maintained his innocence. In 1866 Mokomoko was tried and executed for the murder of Völkner along with his co-accused from Ngati Awa. Mokomoko was convicted on the basis that it was his rope that had been used to hang Völkner and on the basis of a supposed eye witness who claimed he was guilty. Following that conviction two of Mokomoko’s co-accused admitted their guilt; however Mokomoko did not. Mokomoko was hanged and he was buried at the old Auckland jail and courthouse. Mokomoko’s remains were later re-interred in Mt Eden Prison in the 1890s. Before he was killed he uttered the words: “E mate harakoreanaahau tena koutou Pakeha hai aha.” 
[ 
“I die an innocent man so thanks for nothing Europeans.” 
] 
In October 1989 123 years after the execution Mokomoko was finally returned home to his whanau where he was re-interred at Waiaua Marae near Opotiki.  
Seeking and receiving justice for these horrible events has not been easy for Te whanauaMokomoko. The memory of the wrongs done to their tipuna has been burnt into the consciousness of each successive generation of the whanau. This is something that the Pakeha world often does not understand—how history still lives with us and is in our actions in our minds in our ambitions and in our aspirations.  
In 1990 Te whanau a Mokomoko sought a posthumous pardon for Mokomoko and applied for the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy. This application was initially declined on the grounds that the Crown considered there was no new evidence for the granting of a pardon on the basis that Mokomoko was wrongly convicted. The Crown later agreed that section 11 of the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Act 1988 had the effect of pardoning Mokomoko’s co-accused. The Crown subsequently agreed that for consistency Mokomoko should be afforded the same treatment and it issued a free pardon to Mokomoko. On this basis the free pardon was issued to Te whanau a Mokomoko at WaiauaMarae on 25 June 1992.  
The free pardon should have been a constructive step in the journey of the whanau. The Crown’s intention was right but the way in which the pardon was provided compounded the grievance in the eyes of the whanau. Unlike the Ngati Awa pardon the pardon for Mokomoko did not expressly restore his character his mana or his reputation and it read: “whereas it appears that one of the incidents of section 11 of the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Act 1988 is to pardon the three persons convicted with Mokomoko of the murder of Carl SylviusVölkner ... it appears to me just and expedient that a pardon should also be granted to Mokomoko.” 
This bill acknowledges with regret that the free pardon granted to Mokomoko in 1992 did not expressly restore the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko or his uri. It also acknowledges the Crown’s regret that it did not consult with Te whanau a Mokomoko about the wording of the free pardon. 
The grievance of te whanau in relation to the 1992 pardon was considered by the Waitangi Tribunal as part of the Te Urewera inquiry and it recommended that the terms of the free pardon be revisited by the Crown as a discrete matter and that the statutory pardon should be granted. Unfortunately the Crown is unable to reissue a free pardon once it is granted but it can provide statutory recognition for an existing pardon and that is what this bill will achieve. I just want to read this part of my speech. I am aware that the Waitangi Tribunal has also recommended that the Crown create some form of tangible tribute to mark the wrong done and demonstrate to all concerned that the blame for the raupatu did not and does not rest on Mokomoko or his descendants. I would like to assure the whanau that the tribunal’s recommendations on this point will be explored with them by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and by me and our officials as part of the Whakatohea historical Treaty settlement negotiations. 
I would like to draw the House’s attention to some of the bill’s key features. The preamble is significant as it acknowledges the long journey the whanau has had in seeking justice and that is 146 years to date. The preamble records the background to the treatment of Mokomoko and the men of Ngati Awa in relation to the murder. The preamble also sets out the Crown’s acknowledgments that the terms of the 1992 pardon did not expressly restore the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko and his uri. This acknowledgment is repeated in clause 3 which sets out the purpose of the bill and clause 6 where the specific acknowledgment is provided of the Crown’s regret that the free pardon did not expressly restore the character mana or reputation of Mokomoko and his uri and the Crown’s regret for the ongoing shame and stigma felt by the whanau. Clause 6 also provides an acknowledgment of the Crown’s regret that it did not consult the whanau about the wording of the pardon to specifically restore the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko and the whanau. 
Clause 7 provides a statement that was lacking from the 1992 pardon. It reads: “It is declared that on and after the passing of this Act the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko are restored and the character mana and reputation of his uri are restored.” I think that is really a vital clause in the whole thing. This is a simple but significant clause but I sincerely hope this will help lift the shame and the stigma felt by the whanau and be an important step towards restoring the relationship between the Crown and Te whanau a Mokomoko. 
