First Reading Speech, Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill

Today we turn south from Te Whanganui ā Tara.
We look across Raukawa Moana.
Past the resting place of Te Wheke a Muturangi.
To the lands of Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka a Māui.
The prow of the great canoe of Māui Tikitiki a Taranga.

It is my honour to welcome to this house the sons and daughters of:

• Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō
• Ngāti Kuia
• Rangitāne o Wairau
• Ngāti Kōata
• Ngāti Rārua
• Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu
• Te Ātiawa o Te Waka ā Maui
• Ngāti Toa Rangatira

Mr Speaker, all eight iwi of Te Tau Ihu had valid, customary rights that should have been protected, honoured and guaranteed by the Treaty of Waitangi when it was signed in 1840.
But within years of the Treaty being signed – the Crown illicitly acquired millions of hectares of Te Tau Ihu lands and resources. 

The Crown failed to obtain the full and free consent of the rightful landowners.

These massive land acquisitions were invalid in both British and Māori law.

They were clear breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Mr Speaker, we are here today because the Crown failed to protect, honour and guarantee the rights of Te Tau Ihu whānau.

For us in 2013 to even try to comprehend what this loss meant all those years ago and what it means today, we need to understand how Te Tau Ihu whānau were living at that time.

In the mid eighteen hundreds the waters around Nelson, Golden Bay, the Marlborough Sounds and Kapiti were the equivalent of our modern day motorways.
They were expressways for trade and the merchant ships, cutters and vessels plying the waters of Raukawa Moana were owned by the tangata whenua iwi of Te Tau Ihu.
The flax, pigs, tobacco, wheat, potatoes, timber and maize on board those iwi ships was grown on Te Tau Ihu lands, cultivated, harvested, and processed by Te Tau Ihu people.

They owned the lands, the storehouses and the ships that carried their produce throughout New Zealand and abroad.

Even before Europeans arrived on these shores the people of Te Tau Ihu were trading across Aotearoa.

When you take millions of acres from people, who have only ever known a life of enterprise and self-determination, Mr Speaker, you aren’t just taking away land. 
You devastate an entire way of life, you’re taking away an identity, you’re taking away a birth-right.

The Crown’s governors and officials acted ruthlessly, side-lining the Treaty and deliberately giving new settlers advantages over Māori. As a result, the Crown’s purchases left Te Tau Ihu Māori in poverty.

Today the Crown stands before the families of Te Tau Ihu and acknowledges the social, economic and cultural devastation carried by generations of families.

But through it all Mr Speaker, the peoples of Te Tau Ihu remained steadfast.  They remained at the helm of the waka of Māui and they did not leave.  Their identity was attacked but never destroyed.    Their way of life devastated but never wiped out.  In the face of incredible injustice – generations of Te Tau Ihu people have made an incredible contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand.  They always have.
Te Tau Ihu people in Golden Bay were the first iwi Māori to meet Europeans.

Archaeological evidence from this rohe proves our ancestor’s epic voyages were planned, purposeful and often return journeys.

Hemi Matenga of Wakapuaka literally connected New Zealand to the world in 1876, swimming out in dangerous conditions and dragging to shore our first undersea telecommunications cable.
Te Tau Ihu has produced countless Olympic champions, sports stars and All Black greats.

Māori businesses in this region are industry leaders across a range of sectors including wine, hospitality and tourism.

And who can forget that Te Tau Ihu leaders were at the forefront of the historic Foreshore and Seabed battle: an iconic moment for Māori who marched in our thousands to this Parliament on a freezing, cold day in 2004.

Mr Speaker, Te Tau Ihu people have always punched well above their weight when it comes to our country’s political, cultural, historical, economic and sporting history.
Today is another of those milestones.

Many of the things these people have lost due to the actions of the Crown can never be totally replaced.  And yet the people of Te Tau Ihu still wish to settle their grievances with honour and with mana.
Although only one Settlement Bill is being considered by Parliament today, the Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill gives effect to eight Deeds of Settlement.  This is an amazing milestone and a testament to the determination and leadership shown by the eight Te Tau Ihu iwi who have managed to overcome their differences to get to this point. 

The Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill will provide redress to the three Kurahaupō iwi - Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kuia and Rangitāne o Wairau. These three iwi signed their Deeds of Settlement in 2010 and for them, today has been a long time coming.  I acknowledge their patience and their pragmatism.  In a region with extremely overlapped iwi interests and where Crown redress was becoming increasingly scarce, the three Kurahaupō iwi have shown great leadership by foregoing their claims to forestry interests in exchange for other commercial redress.  This extremely bold decision unlocked the regional stalemate and enabled negotiations with other Te Tau Ihu groups to progress.

The Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill will also provide redress to the four Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga iwi- Ngāti Kōata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka a Māui. I also commend the patience and the resilience of the Tainui Taranaki iwi whose negotiations were put on hold while the Crown addressed other issues raised in Te Tau Ihu.

Last, but certainly not least, the Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill will settle the claims of Ngāti Toa Rangatira.  In many respects, the Ngāti Toa negotiations presented new challenges to the Crown, in particular because of the geographical spread of the rohe of Ngāti Toa, straddling both sides of Te Moana a Raukawa, and including cultural redress of extreme significance to the iwi and New Zealanders in general.  Redress over Kapiti Island and Ngāti Toa’s maritime interests, as well as the Haka Ka Mate Attribution Bill (which recognises Ka Mate as a taonga of Ngāti Toa), are extremely innovative forms of redress and I acknowledge the determination of Ngāti Toa in getting to this point.

The Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill is the culmination of years of hard work and tough discussions not only with the Crown but also between yourselves.  You all should be proud of what you have achieved. The journey to get to this day has been neither easy nor brief.  We remember the many who have passed on but whose determination has led to the legislation this House will now consider.

Mr Speaker, mā whero, mā pango ka oti te mahi.  There are many whakataukī about Māori working together. 
Countless  proverbs, about putting differences aside for the greater good.

Today we witness the wisdom of our tipuna who coined those whakataukī and we see those words put into action.

Today we witness a milestone in a journey that’s not just about the wonderful idea of Māori working together but will be a transformative step for the people of Te Tau Ihu.

Today we see this taking place before our eyes as we introduce legislation to resolve the historic grievances of eight iwi. 

Legislation that will strengthen the ability of future generations  to carry on a proud legacy of economic and cultural rangatiratanga.

Māku e tū au i tēnei whare ki te hōnore o ngā iwi o te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Māui.
At the helm of the great voyaging canoe of Māui: at the helm of their own destinies and futures.

Mr Speaker I consider that the Bill should proceed without delay to the Māori Affairs Committee, and I commend this Bill to the House.