Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill
Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill
(formerly the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Omnibus Bill) Third Reading Speech
Mr Speaker, I move that the Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Settlement Bill, the Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill,
and the Tapuika Claims Settlement Bill (formerly the Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Omnibus Bill, be now read for the third
time.
Today we welcome sons and daughters of the great Te Arawa waka.
I am honoured to welcome the people of
• Ngāti Rangiwewehi
• Ngāti Rangiteaorere
• Tapuika
for the third reading of Ngā Punawai O Te Tokotoru Omnibus Bill.
Iwi eternally bound by whakapapa, forever bound by history and today in this house, finally bound by justice.
We remember their tūpuna who millennia ago set off from the sands of Whenuakura.
Today, their journey reaches Parliament as Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere and Tapuika once again work together
for the future of their people.
Mr Speaker, Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru is a large natural grouping of these three iwi of Te Arawa whose members are based
in and around Te Puke and Rotorua. While they have negotiated some aspects of their settlements as part of Te Tokotoru,
they have signed separate deeds of settlement. They have shown whanaungatanga as well as rangatiratanga.
The Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru Omnibus Bill gives effect to aspects of all three Deeds of Settlement signed by the Crown
between 2012 and 2013 with all three iwi, and will settle all outstanding historical Treaty of Waitangi claims for Ngāti
Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika.
Mr Speaker, ko Tiheia te maunga, ko te Awahou me Kaikaitahuna ngā awa, ko Tarimano te marae, Ko Puhirua me Orangikahui
ngā takatoranga o ngā tūpuna, ko Rangiwewehi te iwi!
The Crown brought war to Tauranga in 1864, and after Ngāti Rangiwewehi supported their traditional allies: 290,000 acres
of lands were confiscated. All customary interests in lands returned were compulsorily extinguished.
Mr Speaker, 100-years-later, 1966 and in our lifetime Ngāti Rangiwewehi’s land loss continued with the enforced Crown
acquisition of whenua at Ngongotahā. A pump station was built over the ancestral Taniwha Springs which remains to this
day.
The Crown breached the Treaty of Waitangi in its dealings with the descendents of Ngāti Rangiwewehi. Over generations
lands were lost, lives were taken and potential eroded. We now focus on the future.
I acknowledge the Ngāti Rangiwewehi 2040 strategy “The advancement of Rangiwewehi people as Rangiwewehi” which captures
the essence of what a Treaty settlement should be – to focus the energies into the future while considering the social,
economic, cultural and spiritual growth and activity that affirms and maintains ‘mana and tino rangatiratanga’ over
Ngāti Rangiwewehi resources and mātauranga of Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
Mr Speaker, he wai koriporipo nō Waiohewa, ka ū ki Mataikotare, ka koinga te titiro ki ngā uri o Rangiwhakaekeau, te
whakapakari nei, ki te pupuri i ngā taonga tuku iho, ko Ngāti Rangiteaorere: Ka ora e!
The 1800s saw Ngāti Rangiteaorere drawn into the New Zealand wars, with huge consequences. The Native Land Court’s land
policies left the Crown with lands that were flat, fertile and easily accessible by road. Ngāti Rangiteaorere? They were
left with lands that were fragmented, steep, inaccessible, and uneconomic.
50-years ago, the Tikitere geothermal field – prized by generations of Ngāti Rangiteaorere for its medicinal, spiritual
and economic benefits – was taken by the Crown with the Geothermal Energy Act of 1953: the compulsory takeover of an
ancestral wāhi tapu.
A whakataukī from a Ngāti Rangiteaorere kuia captures the challenge of this new Treaty settlement era. “Kaore I hangaia
te kupenga hei hopu ika anake, engari I hangaia kia oioi I roto I te neke neke o te tai”; “The net is not fashioned
purely to catch fish, but also to be flexible so that it may flow with the tide”.
Mr Speaker, mai i ngā pae maunga ki te toropuke e tū kau mai rā ki te awa e rere mai ana, waiho te whenua ko te takapū o
taku tamaiti a Tapuika!
This ancient claim defining the boundaries of their homelands was made by the tipuna Chieftain Tia aboard the Te Arawa
waka.
However the arrival of the Crown in this rohe soon brought war to Tia’s people, and his ancient claim - along with the
promises within the Treaty of Waitangi - were broken.
A series of claims made by others to Tapuika ancestral lands culminated with Crown land alienation policies that was
akin to raupatu: punishing Tapuika for taking up arms against the Crown in the 1860s. The land loss was widespread and
severe. Tapuika’s loss would lead to the alienation of Tia’s people from their ancestral lands. Deprived of economic,
spiritual and cultural autonomy: generations of Tapuika families have suffered incalculable loss. This settlement sought
to address historical grievances which included wars in the Bay of Plenty; the Native Land Court; the impact on Tapuika
of management, modification and degradation of the waterways within Te Takapu o Tapuika, public works takings, and the
loss of Tapuika identity. Today Tapuika can move forward in a positive Treaty relationship to rebuild, restore and once
again thrive. The Tapuika Reo revitalisation strategy is an example of what is already taking place.
Mr Speaker, all these things the peoples of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere and Tapuika have suffered: can never
be forgotten.
And yet these iwi wish to settle their grievances with the Crown with mana and dignity: they honour us all with their
incredible generosity.
Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru has enabled all three iwi to collectively negotiate with the Crown and to also help each other
with their individual claims.
The spirit of whanaungatanga and rangatiratanga demonstrated by Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika has
enabled the resolution of claims across these three tribes.
This cooperative approach is already being replicated across Aotearoa. I thank Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru for leading by
example.
So many of those who have made this day possible are no longer with us but with this bill’s passing their mahi and their
mana will forever be honoured in the laws of Aotearoa New Zealand and in the hearts of their descendants.
Today is a day to remember those who have passed on, to resolve grievances with those who are with us today and to plan
for those yet to be born.
From the sacred marae of Taputapuatea, to the beating hearts of Te Arawa, to the New Zealand House of Representatives:
Te Arawa E!
Mr Speaker, I commend this Bill to the House.
ENDS