Finlayson Christopher: Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFinlayson Christopher: Third Readings[Sitting date: 08 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6408. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I move That the Ngāti Kuri Claims Settlement Bill Te Aupouri Claims Settlement Bill the NgāiTakoto Claims Settlement Bill Te Rarawa Claims Settlement Bill the Ngāti Kahu Accumulated Rentals Trust Bill and the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Act 1977 Amendment Billbe now read a third time.E te Tūmuaki Kōrero o te Whare tēnā koe. E aku hoa mema o te Whare tēnā koutou. E ngā manuhiri tūārangi o Te Tai Tokerau ngā iwi o Te Hiku o Te Ika a Ngāti Kurī Te Aupōuri NgāiTakoto Te Rarawa nau mai haere mai! Haere mai ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. Kei te maumahara ki te hunga kua mene atu ki te pō tae atu ki a Dame Whina Cooper nāna te hīkoi nui me te ōhāki ki te motu; ā me te Hōnore Matiu Rata hoki nāna te moemoeā i whai take ai tātou i tēnei rā. He rā nui tēnei mō ngā iwi o Te Hiku o Te Ika ā he rā nui hoki mō tātou katoa. Rau rangatira mā tēnei taku mihi ki a koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker of the House. To you my fellow members of the House and to the visitors from afar of Northland the tribes of Te Hiku o Te Ika Ngāti Kurī Te Aupōuri Ngāi Takoto and Te Rarawa welcome come hither! Welcome to Wellington and Parliament House. I bring back to mind those who have gathered in the void including Dame Whina Cooper whose great march and last words to the nation were hers and the Hon Matiu Rata whose dream it was that makes this day a fruitful one for us. This day is a great one for the tribes of Te Hiku o Te Ika and for us all. And so I acknowledge you my esteemed ones of a hundredfold; congratulations and well done to you and to us all collectively.]Can I begin by offering my very warm greetings to the people of Ngāti Kuri Te Aupōuri NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa who have travelled here from the far far north the Tail of the Fish to witness the passing of these Treaty settlements into law. I do acknowledge the great distance many have travelled to be here today particularly those who set off by bus at 5 a.m. yesterday morning and have travelled virtually non-stop through day and night to be here.I welcome everyone from Te Hāpua Te Kao Kaimaumau Kaitāia the Hokianga and so many points in between to the head of the fish our nation’s Parliament. I acknowledge the presence of some of the rangatahi. I understand that all of Pangaru kura as well as students from Pukemiro and Te Rangiāniwaniwa are here today viewing from the old Legislative Council Chamber and others have also sent representatives—a very warm welcome to all those rangatahi.I also acknowledge those who have been unable to make the journey to Wellington and who are marking this occasion in other ways. I acknowledge the symbolism of Ngāti Kuri leaving all but two of their seats in this House empty—empty to remind us all of those who experienced the grievances and have now passed on.Sadly the news of the passing of Gloria Herbert who led Te Rarawa in the early years of negotiations with the Crown reached us yesterday. I know Gloria set the tone leading with strength and grace and driving the message that both Treaty partners can achieve much when they work to understand each other. It was fitting that she was one of the first to sign the Te Rarawa deed at Te Ahu in 2012 but she left us knowing the settlement was almost completed. My condolences to her whānau and to the iwi she served so well.Can I also take this opportunity to express my sympathies to Shane Jones and his family and Graham Latimer and his family at their time of dreadful loss. I know those ancestors whose lives were so impacted by the wrongful actions the Crown is seeking to atone for through these settlements and whose wairua are carried by the iwi here today. I honour those ancestors.This third reading is the penultimate step in a Treaty claim and a settlement journey that is of national significance. It is not an overstatement to say that the iwi leaders here have been pivotal in shaping the way in which our country both examines the injustices that were historically suffered by Māori and strives to address them.Why are we having this debate today? Because in a few days’ time it will be 40 years since the great Māori Land March set off from Te Hāpua. Most New Zealanders who witnessed it were compelled by that seemingly frail yet passionately articulate woman who led the march Dame Whina Cooper. The imagery was powerful and it is stamped in our national memory and the messages conveyed even more so. Pākehā had to stop and consider what made a 79-year-old kuia decide to lead a march the very length of the North Island.I pause to acknowledge those here today including the children of Whina Cooper and those who joined that protest and brought that very important message here to our nation’s Parliament. By the time the hīkoi arrived the country was watching and one message was clear: Māori had legitimate Treaty grievances; they had to be addressed.Of course the Te Hiku people know the importance of having strong representatives in Parliament. The north sent a man whom we all greatly admire Matiu Rata to this House and he earnt his place in New Zealand history for many achievements but perhaps none more so than the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal 40 years ago this year creating the pathway for these important claims to be heard.Matiu Rata walked that pathway but not alone. As “Karanga rā” the tribunal waiata says “The clarion voice of Rata calls. The movement in the Tail of the Fish responds.” Wiki Karena for Te Aupōuri Simon Snowdon for Te Rarawa the Rev. Māori Marsden for NgāiTakoto and McCully Matiu for Ngāti Kahu joined Matiu Ratu in submitting what became known as the Wai 45 Muriwhenua land claim in 1987. They