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CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : Can I too, in opening, offer my congratulations and best wishes to the iwi of the central North Island collective, to Tumu te Heuheu for the outstanding work that he has done, and to the work of Wira Gardiner as Crown facilitator. I offer my congratulations to the Minister and his team on the contribution they have made. As other National members have said, we support the third reading of this important legislation.
 
 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I am conscious of the time, but I want to emphasise on behalf of the National Party that we will be supporting the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill. The process of reconciliation with Tainui was started by National in the 1990s, with Sir Douglas Graham and Sir Robert Māhuta, and this led to the very first settlement—the Waikato Raupatu settlement—in May 1995. In that settlement certain claims were excluded and were to be dealt with later, and this was one of them. The other two relate to the west coast harbours and to what may loosely be called the Auckland lands beyond the river to the north.
 
 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : As my colleague Georgina te Heuheu said, National supports the third reading of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Claims Settlement Bill and congratulates all those who have put so much work into it. I believe that above all this bill is evidence of statesmanship by the affiliate, which has shown a huge willingness to compromise. As the Minister rightly said, huge generosity of spirit was shown by the affiliate’s leaders throughout this entire process. That has resulted in this settlement and the central North Island settlement, which we will consider shortly. I have always enjoyed my meetings with the leaders of Te Arawa. They are principled and they are patient, especially in the face of delay and disappointment. To paraphrase what a former English judge said of himself—probably incorrectly—they have every Christian virtue except resignation; they have soldiered on very well. A third reading is not the place for reviewing the mistakes of the past. Now we must all move forward in a spirit of generosity.
 
 
Part 2 Provisions relating to transfers of assets, allocation principles, Crown agreed proportion, and DSP properties

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): I have only one other question that I want to raise about schedule 2, and I would be grateful for the guidance of the Minister in the chair, Mita Ririnui. My question concerns clause 13(e).
 
 
Part 2 Provisions relating to transfers of assets, allocation principles, Crown agreed proportion, and DSP properties

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I would really be grateful to receive the comments of the Minister in the chair, the Hon Mita Ririnui, on an issue. In my earlier contribution I dealt in detail with schedule 2 and particularly with the adjudication part, which is to be completed by 25 June 2011. I focused on clause 6(15) in schedule 2, which provides that a “decision of the adjudication panel will be final and binding on all the parties.” I said the authorities have suggested that the effect of that clause would not be to oust the jurisdiction of the court in judicial review. My personal view is that maybe it should do so.
 
 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : National enthusiastically supports the second reading of this bill, which, as the report of the Māori Affairs Committee states, gives effect to the deed of settlement between the Crown and the Central North Island Iwi Collective, which was signed on 25 June 2008. The committee’s report—and the Minister has referred to this—records that there were 167 submissions, and the committee heard 42 of those submissions in Taupō on 6 August 2008. The committee’s report also notes the genesis of this settlement. The Central North Island Iwi Collective emerged out of a recommendation of the Waitangi Tribunal in 2007 that the Crown give time for central North Island iwi to develop a proposal for Crown forest lands.
 
 
Part 1 Purpose of Act, acknowledgements and apology, interpretation provisions, settlement of claims, and miscellaneous matters

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I will take just a brief call on Part 1. It contains the usual clauses one expects to find in Part 1 of a settlement bill. It sets out the purpose, makes certain acknowledgments, contains the apology, and then has various interpretation and jurisdictional provisions.
 
 
Part 2 Provisions relating to transfers of assets, allocation principles, Crown agreed proportion, and DSP properties

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I am pleased that we will be debating schedule 2, because it would make no sense to debate Subpart 2 of Part 2 without looking at schedule 2.
 
 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : Mr Deputy Speaker, may I begin my third reading speech on the Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill by wishing you all the best. I was very interested in all of your speech last night, but particularly in the part about your youth spent growing up in this area, the rohe of Te Rōroa. I thank you for your friendship and guidance over the years, and I wish you all the best.
 
 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : The National Party will support the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill through all its stages.