CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): I will be very brief because I know it is the desire of the House that we vote on this bill before the dinner break. On behalf of the National Party I send very warm greetings to the people of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranganui, and Ngāti Pūkenga who have travelled from Tauranga to be with us today.
Part 2 Vesting of Mauao historic reserve and related maters
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): I want to focus on clause 7, which has been taken out of the bill by the Māori Affairs Committee, and also on substituted clause 8(3). Clause 7, as it was when the bill was introduced, caused quite a deal of excitement in the committee, mainly because the language was inappropriate and badly written.
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): I endorse everything that the previous speaker, the Hon Mahara Okeroa, said in his excellent speech. To the outsider it may seem as though this is all dancing on top of a pinhead—what is in words? But the challenge for the Māori Affairs Committee, which, as the Minister said, worked in a very professional and collegial way, was to turn concepts into words that were acceptable to the tangata whenua of Tauranga.
