Henare Peeni: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Peeni: Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 08 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6384. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau):Tēnā tātou e te Whare. “He hōnore he korōria ki Te Atua he maungārongo ki runga i te mata o te whenua he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa āmine.”Nā te mea e ōku whanaunga kua mea mai tō tātou Whare me kaua e tīmata tō tātou huihuinga i te ata nei nā runga i ngā manaakitanga o tō tātou Kaihanga ka waiho nā atu mā taua karakia tā tātau whakatau i a koutou i te rā nei nō reira haere mai rā haere mai rā haere mai rā. Hāpai nei ō koutou aituā ki runga i te tāhūhū o tō tātou Whare ka tukuna mā koutou otirā mā mātou mā tātou rātou e tangi haere haere haere!E ōku rangatira e ōku mātua e ōku tini whanaunga kua roa rawa tō koutou takahanga ki runga i tēnei huarahi kua tae mai rā koutou ki roto i tō tātou Whare i te rā nei me te whakaaro mō ngā rangi kei mua i a koutou otirā kei mua i a tātau katoa. Nō reira mōku nei nā ēhara ahau i te oro i te kōrero i te waha anō i ngā kōrero a te Minita mō te kiko o te pire i te rā nei. E mōhio ana koutou e mōhio ana mātouko te anga o te titiroanā mō ngā uri whakatupu e haere ake nei. Nō reira ka mihi atu ahau ki Te Minita ōna āpiha mō ā rātou mahi ki te whakatutuki i ngā moemoeā i ngā nawe o Kawerau ā Maki anā ka kite tātau ki roto i ngā kupu o tēnei pire.E ōku rangatira ka huri atu ahau ki te reo tuarua nā te mea i a au e kōrero Māori ana ka kite ahau i ngā tāngata e mōhio ana ki Te Reo Māori e whakaae ana! Ko te hiahia kia whakaae mai ngā tangata kore Reo Māori nō reira ka tahuri atu ahau ki te reo tuarua.[Greetings to us in the House. “Honour and glory to God. Peace upon earth and goodwill to all mankind. Amen.” Because our House has stated my relatives that our proceedings this morning will not begin under the kindness of our Creator I have left it for that particular prayer to begin our welcome to you; so welcome welcome welcome. We raise your misfortunes upon the ridgepole of our House and leave it for you and indeed for all of us to mourn. So to them I say farewell journey on depart!To my esteemed ones my elders and my myriad of relatives you have roamed for a very long time upon this journey and have arrived at last into our House today with your view about the future before you and indeed before all of us. Therefore for me in particular I shall not reiterate the Minister’s statement nor repeat his words in regardto the content of the bill today. You know and we all know that it is directed at the generations to come. So I acknowledge the Minister and his officials in their efforts to fulfil Te Kawerau ā Maki’s aspirations and grievances which we have all seen in this bill.To my esteemed elders I turn now to address you in the second language because as I am speaking in Māori I note that those who understand me are approving. I really wanted a nod of approval from the ones who do not understand Māori so I turn to the second language.]Today we are celebrating a good and just settlement although as with many settlements the redress provided is just a small portion of the actual loss. But it is an unfortunate fact that there are significant problems emerging in the settlement process. It is with some regret that I raise this matter today. Te Kawerau ā Maki may be thinking they were lucky to get their settlement in just before Minister Finlayson gave up on the Auckland negotiations. I say this as the member for Tāmaki Makaurau because there are many other Treaty settlements that we could also be celebrating today as whanaunga. Sadly—and I say this as a member of the Labour Party which does not never has and never will play politics in this area. Very shortly as the House is aware—next month—we will be remembering 40 years of the Treaty of Waitangi Act which initiated these settlement processes and the very discussions that we are having in the House today. However I do believe that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations has floundered with the Treaty settlements and the cracks are starting to show.There is a lot of respect for what the Minister has achieved but it appears sadly in Tāmaki-makau-rau he is running out of commitment in some parts of the country and this to me is quite troubling. As I understand it there was considerable goodwill when Sir Douglas Graham began the negotiations in Auckland in 2009 and the Minister has mentioned this. Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei and the Tāmaki Collective were signed in 2012 but this is now the first Treaty settlement in 3 years in that region. These are not large settlements by any scope but the pace of progress in Tāmaki-makau-rau is slowing to a crawl and in some cases has completely come to a halt.The slow pace of settlements in Tāmaki-makau-rau is obviously causing trouble for some of the Minister’s colleagues. Last week the Government announced it had reached an agreement with Tāmaki-makau-rau iwi over housing yet if you read the text of that agreement you will see that it says: “Ngā Mana Whenua advise that lack of progress on durable Treaty settlements is an impediment to their ability to participate and resource their participation”. I know from talking to some of those iwi that there are mounting frustrations and a sense of hopelessness. We see that with the threats of litigation and with iwi going to courts or to the Waitangi Tribunal in order to have their frustrations resolved which surely cannot make for a smooth pathway forward. The Minister ordered a halt—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: No—this bill.PEENI HENARE: Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. The Minister ordered a halt to negotiations in Hauraki because he does not negotiate with iwi who are in litigation against the Crown. I am speaking directly to the wider Tāmaki-makau-rau rohe and I do so in respect of this bill because of the large competing interests and indeed the politicisation of many of the aspects of settlements in Tāmaki-makau-rau.It is a well-known fact that there are claims being made across wider Tāmaki-makau-rau and I do want to applaud Te Kawerau ā Maki for their efforts in establishing their mana whenua which is set out in this bill. It also acknowledges the apology from the Crown. It also does provide scope for Te Kawerau ā Maki to realise parts of tino rangatiratanga over what is their customary rights to many of the lands significant names and places throughout Te Kawerau ā Maki and Tāmaki-makau-rau.However in this particular contribution I do want to have a look at what does this bill mean moving forward not only for Te Kawerau ā Maki but for many of the tribes in the Tāmaki-makau-rau—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I just want to draw the member’s attention to the fact that what he has given so far is essentially a general debate speech holding the Government to account in respect of the pace of Treaty settlements. He is at liberty to do that in that forum. This particular forum is discussing the Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill. I guess I am indicating to the member that I have given him about as much latitude as I am prepared to give in relation to that tenor of his debate. Now he should concentrate on the Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill.PEENI HENARE: Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. The Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill—although I acknowledge that there has been some rigorous debate and some very staunch opposition to some of the aspects of the bill I do commend the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and also Te Kawerau ā Maki for coming to agreement around as I have already mentioned some of the names of some of the geographical areas within Te Kawerau ā Maki which is indicated in the bill and also the effect that is given to Te Kawerau ā Maki to establish mana whenua.Now mana whenua—we know there are several aspects of that which the Crown acknowledges carries the weight of mana whenua. One of those is a customary right or a traditional right and the other one is of marae and continued settlement. So the bill does provide for Te Kawerau ā Maki to have a marae to get that recognition. I do want to say just as I wrap up my contribution on this particular part that other iwi in Tāmaki-makau-rau also celebrate with Te Kawerau ā Maki at this point in time and it is evidenced by the faces who are sitting up in the gallery.Nō reira kāti ake! E te Whare ka whakaaro ake ahau mō ngā kōrero o te rōia rongonui a Moana Jackson e pā ana ki ngā take Tiriti i te wā nei. Hei tāna mō Te Tiriti o Waitangi ahakoa kua tatū te nuinga o ngā kerēme nā ko Te Kawerau ā Maki i te rā nei ehara tēnei i te whakataha ake i ngā take Tiriti otirā i te taonga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi mō ngā tau e haere ake nei. Ki a koutou e Te Kawerau ā Maki kei te pūare tonu ngā kuaha ki a koutou ki roto i ōku tari katoa o Tāmaki-makau-rau tae noa mai ki te tari i roto i tēnei Whare māku koutou e āwhina atu i roto i ō koutou mahi whakatutuki i ō koutou moemoeā i mua i a koutou otirā i mua i a tātau o Tāmaki-makau-rau. E te Whare ete Māngai o te Whare kāti ki atātau tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora tātou katoa.[So enough! In regard to Treaty matters today I think about statements made by that well-known lawyer Moana Jackson. According to him while the majority of claims are settled such as the Te Kawerau ā Maki one today it does not mean that Treaty matters—indeed Treaty effects—are being put to one side to be dealt with in years to come. He said to Te Kawerau ā Makithat the doors to all my offices in Auckland remain open to you all including to the office in this House. I will help you in your efforts to realise your aspirations that are before you and indeed before us in Auckland. So enough. To us the House and the Deputy Speaker of the House acknowledgments greetings and congratulations to you and to us all collectively.]