were supported in the pursuit of justice by the expert evidence of Rima Edwards the political courage of Graham Latimer and the practical assistance of many many iwi members. They benefited from the contribution of some final legal minds. It could be said that the far north was a judicial incubator. Dame Sian Elias as she now is; Joe Williams now in the High Court; and David Baragwanath who is now doing important work in The Hague were just some of the lawyers who worked for these iwi.The historical picture captured in the report was of a strong people with all their rich layers of interconnections and history ready to welcome the opportunities offered by the arrival of new people and to form relationships that would be mutually beneficial. Within 25 years of signing the Treaty the Crown had acquired all the most fertile of Te Hiku lands through land taking involved in pre-Treaty transactions and had fundamentally altered the relationships entered into between iwi and settlers. Through purchasing vast areas of land cheaply and then failing to follow up with the promises from settlers to generate those new opportunities these good people were left with the most marginal land and little opportunity to sustain the people on their tribal lands and that situation only worsened after 1865.Although the tribunal heard the claims together each iwi ultimately sought their own pathway to settlement and I want to briefly reflect on each of the grievances and the settlement journeys.First Ngāti Kuri. To the representatives of Ngāti Kuri—very very warm greetings. If one knows Ngāti Kuri’s history it is not possible to think the Crown fulfilled the undertakings made in the Treaty. Put simply the Crown failed Ngāti Kuri. It failed from the outset to recognise the iwi as tangata whenua and respect their mana and rangatiratanga. It failed to protect their interests in land. It ignored the persistent pleas in the 1930s to return land the Crown was not using or to provide the economic development assistance that was being made available to other New Zealanders at a time when the situation of the people in Te Hāpua for example was so very desperate. It tried to remove the people from Kapowairua in the 1960s without complete success I might say because they proved tenacious and the bonds of whakapapa could not be extinguished.I remember so well the tears shed at Ngātaki on 7 February last year as I read the acknowledgments of the hurt and the suffering the Crown caused to Ngāti Kuri ancestors and those who are still with us today. I am so pleased this settlement will restore Kapowairua and other lands to this iwi and I acknowledge those who fought for that outcome including Ratima Petera Piri Paraone Motu Rapata Hone Aperahama Rata Raharuhi Paraha Neho Dame Mira Szaszy Nina Subritzky Saana Murray—who told me the story of how she was hit when she spoke Te Reo at school—Sophie Waitai and Alice Palmer. The iwi negotiators Harry Burkhardt Tom Petricevich Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn—they were all ably supported by the trust board but also by kuia and kaumātua particularly the late Merimeri Penfold that respected member of the Māori Battalion Charlie Petera and Pineaha Murray.To Te Aupōuri I say welcome. I pay tribute to the extraordinary patience and resolve Te Aupōuri have demonstrated since Matiu Wiki George Wītana Winiata Brown Waitai Petera and John Walters led the iwi into negotiations in 2000. I acknowledge the others who picked up the mahi of the negotiations: that great New Zealander Ata Kapa Michele Wi Hugh Karena Raymond Subritzky Ebony Duff Peter Lucas-Jones Maahia Nathan and the support team.When Ata Kapa submitted a claim to the tribunal in 1998 he asserted that Te Aupōuri have a proud history to maintain not necessarily in a glorification of tupuna in battle or heroics of rangatira—although I am sure that Shane Jones would say that is not exactly correct. But Ata wisely noted that Te Aupōuri have pursued the gradual and determined progress of the iwi as a unit over the years to the present. They have been particularly driven to ensure these settlements will enable the development of Te Aupōuri and will allow this iwi with the iwi of Te Hiku to exercise kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga over Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe.This day has been a long day coming for Te Aupōuri.They have faced many challenges. There have been at least five Crown offers two agreements in principle and a period of withdrawal from negotiations when the Crown did not meet iwi aspirations. Te Aupōuri have dealt with four Ministers of Treaty settlements over 20 Crown agencies and two local authorities. Through all of it they have flown and sought a place to land where others might follow.Finally with this legislation the Te Aupōuri Māori Trust Board will be wound up. And of course what is new? There are eleventh hour challenges there as well but I am heartened by the new tribal entity and the leadership that has emerged. In relation to those troubles I promise representatives of Te Aupōuri that the Minister for Māori Development and I will be working closely with you to see a way through those problems.I come to NgāiTakoto the descendants of Tūwhakatere and say: behold the pioke from Rangaunu. It does indeed create quite a wake. The historical account in the deed of settlement describes the marginalisation of NgāiTakoto by the Crown. They bore the brunt of surplus land policy and early Crown purchasing. What is more the Crown failed to recognise their mana and thus failed to protect their customary interests.This settlement is about restoration for NgāiTakoto and an ability to create a future in which your connection to Kaimaumau to Te Make to Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe and to numerous other areas can no longer be marginalised or ignored. I am so pleased they have already secured through our early provision of