As the whanau indicated in the agreement we signed their journey to bring the matter to rest will be finally redressed by the Crown through their negotiations of the historical Treaty settlement. 
Finally I would like to note that this bill records the waiata composed by Mokomoko while in Mt Eden Prison. The first line of the waiata is now a whakatauaki for the whanau. The whakatauaki indicates how deeply the events surrounding the arrest trial and execution of their tipuna Mokomoko are etched on the collective memory of the whanau. The whakatauaki is as follows: “Tangohia te taura itakukaki kia waiata au itaku waiata” which has the meaning of “Have the strength to speak up and the truth will not be silenced”. 
I would like to take this opportunity to mirror the sentiments of this bill by expressing the Crown’s sincerest regret for the sense of shame and stigma that the whanau have carried in this period. I look forward to the bill being passed so that Te whanau a Mokomoko can move on to the next stage of their journey without the shame and stigma they have carried for so long. The next stage will be to address the historical Treaty claims of Te whanau a Mokomoko and explore ways of providing an appropriate tribute and also to resolve their wider grievances some of which I referred to earlier in my speech through the Treaty settlement process. For these reasons I recommend that this bill be referred to the Maori Affairs Committee without delay and be reported back to the House in due course. I commend this bill to the House. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
Tena koe. I a koutou i tae tahi mai ikonei ki te Whare Miere e tautokotia atu te mahana o te mihi nui o totatouMinitaMaori ki a koutou i tae kaha mai. E te matua e reka atu te kite i a koe i reira e noho atu tataana ki Te whanau a Mokomokona te mea e mohio atu tatou te ahuaiMataatuawhanuimotenei tino mate. No reira tena koutou. 
E tika atu te mihi atu i a ratou e kore ikonei ngameapakeke mai rano e whai atu e mau pakiri a muri a tenei tino take. Te pai o te ranginei. Kua tae mai koutou ki te wahineimonga tangata o te Whare Miere hei tuku korero ki a koutou. Ahakoangapiki ngaheke he tino papouri o te mahi o te taura. E pai ana te kipeneitonu na wai e ki kei a te Kawana te he. E mohio atu tatou ko teraano te hei roto i a koutou o te Whakatohea. E mihi kauana ki a koutou katoa ngamea e whai atu ia tau ia tau. 
E mihi kauana ki te Minita ki a ratoungamea mai rano e whawhaitonu atu motenei tino whawhai. He ataahua atu nga kupu o te waiata. I ki atu totatouMinitaMaorimo te ahua e puta a-waha te waiata mo te ahua e tae atu te rangatira a Mokomoko. He tino rangatira keterana te mea i roto iahau he aha ai e ki atu kei te Kawana te whakahuri atu itoratou mahi? He roroa atu ki te tae atu ki te wanei. No reira e mihi kauana ki nga kupu e tuku atu te koroua ki nga tangata katoa o Aotearoa kei rongo atu i te mamae ki te koi hoki i roto i a ia ahakoatutataana ki te rere haere ki te wahi mate. E mohio atu tatouahakoana wai nowhea ka tae atu teraahua ki te katoa. Koiraano te meai roto inga kupu o te waiata ra. No reira tena koutou. 
[ 
Thank you. To you collectively who have arrived here in Parliament I endorse the warm welcome extended by the Minister of Maori Affairs to you all who have worked hard to get here. To the elder it is delightful to see you sitting there close to the Mokomoko family because we all know the situation in the wider Mataatua area in regard to this great tragedy. And so I pay a tribute to you collectively.  
It is only right that we acknowledge those who are no longer here the elders from way back who rigorously pursued this matter of such significance. What a beautiful day this is. You have arrived at this place here so that members of Parliament can address you. Despite the highs and lows what the rope caused was really depressing indeed. It is fine to continue to say that the Government has erred. We all know that this error has impacted on you all of Whakatohea. I applaud you all the ones who have followed up this issue year after year.  
I commend the Minister and all those ones from way back who continued the fight over the years for this great cause. The words of the song are just so beautiful. Our Minister of Maori Affairs referred to the circumstances that led to this song and how the revered Mokomoko arrived there. That is very noble because I am thinking: why say it is up to the Government to rectify its own actions? It has taken a very long time to get to this point. So I really acknowledge the words that this elder left to all the people of New Zealand and for them to feel his hurt and the sharpness of his mind even though he was about to die. We all know that it does not matter where it is or who it is death eventually comes to us all. That song has the same message as well. So I commend you collectively. 
