Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm pleased to rise to speak as the member of Parliament for Southland and as National's Treaty negotiations spokesperson on this first reading of Te Rohe o Rongokako Joint Redress Bill. To Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne: ahakoa kei hea koutou poipoiā e tēnei whenua e tēnei motu o Aotearoa he mihi tēnei ki a koutou. Wherever the descendants of Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne may be may they be cared for by this land and this country of Aotearoa New Zealand.I acknowledge all those who are watching these proceedings and I extend my warmest greetings to one and all. The National Party supports this bill at first reading and we look forward to it progressing through to the Māori Affairs Committee which I am on and I'm looking forward to hearing the submissions from members of Rangitāne Ngāti Kahungunu and the community.This bill Te Rohe o Rongokako Joint Redress Bill will give effect to specific cultural redress shared between Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne and provided for in the respective deeds of settlement. It excludes redress for each of the settlements as provided for in the respective settlement legislation as required. The respective Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu settlement legislation will settle all the historical claims of each group.Ngāti Kahungunu has a population of approximately 12000 people and consists of two of the six taiwhenua regions that make up the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi: Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua. The Ngāti Kahungunu area of interest spans from Cape Turnagain down to Cape Palliser and encompasses the wider Wairarapa and Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua regions.Rangitāne is an iwi of approximately 3000 people. The Rangitāne area of interest spans from Mākaramu near Porangahau down to Cape Palliser and encompasses the wider Wairarapa and Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua regions. I'll just make a personal note here as I was born in Waipukurau and I spent a small part of my childhood in Porangahau so I'm quite familiar with the area. Kia ora.This bill recognises that while Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne are different groups and trace descent from different eponymous ancestors they are also closely interconnected. Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne share whakapapa and hapū affiliations throughout the Wairarapa and Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua regions. The term joint redress iwi" is used to refer to Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne in this bill.Following nine weeks of hearings between March 2004 and March 2005 the Waitangi Tribunal released the Wairarapa ki Tararua report in June 2010 at Te Ore Ore Marae in Masterton. The report covered 28 claims filed by members of Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne hapū and other claimant groups. The inquiry district covered the south-eastern corner of the North Island inland to the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges and northward to southern Hawke's Bay. The claims investigated by the Waitangi Tribunal concerning Wairarapa ki Tararua covered the Crown's purchase of land including land around Wairarapa Moana and the compulsory acquisition of Māori land for public works.The grievances of Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne included the Crown's acquisition of vast areas of land and its failure to ensure that adequate reserves were protected in their ownership; and the Crown's failure to provide ample reserves near Lake Wairarapa as it had agreed under the tuku rangatira of the lakes; and the Crown's failure to protect the iwi from virtual landlessness and from the erosion of their tribal structures the social deprivation that resulted from that and the loss of te reo Māori. Both Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne have gone on to negotiate conclude and ratify their respective settlement agreements with the Crown. Joint redress was agreed between the Crown Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne as part of their respective negotiations.Various provisions in this bill provide for shared cultural redress. Cultural redress is intended to recognise the cultural historical and traditional association of Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu within the areas of interest. The bill recognises the Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu statements of association with land describes the underlying values and principles associated with that land and identifies actions to protect the land. The bill also jointly vests shared properties which are specified in Schedule 3 of the bill. Additionally the bill provides for the making of regulations under the Fisheries Act 1996 for management of customary fishing in the Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River catchment.The respective deeds of settlement provide that the Crown the Ministry for Primary Industries the Ngāti Kahungunu settlement trust and the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust are committed to working collectively to explore the development of customary fisheries regulations for Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River catchment.A unique arrangement in this settlement is the Wairarapa Moana framework. The bill establishes an inclusive governance structure that includes representatives of both iwi the Ministry of Conservation the Greater Wellington Regional Council and the South Wairarapa District Council. This structure the Wairarapa Moana Statutory Board will act as a guardian of the Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River catchment for the benefit of present and future generations by administering the Wairarapa Moana reserves for the purposes set out in the Reserves Act 1977 and the joint redress legislation including the protection and enhancement of their cultural spiritual and ecological values. It also will be the manager of the Wairarapa Moana marginal strips. It will provide leadership on the sustainable management of the Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River catchment and promote the restoration protection and enhancement of the social economic cultural environmental and spiritual health and wellbeing of Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River catchment as they relate to natural resources.The settlement redress is to be managed for the benefit of all members of Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne wherever they live. Importantly the bill also provides that the overlay classification does not affect the lawful rights or interests of a person who is not a party to the deed of settlement.The title of this bill Te Rohe o Rongokako Joint Redress Bill refers to a rohe-wide committee established by iwi in the 19th century under the Maori Council's Act 1900 to address health and welfare issues among their people. This joint redress legislation recognises the enduring bonds that exist between Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu. It is important that a settlement process enhances rather than jeopardises those bonds.Last year after Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust board took an urgent application to the Waitangi Tribunal—it was asked to review the Crown's actions in failing to engage with Rangitāne regarding the additional redress of Wairarapa Moana in the Ruamāhanga River and alleged breaches of its commitments to Rangitāne in its deed of settlement. The Waitangi Tribunal found that the Crown had failed in its Treaty duty of good faith to Rangitāne. It did not continue to negotiate with them about Wairarapa Moana in good faith as required by clause 7.6 of the Rangitāne deed of settlement and it breached the principle of whanaungatanga knowing the nature of the engagement and relationship between the two groups in the past and the Crown's historical errors putting Rangitāne interests under those of Ngāti Kahungunu. The Crown should have taken active steps to ensure that the relationship between them was not harmed by its approach to shared or joint redress.In view of these findings the Waitangi Tribunal recommended the Crown pause the introduction of settlement legislation to take steps to rectify its Treaty breaches around the joint redress concerning Wairarapa Moana and the Ruamāhanga River help Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu to work together to ensure that the further redress and processes do not jeopardise the relationship and to do so before any matters that were concluded about redress concerning the Wairarapa Moana and Ruamāhanga River.I look forward to examining this bill as I said at the outset of my speech at the Māori Affairs Committee and hearing from the relevant parties and importantly from Ngāti Kahungunu and I should say from Rangitāne. I hope that we have an opportunity to visit as well and we have had with COVID lately a lot of appearances where we've had to do it on Zoom and I certainly hope in this new environment that we can actually come and visit and do it kanohi ki te kanohi.So with that I recommend this bill to the House at this first reading and I look forward to the progress of it through this House."