Finlayson ChristopherHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): Those who know me well know that there were two events in my ministerial career that mean a huge amount to me. The first was as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations negotiating a settlement with the great people of Ngāi Tūhoe and the second one was as Attorney-General working with the people of Parihaka to resolve this outstanding matter. I did do that as Attorney-General not as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations because what happened in Parihaka represented some of the most shameful acts in our country's history.We are proud of saying that we are a society governed by the rule of law—a society that since 1854 has strongly respected property rights. But so often in the history of this country the rule of law was selectively applied and property rights particularly of iwi and Māori were not respected. Nowhere did this happen in a more shameful way than in Parihaka. That is why on 9 June 2017 after a lot of work—and Minister Davis was very generous in his acknowledgments—representatives of the Crown met with the people of Parihaka and we concluded this agreement an agreement which acknowledges what happened in the past and also looks forward to the future.I was so very grateful that many members of this Parliament travelled with me to Parihaka that day. I was particularly grateful that the Hon Andrew Little was there as Leader of the Opposition representing the Opposition just as I was very grateful that Catherine Delahunty representing the Greens was there. It was very important to have representation across the Parliament and we were so very pleased that pretty well every party in the last Parliament was represented at Parihaka. Jonathan Young the member of Parliament for New Plymouth was present as indeed was Adrian Rurawhe the local member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru and other members of Parliament were there as well.I was particularly pleased that the Chief Justice was available that day. I had actually phoned her and said Would you like to come to Parihaka?" In an instant she said yes because the judiciary did their bit in times gone by to undermine the rule of law in relation to the people of Parihaka and Sir James Prendergast's name is something that if it doesn't live in infamy then certainly what he did was not overly impressive.Jim Bolger was present. It was one of those interesting events—Jim Bolger has always been so very supportive of me throughout my political career but particularly in relation to some of the trickier negotiations that we've had in the nine years that I held the Treaty negotiations brief. Interestingly Jim Bolger lived not far from Parihaka. He said to me that—it was one of those interesting things—as he grew up there in the late 1930s and 1940s Parihaka was never mentioned. Joan Bolger who actually lived just down the road from Parihaka will say that from time to time the story of Parihaka came up but no one really wanted to talk about it. It was as though there was communal suppression of what went on there because people knew that something very bad had happened. So I was proud of this Parliament and I was proud that other public officials came to that very important ceremony.I also want to acknowledge Mahara Okeroa and Jamie Tuuta because I was—and they know this—in 2015 really hacked off with them. We had just about concluded the negotiations for the Taranaki settlement and they put on the table the issue of Parihaka. I said "Well I thought it was incorporated in the Taranaki settlement." They said no it wasn't and at the time I didn't understand that and wanting to get the Taranaki settlement concluded I was as I say a little bit annoyed—but it was the education of a public man. I now understand why it was important to deal with the issue of Parihaka separately from the Taranaki iwi settlements that had been negotiated under the Labour Government of Helen Clark and under John Key's administration. It was very important to isolate this issue to focus on what happened and to have a separate apology and a separate acknowledgment for what happened. As a result of the interventions of Mahara Okeroa Jamie Tuuta and the other Taranaki negotiators we reached that very successful conclusion which is why we signed this in 2017.I'm not going to go through the apology of the Crown to Parihaka that is set out in the first schedule to the bill. The legacy statement—and I thoroughly endorse what Mr Davis said—is extremely important and should be read by all New Zealanders and in particular it should be read by some of the people who phoned my office in the days after the legacy statement was signed at Parihaka. I refer only to one particularly sad individual who said "There was no rape at Parihaka—give me chapter and verse." Occasionally you get those kinds of comments. Most people have extraordinary generosity of spirit but sometimes you do get people who make that kind of disgusting remark.The reason I signed it as Attorney-General is borne out when one sees the legislation that was passed in the 1880s that meant that the rule of law was not applied to every New Zealander something that was fundamental to those who signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840 and thereafter. I invite honourable members and those who may be listening to this debate to go to clause 3 of the bill and look at the legislation referred to there—for example the Maori Prisoners' Trials Act of 1879 which empowered the Governor to set or change the date or place of trials if for any reason it was expedient to do so; the Maori Prisoners' Detention Act of 1880; and the Maori Prisoners Act of 1880 which declared that those committed or awaiting trial or detained in custody were deemed to have been lawfully arrested and in lawful custody and could continue to be lawfully detained without trial something that simply in 1880 terms failed to observe fundamental principles of justice failed to apply the rule of law to a significant section of our community. It was shameful it's taken such a long time to get to this point because as I say I do believe in this country there has been as it were communal suppression of memory when dealing with these issues and so that is why such a large section of the New Zealand Parliament went to Parihaka and were with me supporting me when we signed this agreement.That's the history; that's the rationale for it. I now very much look forward to the future. I hope—indeed I pray—that Governments in years to come will honour this agreement will engage with the people of Parihaka because they've been let down on a number of occasions and they must never be let down again. In relation to the future I've given my views. I think that this is not only a place where we go to look at the history of what happened but I think there's a wonderful opportunity for a dispute resolution centre to be set up in Parihaka. I can think of no better place to go for an arbitration or a mediation than in Parihaka where parties come together in a spirit of compromise to sort out their disputes but these and other matters are issues for the people of Parihaka.So I say to our guests in the gallery: it's great to have you here. It's been a long time coming it's very much overdue but to have played a part in this reconciliation ceremony is something that I will remember for the rest of my days. So the Opposition strongly supports this legislation and I commend the bill to the House.[Applause]"