Ko tēnei Ture ko Te Ture kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana 2019.

Ka mana tēnei Ture hai te rā ka whai i muri atu i te rangi ka whakaaetia te Ture nei e te Upoko Ariki o Niu Tīreni.

Ko te aronga o tēnei Ture, ko te whakamana ā-ture i te kawenata ki waenga i te Karauna me te Tarahiti o Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu i waitohua rā i te 9 o Mahuru 2017 (ko te kawenata).

Ko ngā wehenga e rārangi iho nei e whakaatu ana i te kawenata:

Ka whakapūmau kaha tēnei Ture i ēnei āhuatanga.

Ka herea te Karauna e tēnei Ture.

I te marama o Ākuhata i te tau 1916 ka whiua te hara ki runga i a Rua mō tana ātete i te whai a te pirihimana ki te whakarau i a ia i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916. Ko te pūtake o tēnei whai ki te whakarau i a ia, ko te wārati hopu nā tētahi Kaiwhakawā i whakaputa i te marama o Hānuere i te tau 1916. Koia anō i whiua a Rua ki te whare herehere mō tōna kore e aro atu ki ngā kaiwhakawā i te marama o Mei i te tau 1915 mō te hoko waipiro kāre he raihana.

I whakapono kaha a Rua kua whiua kētia a ia mō aua hara, inarā koinei tana kōrero ki ngā pirihimana i whai ki te whakarau i a ia. Ko ngā whakawhiu hara tuatahi ki a Rua nō te tau 1911, i ngā whakapae hē e rima e pā ana ki te hoko waipiro. I taua wā, he mea whaina a Rua mō ngā mea e whā o aua whakawhiunga hara, ko te mea tuarima i meatia kia noho tārewa, ki te hiahiatia ka taea tērā hara te tiki atu ki te whiu i a Rua. Nō te marama o Mei i te tau 1915 ka whiua a ia mō tēnei hara me ētahi hara hou e rima mō te hoko waipiro te take. Ka whiua a Rua ki te whare herehere mō ngā marama e toru mō te whakapae hē i mahue mai i te tau 1911; kāore ia i whiua mō ngā hara hou e rima o te tau 1915, heoi, ka puritia tonutia te mana ki te whiu i a Rua mō ērā whakawhiunga. I te tau 1915 i mau a Rua ki te whare herehere, ā, nō te marama o Ākuhata ka hoki ia ki Maungapōhatu.

I te marama o Hānuere i te tau 1916 ka karangatia a Rua ki te aroaro o te Kaiwhakawā mō ngā whakapae hē i whakaarahia i te tau 1915. I mea atu a Rua ki ngā pirihimana kāore a ia e wātea kia haere ake, ko te wā hoki tēnei o te hauhake kai, ā, ka tono a ia kia hikina te kēhi mō te wā ka tū anō te kōti. Ki te whakaaro o te Kaiwhakawā kai te whakahāwea a Rua i te kōti, nā reira i whakahau te Kaiwhakawā kia whiua a Rua ki te whare herehere, me te whiu atu o ētahi whaina mō ngā hara mai te tau 1915. Ka puta te wārati e whakahau ana kia whakaraua a Rua. Whāia, i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916 ka haere ētahi pirihimana ki te whakarau i a ia.

I te haerenga atu o ngā pirihimana tokorua ki te whakarau i a ia i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916 i kī atu a Rua ki a rāua kua whiua kētia a ia ki te whare herehere mō ngā hara i puta i te tau 1915, nā reira kāore a ia mō te haere noa i tō rāua taha. Kāore ngā pirihimana rā i hiahia ki te hiki i te ringa kaha ki a ia, nā reira ka wehe noa atu rāua ka noho iho ko Rua. Koinei te takenga o ētahi anō whakapae hē, mō te ātete a Rua i tana whakaraunga, mō te whana hoki ki te kāwanatanga, he take i ara ake i ngā whakapae, i te takahi atu a ngā pirihimana ki te whakarau i a ia, ka puta i a Rua ētahi kupu hāpai i te iwi Tiamana.

