Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill, Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill – Cognate bills; first readings

Hon Tariana Turia

Tuesday 17 May 2011

I move that the Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill, Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time.

Mai te uranga o te ra ki te tonga o te ra; ko nga iwi e toru
Me o ratou take tiriti e tu nei ki mua i te Whare Paremata
No reira, mai e te Waiapu ki Mohaka whiti atu ki te awa o Waipa, e uri katoa o enei iwi.
Tena koutou, a tena koutou katoa

I intend to move, at the appropriate time, that these three bills be considered by the Maori Affairs Committee, and that the Committee report finally to the House.

* on or before 30 June 2011 on the Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill

and

* on or before 30 August 2011 on the Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill, and

* for all three Bills that the Committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting, except during oral questions, and during any evening on a day which there has been a sitting of the House, and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House, and to meet outside the Wellington area during a sitting of the House, despite Standing Orders 187, 189 (a) and 109 (1) (b) and (c).

Mr Speaker, today is a significant day for these three iwi – it provides an important opportunity to build for the future and move ahead.

This Bill represents a monumental milestone in their development – it is about mending a broken relationship – and critically, it is about agreeing to the signposts of a better future for all.

The relationships that are core to the heart of Maniapoto, Ngati Porou and Ngati Pahauwera are given meaning in the agreements set forth.

They will enable the iwi to grow, for their future descendants to be nurtured in their heritage and their history; and they provide a living, working partnership model for the benefit of their people, their rohe, and the Crown. I mihi to them all for the courage they have shown in forging a new era ahead.

The Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill formalises the enduring relationship of Maniapoto with the Waipa River.

It is a relationship that is based on profound respect and gives rise to responsibilities to protect te mana o te wai and to exercise kaitiakitanga in accordance with the long established tikanga of Maniapoto.

To Maniapoto the Waipa is a taonga, a sacred river where the tohi rituals were performed, where the umbilical rites were observed, and where the purification rituals were undertaken.

Indeed, for Maniapoto, Waipa is the river who chants her farewell to the departed ones, the river whose murmuring waters bid welcome to the newborn and to visitors from afar.

Today, under this Bill, Maniapoto achieves co-management arrangements specific to the Waipa River and its catchment.

The arrangements are extended to the headwaters of the Waipa River at Pekepeke Spring in the Rangitoto ranges.

The overarching intent is to restore and maintain the quality and integrity of the waters that flow into and form part of the Waipa river for present and future generations and the care and protection of the mana tuku iho o Waiwaia.

Waiwaia refers to the essence and wellbeing of the Waipa River. To Maniapoto, Waiwaia is the personification of the waters of the Waikato River co-management deeds with Ngati Tuwharetoa, Raukawa and Te Arawa River iwi. Together they establish a single, unified co-governance framework for both the Waipa River and the Waikato River.

For these reasons a shortened consideration of the Bill is both feasible and desirable.

Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill

I now turn to the Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill as the second of the three bills introduced into the house.

Mr Speaker, the grievances of Ngati Porou are significant and longstanding.

They emerge out of the Crown’s failure to honour its Treaty promise to respect Ngati Porou rangatiratanga over their own affairs; from Potikirua in the north, to the mouth of the Turanganui River, in the south.

The Crown imposed land tenure reform on Ngati Porou which deprived iwi members of collective control over their land, and made it difficult to utilise their land for economic development. This has helped to make the East Coast one of the most socio-economically deprived regions of New Zealand; a legacy which endures to this day.

While it is not possible to fully compensate Ngati Porou, nor indeed any claimant group, for the loss their people have suffered, the cultural redress in this bill seeks to recognise Ngati Porou’s longstanding cultural and spiritual association in the region.

It is both innovative and strategic – the vesting of sites of cultural and historical significance; a strategic partnership over specific public conservation lands within the rohe; a financial settlement of $110 million, a commitment by the Crown and Ngati Porou to develop a Relationship Accord – and much more.

Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill

Finally I speak on the third Bill introduced into the House, the Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill.

Ngati Pahauwera is a confederation of hapu with historical interests in northern Hawkes Bay. The claims of Ngati Pahauwera had sufficient lands for its future needs during the process of land alienation that began in the 1850s.

By the mid twentieth century Ngati Pahauwera was virtually landless and ever since they have suffered economic, social and cultural impoverishment.

During the New Zealand wars the Crown provided only minimal assistance to help Ngati Pahauwera recover from a brutal attack on their pa and kainga even though the area had been left virtually defenseless because Ngati Pahauwera warriors were away with the Crown’s forces.

The redress provided to Ngati Pahauwera can never compensate them for what has been lost. It is vital that the agreement reached with Ngati Pahauwera, which is embodied in the Bill, will enhance the relationship between the Crown and Ngati Pahauwera into the future.

The Bill includes provisions that enable cultural redress to be provided to Ngati Pahauwera, including: the vesting of Te Heru o Tureia and 14 other cultural redress properties; the transfer of five former Wairoa District Council properties to Ngati Pahauwera; and licensed land within Mohaka Forest are but a portion of the significant advances made today in their settlement.

Mr Speaker, this Bill signifies the closing of one door and the opening of another – leaving the door slightly ajar so that we may always remember the history that has brought us to this point.

I celebrate the iwi who have done so much to create a new partnership arrangement – who have invested in the potential and the challenge of leading themselves forward into a future that is well within their reach.

Mr Speaker, I consider that the Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill, Ngati Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngati Pahauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill should therefore proceed without delay to the Maori Affairs Committee.

I commend this Bill to the House.