Hon Christopher Finlayson

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.

I do not think I need detain the House for very long in reporting to it what the Committee stage of the bill yielded. There were a number of amendments, which, I believe, improve the bill. The first, which should cause large numbers of the public to be more relaxed, concerns public access. A number of clauses have been inserted to emphasise the fact that public access is to continue and public right-of-way easements will be granted. There are a couple of other minor changes in the first Supplementary Order Paper, and another was tabled yesterday by the Minister to make a minor change to clause 12, dealing with the definition of affiliate historical claims. I agree with what he said in the Committee stage. Probably, in legal terms, the addition of new subclause (5), to deal with the issue of airspace over Rotorua airport and the neighbouring marae is unnecessary, but for avoidance of doubt it is good to include it.

I, too, like my colleague, want to refer to the apology, because I do not believe that the acknowledgments and the apology should be regarded as pro forma statements in the bill; I believe they are very important indeed. I particularly refer to clause 8(4) of the apology, which emphasises the fact that the Crown seeks to atone for the wrongs that are referred to in the acknowledgments, and looks forward to building a relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with the affiliate. It is one thing to acknowledge the failings of the past, and it is another to atone for them, but it is very important to work together to build a relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with the affiliate in the years to come. I say that because, in my opinion, there have been a number of Treaty settlements where the Crown has signed the deed, the legislation has been passed, and then sometimes the mistakes of previous times begin to be committed again because people have forgotten there is a new relationship, and there is an obligation on the Crown to act according to the terms of the deed and the legislation. In this legislation there are many positive obligations on the Crown, which it is obliged to carry out.

So the emphasis is on atonement, and I certainly hope that in the years to come, as the deed is given effect to, there will be proper notice made of what has been done in the past, and the mistakes of the past will not be repeated. As my colleague said, Treaty settlements require good faith on both sides. They require compromise, patience, and enthusiasm—what I would say is a kind of “We’re all in this together” kind of approach—and that has certainly been evidenced here. The last thing we need in Treaty settlements is arid legalism and obsession with process. I believe that that is why, at times, things have gone off the rails, but I think we are probably on the right path again.

I congratulate all those present on their achievements. I know that those in the gallery will forgive me if I single out one person, my former partner at Bell Gully, Roger Drummond, with whom I have worked on Treaty matters in years gone by. I know how much he enjoyed working on this matter. It was not just another brief but a real opportunity to play a part in the future of this country. I congratulate him and his team on all they have done.

National supports the third reading of this legislation. It is a great day for Te Arawa iwi, and we certainly hope we shall have the opportunity to work with them in the future.