Finlayson Christopher: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFinlayson Christopher: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 11 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8937. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): It is great to be back after a glorious summer in this magnificent capital city. I had a great summer. There is nothing more enjoyable than charging up Mount Kaukau to look out on this city—the best views in Wellington.Unlike Jacinda Ardern I thought that the Prime Minister gave an outstanding address to inaugurate the political year and I was particularly interested when the Prime Minister outlined a number of significant New Zealand sporting achievements. He mentioned the Sevens our great cricket team and Lydia Ko’s brilliance. I was just a little disappointed that he did not mention another great New Zealand sporting achievement—namely my hole in one on the 11th hole at the Royal Wellington Golf Club at 1.30 p.m. on 29 December 2015. Mr Faafoi would be interested in this because I know he plays at Heretaunga. It was a 7-wood brilliantly teed-off. It went slightly to the left—well about 160 metres in a northerly—it jumped the bunker and slid into the hole and I was very proud of that.I want to begin by paying tribute to my colleague Tim Groser who is about to leave for the United States. He and I came into Parliament together in 2005 and I was his associate culture and heritage spokesperson until Tim was reshuffled out of that role and I took it for myself. In 2014 Tim and I won the party vote in New Lynn and Rongotai embarrassing our high-profile opponents. In fact Tim almost became the member of Parliament for New Lynn which was slightly better than I have ever achieved against Mrs King although Tim did have the benefit of being up against David Cunliffe.I am very interested to hear that Annette King may be standing down as the MP for Rongotai. That is a very important political development because it will have the effect of turning Rongotai into a hair-trigger marginal. Whenever I am out campaigning with the people in Rongotai the voters always say they will switch to me once Mrs King retires. So I used to say I would win the seat in 2038 but I have been doing some very hasty recalculations and I think it could be as early as 2023. Tim and I were bench mates for our first term. We used to sit in the second row where David Shearer sits now and we often used to come down to question time reading our Spectators until Marian Hobbs the then MP for Wellington Central told us that no that was not very wise but we should try to look riveted when the speaker is asking questions. It was very sound advice which I have always remembered.I am very sorry that Tim has left our presence without giving a valedictory speech so I thought I would give one for him. I would like to outline what I think are his top five contributions in office even if Tim would have done a far better job of telling us about his achievements than I will be able to do and over the course of my speech I will avoid quotes from Napoleon Juvenal and Thucydides.Tim’s achievements were momentous. The first one of course was the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement—the obvious one. He achieved what many people thought was unachievable. Secondly there was the Taiwan economic agreement and the Hong Kong free-trade agreement which made New Zealand the first country to have trade deals with all of China. He concluded a free-trade agreement with the ASEAN Australia and New Zealand arrangement. He positioned New Zealand’s trade relationship with Asia in a very effective manner. He also concluded a free-trade agreement with Korea. These all prove the value of free-trade agreements as traditional Labour leaders have always said. The rise in the volume of New Zealand’s exports has been huge and the same will happen with the TPP agreement which makes Labour’s approach both so bizarre and so disappointing given its very positive contribution to trade over the years.Tim was a very respected voice overseas for New Zealand business and I am sure he is going to continue to be so in his new role. He spearheaded overseas business trade missions to introduce New Zealand companies to new markets. Whether at the World Trade Organization or whether at Washington or Beijing people listened to him—they had no choice—and New Zealand businesses all benefited from it.Finally he was a very effective Minister for Climate Change Issues. The work he did behind the scenes on international agreements earned him significant respect. The recent Paris agreement was based on the New Zealand proposal. I know the Greens are looking disconsolate because they think they have a monopoly of virtue on these matters but Tim was a very effective Minister in that area. I should not finish without mentioning his glorious reign as the Minister of Conservation between 2008 and 2010—as Tim himself calls it the golden age of conservation in New Zealand—until he was fired by the Prime Minister.I am sure all of us wish Tim all the very best for the future and I know that he will be a very effective ambassador to the United States.There is a lot to do this year and I am very much looking forward to approaching the issue of Treaty settlements with renewed enthusiasm. We had a good year last year and I acknowledge my friend Mr Nuk Korako for being such an effective chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. I acknowledge the wonderful work of the Leader of the House and of the Business Committee around Parliament for being so generous with parliamentary time so that we could move Treaty legislation ahead. I want to acknowledge all my fine negotiators like Paul Swain and Rick Barker for the good work they have been doing in so many areas to advance Treaty settlements. Paul is stepping back from the front line this year but I want to place on record my respect and my affection for him. He is a fine New Zealander.My friend and colleague the Minister for Māori Development is an outstanding Minister and he has been working on a variety of projects over the last 12 months including reforming the Maori Language Act and working towards the reform of Te Ture Whenua. I would like to say as Tim would say by reference to Thomas Gradgrind of Hard Times that the facts matter and we are not seeing a great many facts on the reform of Te Ture Whenua. The tribunal itself earlier this week acknowledged that much of the impetus for reform of this antiquated and outdated legislation has come from the people themselves. It is legislation that cries out for reform. It needs an urgent upgrade. That is what inspired me when I was the Associate Minister for Māori Development to put together a technical group which conducted around 30 hui around the country to see what could be done to improve this legislation engaging with iwi and whānau engaging with various groups and coming up with a very very good report. That report gave rise to policy proposals and those proposals have been consulted on up and down this country.I find it incredible that 100 hui at least and two exposure drafts are not regarded as sufficient. I was amazed when Prue Kapua of the Māori Women’s Welfare League said that Te Ture Whenua Act 1993 was the result of 20 years’ consultation. Surely to goodness 4 years of consultation two exposure drafts and ongoing consultation is something that is going to result in a very good piece of legislation. And then once the legislation goes to the Māori Affairs Committee there will be 6 months for people to make submissions. People are listening and they are being listened to. Consultation does not necessarily mean agreement or acquiescence. It does require that people listen with an open mind and that is what this Government is doing on this very important area.I was disappointed that Meka Whaitiri was so negative in the House yesterday. Her speech was very disappointing. I do not know who is briefing her but they are simply ignorant of the facts and they know nothing about the law. I was disappointed that the draft report that was released on Friday last week was released by her before the embargoed hour of 7 p.m.So there we have it—there is a lot to do this year. I am looking forward to approaching these issues and also the security law reform where Michael Cullen and Patsy Reddy have been doing such a great job. I hope that when we have that discussion people will engage in the facts and engage in a principled debate rather than waffling and engaging in piffle.