Pauatahanui Burial Ground

I am proud to speak to this Bill, in honouring my whakapapa relationship to Ngati Toa Rangatira, through the connections as Ngati Apa, and Ngati Rangiwhakaturia we have.

Our hapu occupies the lands around the Whangaehu Marae on the lower reaches of the Whangaehu River – which also forms the boundary of the rohe of Ngati Toa. Te Rangihaeata, Te Rauparaha's nephew, consolidated this relationship by marrying Te Rangi Pikinga of Ngati Apa and so our connections are ever strong.



But I am proud too, that as the Maori Party our call at the first reading of this Bill to enable an opportunity for the full story to be heard, has been recognised in the select committee process.



At the first reading, my colleague, Te Ururoa Flavell, raised our concerns that this Bill could be debated in this House with absolutely no mention of the mana whenua, Ngati Toa Rangatira.



They are such simple questions: whose story is being told? Whose voices are being heard? And from whose perspective are the memories shared? And similarly – who is missing from the record?



The Maori Party will always stand to ensure that the independent view of tangata whenua is able to be heard in every debate.

It is, of course, a great disappointment that we even have to raise this point, but as the first reading of this Bill demonstrated, it is still unfortunately the case that legislation makes it to this House without bearing the distinctive contribution of tangata whenua.



But today, is Ngati Toa’s day. Indeed, it has been a very significant month for Ngati Toa.



Just three weeks ago, on 25 September, Ngati Toa and the Crown signed an agreement to negotiate their claim on behalf of the iwi of about 5000 registered members.



In speaking to the negotiation process, executive director Matiu Rei said and I quote:



“The scale of our claims and the serious nature of the Crown’s breaches mean that the Ngati Toa claim is a complex one.



Ngati Toa was subjected to a co-ordinated military and political campaign by the Crown, including the kidnapping and exile of our leaders, the loss of life through military action and public executions, as well as land sales under duress”.



Madam Speaker, despite the omission of Ngati Toa from the first reading of the Bill, this history forms an absolutely essential context for this Bill to vest the Pauatahanui Burial Ground in the Porirua City Council.



For although the cemetery is now of special significance to the Hollis Stace family and the descendants of early pioneers buried there, it is also the site of land which was alienated from Ngati Toa by Crown coercion in 1847.



The history of association to the Hollis Stace family – is a remarkable one dating back to 1856. But inevitably the question must arise – what is the history of this land prior to it being purchased from the New Zealand Company in 1856?



I want to pay tribute to Ngati Toa – in sharing their precious history with the select committee. A history in which Ngati Toa bore the full assault of a state of martial law, suffered the consequences of military attack by British Imperial Forces, lives were lost.



It is a shameful history which this House has a right to hear, lest we forget.



The telling of their story now, is of course stained with history repeating itself given the events of recent days.



Ngati Toa recounts their experiences in their submission - they tell how Te Rangihaeata was forced into exile; his supporters were captured by the Crown and publicly executed by hanging; while others were banished to Tasmania to be held as prisoners until their deaths.



These were innocent people, never given the opportunity for a trial, justice denied.



It was at the time immediately preceding the Hollis Stace purchase of this famous pa site, that Te Rauparaha was kidnapped by Governor Gray, and held captive for eighteen months, again without being charged with an offence.



While their leader was held captive, Grey held Ngati Toa Rangatira to ransom; demanding their lands in exchange for their leader.

The Bill – the Porirua City Council (Pauatahanui Burial Ground) Bill could have been another episode of writing Maori out of history.

But, we the Maori Party, were not prepared to let that happen.

Ngati Toa Rangatira will never let that happen.

And so they came to the table, reminding the Select Committee that Matai Taua Pa – which is now the site of the Pauatahanui Burial Ground – is what they describe as

“pivotal to Ngati Toa’s wider Treaty claim. It represents the last bastion of Ngati Toa resistence to the British Crown.

And in the ultimate manifestation of manaakitanga, Ngati Toa have the generosity to support this Bill, in recognizing it will provide for the ongoing protection and acknowledgement of important cultural heritage.

They speak of the urupa as a “sacred site to Pakeha as the final resting place of many early settlers to the Porirua district”.

This was a point which most of the fourteen submissions reiterated, many of them being from direct descendants of the settlers buried in the cemetery at the heart of this Bill.

The Pauatahanui Residents Association brought together these concerns by describing the unique value this Bill offered in establishing procedures which would enhance genealogical research, provide for retrieval and storage of records, and in doing so preserve and maintain the history and heritage of this place.

But as Ngati Toa identified – and indeed the Porirua City Council and other submitters confirmed – the site at the centre of this Bill is regarded as wahi tapu to Ngati Toa.

Such a site of special significance if considered so, by virtue of its history as the pa of Te Rangihaeata – Matai Taua – and because of its significance to other iwi who predated the arrival of Ngati Toa.

Madam Speaker, the requests from Ngati Toa Rangatira are humbling in their simplicity. They ask that if signage is developed for the site, that it be done with the full knowledge and consent of Ngati Toa.

They want to know that that any earthworks or repairs are made to the Burial Ground they will be discussed in consultation with Ngati Toa.

They are happy to confirm Council ownership by this legislation, in order to ensure the burial ground is properly cared for and maintained in perpetuity.

And most importantly of all, they seek to support the possibility for both the Maori and Pakeha cultural heritage of this site to be preserved, by means of this Bill.

And we too, the Maori Party, want to ensure the protection and management of the burial ground serves to treasure the opportunity to give expression to the unique histories that have shaped this sacred site.

And we want to pay tribute to all of those who have taken considerable time in maintaining and caring for this burial ground, to honour their ancestors buried there.

We will, therefore, support this Bill.