] 
We rise to support this bill the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill about one of the dastardly deeds enacted by the Crown. Certainly one wonders and asks the question about how real giving a pardon is in reversing the shame and the burden inflicted on this rangatira in his own right—and he was a rangatira in his own right. The soldiers and whoever else chose to take him to Auckland he was killed there and then taken home to his marae in later years. In the mid-1990s there was a pardon given. The whanau at that time and up to now have plausibly argued that it may have removed the stigma and shame from the individual the rangatira Mokomoko but certainly they have had to wear it and carry it through generations. 
Those issues are broad issues in relation to the development of Paimarire and the Kingitanga’s move not to participate in war. In that way—and we have that lesson in the Second World War—the death of Mokomoko brings to light a whole lot of other relevant issues in our history that we tend to have pushed under the carpet. Today we certainly support putting this deed to rest. It will never be put to rest because at times the Government has to pronounce its shame. It is suggested that this bill is one way of doing it. But no money or response in the sense of assets will correct what was done. In the raiding and the confiscation of lands in Mataatua this deed was a platform and leverage used to do that. History will tell you that it was thousands of acres. I have always wondered that the great people who came over with Captain Cook had such adeptness to be able to choose where to take. It is high-producing property now. Other people manage a lot of it. Thank goodness Whakatohea has control of some of it but again like with Waikato and Taranaki one wonders. 
 The schedule at the end of this bill reproduces the text of the free pardon granted to Mokomoko. The bill extends it out so that the family can be recognised in the sense of that pardon. There is a key part in there where we talk about restoring the mana and the rangatiratanga of Mokomoko. I do not think those things were ever removed. That death was inflicted on him at the hands of the Crown does not necessitate the reasoning and rationale that they were removed from him. What this bill does do is create a continuum of recognition that he was a rangatira in his own right and his leadership of his people at that time for reasons that were important is something that has to be really recognised as well as the confiscation of the land. 
The bill restores the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko and the character mana and reputation of his uri. That is the key part in this. I think that is wonderful and that is OK. But hopefully it is bigger than that—that they have a settlement as we are heading into contemporary times. It also opens the question of a whole lot of other deeds not too dissimilar to this done around the country. What do we do about them? I think that in the sense of it being an initial entry into the Crown being serious about apologising and trying to restore and redevelop its connections with those people it is something that we have to consider. 
Following his conviction and before execution Mokomoko composed the following waiata. The Minister of Maori Affairs read out the opening lines of it but I would like to labour through—excuse the pun—some of the lines not all of them because I think they are very relevant and show the depth of what happened to this great leader. It is a pronouncement of somebody who is close to death knowing full well that he is going to be set upon by and put to death under the ruling of the Governor from England. He writes this great waiata. It should resonate around this land for us to understand that people can still maintain their humility and have their rangatiratanga recognised through these lines he wrote. Picture that at the time he was close to death. He knew what was going to happen to him yet he still expressed in a fashion of any great rangatira what was going to happen to him. He said: “Kei te hori te tangata tenei au ki te raweke”—they treat me like a common thief. “Whakarewha te titiro te hukinga ia hau utiti”—with confused view I reflect on the vengeance taken and question the reason why. “He ahi mumura te panga mai o te whakama”—the memory of the shame burns within me so deep. “Te rerenga o te ra ko te Kawana kei Uropi”—with the passing of time and the Governor of Europe. “That to be taken to a place afar Right or wrong I am to die” as he had said earlier on. “Mana e ki … Hei tutakiakemo te kuaha o te pouaka”—with the closing of the lid on my box only then will I get peace and eternal rest. 
Here is somebody who knows he is being put to death for no reason whatsoever of his own doing and he still recites those words in recognition and he mihis to the people who put him down. It is indeed quite a dramatic situation. I hope we could be a lot more forgiving in contemporary times. If we are serious about nationhood the resurrection of this deed the adding of this bill in relation to Mokomoko’s killing is something we could join together and recognise. It is not just the past history or something that the Minister puts up to make everybody feel good; it is something that is the right thing to do at the right time. Let us not do it just for the sake of it. Here is a man who has passed on and who forgives the perpetrators but at the same time he expresses his view in a very clear fashion as any rangatira would do. 
I want to recognise the rangatira Mokomoko for the effort he put in. We are here today as politicians and guardians for the better of this country trying to put something right that was terribly wrong. Kia ora. 
