Speech : Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill - Hon Tariana Turia
te-pati-maori
Thu Sep 20 2012 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Speech : Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill - Hon Tariana Turia
Thursday, 20 September 2012, 9:19 am
Speech: The Maori Party
Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill: First reading
Speech : Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill - Hon Tariana Turia
Thursday 20 September 2012
Mr Speaker, I move that the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill be now read a first time.
Mr Speaker, at the appropriate time, I intend to move:
· that the Bill be considered by the Mäori Affairs Committee;
· that the Committee report finally to the House on or before 20 December 2012 and
· that the Committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting, except during oral questions, and during the 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 outside the Wellington area despite Standing Orders 187, 189(a), and 190(1)(b) and (c).
One of the whakatauaki of Waitaha expresses the full impact of the story behind this legislation.
“Ko Waitaha te iwi, he tangata ngakaurua”
Waitaha was once a powerful tribe, but because of the loss of land they became fragmented and have never been able to unite again.
This morning in this House, we greet a new dawn for the people of Waitaha; and with it the hope of a future in which they are truly able to enjoy the restoration of their mana in every sense of the word.
And so today, we welcome all those who come to share the aspirations and legacy that descend from their tupuna, Hei and his son, Waitaha.
We acknowledge the breadth and depth of the rohe in which Waitaha are located – from Waimapu to Mauao along the coastline to Maketu and inland to Otanewainuku.
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Mr Speaker, Waitaha kuia , Puneho McCausland, has called Waitaha, the ‘lost iwi’ referring to their loss of mana and the tendency for some to follow alternative tribal affiliations.
In those words one glimpses at the harrowing grief of a people dispossessed from almost all of their traditional lands to the point where the iwi nearly ceased to exist.
That sense of aching loss is overlaid by a history of confiscation and raupatu within Tauranga – an action which the tupuna Hakaraia Mahika opposed. The Crown could not, would not tolerate the challenge – they labelled Hakaraia a rebel, and systematically initiated a process of punishment of the people from which he was known.
And so, 145 years ago, in January 1867 the Crown destroyed the houses, crops and livestock of the people of Waitaha, and ultimately took the life of Hakaraia. Using scorched earth tactics the Crown pursued Hakaraia to his death in 1870.
Even then, the punishment did not cease – the Crown withheld a large amount of land from Waitaha; confiscating a massive 214 thousand acres of land around Tauranga including land in which Waitaha had customary interests.
While the Crown eventually accepted the ancestral claims of Waitaha to approximately 25 thousand acres in the confiscation district even then, it withheld much of this ‘in payment for the sin’ of Hakaraia.
Mr Speaker, one of the great tragedies of this period of our national story is to realise that during the 1840s and 1850s, Hakaraia – a leader and prophet of his people, preached peaceful engagement with Pākehā.
The stigma of ‘rebellion’ has been a heavy burden weighing over all of his descendants – and indeed of Waitaha.
It is a stigma which this legislation suggests has diminished the mana of Waitaha and forced deep divisions among their own, and between their neighbours.
Out of that history then, the Crown and Waitaha signed terms of negotiation and an agreement in principle in 2008. Exactly a year ago to the day, the Crown and Waitaha signed a deed of settlement at Hei Marae.
And now this story opens a new chapter; a new beginning in which the Crown seeks to restore its own tarnished honour to mark the start of a stronger relationship with Waitaha.
Mr Speaker, the story of Waitaha became even further complicated by the involvement of the Native Land Court, which gradually but comprehensively converted customary title, into individualised and permanent titles derived from the Crown.
And so, by the end of the 19th century Waitaha had insufficient land and resources to sustain the tribe; burdened by the systematic and merciless alienation of their own whenua.
It is an appalling history.
In this settlement the Crown seeks to recognise the extent of the harm done, by a formal apology and initiating redress, both cultural and financial.
One of the most important aspects of the action, is the establishment of a three million dollar education endowment fund in the name of Hakaraia Mahika – a genuine effort to restore and redeem the legacy and the mana of a poropiti and rangatira of central importance to Waitaha.
The Bill recognises the process of vesting in Waitaha two urban cultural sites, a scenic reserve based on the maunga Ōtara; Maungaruahine Pā Historic Reserve; and land at Papamoa including important pā sites.
Alongside this, the settlement introduces an overlay classification, Te Whakairinga Kōrero, providing for Crown acknowledgement of Waitaha values and agreement on protection principles, applying to two important mountain sites.
A deed of recognition of special association of Waitaha has been agreed with five areas of conservation land among the ancestral mountains within the Waitaha rohe.
There will be a Statutory acknowledgement of the cultural, spiritual, historical and traditional association of Waitaha with fifteen statutory areas, including the peak of the maunga tupuna Ōtanewainuku, beds of several watercourses, including the Kaituna River and the coastal area between Mauao and Maketu.
Letters to Ministers are included to encourage support for Maranga Waitaha, to assist the social, economic and cultural needs of Waitaha; as well as letters of introduction to local authorities.
Three Ministerial protocols have been agreed relating to taonga tūturu, conservation and Crown minerals.
There is commercial redress as rights over property and $7.5 million plus interest from Agreement in Principle to settlement.
Mr Speaker, in the course of time this settlement will be known as a landmark for the future prosperity of the people.
But the final aspect I want to focus on is the $1.3m that has been provided for a full historical account of Waitaha and Hakaraia.
In the course of preparing for this significant day I came across a thesis that was written by a pākehā researcher, Alistair Reece, entitled Are You Listening? The Voice of Waitaha, A Forgotten People.
The thesis was predicated on the belief that most Pākehā who now inhabit the rohe of Waitaha, are completely ignorant of the identity of that tangata whenua. His view was that the impact of colonisation upon Māori was minimalised by many Pākehā through a ‘convenience of distance’.
Reece makes a very strong plea to all New Zealander; to learn our history; to share our stories and to reach out to understand a context which might otherwise keep us apart.
To mediate this distance - I want to share one of the messages of hope in this thesis which I believe the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill has a perfect opportunity to address.
“It can be seen as both a challenge and a cry – a challenge to listen, and a cry to understand something of their story told through their history and their ‘voice’.
Hopefully, from the microcosm of Waitaha, it is imagined that ‘those who have ears to hear’ will be able to extrapolate beyond, to understand some of the aspirations of other Māori, who seek not only redress for the past but who grapple to define a future based upon a dignity of restored identity as tangata whenua – first people of the land.
These aspirations require not only a renaissance of Māori vision but an affirmation and cooperation of all peoples. It is this affirmation that would possibly go some way to bringing healing and reconciliation to a country that is still displaying the wounds of past and present division.
And finally, I want to recognise the key players in this legislation who have reached out to tell this story.
The negotiation team of Waitaha Raupatu Trust, the governance entity, Te Kapu o Waitaha; Tame McCausland who lodged the claims with the Waitangi Tribunal; all those who have developed the claim; negotiated with the Crown; who have protected their waiata; preserved their memories; and treasured all that it is to be Waitaha.
I acknowledge the Minister for his drive in ensuring these stories be told.
The people of Waitaha no longer wish to be known as the forgotten or the lost people.
They have risen in the spirit of resilience and reconciliation, to demand a better future.
We now have the opportunity to listen and to learn.
I commend the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill 2012 to the House.
Tēnā tātou katoa.
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