Hon Christopher Finlayson

Part 1 Purpose of Act, interpretation, settlement of historical claims, and miscellaneous matters

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I take a preliminary call to address the report of the Māori Affairs Committee on the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill, and to thank its members again for their work. In particular, I will address the part of the report that is headed “Ngāti Tama opt-out clause”. I particularly want to refer to clause 8(1), where there has been an amendment. Clause 8(1) states: “This section is subject to clause 8.2.3 of the deed of settlement as at the date of the deed of settlement.”

Clause 8 of the bill defines Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika as a collective of iwi who descend from one or more ancestors from Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, and other iwi from the Taranaki area, for example Ngāti Mutunga; who also descend from one of the signatories of the 1839 deed of purchase; or who are beneficiaries of the Wellington Tenths Trust. Importantly, as can be seen from clause 8(1), the definition links the bill to clause 8.2.3 of the deed of settlement, which provides that all persons who descend from a Ngāti Tama tupuna fall within the definition of Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika unless they choose to have their historical claim settled by another group with a Crown-recognised mandate, and that should a settlement negotiated by that other group with a Crown-recognised mandate become unconditional, those persons will, to the extent that they rely on descent from a Ngāti Tama tupuna, be excluded from this legislation.

The committee expressed some concern about that clause. It described the clause, as was referred to in the second reading last night, as “an unhappy exception to the Crown’s practice of dealing with large natural groupings”, and it did not recommend the use of such opt-out clauses in the future. I agree with that view. The clause is a very unusual measure and it is an exception to the Crown’s policy of settling with large natural groups. The inclusion of the clause was not a decision that was taken lightly and was made after numerous attempts at reconciliation. I am sure Mr Ririnui will be able to provide some of the background, because he was Associate Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations at the time and did a sterling job of trying to achieve that reconciliation. I have to say, if asked whether I would agree to such an approach in future negotiations, which I am responsible for, the answer would have to be in the negative.

I think the committee correctly addressed an important issue in the context of a reasonably innocent-looking clause 8. It is one that I am prepared to live with in this legislation, but I hope we do not see anything like it again.