Nō te rā 2 o Āperira i te tau 1916 ka whakaeke te ope tauā pirihimana mau pū, e 70 rātau, ki Maungapōhatu ki te whakarau i a Rua. Nā konei ka pakaru te riri o ngā pū, ka mate te tama a Rua, a Toko Rua, rāua ko tana irāmutu, ko Te Maipi. Tokotoru ngā tāngata o Maungapōhatu, ā, tokowhā ngā pirihimana i taotū. E toru tekau mā tahi ngā tāne o Maungapōhatu i whakaraua, i puritia mō ngā rā e toru. Nō te 5 o Āperira ka wehe ngā pirihimana i Maungapōhatu me ā rātou mauhere tokoono, ko Rua rātou ko Tioke, ko Makarini, ko Pukepuke, ko Tūtara, ko Tahu. Heria katoatia ai rātou ki Ākarana.

E 47 rā te roa o te whakawātanga i a Rua, ko te whakawā takaroa rawa atu i Aotearoa i mua i te tau 1977. I whakakāhoretia te whakapae hē mō tana whiu i te kupu whana ki te kāwanatanga i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916, i te toronga atu o te ringa o te ture ki te whakarau i a ia. I porowhiua e te Kaiwhakawā ki rahaki ngā whakapae hē e whā i ara ake i ngā raruraru o te rā 2 o Āperira i te tau 1916, e rua atu ngā whakapae hē mai i taua rā kāore i taea e te hunga whakawā te whakatau. Heoi, i whiua a Rua mō tana “ātete”, i hua ake i te whai a te ture ki te whakarau i a ia i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916. I te marama o Hepetema i te tau 1916 ka unuhia ngā whakapae hē i runga i ngā tāne tokorima i mauherea i te taha i a Rua; heoi, kua pau kē te hia marama e noho mauhere ana rātou.

I mauherea a Rua mō ngā marama tekau mā waru, mō te ātetetanga i tana whakarau i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1916. Nō te whakaohonga o tētahi whiu i te noho tārewa mai i te marama o Mei i te tau 1915, ka matika ngā pirihimana ki te whakarau i a Rua. Kāore i te mārama te take i ara ake te whiu nei; mai i te putanga o te whiu noho tārewa nei i te marama o Mei i te tau 1915 tatū rawa iho ki te aranga ake o te whiu nei i te marama o Hānuere i te tau 1916, kāore a Rua i hāmenetia mō tētahi hara hou. He mate tino nui i puta ake i te whakawhiu kino ki runga i a Rua me te whakapono o Ngā Iharaira. Tekau mā waru marama a Rua i te whare herehere ki Mautini. Nā te taumaha o te whiu i a Rua, ka tukua e te tokowaru o te hunga nā rātou tana kēhi i whakawā he reta ki te Auckland Star. Ko tēnei te wā ka tīmata te paheketanga haere o Ngā Iharaira i ngā tau, arā, whai muri iho i te wakarautanga i a Rua.

I te whakaekenga o Maungapōhatu i tūkino rawatia a Rua e te Karauna. Ko ētahi o ngā putanga kētanga i ahu mai i ngā whakawhiunga ko te whakatoihara i te whānau me te hapori me te rongo kino e piri tonu ana ki te whānau. Kua tae ki te wā kia unuhia te hara kai runga i a Rua, kia whakahokia tōna mana me tōna ingoa rangatira ki a ia me āna uri.

E whai iho nei ko ngā whakaaetanga a te Karauna ki ngā uri o Rua Kēnana me Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu.

Ka whakaae te Karauna—

Kāore he ārikarika o te whakapāha a te Karauna ki ngā uri o Rua Kēnana me Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu mō—

Ko tēnei unuhanga hara i a Rua Kēnana mō te whakaharanga i hua mai i tana “ātete” ki tana whakaraunga. Ka whakapuakina te whakahokinga o te āhua ake, te mana me te ingoa rangatira o Rua Kēnana, ōna uri, me Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu.

This Act is the Rua Kēnana Pardon Act 2019.

This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.

