After nine years of negotiations, the Ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui Claims Settlement Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament.
By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said the first reading marks another step towards the recognition of the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui.
The first reading came just 11 days after the major deed of settlement signing milestone at Kaiwhaiki Pā in Whanganui.
"Reaching this milestone is the beginning of a new relationship between Ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui and the Crown based on partnership, trust and respect.”
Goldsmith said the historical grievances of Ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui included the Crown’s conduct during warfare of the 1840s, its failure to complete the 1848 Whanganui block transaction fairly or in good faith, and the Crown’s responsibility for war in Whanganui in the 1860s.
“Other grievances include the grave impact on the hapū and iwi of Whanganui of the native land laws system and the alienation of land, particularly resulting from extensive public works takings,” Goldsmith said.
A first reading is the initial stage in the parliamentary process where a new bill is formally introduced to the House, and is the first opportunity for members to debate it.
The reading on Wednesday was followed by a debate in which 11 members of the House stated their initial positions on the bill.
Labour MP Ginny Andersen said no settlement could fully restore what was taken and no apology could erase generations of hurt.
“But this settlement is an acknowledgement by the Crown that it failed in its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and those failures caused deep and lasting harm.”
Andersen said treaty settlements were part of confronting that history openly, rather than “pretending it did not happen at all”.
“The impacts of dispossession, the impacts of marginalisation do not disappear simply because time has passed. They continue to shape outcomes for communities generations later.”
Andersen said settlements remained one of the “most important nation-building projects undertaken in modern New Zealand”.
ACT MP Cameron Luxton referred to the bill’s historical account of “swindling, of war, of abuse of power and of treating people in abominable ways – from abominable people and a lack of morality on the Crown’s part”.
“We are, as a country, trying to continue to build a country that we can be proud of. That requires grace, it requires forgiveness and that is what is being asked today.”
Green MP Steve Abel said Whanganui tūpuna were some of the first people subjected to the “total immorality” of the New Zealand Company in 1839.
He said the “harms and the evils” committed by the Crown against Whanganui hapū were uncontested in the House on Wednesday.
“We stand in unanimity in recognition of those harms and those evils.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Māori were survivors.
“We have endured some of the worst prejudice, attacks, violence and state-sponsored evils that indigenous peoples had to wear. But that doesn’t define us.
"Because one of the things we have never lost in all of this is our values – our values to protect each other, our values to protect our whenua.”
National Whanganui MP Carl Bates recognised decades of work, perseverance and leadership that brought the settlement to this point and passed on a message of “heart-felt congratulations” from Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe.
“This milestone reflects more than 40 years of resolve, courage by hapū and iwi leaders. While no settlement can undo the injustices of the past, this moment honours the truth of that history and looks to the future.”
Bates said the settlement was not an “end point” but a platform for economic development and a stronger relationship between iwi, the Crown and the wider Whanganui community.
Labour MP Willie Jackson paid a special tribute to lead iwi negotiator Ken Mair and his decades of activism for his people.
“Will the Crown continue to support Ngā Hapū [o Te Iwi o Whanganui]? That’s the question, Minister Goldsmith. Too often settlements are made and then settlements are forgotten.”
The settlement includes an apology from the Crown and acknowledgements of the Crown’s historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, financial and commercial redress valued at $30 million, and cultural redress including the vesting of 27 sites of cultural significance and $15.5m.
The settlement redress area includes Whanganui city, and stretches from the river mouth to above Pīpīriki in the middle reaches of the Whanganui River, and from the Okehu Stream in the west to the Whangaehu River in the south-east.
The bill will now be referred to the Māori Affairs Committee to consider and report back to the House by 17 September.
A second and third reading must be passed through the House before the bill is signed by the Governor-General and becomes a Settlement Act, making the settlement legally binding.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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