Paraone Pita: Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:590. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First):Ā tēnā koe tēnā anō tātou Te Whare. Ē aku rangatira aku whanaunga karanga maha o Te Tai Tokerau e kī nei tēnā pito arā ko Muriwhenua ēngari i raro o te kaupapa o te pire nei Te Hiku nā reira nau mai haere mai. Kei te tū ake ki te tautoko i ngā mihi i mihingia e waku tuākana ki te whakatau i a koutou ki Te Whare nei kia kite atu i a koutou i te urunga mai o tā koutou pire i whakapāha Te Karauna ki wana mahi ki wā tātou mātua tūpuna nā reira nau mai haere mai.[Thank you and greetings once again to us the House. To my chiefs and my relatives of many callings of Northland which that end say is Muriwhenua but under the policy of this bill is Te Hiku I welcome you so welcome. I rise to endorse the tributes my seniors accorded you when they welcomed you to this House and to acknowledge your presence here at the arrival of your bill whereby the Crown apologises for its action against our ancestral grandparents. So welcome welcome.]It is a pleasure to be able to stand in this House at this time as part of the introduction and the first reading of the Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill. In so doing I recognise all the iwi of Te Hiku. Can I say that when I came into this world I came at a time when we were as children reminded that there were five iwi of Te Tai Tokerau. But it would seem to me that what we should have been told is that there are five iwi of Muriwhenua and today this bill recognises that. Can I say that it is part of this whole claims process that the recognition of the five iwi in Te Hiku known to some of us as Muriwhenua has come to fruition and is recognised by the Crown in this legislation.In so doing I stand with some sadness because I am old enough to remember some members of Muriwhenua who were responsible and who were recognised as leaders of their time and have since passed on and as part of that leadership we had the Te Aupōuri Māori Trust Board. And when I talk about the Te Aupōuri Māori Trust Board I am mindful of Jack King Walter Te Pania Ricki Ētana Mānuera including George Wītana Haki Campbell Rima Edwards Matiu Wiki; all who have passed on; all who are descended from or related to those who gave their lives in defence of this country. It is appropriate that we have the grandson of a child of Muriwhenua who returned leading the Māori Battalion back to these shores. At this stage I want to recognise the sole surviving member of A Company. Nā reira e Hare ahakoa horekau koe kei waenganui i a tātou i te rā nei e noho tonu koe ki te wā kāinga. Tēnei te mihi atu ki a koe mō tō kaha. [Therefore despite your absence amongst us here today Hare you remain at home. I salute you for your stamina.]I make mention of Mr Charlie Pētera the sole surviving member of A Company of the 28th Māori Battalion. I see in the bill that there is reference to Te Rerenga Wairua and we have heard today from various speakers of the significance of that area to Māori. It is where the spirits depart this world. I know that Mr Pētera would like to see the establishment or the erection of a memorial to the 28th Māori Battalion soldiers who gave their lives in defence of our country. I am hoping that as a consequence of this bill and the co-management—and not tino rangatiratanga as my tuakana said but the co-management—that consideration and approval be given to that notion.We have talked about leadership and I have to acknowledge those who have been responsible for bringing this bill to this House at this time. I know from my experience that that has not been an easy and simple journey. I can recall my father telling me when I was elected as chairman of that great iwi in the north Ngāti Hine—when I became chairman of the rūnanga he said: “Boy never forget to look behind you from time to time because if there’s no one behind you then you’ve got to ask yourself who you are leading.” For those who have brought this bill to this House at this stage whether or not you carry on the task of leading your people is something that your people will determine. But I acknowledge the endeavour—the sacrifice—that you have made to bring this bill to this stage.A feature of all these settlements is the lack of recognition by the Crown of the iwi of the time and their entitlement to protection under the Treaty of Waitangi. This bill goes a long way towards addressing a lot of the issues confronting the people of Te Hiku. I am mindful of Rima Edwards who some years ago had applied to the Government to have the name of Ninety Mile Beach revert to its original name Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe and that was declined. Yet throughout this bill that name has been recognised and so I am mindful of the work that Rima did in this area.I am also a little bit saddened that my whanaunga both Hone Harawira and Shane Jones are not in the House to be able to talk to this bill. I know that without any doubt both were very passionate about seeing this bill come to fruition. And although they would have been approached by those who do not support the bill in the way that it has been presented at least they knew that they had representation in this House.I do not want to go through the historical account but the fact that the history has been recognised and is now within this bill means that it will go on record and provide for generations to come a record of the efforts that their ancestors have made to rectify what has always been rightfully theirs.At this time I am mindful of the Rev. Kīngi Īhaka and the waiata “Toro Mai Tō Ringa” the extension of your hand. Without any doubt the people of Te Hiku have done that to the Crown. They have extended that arm knowing full well that this settlement will go nowhere near to fulfilling their entitlement. I think that like all other iwi who come to this House seeking a settlement the people of Te Hiku know that they are not able to get their full entitlement but having said that I commend this bill to the House. New Zealand First will certainly be supporting its referral to the Māori Affairs Committee. I hope that those who feel that they have not had their concerns heard will take the opportunity of exercising their rights through the select committee process to bring their concerns to the House.Nā reira e tātau mā koinā nō ngā kōrero mō tēnei tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora mai anō tātou.[There you are my collective those are the sentiments about this so acknowledgments and congratulations to you collectively and my appreciation to us all once again.]