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education) 
: 
Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa. Tenatatouhurinoaitotatou Whare itenei ata. Te whanau a Mokomoko tena koutou. Tena koutou ihara mai a-tinana mai ki tenei me ki ki tenei marae o tatou katoa te Whare Paremata. Tena koutou moto koutou pakari ki te whawhai kia putateneihe ki muai te aroaro o te mareai te Whare Paremata kia taea e tatou te whakatikaahakoa te roa o te wakuapahurenei. Hoi ano tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
Kuamihiakengatunganei a tatouitenei ata e tautoko anaahauiera mihi. Kuawhakaoti e taku rangatira e te MinitaMaoriirungaitenawhakatauki “Tangohia te taura itaku kaki”. Ahakoa he pouri he pakaritonuterakorero ki a koutou o te whanau otira ki a tatou katoa o Aotearoa nei. Na reira irungaiterawhakaaro tenatatou e whakakotahinei ki te whakatikatikaitenei kaupapa iteneiwa. Ahakoa te roa o tatou e whiriwhirianaitenei kaupapa ahakoa ko matou o te Kawanatangaiteneiwaengari kia mohio mai tatou ko teneipire he pire mai i te Karauna o Aotearoa. Na reira e tikaana me tautoko tatou katoa iteneipire kia whakatinanahia te hiahia o te whanau otira o tatou katoa kia tuteneiirungai te Ture o Aotearoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings to us all throughout our House this morning. To the Mokomoko family I acknowledge you. Thank you for coming in person to this place which I should say to this courtyard for all of us Parliament House. I commend you for being staunch in battling to get this wrongful deed publicly before Parliament so that we can collectively rectify it even though much very much time has passed. And so salutations acknowledgments and congratulations to you all.  
The brother members have already welcomed us this morning and I endorse those words of welcome. My esteemed colleague the Minister of Maori Affairs added the finishing touch with that aphorism “Take the rope from my throat”. Even though it is remorseful that is saying remain staunch for you the family and indeed for all of us here in New Zealand. Consequently I commend all of us here who have come together at this point in time to put this matter right. Despite the fact we have been negotiating this proposal for a long time and we are the Government currently we should clearly understand that this bill is actually from the Crown of New Zealand. And so it is only right that we should all support this bill which will embody the wishes of the family and indeed of all of us so that it becomes an Act of New Zealand. 
] 
I am honoured to stand today together with my colleagues to support the passage of the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill and the recommendation of it going to the Maori Affairs Committee. It is appropriate as I have just said that no matter who the Government is this is a Crown responsibility to put right in whatever way possible what has been a longstanding error on behalf of successive administrations. In that regard I want to pay tribute to the Maori Party and to the Minister of Maori Affairs who ensured that this bill would be part of our coalition agreement that it would come before this House and that we would memorialise the recognition of the restoration of the mana and character of Mokomoko in the way of this democracy which is to pass it into law so that it may sit in our statutes moaketonu atu. I would like to acknowledge that because it has been through the commitment of the Minister and of the Maori Party that we take this next step. 
It is true that the free pardon that was offered in 1992 had some elements that were not sufficient but it does reflect that getting the Treaty partnership right is an ongoing process and one that all of us must continue to work on and be committed to. It is appropriate that here in 2012 we are taking another step to strengthen in substance as well as in form the dynamism of the Treaty partnership. Our Government is absolutely committed to settling historical grievances. It is appropriate that the Crown takes responsibility for those so that we can pave a pathway of strength forward for all parts of New Zealand society—iwi and the rest of the nation—and this Government this coalition Government together with the Maori Party remains committed to seeing that through. We want to ensure that we not only get the words right but also get the process right and that we give recognition to what has happened in the past so that we can invest in our future and together grow stronger. 
Acknowledged by both the previous speakers Dr Pita Sharples and Parekura Horomia were the words of Mokomoko himself of his defiance that he was being found wrong inappropriately right to the very end and his strength in standing up for his beliefs. Again I think it is appropriate that the Minister of Maori Affairs has acknowledged that history is for ever present amongst us and that we must continue to heed those lessons to ensure that our future can be stronger for it not with amnesia but with full knowledge of how we have come to be the people we are and how we can build on that as we go forward into the future. 
 With this bill the Crown acknowledges that it regrets any stigma and shame that its free pardon did not restore the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko and his descendants. I think the Hon Parekura Horomia has recognised that there were oversights in that free pardon but as I have already indicated it was the best we could do in 1992. Here in 2012 we are doing better and we will continue to do better. 
