Ross Jami-Lee: Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Ross Jami-Lee: Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1522] 
JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany) 
: 
 I am pleased to take my second call in the House today to speak on one of the Treaty settlement claim bills that we have before us this one being the Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill. I wish to start as many other speakers have by acknowledging the people here today from Ngati Pahauwera—the kaumatua the kuia the people who have fought for many years for redress of the wrongs of the past who have been through a battle through the days of the past to seek rights to correct the wrongs of the past. It is good to see them here today. I am pleased that this House is considering another Treaty bill—one of the 22 deeds of settlement that have been signed since 2008 by the Hon Chris Finlayson. It is great that we are considering so many of these historical issues today because they are important issues for many people in this country. As a nation as we mature we have to recognise that significant wrongs were committed and we have to make sure that going forward we acknowledge those. We put in place measures to compensate for those issues and we acknowledge that the Crown has not always done right by the people of New Zealand.  
Reading through the deed of settlement there are some alarming facts in there but it is good that those facts are being acknowledged as wrongs of the past—things like early land transactions that led to thousands and thousands of hectares of land being lost by Ngati Pahauwera. There were the effects of the wars in the past where we saw dozens and dozens of Ngati Pahauwera men women and children killed during attacks on Mohaka and the lack of assistance by the Crown to help Ngati Pahauwera recover. We saw the economic and social consequences of that lack of action by the Crown which has affected Ngati Pahauwera. We have seen the Crown which has received assistance from Ngati Pahauwera in the past not fulfilling its own obligations back to Ngati Pahauwera. One of the most significant things in any Treaty settlement is the Crown apology and it is good to see that that Crown apology exists for this Treaty settlement as it has for all other Treaty settlements. It is also pleasing to see that Ngati Pahauwera has accepted that apology from the Crown because not until the two parties both one apologise and the other accept that apology can we move forward.  
I know from my time in local government and dealing with certain iwi in my own particular area that one of the most significant things for any Maori people is not necessarily the financial redress that comes through a Treaty settlement; it is also the recognition of cultural wrongs of the past and also the loss of land. I am pleased to see that Ngati Pahauwera will be receiving and subsequently gifting back to the people of New Zealand a large portion of Te Heru o Tureia conservation area. It is very generous of Ngati Pahauwera to gift that back to the people of New Zealand and I say thank you to them for that.  
On the website of Ngati Pahauwera they make a very significant comment—it is a saying I would suggest. It goes like this: “As Old Father Thames is to the Londoner as the Ganges is sacred to the Indian as the Jordan is spiritual to the Palestines so is the Mohaka all these things to Ngati Pahauwera.” The fact that this bill addresses provisions for Ngati Pahauwera in relation to Mohaka is also a very good thing. I hope that going forward the issues that have been addressed in this Treaty settlement and the provisions that the Crown is making towards Ngati Pahauwera help Ngati Pahauwera succeed for many years to come in the future and I wish them the best of luck.