Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard
MANIAPOTO CLAIMS SETTLEMENT BILL
Second Reading
Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I present a legislative statement on the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill.
ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.
Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I move, That the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill be now read a second time.
[Authorised te reo Māori text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]
[Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]
This bill gives effect to the deed of settlement signed by Maniapoto and the Crown in November 2021. The deed of settlement acknowledges all the remaining historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Maniapoto. Maniapoto is an iwi based in Te Rohe Pōtae, the King Country, in and around Taumarunui, Mōkau, Pureora, Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu, and Kāwhia. Their area of interest includes the adjacent marine environment and part of the exclusive economic zone, and I’ll come back to that a little later in my remarks.
The historical claims of Maniapoto relate to loss of life in conflicts with the Crown. Maniapoto bore the costs of the New Zealand Wars. The Crown failed to uphold promises made in the 1880s relating to Maniapoto land administration and self-determination. The Crown acquired Maniapoto land in an aggressive manner. These actions have contributed to economic and social marginalisation within New Zealand society and the loss of traditional tribal structures.
Now, through the Maniapoto settlement, the Crown will apologise for its actions, and my hope is this settlement will reset our relationship and provide the basis for the Crown to work alongside Maniapoto to help it rebuild its social, cultural, and economic structures.
This bill comprises seven parts, detailing cultural and commercial redress, natural resources redress, and the Crown’s apology redress. I look forward to describing this bill in greater detail at its third reading.
Maniapoto has established Te Nehenehenui, the post-settlement governance entity that will receive the settlement assets on behalf of Maniapoto and represent the iwi in its future dealings with the Crown. I acknowledge Te Nehenehenui and all members of Maniapoto’s negotiating team. I acknowledge Maniapoto representatives are in the House today, including Bella Takiari-Brame, chair of Te Nehenehenui; Keith Ikin, chair of Maniapoto Māori Trust Board; Mātua Tiwha Bell, former chair of Maniapoto Māori Trust Board; Mātua Pat Stafford; and other kaumātua, trust board members, and staff. Your dedication and determination have been vital in the path towards settlement. I also acknowledge and thank you again for the wonderful carving that you gifted me the last time we met.
I also acknowledge the previous Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Christopher Finlayson, as well as Government agencies and local authorities, for their contributions to the bill. I want to also acknowledge the chief Crown negotiator David Tapsell, who represented the Crown right from the outset of negotiations. I acknowledge my colleagues in the House who whakapapa to Maniapoto, and in that respect I particularly acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, the former lead negotiator from Maniapoto who began the negotiation process and for whom I know this settlement carries special significance.
The bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee on 14 December 2021. The committee reported back to the House on 15 June this year. They received and considered 26 submissions. Two submitters supported the bill and 19 submitters opposed the bill or sought changes to it. Nineteen submitters spoke to their submissions online in March. I’d like to extend my thanks to the committee for their work and consideration of the bill.
The committee carefully considered the evidence presented by Rereahu and Te Ihingarangi. It sought further advice on the background to their engagement with the Crown, particularly the mandating process. Representatives of these groups are concerned for the loss of their independent identity. These concerns are acknowledged. However, I can reassure these groups that there is considerable scope for their interests and identities to be accommodated within the structure of Te Nehenehenui. I encourage them to remain engaged in the conversation.
The committee recommended minor technical amendments to the bill. I’m satisfied with the committee’s recommendations as they will ensure the redress agreed in the Maniapoto deed of settlement can be properly implemented through this bill.
I want to mention here a special and novel feature of the Maniapoto Claims Settlement Bill. This bill recognises a statement of Maniapoto interests out to 17.4 nautical miles from the coast, within the exclusive economic zone. While this is an existing interest under section 4 of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012, this bill recognises that Maniapoto presented the Rohe Pōtae petition to the House of Representatives in 1883. That petition described Maniapoto interests as extending 20 miles—that’s 17.4 nautical miles—out to sea and was part of a series of agreements between Maniapoto and the Crown in the 1880s which were intended to set the relationship between the parties.
Rather than creating ambiguity, this explicit recognition clarifies rights under the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act for the area over which it applies. It is not an exclusive recognition and does not confer additional rights on Maniapoto. It does not preclude or exclude recognition of other existing interests in the same area. But it provides certainty that Maniapoto will receive notifications that they are already entitled to receive. Above all, it honours the agreements and the relationship that Maniapoto and the Crown established all those years ago.
Another feature of this bill I want to mention are clauses 21 and 22, concerning land subject to Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017. Te Pou Tupua is the human face of Te Awa Tupua and acts in its name. There are or may be small watercourses running through land that will be transferred to Maniapoto, the beds of which are parts of Te Awa Tupua. Maniapoto wish Te Pou Tupua to assume landowner functions for these river beds. This does not preclude Te Pou Tupua and Maniapoto, together with Ngāti Hauā, in respect of jointly vested sites, from agreeing an arrangement for them to administer such river beds at a later time.
The second reading is a part of the last stage of the settlement process that seeks to recognise what is important to Maniapoto and to provide redress for historical breaches of the Treaty. This is another step towards acknowledgment, recognition, and reconciliation. I hope that it can allow for Maniapoto to have confidence for the future. I look forward to welcoming back a larger contingent of Maniapoto to the House for the third reading in the very near future. I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.
ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.
