Hon Christopher Finlayson

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) : I am pleased to take a call briefly to address some of the points raised by the previous speakers. I say in answer to some of the concerns expressed by the Māori Party member in relation to the UN special rapporteur that I had a couple of meetings with him last week. He had made no definitive conclusions, because his report has not yet been released. He generally was of the impression that in many respects this country, in a bipartisan way, is leading the world in this area and that since Mat Rata established the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975, and Geoffrey Palmer extended the jurisdiction in 1984, some very, very good work has been done. I agree with him.

He said that so many of these issues finally are determined as a result of the exercise of a political discretion, but of course that has to be right. When one comes down to making decisions on pieces of conservation land or the level of commercial redress, of course it will be at the exercise of a discretion, so I have difficulty in seeing how that is necessarily a criticism. I think, on the basis of his experience with land claims in North America, that he would have a preference for more statutory-based ones, and perhaps he places more faith in the litigation process than I do. He is a professor of law, but perhaps he believes that litigation is a cure-all, whereas I do not. But I think that his visit was a success, and I very much look forward to his final report.

I thank Mr Quinn for his generous comments. A lot has been achieved over the last year. There is a huge amount of work to be completed, and that is why I am very grateful particularly to the Minister of Finance for facilitating an increase in the funding of the Office of Treaty Settlements in two Budgets, and that office is indeed working very, very hard. I am pleased that tonight we will have the first reading of the upper Waikato River legislation. Those iwi were very gracious after we came into Government. They knew that we wanted to renegotiate the lower river legislation, and they were very patient until that could be done. I think the final product is very good indeed. When we sign the deed with Ngāti Maniapoto in relation to the Waipā, and when that part of the river system is brought in, then that, together with the clean-up fund, which is a very generous sum, will see some substantial improvements in that river. My impression of local authorities and the various sectoral interests is that they have put their initial fears or apprehensions behind them and are getting on with the job.

I have been very pleased with the work done in Tāmaki over the last 12 months, and I am quite excited that the logjam that was created in 2006 will be broken over the next 12 months as we sign deeds with them. I am very hopeful that this time next year all the deeds with Te Tau Ihu iwi will have been signed, and their legislation will have been passed. Certainly, that is my hope. I have met with them today, and will meet a group after making this speech to ensure that we keep up the momentum there.

I am very hopeful, given that Mr Jones is here, that Te Tai Tokerau iwi will have their day in the sun very soon. The Te Hiku Forum iwi have been working very hard since agreements in principle were signed at Ahipara on that beautiful day on 15 January, and I believe that a good settlement for them will release huge amounts of funds into that magnificent area of New Zealand and give them the chance to shine, as they deserve. In relation to the central North Island, hopefully in the not too distant future we will have legislation to give effect to the settlements entered into last year with Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Whare, and I am very, very hopeful that the terms of negotiation that we signed with Taranaki and Te Ātiawa on 17 March this year will progress very well next year. There is also the Whanganui River claim that I am keen to progress. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am so grateful for the support that I have received from my colleagues in the Māori Party in advancing these matters. Yes, one listens to the special rapporteur. I think it is good that we as a country expose our systems to international scrutiny, but I think we can be very proud as a Parliament of what we have done in this area, and in a bipartisan way I look forward to the next 12 months.

• Vote agreed to.