We acknowledge that the Mokomokowhanau were not consulted about the wording of the free pardon and this bill endeavours to set that right. It is also acknowledged that the bill does not prevent the Mokomokowhanau from seeking the settlement of their historical Treaty of Waitangi claims through the Treaty settlement process and this Government I think stands on a very proud record. In 4 years we have invested significant resources and the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Christopher Finlayson has committed his time assiduously to ensuring that we can right the wrongs of the past and we can settle historical grievances so that we can move forward on a pathway and iwi can move forward in restoring their economic well-being strengthening their cultural identity and language and providing for the social backbone of their own iwi members as part of who we are as New Zealand. 
I am really honoured to be able to speak albeit for a short time on this bill and to support my friend and colleague the Minister of Maori Affairs in the leadership he has shown in bringing this bill to the House and I commend the bill to the select committee. Kia ora tatou. 
RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tenakorua e ngaMinita koutou ranga mema o te Whare Paremata tena koutou. Whakatohea iwi Te whanau a Mokomoko nau mai haere mai ki roto i te Whare Paremata e takatunei. Tena koutou tena koutou a tenatatou katoa. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Salutations to you two Ministers and indeed to the members of Parliament greetings. Welcome to the Whakatohea people and the Mokomoko family welcome to Parliament House bustling about here. Salutations to you and you collectively and to us all. 
] 
I am very privileged and proud to speak in support of this bill the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill. Mr Speaker as you know a theme of my speeches on these settlement claims that have passed through this House has been that to understand whakapapa is to understand Maori history. Today’s history lesson has been fully traversed by the honourable Minister of Maori Affairs so I will give my abridged version. Today’s history lesson is one of the most shameful in the history of our nation but more particularly it is the history of one whanau the whanauMokomoko. The settlement bills that I have spoken on in the last couple of months have concerned the settlements in Poverty Bay namely Rongowhakaata and NgaiTamanuhiri. Their story is of Te Kooti and his rebels and the start of the Hauhau wars that spread throughout the North Island in the 1860s as Te Kooti led his followers through the fastness of the Urewera central plateau and finally to the safety of the Kingitanga in Te Rohe Potae the King Country. 
Rev. Carl Völkner was a former Lutheran minister who transferred to the Anglican Church. He was stationed at Opotiki in 1861. In 1864 and 1865 Rev. Völkner reported to Governor Grey of the movements of the Hauhau within his region and in the mind of our ancestors of the old ways this was tantamount to spying. So the chiefs of that time debated Völkner’s fate and the rest as they say is history. But not so because the aftermath of the Völkner affair in 1866 is why we are here today 145 years later. On the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence—the rope used to hang Völkner was allegedly owned by Mokomoko—the chief Mokomoko was imprisoned and taken to Auckland jail. He was tried and convicted and hanged at Auckland where he was also buried. In October 1989 123 years later his koiwi were disinterred and repatriated to Waiauapa near Opotiki. Throughout this ordeal Mokomoko maintained his innocence. 
Such were the ways of our ancestors that a rangatira of the status of Mokomoko was apt to compose a death dirge a lament a waiata full of pathos. Often these waiata were composed to remind their descendants of how their death came about and how mana must always be retained. The theme of Mokomoko’s waiata is no different. As has been mentioned today its opening lines are: 
Tangohiatetauraitakukaki 
kia waiata au itaku waiata. 
As Mokomoko stood on the gallows facing his death the aforementioned words were spoken. Today the descendants of Mokomoko nga uri o Mokomoko use those prophetic words as a pepeha a tribal whanau saying to mean: “Have the strength to speak up and the truth shall not be silenced.” In his waiata Mokomoko laments how he is treated like a common criminal: 
Kei tehoritetangatatenei au kiterawake. 
Halfway through his poignant waiata composed on the gallows of Auckland jail in 1866 with the rope around his neck Mokomoko pleads to his descendants: 
He warewarenoate eke noaitekaipuke 
He ahimumuratepangamai o tewhakama. 
“Remember how I was taken on board a ship chained and in shackles. The memory of my shame burns me so deep.” Our ancestors of long ago were a proud people and at all times maintained and upheld the mana of their whanau hapu and iwi. But more important he also practised his own personal mana. In the warfare practised by our tupuna there was more honour to die in battle than to be taken alive as a slave of the victorious tribes. To be bound to be a herehere—a slave—was the highest indignity and a shame upon the family as well. So the whakama of being held captive was too much for many of our rangatira who interacted with our early justice system. Just like being held in remand or waiting for the justice system wheels to be cranking on and the process followed through—again that was a serious whakama that was inflicted upon many of our people. 
