E hia rau ngā uri o ngā iwi nō Tauranga Moana, i tae atu ki te whare Pāremata i te ata o te Taite, kia whai wāhi atu ki te pānuitanga tuarua, tuatoru hoki o Te Pire Whakatau Kerēme a Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Ranginui.
E ai ki te heamana o Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ranginui, ki a Charlie Rahiri, ahakoa te tutukitanga, ka koke tonu te iwi.
“Ehara tēnei i te whakamutunga, ko tēnei te timatanga o te huarahi ki te whakarauora i tō mātou ahurea, tō mātou nei reo, tō mātou nei hitōrea, i runga i te manako, te whakataukī, me kī, i te ngaro, i te ngaro Ranginui ka kitea, ka kitea, ka kitea.”
“Kia maumahara ki a au, ngā koroua, ngā kuikui, rātou tēnei huarahi i para mō mātau o Ngāti Ranginui te whai, Rātou i hainatia te pānui tuatahi i ngā tau tekau kua pahemo ake, kāore rātou i konei ināianei,” tāna i kī ai.
Ko tā te iwi nei whiwhinga pūtea ki raro i te pire nei, he kō atu i te $38 miriona tāra, ā, hei tāpiri atu, he herenga hoki a ngā tari Kāwanatanga kia mahi tahi ai me te iwi nei.
Hei tā tētahi o ngā pou kuia, tā Ngāreta Timutimu, he koanga ngākau kia eke atu ki tēnei rā, me te aha, ka hua nui te whakataunga nei.
“Kua tutuki te hiahia a Ranginui mō tēnei kerēme. Tino harikoa te ngākau mō Ranginui, mō aku hapu, ōku marae. Nā te mea, te nuinga o te wā kei te mahi ahau ki runga o tōku marae o Matapihi,”
The Golden Age
Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith acknowledged the iwi and the journey it took them to achieve settlement, but highlighted the opportunities that lay ahead for the iwi.
“I firmly believe that the opportunity for Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Ranginui is to reach a golden age, in the years to come, and Mr Speaker, I commend this bill to the house,” says Minister Goldsmith.
“It’s an emotional time, of course, because people who’ve been involved over many years have lost many of their loved ones along the way, but it’s also a great celebration to finally get to this point,” he says.
“Reading the historical account of the raupatu and the loss way back in the 1860s and 70s, and trying decade after decade to get a resolution to those claims, and now finally we’re getting there.”
Waiariki MP and Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi apologised to the people of Ngāti Ranginui, who are his constituents, for the suspension of 21 days.
“Ranginui Maranga mai, maranga mai, this treaty claim mustn’t be in vain, of the many that didn’t see this claim go through, our mokopuna who are not yet born, we must declare to them that we will never be silent in this house,” says Waititi.
“That haka is an alleviation of our voice and the voices of our ancestors that have gone. Our voices today, the voices of our mokopuna to come, kia kaua tātou e wareware ki tēnā,” he says.
The Bill implements the deed of settlement signed in 2012, which includes Crown acknowledgements, an apology, and provisions for cultural redress. The bill also establishes protocols for interactions between Ngāti Ranginui and government agencies.