The purpose of this Act is to recognise in statute the agreement between the Crown and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust dated 9 September 2017 (the agreement).

The following sections reflect the agreement:

This Act gives effect to those matters.

This Act binds the Crown.

In August 1916, Rua was convicted of “moral resistance” to a police attempt to arrest him in February 1916. The attempted arrest was based on warrants a Magistrate had issued in January 1916 committing him to prison as a result of his having been sentenced to imprisonment as punishment for May 1915 convictions for selling alcohol without a licence.

Rua believed he had already been punished for these crimes and informed the police of this when they sought to arrest him. He had first been convicted on 5 liquor charges in 1911. At the time Rua was fined for 4 of the convictions, and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon on the fifth charge. No sentence was imposed on this charge until May 1915, when Rua was convicted of 5 new liquor charges. Rua was sentenced to 3 months in prison on the outstanding 1911 charge and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon for the fresh 1915 convictions. Rua served time in prison in 1915 before returning to Maungapōhatu in August 1915.

In January 1916, Rua was summoned to appear before a Magistrate on the 1915 charges. Rua advised the police that he was busy with harvesting, and requested that his case be adjourned until the next court session. The Magistrate treated this reply as contempt of court, and in Rua’s absence imposed a prison sentence and fines in relation to the 1915 charges. A warrant of commitment to imprisonment was issued, which led to the attempt to arrest Rua in February 1916.

Rua told the constables sent to arrest him in February 1916 that he had already served a prison sentence for the 1915 convictions, and would not voluntarily accompany them. The constables were not prepared to use force against him, and did not physically require Rua to come with them. Nevertheless, this incident ultimately led to further charges against Rua for resisting arrest and also for using seditious language arising from pro-German statements Rua was alleged to have made during the police attempt to arrest him.

On 2 April 1916, a police contingent of 70 armed men came to Maungapōhatu to arrest Rua. This led to an exchange of gunfire in which Rua’s son Toko Rua and another young man, Te Maipi, were killed. Three other Maungapōhatu residents and 4 police officers were wounded. Thirty-one Maungapōhatu men were arrested, and held for up to 3 days. On 5 April, the police left Maungapōhatu with Rua and 5 other prisoners, Tioke, Makarini, Pukepuke, Tūtara, and Tahu, who were all taken to Auckland.

Rua’s 47-day trial was the longest in New Zealand history before 1977. He was acquitted on the charge of using seditious language arising from the February 1916 attempt to arrest him. Four of the charges arising from the events of 2 April 1916 were thrown out by the Judge, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict on 2 other charges. However, he was convicted of “moral resistance” to the attempted arrest in February 1916. The charges against the other 5 men arrested with Rua were dropped in September 1916 after they had spent several months in prison.

Rua spent 18 months in prison because of his conviction for morally resisting arrest in February 1916. The police attempted to arrest him due to the reactivation of a suspended sentence imposed in May 1915. It is unclear why this sentence was reactivated as Rua was not charged with any new offence between the imposition of the suspended sentence in May 1915 and the reactivation of this sentence in January 1916. The seriousness of this issue is compounded by the severity of the consequences which flowed for Rua and the Iharaira Faith from this arrest. Rua served 18 months in prison, and the severity of his sentence was the subject of protest in a letter to the Auckland Star by 8 members of the jury which convicted Rua. The Iharaira Faith went into a serious long decline after the events arising from Rua’s arrest.

In regard to the Maungapōhatu invasion, the Crown’s treatment of Rua was unreasonable. The convictions caused severe prejudice to his whānau and the community, and his whānau have suffered ongoing stigma. It is now appropriate for Rua to be pardoned and for his mana and reputation, and that of his uri, to be restored.

The Crown makes the following acknowledgements to the descendants of Rua Kēnana and the Iharaira Faith.

The Crown acknowledges that—

The Crown unreservedly apologises to the descendants of Rua Kēnana and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira for—

This pardon is provided to Rua Kēnana for the conviction he sustained for moral resistance to arrest. The restoration of the character, mana, and reputation of Rua Kēnana, his uri, and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira Faith is declared.