Hon Christopher Finlayson

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I think the arrangement is that the Minister of Customs wants the last word, so I will have the sentence. But before I pass sentence on this Government for its failings, I join with my colleagues in welcoming to the House the representatives of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto. I mentioned during the Committee stage that Mrs te Heuheu and I had had a wonderful visit to Te Kūiti—Jim Bolger - land—to meet with representatives of the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board, and it was a very good meeting. We also had a wonderful meeting earlier in the year when five or six of us went to Taupō to meet the representatives of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. So I say “Welcome to our House.”

Tonight I intend to be reasonably brief, because I know that it is the desire of the House to vote on this legislation before six o’clock so that our visitors do not have to come down again on Tuesday. I will concentrate my comments on the amendments to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. I join with the comments my learned friend Mrs te Heuheu has made about this legislation, and say that obviously we will support it because the changes are important. They are not simply schematic; they deal with a number of important issues.

The first is the amendment to clause 15, which deals with the composition of the Waitangi Tribunal. Clause 15 states: “Section 4(2)(b) is amended by omitting ‘16’ and substituting ‘20’.” The tribunal is doing a very job at the moment under the inspired leadership of His Honour Chief Judge Joe Williams, but there is much more that needs to be done. So increasing the numbers on the tribunal to 20 is a very good move. It is one that we have been advocating for some time. But, as Mrs te Heuheu said, it is not simply enough to increase the numbers to 20. The tribunal also needs good practical support. Adequate resourcing so that is can undertake its historic task is fundamentally important, and that is something the National Party will commit to.

Clause 16 is a very interesting clause. On the one hand it simply tidies up an extraordinarily complex section. Section 6 of the principal Act deals with the jurisdiction of the tribunal to consider claims, and section 6(1) is an amendment that was introduced by the Lange Labour Government in the mid-1980s. It empowered the tribunal to investigate actions of the Crown from any time on or after 6 February 1840. Of course, that is not being amended. As clause 16 provides, the amendments are to subsections (8) through to (32).

The idea, which has been expressed in some detail in the Committee stage, is to provide that instead of having to have constant amendments to section 6 as Treaty settlements are entered into and legislated, the sensible thing to do is to schedulise the various settlements. And that is exactly what is going to happen. So schedule 2 of the bill provides a schedule 3 to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, and the various statutes that are referred to there will now be schedulised. We say that from a drafting point of view that is very good. My personal view is that too much legislation is unnecessarily complex and unreadable, and this change—minor in the overall scheme of things though it is in legislative terms—is none the less a good tidy up and makes section 6 of the 1975 Act read that much better.

So into the schedule go a number of subsections from various Acts, and I will refer to these briefly. The first is an amendment dealing with the Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi Claims Settlement Act 2005. This is a very interesting statute because, of the various statutes that I will refer to, it deals with a settlement that is truly unique. It was started and completed under the Clark Labour Government. All the others were either started and completed under the National Government of the 1990s or were started by the National Government and finished by the Labour Government. `

The next one is the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. That deals with a settlement—a great settlement—that was started and completed by Jim Bolger and Doug Graham. The Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Act 2005 was started by National and finished by Labour. The Ngāti Mutunga Claims Settlement Act 2006 deals with a settlement that was started by National and finished by Labour. The Ngati Ruauni Claims Settlement Act 2003 deals with a settlement that was started by National and finished by Labour. The Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Act 2003 deals with a settlement that was started by National and finished by Labour.

The Ngāti Tūrangitukua Claims Settlement Act 1999, as the date suggests, was started and finished by National. The Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Act 2005 deals with a settlement that was started by National and finished by Labour. The Pouakani Claims Settlement Act 2000 was started by National and finished by Labour. The Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Act 2006 was started by National and finished by Labour. The Te Uri o Hau Claims Settlement Act 2002 was started by National and finished by Labour. The Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act 1995 was started and finished by National.

So in recent times we have had quite a few weasel words from this Government, but that is the record. [Interruption] The member for Te Tai Tonga should reflect on the record, because the statutory record tells the truth, and the record of this Government in this area is absolutely disgusting. It is the very apotheosis of failure and Labour members should be hanging their heads in shame, because that is the record of this Government. We are the ones who have performed. Contrary to what Colin James said in the New Zealand Herald about rhetoric and about our commitment to the Treaty settlement process and so on, we are the ones who have performed. It is good to have an opportunity--

Hon Annette King: Now you’ve had your skite, get back to the bill.

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Oh, the guilty ones are starting to bray now. The guilty ones are starting to bray, but the reality of the matter, I say for the benefit of the Minister of Transport--

Hon Annette King: And Police and Justice.

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: —Police, Justice, and State Services.

I just want to commit to our guests in the gallery and to other iwi who may be listening to this debate that a National Government will right this wrong and, by golly gosh, we will perform.