He warewarenoate eke noaitekaipuke 
He ahimumuratepangamai o tewhakama 
“Remember how I was taken on board ship chained and shackled. The memory of the shame burns me deep.” These are proud words from a shamed man who was not afraid to meet his death. Today in this debate we begin the process to ensure that Mokomoko’s descendants have the shame of their tupuna erased wiped clean and his mana reasserted. They can begin to write new waiata. He and his descendants deserve no less. So I mihi to the descendants of Mokomoko here today who have travelled all this way and I also think of my own whanau connections my cousins my many many Mokomoko cousins in Te Wai Pounamu my grand uncle—we knew him as John Bull Mokomoko—TeoneAperiraMokomoko who married my grand aunt Te Rau OriwaTregerthen Tirikatene. I know many of them are tuning in and watching this first reading today so I mihi to all of them and to all of the Mokomokowhanau throughout the motu. 
In June of 1992 the Governor-General issued a free pardon to Mokomoko. The whanauMokomoko were however concerned that the pardon was drafted without consultation with the family and did not expressly restore his character mana or reputation to him and his descendants. So as has been traversed in the korero so far there are several parts to this bill that finally make good that pardon. Among the additions the Government will acknowledge that the free pardon did not expressly restore the character mana and reputation of Mokomoko nor the character mana and reputation of his uri. 
The upholding of mana is a constant struggle in today’s world. Every day the mana of Maori is trampled upon and disrespected by ignorant New Zealanders driven by an even more ignorant Pakeha media but if there is one word that resounds through the languages of the Pacific it is the word “mana” and its meaning never changes as you paddle from island to island. It even means the same up north in Tai Tokerau as it does down in Te Wai Pounamu. Mana is authority prestige reputation—things that are important to all Polynesian cultures especially to Maori. So I commend the passage of this bill through the House. I look forward to participating in the Maori Affairs Committee and I mihi to everybody here today. Kia ora anotatou. 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena koutou e te Whare. He mihi nui ki te whanau o te rangatira Mokomoko me Te Whakatoheahapu iwi katoa tena koutou. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings to those of you of the House. A huge acknowledgment to the family of the revered Mokomoko and to the subtribe and all the people of Te Whakatohea. Salutations to you collectively. 
] 
Thank you for coming here today to hold us to account and for your persistence in doing that. For me and my party the Green Party we believe that the Treaty gives us a place to stand if we honour it but you are holding us consistently to account for our failure to do that both as the Crown and as a culture. We are grateful to you for the holding to account that you have done at great cost—a price that you have paid for many many years. 
I would like to speak a little bit about the concept of apology the history of the Opotiki region and the way in which colonisation targets individuals in order to commit raupatu which has been manifest through the story of the rangatira whom we speak about in the House today. Having lived in the rohe—my mother-in-law lived for many years at Ohiwa—when driving through those beautiful wealthy fertile lands the question remains: is the price paid? Is enough price paid yet? Have people been given the right to regain their resources? The answer is no but this bill the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill is a step along the way. 
Other speakers today and particularly the Minister of Maori Affairs have well traversed some of the history. The 1860s were an incredible time in the history of indigenous peoples right around the world because if you look at the histories of indigenous people in North America as well as Aotearoa that was a time when confiscation and death descended upon many of those communities because of the resources and the power they held. The colonisers wanted the resource and so they had to find a way to get it. 
If you read the history of the rohe hear it spoken on the marae or study Judith Binney’s contribution you will see the way in which Tuhoe Whakatohea and the Mataatua waka in general paid the price for the aspirations of the Crown. It is often paid by a particular whanau. That whanau in this instance the whanau of Mokomoko has held us to account and up until this day the Crown has not yet succeeded in apologising. So we look forward to the passing of this bill and succeeding in apologising with the full meaning of apology. 
 The description that some people have given of the humiliation and the murder of Mokomoko is a very moving story. Again as with many of the stories it is not just a story; it is a reality and it is a particular reality for the descendants. I would love to do a poll of the landowners the Pakeha landowners of the Whakatohea region and ask them how many of them know the story of Mokomoko and the role of the Crown. Because having been to the church where Völkner was murdered I do not see a story in that town in English that tells Pakeha how this occurred. If we do not tell the truth we do not really hear our own part in history. History is always in front of us. History is a very important part of who all of us are in Aotearoa if Te Tiriti o Waitangi is to be fully honoured. 
The colonisation process does target an individual. It targets the individual in order to create the opportunity. Mokomoko was the opportunity for the raupatu and Völkner’s death the death of one missionary became an opportunity not only to murder an innocent man but also to confiscate vast areas to rape literally and to pillage literally. The waves and ripples of that action which this whanau have come to ask us to take responsibility for continue to this day. It is often through the story of a person that we can come to understand the bigger history and that is why this story needs to be told and must be told. 
