Hon Christopher Finlayson

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.

The Te Arawa affiliate is a collective of 11 iwi and hapū groups from the Rotorua and Kaingaroa areas. Their area of interest covers over 500,000 hectares, and they have a population of around 24,000. This settlement settles all the historical claims of the affiliate. As the Minister observed in his speech, the bill contains Crown acknowledgments relating to the Crown’s failure to protect the interests and needs of the affiliate and the taking of lands for public works, and emphasises the loyalty to the Crown of the affiliate. It sets out the formal apology that the Crown has offered. It vests 24 cultural areas in the trustees of the affiliate; it transfers Crown forest land with a value of $4 million, and associated Crown forestry rentals; and it provides Crown recognition of the significance of various sites and of the association the affiliate has with certain sites. Finally, it gives effect to the deed of settlement that was signed a few days ago.

It is very interesting that when reading schedule 2 of the bill, both Parts 1 and 2, one observes just how long the people of Te Arawa have had to pursue their claims—since Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s Government expanded the jurisdiction of the tribunal in 1984. Part 1 deals with “Claims to Waitangi Tribunal that relate exclusively to Affiliate (or representative entity)”, and one can see that claims start with Wai 57—the Ngāti Tahu lands claim—and go all the way through to Wai 1252 just a few years ago. By my reckoning Wai 57 must have started in the very early years of the historical settlements process, around 1985. Part 2 deals with “Claims to Waitangi Tribunal that relate to Affiliate (or representative entity)” and, unbelievably, the first one mentioned is Wai 7, which deals with the Te Ariki lands claim. In the course of his speech, Mr Henare said that Te Arawa have been waiting since Māui was a little boy. Just before he left the Chamber he challenged me to come up with a more colourful expression, but I have to confess that I surrender—I cannot. He hit the nail on the head.

The legislation has been introduced very soon after the signing of the deed. As I said earlier, clause 3 records that the deed was signed on 11 June, and I hope all interested parties have had an adequate opportunity to digest all the detail of the agreement. As the explanatory note of the bill states, an initial deed of settlement was signed on 8 August 2006. A number of other iwi and hapū raised concerns about the proposed settlement. The Waitangi Tribunal intervened urgently, and then released a number of reports that were very critical of the Crown’s behaviour during the negotiating process. I record and I praise the steps taken by Te Arawa to allow the concerns of other iwi and hapū to be heard and to allow other negotiations to proceed. The affiliate generously agreed to delay the introduction of legislation giving effect to the 2006 deed of settlement. During the course of negotiations between the Crown and the various iwi and hapū interests in the central North Island Crown forests lands, the affiliate agreed to participate in those negotiations and to amend the 2006 deed of settlement so that its interests would be addressed through the central North Island iwi settlement deed. I think that is wonderful statesmanship, and I join with other members in applauding its actions.

The explanatory note of the bill does not refer to some of the criticisms of the tribunal. Of course, this is a day for rejoicing and a day for multi-partisanship; it is not a day for tendentious criticism, but I briefly mention some of those criticisms that the Crown had usurped the rangatiratanga of iwi and hapū and had failed to act fairly and impartially towards all the claimants. They were very critical reports, and that it why it is so good that we have moved beyond that kind of criticism to this positive day today.

The legislation being introduced this week will, if passed this year, triple the number of Treaty settlements that Labour has taken from start to finish in 9 years. The present record is that, to date, it has taken just one settlement from start to finish.

Let me emphasise that I congratulate Te Arawa on the faith they have shown in the process and on being prepared to work things through with other iwi for the benefit of everyone. I am pleased for them that this matter is now to proceed, and I can assure them that the members of the select committee will take a good look at the bill and try to progress the parliamentary stages of this matter as quickly as possible. There are, as Mrs te Heuheu said, a number of matters that will require careful scrutiny, and I can assure the affiliate that the members of the committee will do just that. They will look at issues, for example, relating to public access to land and other issues that other members have raised. Let me end this part of my speech by congratulating Te Arawa once again on the great leadership shown by real gentlemen, as Mr Paraone described the negotiators. I really enjoyed my meetings with them and look forward to working with them in the future.

This is certainly one area of politics that should be bipartisan, or, in these days of MMP—and I see Mr Paraone just about ready to scold me—multi-partisan. If possible, there should be no place for party politics in the resolution of historical grievances. It is the responsibility of all parties to cooperate to progress these matters.

Hon Parekura Horomia: You’ve changed your tune.

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: That sounds a bit like the Prime Minister, who said that she was waiting for the National Party to agree to any Treaty settlement, but the member well knows that that is wrong. He knows that we have voted against one or two because of our concerns about durability. We have been enthusiastic supporters, because we initiated this process and we strongly believe in it. I have respect for that member, and I would advise him not to make those kinds of misrepresentations. I fully endorse what Sir Douglas Graham brilliantly expressed during the third reading debate of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Bill, when he said: “For answering a cry for justice must be above politics. If we are to ensure a just, peaceful, and prosperous future for those to follow, we must continue as we have begun.”, and I say amen to that. In that spirit, I too want to congratulate the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations on his achievement here today and, in doing so, show him the generosity of spirit he has never shown anyone else during the course of his parliamentary career. At least I can say he has done a good job here. He has not bungled the settlement or got in the way of iwi as they have negotiated this settlement.

I conclude by saying I am very pleased that this matter is being referred to the Māori Affairs Committee, of which I am a member. I look forward to working on the bill with my hard-working colleagues on that committee. We will do our level best to get it through all parliamentary stages as quickly as possible.