_Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) : These are four very important bills. Dr Sharples has outlined the essence of the bills, but because of what I thought was an excellent contribution by Mr Jones, and again by Mr Horomia, I just want to say that each of the settlements we are talking about tonight raises an important issue concerning water.
_ There are four rivers that are very much part and parcel of the settlements, the Mōhaka, the Rangitaiki, the Waiapū, and the Waipā, and they are all slightly different versions of a genuine and sincere effort by the Crown to involve iwi in the co-governance of those particular resources. They are different models, but I believe they are going to be successful, and that they are adapted to the particular needs of the iwi and the particular needs of the rivers concerned—more about that in the course of the Committee stage. The Māori Affairs Committee has considered these bills, it has submitted its commentary on them to the House, and I want to thank Mr Henare and his team for the very thorough examination of the bills. I want to thank other Ministers and departments involved in the process. A wide variety of people from across the political spectrum have made some very, very important contributions to these settlements over the years. I particularly want to acknowledge Mr Horomia and Mr Jones, who always put partisanship to one side, and work with this Government on these issues, which is the way it should be.
I also, briefly, just to show how bipartisan I am, want to refer to the negotiators I have been working with: Paul Swain for the Crown with Ngati Porou, and Fran Wilde for the Crown with Ngāti Pāhauwera. What is it about former Labour MPs that they make such very good Treaty negotiators? They are so pleasant to deal with when they have left this place. Some, of course, I do not think could ever change their spots, but others are such very nice people. In fact, it is an indication of how nice they are that—again, to show how bipartisan I am; too bipartisan for my own good—I have asked Mr Rick Barker, an excellent fellow, to work for me with Mr Swain in Taranaki.
Hon Shane Jones: Just a small matter of income.
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Oh no. It is the quality of the contribution they make. So there we have it. A lot of good work has been done on these bills. Let us get down to the detail in the Committee stage.
