Upston Louise: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
Upston Louise: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14399] 
LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupo) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa. Tena koutou nga iwi rangatira o te Awa o Waikato. Tena koutou i nga ahuatanga o te wa. No reira e te Ariki Tumu te Heuheu e Te Arawa Raukawa ma tena koutou katoa. No reira e te Whare Miere tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Deputy Speaker. Greetings to the leaders of the Waikato River in respect of the circumstances of the day. Greetings to you Paramount Chief Tumu te Heuheu and to Te Arawa Raukawa and the others greetings to you all. So greetings to you all the House. 
] 
As the member of Parliament for the Taupo electorate I am thrilled to see representatives here from Tuwharetoa Ngati Raukawa and Te Arawa. The settlement of the upper Waikato claim is significant to the communities that I work hard to represent. The Government is delivering on promises to complete final durable settlements of all remaining historical Treaty of Waitangi grievances by 2014. Just this Monday I met with a group in Cambridge who asked that very question: when would the settlements all be completed? I assured them that our Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson is making fantastic progress with these settlements. It is important to note that the settlements recognise the wrongs of the past but more important they allow iwi to realise their economic potential. The settlements provide an economic boost to the communities in which the iwi reside which in turn is an investment in the wider communities thereby creating jobs and wealth in our communities. 
The Waikato River connects my constituents from Taupo Atiamuri Whakamaru Mangakino Arapuni and Karapiro and that is why I am thrilled to stand and support this bill. As other speakers have said this bill gives effect to the co-governance and co-management arrangements agreed with each iwi and more important creates the Waikato River clean-up fund—$210 million that will be distributed over a 30-year period. The bill comes into force once the scoping study on the clean-up priorities has been completed. 
The Waikato River supplies 13 percent of New Zealand’s electricity generation. Just last week I was at the Mighty River Power annual general meeting at Karapiro and the point I want to make is that it was interesting to see the wide variety of groups attending that meeting. I think it gives a sense of the number of organisations to which the Waikato River is critical. Iwi were there as were Federated Farmers a range of tourism business operators neighbouring landowners and sports clubs as of course we have the World Rowing Championships soon; you name it they were there because the Waikato River has such critical importance to the whole of the Waikato region. 
As we have heard other speakers say the Waikato River is degraded and badly polluted. Over 80 point-source discharges go directly into the river. The Green member Dr Russel Norman talked a lot about pollution but unfortunately he did not talk a lot about some of the work that is already under way with the clean-up and I want to mention just a couple of examples. 
But first I will come back to the comments made by Nanaia Mahuta about iwi farming businesses leading the way in New Zealand. I was pleased to be at the Ahuwhenua Trophy - Bank of New Zealand Maori Excellence in Farming competition when the Waipapa Trust took out the award. The trust is in this area and I pay tribute to the excellence of the farming businesses that Tuwharetoa undertake. 
I come back to the issue of pollution. I was at a recent lakes and waterways meeting that the Lake Taupo Protection Trust presented at and they talked about what they have done to date in relation to the reduction of nitrogen which of course is a critical part of reducing the pollution into Lake Taupo that has a downstream impact. Also another business in Tokoroa in my electorate Blue Pacific Minerals recently opened a larger premise. One of the minerals it extracts in my electorate is being used in the clean-up projects on the rivers in Rotorua. I am convinced that work that has been done in our communities will also assist in the clean-up of our rivers. Obviously we are doing work in Lake Taupo and the focus now has to go on to the Waikato River. It is critical to our local economy. It has been in the past and it will be in the future. I met recently with the South Waikato District Council Mayor Neil Sinclair who has recently been re-elected—and congratulations to him—about the economic development opportunities arising in the district. Many of those have an involvement with and touch in some way the Waikato River so it is important that all of those factors are taken into consideration. 
This Government is providing clear direction and certainty around co-governance and co-management of the Waikato River. We are providing more than words for the concept of partnership that is inherent in the Treaty of Waitangi. I was in Te Kuiti with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations for the signing with Ngati Maniapoto. For me that was a historic moment as I was the witnessing signature on those documents. It was a proud day indeed. Our Government has signed eight deeds of settlement and that is a result I am proud of just as this is a bill I am proud of. Kia ora. Ka mutu.