Tariana Turia - Waipa River Bill First Reading
te-pati-maori
Tue May 17 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Tariana Turia - Waipa River Bill First Reading
Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 4:15 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill, Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngäti Pähauwera 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, Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngäti Pähauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time.
Mai te uranga o te ra ki te tönga 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 nga uri katoa o enei iwi. Tena koutou, a tena tatou katoa
I intend to move, at the appropriate time, that these three bills be considered by the Māori 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 Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngäti Pähauwera 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 on 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 190(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.
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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 Waipā 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 Waipā 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, Waipā 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 Waipā 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 Waipā 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 Waipā River. To Maniapoto, Waiwaia is the personification of the waters of the Waipā River and its enduring spiritual guardian.
The Ngā Wai o Maniapoto (Waipā River) Bill complements the Waikato River settlement with Waikato-Tainui and the Waikato River co-management deeds with Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Raukawa and Te Arawa River iwi. Together they establish a single, unified co-governance framework for both the Waipā River and the Waikato River.
For these reasons a shortened consideration of the Bill is both feasible and desirable.
Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill
I now turn to the Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill as the second of the three bills introduced into the house.
Mr Speaker, the grievances of Ngāti Porou are significant and longstanding.
They emerge out of the Crown’s failure to honour its Treaty promise to respect Ngäti 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 Ngäti 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 Ngāti 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 Ngāti Porou to develop a Relationship Accord – and much more.
Ngäti Pähauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill
Finally I speak to the third Bill introduced into the House, the Ngäti Pähauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill.
Ngāti Pâhauwera is a confederation of hapū with historical interests in northern Hawkes Bay. The claims of Ngāti Pāhauwera include the failure of the Crown to make sure that Ngāti Pāhauwera had sufficient lands for its future needs during the process of land alienation that began in the 1850s.
By the mid twentieth century Ngāti Pāhauwera 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 Ngāti Pāhauwera recover from a brutal attack on their pā and kāinga even though the area had been left virtually defenseless because Ngāti Pāhauwera warriors were away with the Crown’s forces.
The redress provided to Ngāti Pāhauwera can never compensate them for what has been lost. It is vital that the agreement reached with Ngāti Pāhauwera, which is embodied in this Bill, will enhance the relationship between the Crown and Ngāti Pāhauwera into the future.
The Bill includes provisions that enable cultural redress to be provided to Ngāti Pāhauwera, including: the vesting of Te Heru o Tūreia and 14 other cultural redress properties; the transfer of five former Wairoa District Council properties to Ngāti Pāhauwera; 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, Ngäti Porou Claims Settlement Bill and Ngäti Pähauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Bill should therefore proceed without delay to the Māori Affairs Committee.
I commend this Bill to the House.
ENDS
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