Tirikatene Rino: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Tirikatene Rino: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 18 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3728. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Ata marie. Tena koe e te Kaiwhakahaere a tena koutou e te Whare. Tena koutou Rongowhakaata me nga uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi nga mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. 
[ 
A peaceful morning. Greetings to you Mr Speaker and to you collectively the House. Acknowledgments to you collectively Rongowhakaata and descendants of Te Kooti Rikirangi salutations to you all 
.] 
I am delighted to speak at this the second reading of the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill. I would like to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations for all his work with his officials in promoting this bill and I would also like to acknowledge the work of our Maori Affairs Committee under our— 
Michael Woodhouse 
: Outstanding. 
RINO TIRIKATENE 
: —outstanding chair my whanaunga from the north the Hon Tau Henare. He is a great captain of our Maori rugby team that we are in the Maori Affairs Committee. Before I make my brief contribution in this part— 
Hon Chris Tremain 
: Come and join us next Sunday up in Palmerston North. 
RINO TIRIKATENE 
: Ha ha! Being part of the Maori Affairs Committee is such an honour because we got to travel to Turanga to actually hear from Rongowhakaata and Ngai Tamanuhiri and other submitters. It was surprisingly probably one of the quickest select committee hearings I think in the history of the Maori Affairs Committee. The word that came through really from the haukainga was for us to do our work expeditiously and to really encourage us to put this bill through the House so I do not intend to prolong the process. 
I want to just actually tautoko what my matua here Parekura Horomia mentioned. This is a very dark history of our country—dark dastardly deeds that were carried out by the Karauna against Rongowhakaata—and it is very important that the acknowledgments are made. That has been very clearly set out in the deed of settlement and also in the bill. Also it is important that there is a Crown apology and that again is set out in the bill. Then we go on to the elements of the redress the cultural and commercial redress. But the history is very dark indeed. I just need to mention the name Waerenga a Hika and the raids or military attacks there; Ngatapa and the executions and the like that were carried out there; and then also the indefinite detentions of prisoners that were taking place on far away places such as Wharekauri Rekohu—the Chatham Islands. I do marvel at the fact that those who were detained made their way all the way back from all the way over in the Chatham Islands. It is a very remote part of Aotearoa so it just goes to show the great drive and commitment that those descendants of Rongowhakaata had even though they were so far away from home. 
I want to pick up on what this bill represents. The passage of this bill as touched on by Minister Turia represents new beginnings. I think that yes it is very important that we as a country acknowledge the history—and the Crown acknowledges the history—of the colonisation of our country and the grievous acts that were inflicted upon our various iwi hapu and whanau right across the motu. That is very important but also what is very important—and this is the very encouraging part for me being a new member of this House—is to see the recapitalisation of our iwi groups right around the motu. It does mark a new beginning and an exciting future ahead as we heard yesterday from the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in the Maori Affairs Committee. I look at my own whanau down south and at Ngai Tahu—from a $150 million settlement they have been able to actually re-establish a very broad presence across Te Wai Pounamu and also increase the tribal putea for the benefits of future generations and that is what it is all about. 
So I look forward to seeing Rongowhakaata being a major force in the Turanga economy. I know they were real experts in gardening and the maritime trade right across to Australia so it is going to be exciting to see the future as it unfolds. I do acknowledge the likes of Stan Pardoe who has been driving this process along right the way through for Rongowhakaata. I have had the honour of dealing with him. We have seen the Maori economy grow among our historical groups our recapitalised tribal groups yet they are widely represented within the Rongowhakaata whanau. 
That concludes my contribution and I commend this bill to the House.