Henare Tau: Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Tau: Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 17 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9528. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TAU HENARE (National): I want to start by reciting recital 2 in the preamble to the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill: “Waitaha are an ancient iwi who descend from Hei and his son Waitaha who arrived on the waka Te Arawa. Their area of interest extends from Waimapu to Mauao along the coastline to Maketu and inland to Ōtanewainuku. By the 1840s Waitaha primarily occupied the land between Tauranga harbour and Te Puke. During the 1840s and 1850s the Waitaha leader and prophet Hakaraia preached peaceful engagement with Pākehā.” I want to now go to recital 12 of the preamble: “By the end of the 19th century Waitaha were virtually landless and had insufficient resources to sustain themselves. According to Waitaha this forced some members of the iwi to follow other tribal affiliations. Waitaha express this impact in the whakataukī ‘Kō Waitaha te iwi he tangata ngākaurua’: Waitaha was once a powerfultribe but because of the loss of land they became fragmented and have never been able to unite again:”.Through a natural process iwi morph into other identities as time goes by. If left to happen naturally it is a wonderful thing. I think there would be maybe only two or three people in this House who know of the big iwi Ngare-raumati. It does not exist any more as we know it. It morphed into another entity. What I am saying is that there is a natural move over time into other identities and entities such as Ngāpuhi such as other tribes. So when I saw this settlement I thought: “Oh Waitaha down in the South Island is getting a settlement. I think that’s really cool.” but when I read further and further and further into it I did not realise that there was a Waitaha based in the Bay of Plenty. This is not one of those entities that takes a natural progression into something else. This happened because of its relationship with the Crown. When we look at it now it is beyond decimation. Their members whakapapa to other tribal districts and other tribes. They are very proud of their whakapapa their genealogy. But you are left with—and I hazard to use this term—genocide in a way. Do not freak out about the use of the word “genocide”. It happened.Hon Dr Pita Sharples: It’s just genocide.Hon TAU HENARE: You know it is just genocide. We should accept that that is actually what happened.But more to the point how do we resolve their hurt their decimation? It is through these things that we begin to I suppose start again. I think it is a wonderful thing that iwi Māori do remember where they come from. I am sure that there are people who do not realise that Awanuiārangi is a tipuna of the north. Kahungunu was born in the north. All these sorts of famous people being born in the north—[Interruption] Oh sorry bro. It is part of the history of our land and this is just part of that story. I am pleased that our Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson and Uncle Pita have actually worked fastidiously trying to bring together a deal that is acceptable to the Government is acceptable to iwi and is acceptable to the members of this House.I just want to mention Catherine Delahunty’s speech. We could have some real fun looking at ways of how to pay—truly pay—for the recompense. We could take the tax off the tobacco industry. There are all sorts of nice little ways we could do it but we have decided that this is the way to do it. I think everybody understands that it is not enough but it is a hell of a start on the road to recovery for a people like Waitaha. I will not take any more time other than to say congratulations to the Ministers congratulations to this House and also congratulations to Waitaha on opening another door that may lead to them getting back to where they once were a while back. Kia ora.