CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : Like other members who have spoken in the House this afternoon, I acknowledge the presence of the iwi of the central North Island and welcome them to the House. My National colleagues have already indicated that we will support the first reading of this bill and its referral to the Māori Affairs Committee. In doing so, National applauds the great efforts made by iwi to make this settlement possible. As is well known, this settlement was formulated by iwi, for iwi. Indeed, the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations himself acknowledged that fact when, a few days ago, he said “It needs to be made clear this is not a Crown initiative.” The iwi themselves have proposed an acceptable settlement, the iwi themselves have worked together to solve issues around overlapping claims, and the iwi themselves drove one of the most detailed and comprehensive consultation programmes we have seen to date. CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : As my colleague Mrs te Heuheu has said, National will support the first reading of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill. She, Mr Henare, and I very much look forward to working on it in the Māori Affairs Committee, of which the three of us are members. I also endorse everything that Mrs te Heuheu has so eloquently said about the value of Treaty settlements. For over 10 years she was a distinguished member of the tribunal, and was an Associate Minister to Sir Douglas Graham. She instinctively understands these matters and I can do no better than endorse what she said about the importance of Treaty settlements. Third Readings 06/19/2008
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I too am pleased that we have reached the third reading stage of these various bills, because I have found from speaking to various members of the legal profession that for some time they have been very concerned about the slow state of litigation, particularly in the High Court in Auckland, and that is primarily because of the number of methamphetamine trials. |