Tirikatene Rino: Te Atiawa Claims Settlement Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTirikatene Rino: Te Atiawa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9752. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker ā tēnā koutou e Te Whare. E Te Atiawa tēnā koutou; nau mai haere mai ki Te Whare Pāremata e takatū nei. Nau mai haere mai ki te whakatutuki I ngā wawata ō rātou mā. He rā nui tēnei he rā whakahirahira.Ka huri ki a rātou kua whetūrangitia haere koutou haere koutou. Hoki mai ki a tātou te hunga ora ki a koutou ngā rangatira huri rauna I Te Whare tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and acknowledgments to you the House collectively. Greetings to you Te Atiawa salutations and welcome; welcome to the House of Parliament standing here in readiness. Welcome and welcome to the fulfilment of the aspirations of those others. This is a great and magnificent day.My thoughts turn to those who have passed away and have become immortalised in the night sky. You the deceased journey on depart. I come back now to us the living and to you esteemed ones throughout the House; greetings commendations and congratulations to you collectively and to us all.]Kia ora Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to be able to speak at the first reading of this very significant Treaty settlement bill. Can I acknowledge Te Atiawa and those who have travelled from far and wide to come to the House today to witness this historic occasion. We are dealing with Te Atiawa ki Taranaki but as we all know the diaspora of Te Atiawa spreads far and wide far and wide: from Taranaki to Kāpiti to Porirua to Pōneke/Wellington to the top of the South Island—Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Māui—and stretches all the way over to the Chatham Islands. I have the great pleasure of being a servant to the extended whānau of Te Atiawa in looking after the tūranga of Te Tai Tonga. Can I acknowledge my predecessor who is sitting there the Hon Mahara Okeroa—you are gracing us with your presence in the House today. Tēnā koe e te rangatira.This is a significant bill. I want to encompass the totality of Te Atiawa because of all of the whanaunga connections that bind iwi and all the hapū together. I know that people have travelled from far and wide and it is wonderful that they could be here today. I like to draw on my own connections to things and when I think of Te Atiawa I think of my cousins in Waitara the Tirikatenes and Baileys who are part of the Ōtaraua hapū. My Uncle Charles worked the land and was a very very distinguished Māori Farmer of the Year on two occasions and helped establish Parinihinihi ki Waitotara Inc. I do think of all of those things.I also think back to my grandfather who came into this House in 1932—that was a while ago. He came in as an independent Rātana MP. In his maiden speech he specifically referred to the grievances of the Taranaki people. That was one of the main foci of his mahi—to make sure that those grievances were addressed. It has taken a while—it has taken a while but here we are in 2016 and we are at the first reading for Te Atiawa. Do I have a long call Mr Deputy Speaker? I am not sure.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: You do.RINO TIRIKATENE: I do. Oh thank you. I will make sure I extend it out. I do think back to all of those who have gone before and all of the work that goes into these settlements. I have had the privilege of being part of this parliamentary process that we go through formerly as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee considering these bills. It definitely is humbling to acknowledge first and foremost the history and the grievances that are acknowledged through these settlement bills.I do not need to traverse all of the history. I think the most important thing is that the history is documented in black and white and that it is acknowledged by the Crown and the apologies are there as well. Although those might be words on the statute book it means a lot to Te Atiawa whānau whose generations of whānau have had to carry that burden carry the hurt and the mamae [pain]. If there are any real powerful words Māori power words that are on the negative side they would be te muru me te raupatu [the plundering and confiscation]. To have that inflicted upon an iwi is the ultimate of grievances. These people have suffered through that.We are fortunately here at this stage on this occasion addressing these matters and we do it in a very positive proactive and congenial way. I acknowledge all the members of the Māori Affairs Committee who will be considering this bill and no doubt will be going to Taranaki to hear submitters on the bill. From there I am sure more kōrero will come forth. In the meantime I acknowledge my tuakana Kelvin and his speech today. We must never downplay the hurt and the significance of the muru me te raupatu that took place.I was just looking at the New Zealand Government questions and answers on these settlements. They do not talk about anything like that. All they talk about is: what is the cost to the Crown? Is any private land involved? Are the public’s rights affected? Do they have the right to come back in the future? Those questions and answers are tailored to an audience that I believe really needs to know the full historical background to these claims settlements. Although this might put at ease certain private property owners or those who are concerned about the fiscal cost to the Government I am so pleased today that all the speakers in the House have been able to cover in great depth the history the background and the hurt that has been inflicted on our Te Atiawa whānau.I just want to conclude by once again acknowledging Te Atiawa who have come here. I believe that this is—no there are more settlements to come through Taranaki because we have to address the maunga I understand and Parihaka as well. This is one aspect of Te Atiawa—just one aspect. Obviously we have had Te Tau Ihu settled. We have had Port Nicholson settled. I believe Kāpiti and Porirua are in progress. This is just one aspect of the wider Treaty settlement for Te Atiawa and it certainly is a pleasure to be able to speak at this first reading. I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora tātou.