I would also like to speak about the issue of pardon. I find “pardon” quite a strange word for an innocent person. I think that for the issue of an apology the word “apology” is the most powerful word. We need to look at what happened in 1992 and we need to look at what is being put forward very positively in this bill today. The first pardon was not negotiated. If we talk about what apology is and if an apology is going to ring true then all apologies but particularly ones between the Crown and wronged families and iwi katoa need to be properly negotiated. They need to be a genuine expression of contrition with a clear commitment not to repeat or reinforce in any way that action. That is something that needs to happen and that is a process that does not stop merely with historical process but with contemporary process. 
We need to talk about Tuhoe in this instance and whether any Government is prepared to apologise to them for what happened in Ruatoki in 2005. The contemporary refusals to apologise for breaches of legitimate behaviour by the Crown do risk the credibility of what we are doing. We are talking about the fact that history lives on and it is good that we are apologising. We need to look at all the things all the hara all the hurts that need to be addressed so that this apology is given respect along with all the others. 
The other key element of an apology is when it is accepted. If an apology is accepted then healing can begin between the parties and that is why it is really awesome to see the descendants the uri here today accepting the apology offered in this bill. That was the problem with the 1992 apology: it differentiated between Ngati Awa and Whakatohea which is an unfortunate maybe well-intentioned action. But if you do not consult then it is still justice denied. Justice denied is when the person or the State defines what that justice is. The State cannot under te Tiriti define the meaning of justice or any apology; the State must negotiate in the relationship and that is about starting with consultation and negotiation as this bill does. So we celebrate that. 
I would also just like to talk about the role of the State in causing the deaths of individuals. The death penalty was repealed in 1958 but it was too late for these people. I remember as a child sitting by the radio listening to Parliament when the death penalty was repealed. My father was one of the people who worked for the repeal of the death penalty and one of the reasons he did that was that the Crown can make mistakes and the Crown can cause harm and make use of innocent individuals. So it is important for the Crown to recognise the seriousness of the situation when it uses the death penalty. It is a good thing we no longer have the death penalty but it will not restore the situation. This needs to happen in a process that is starting here today. 
Like the descendants of Te Kooti the people who are stigmatised by the actions of the Crown are entitled to full complete recognition and redress even 146 years later. That is why I mentioned contemporary potential issues and breaches because in 100 years’ time will there be whanau standing here asking us to relook at ourselves? 
Again I recognise the whanau of Mokomoko and recognise that this is a door that opens for a relationship and a continued conversation about the Treaty settlements in that beautiful part of the country Whakatohea. We really do need to educate everybody about the story of this rangatira and about the process of what we have gone through and learn from the fact that a well-intentioned pardon that is not correctly negotiated will lead to the need for another negotiation. I think that learning is a very powerful issue within this particular bill. We all—Maori tauiwi Pakeha katoa—need to listen and respect the reason why the descendants of this tupuna have had to come to Wellington to this House today why he was killed who benefited and who paid. The story is an opportunity but—as I think the Hon Parekura Horomia said—it does not finish the pain and hurt. But it allows for the beginning of healing. So the Green Party is very happy to support this bill through all its stages. He mihi nui ki te whanauMokomoko. Tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Consumer Affairs) 
: 
Tena koutou. Every so often I suppose a bill comes to this House that is out of the ordinary. We have our fair share of customs bills fisheries bills bills about the internet and various bits and pieces and we stand up and we speak. But this is one of those bills that is out of the ordinary. The history of the matter has been well traversed by the Minister of Maori Affairs. It is a matter of record. The context of course is the New Zealand Wars raupatu and a whole lot of I think very egregious things happening in our country. I will not relitigate that but can I make two or three points. Firstly there is the beauty of the thought expressed by Mokomoko an innocent man in his waiata. I think like so many war poems and poems throughout the ages it is simply expressed but with a depth of feeling and of concepts that I think make it a stunning presentation which I will come back to. As I say I note its beauty and its poignancy. His last words as I understand it which I do not think have been referred to in the House so far in this debate are: “I die an innocent man. Farewell Pakeha. So be it.” Really it says it all: “I die an innocent man.” It is certainly true; we know that today. “Farewell Pakeha.” It was a Pakeha a British system that had wrongfully convicted him. Then there is the stoicism I suppose of that last poignant phrase: “So be it.”—so be it. So it is the beauty of his expressions that I just want to put on record. 
Then secondly—and the last contributor alluded to this I think when she talked about the death penalty—we see what this case illuminates about wrongful conviction and innocence. We know as I say Mokomoko was hanged for a murder that he did not commit. Really if you ask me that is the best argument there is against the death penalty. I am not one of those—and I know there will be people in this House maybe in the gallery who disagree with me—who disagree with the death penalty for principled reasons. I actually can envisage cases where someone has perhaps gone on a killing spree and is deserving of the death penalty. But practically speaking when you face and encounter wrongful convictions as we have seen in America as we have seen in other countries and in this country so graphically in this case I could never support the death penalty. There is truth in that phrase that says that—as a former criminal lawyer I used to think this was an overused phrase but really it is so true in this case—you know it is better that 10 guilty go free than one innocent person is convicted because the injustice sticks in the craw. Today if we think about this case it would not even get past a prosecutor’s desk. It would not even get past the desk because as I understand it the piece of rope that was his is about all the British Crown had. Well arguably you could make a case about parties—section 66 of the Crimes Act—but that would never pass muster. It would be an entirely unsafe and as we know in this case wrongful conviction not even coming close to being decent circumstantial evidence. 
The sense of the injustice of all of this of wrongful conviction I think comes through incredibly clearly in that as I say beautiful poignant waiata: “They treat me like a common thief”—the sense of indignity of this. “The memory of the shame burns within me so deep”—the sense of legitimate grievance. He questions the reason why—the bewilderment really that comes with finding yourself in a position of wrongful conviction. As I have already said in his last words as I understand it Mokomoko said: “So be it.”—so be it. 
So I for one am privileged to speak in this reading in this House when as the title of this bill says we have the opportunity and the privilege to restore the character the mana and the reputation here albeit many years—well over 100 years—too late. I am glad we do not have a death penalty in this country. I am glad today we do have fair trials with due process. As I say having reflected in my short contribution on the poignancy of Mokomoko’s words on the circumstances he found himself in on the pride and stoicism with which he dealt with that situation and on the principles of our system today it means that we do everything we can to ensure that the innocent are not convicted in the same way that he was. 
BRENDAN HORAN (NZ First) 
: 
 Ka tangi te titi ka tangi te kaka ka tangi hoki ahau tihei mauri ora. E nga iwi e nga reo e nga mana e ngamatawaka tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. E rau rangatira ma ka mihi atu irungai te karanga o te ra tena koutou tena koutou tenaanotatou katoa. Warea warea. Huakina te tatau mai i te po ki te ao te ao marama. 
[ 
The mutton bird calls the parrot calls and I call as well behold the sneeze of life. To the tribes voices authorities and kinship groups greetings to you greetings to you and greetings once again to you all. Oh leaders of a hundredfold I pay homage to you in respect of the call of the day so acknowledgments salutations and congratulations once again to us all. Overcome overcome. Open the door from the darkness to the dawn and to the world of light. 
] 
Sweep away and clear the pathway so the door from bleakness to the world of light is open. Tihei mauri ora! 
Mokomoko had tried to assist Völkner but instead was framed as a murderer. His lands were confiscated people were persecuted and mana and character were disgraced. He was hanged and in the 1890s his remains were re-interred at Mt Eden Prison. He was buried with murderers and felons and no doubt along with innocent victims as well. The 146-year journey that it has taken to be here today has been heartbreaking and arduous for his descendants and those words “heartbreaking” and “arduous” really are inadequate to truly describe the trials and tribulations of this whanau. How can you possibly describe the profoundness the spirituality the darkness and the light of the experience of searching for Mokomoko’s remains and finding them buried standing up in Mt Eden Prison? The manner of finding was spiritual and unique. That profound experience and the memories are forever etched on those people who were there for the resurrection of those remains. 
One of the most recent kaumatua who was instrumental in us being here today was Manny Mokomoko. Sadly not so long ago—just a little while ago earlier this year—Manny Mokomoko passed away a day after another treasured kaumatua Matenga Biddle. New Zealand First extends our condolences for the heartfelt loss of these two splendid men. My wife is a Pukepuke from Kutarere and my whanau knew Manny. It is fair to say that Manny’s goal was a complete restoration of character mana and reputation. That was what Manny wanted and how proud he would be to be here today. We all wish that he was here today. We acknowledge the family’s loss and wish you plain sailing in the pathways that open up through the restoration of Mokomoko’s mana and character in the years ahead. 
New Zealand First supports this bill the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character Mana and Reputation) Bill and we will work through the closing stages for a journey as expeditiously as possible to the satisfaction of Mokomoko’s proud descendants. Kia ora. 
Bill read a first time.  
Bill referred to the Maori Affairs Committee. 
Waiata