settlement quantum highly important lands that the Crown could not provide in certain parts of their rohe.So many people have contributed to NgāiTakoto kaupapa over the years including as I said earlier the Rev. Māori Marsden the Rev. Harold Pētera Lance Brown Laddie and Harriet Cook Ivan Erstich Matilda Dick Hiriana Marsden and Walter Erstich. Although they did not have the opportunity to participate in negotiations I know their work and their legacies guided the iwi and can I say this: I also acknowledge a former member of Parliament Hone Harawira. Thanks to Wallace Rivers to Rangitāne Marsden to Mangu Awarau and to the team for the tremendous hard work they have put into securing a better future for the people of NgāiTakoto.And to Te Rarawa as I said we gathered here in 2011 to acknowledge the deed of settlement. It is such a great privilege to have them back here today. As I think about what led Dame Whina to march to this House 40 years ago I know that she carried the burden of Te Rarawa ancestors. Generations of their people over more than 170 years have borne the responsibility of seeking redress from the Crown.There are so many people here who deserve to be thanked for their tremendous work in bringing those stories to the attention of the Crown. That work has continued throughout the 19th century and again into the 20th century when your leaders participated in commissions of inquiry into grievances about land including for example at Motu Karaka. Iwi leaders sought recognition and redress for other grievances such as the Crown’s acquisition of timber and resources at various places and the Crown’s administration of Māori land in the 20th century including Te Kārae.The human capital Te Rarawa people have had to spend in the pursuit of redress is truly regrettable. In the face of all those grievances—and my summary is hopelessly inadequate—it is humbling to think about the approach they brought to negotiating a settlement. In 1990 Dame Whina told an international audience to remember “that the Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa”.Te Hiku leaders sought to walk the talk of that by designing redress that would set out for example how Te Rarawa and the Crown would work in the future. Te Rarawa leaders have pushed hard to guide the Crown to a better Treaty relationship. Led by Gloria Herbert they emphasised the need for the Crown and iwi to treat one another with respect and with honour. Other Treaty negotiators—Haami Piripi Paul White Malcolm Peri under the guidance of Joe Cooper—had an unwavering commitment to securing a settlement. I know that they have been supported by many others including Tame Murray Hec Busby and many many more.Finally let me say something about shared redress. Individually these settlements are significant. They provide each of the iwi an opportunity to determine their future. Collectively however the settlements are truly unique. The iwi’s decision to join together to negotiate and agree common arrangements across significant redress that is important to all appropriately reflects the ancestral network that binds all together but it also speaks to a great vision. It takes true leadership to work together to that degree.I conclude by acknowledging the quality of the negotiators. Iwi have been served by some extraordinarily gifted people who were committed to finding innovative and flexible approaches to the redress. The qualities of the leaders in the galleries—we have the best leaders that one could possibly seek to negotiate with. They had an aspiration for progress. They had the tenacity to pursue it. They had an ability to be forthright with grace and often with humour and they kept me on my toes.I will never forget my first meeting with Hugh Kārena when he said: “The big question Minister is whether you’re up to it.” I want to acknowledge the fine work of my chief Crown negotiator Pat Snedden in both the individual and collective negotiations. He phoned me in 2008 and asked me whether I wanted him to continue. I said: “Go for it.” He did a wonderful job and I salute him today. I also acknowledge the hard work of officials from the Office of Treaty Settlements. I particularly acknowledge Maureen Hickey. Maureen Hickey has worked on these settlements for over 10 years and I salute her for her ability and her professionalism.Finally I want to reflect on what we have collectively achieved. It is said that Mat Rata quietly returned more Crown land to Māori in a single term than any Minister previously. I am so pleased these settlements continue that legacy through one of the largest returns of land to Māori ownership through any Treaty settlement. We are taking a unique approach to conservation lands by establishing the Te Hiku o Te Ika Conservation Board and through the korowai more broadly.Cape Reinga will have its name Te Rerenga Wairua restored. It will return to Māori ownership and protection. Almost 30 years ago Te Hiku asked in the tribunal for the spiritual significance of Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē to be appropriately recognised in legislation. Today that comes to fruition and in addition Te Hiku will alongside other local authorities provide governance over Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē.Finally I hope the day will come when we in this House pass legislation giving effect to a Ngāti Kahu settlement. In the meantime safeguards are provided through the Ngāti Kahu Accumulated Rentals Trust Bill. It will ensure that the interest from the rent on Crown forests starts to accumulate for the benefit of Ngāti Kahu.In closing can I express my thanks to members of Parliament who have worked with me over the years on this matter. As has been said earlier in this House this has been a truly bipartisan effort. I have always enjoyed talking to Kelvin Davis about these matters and listening to his wisdom on these topics and even Hone Harawira and I could sit down from time to time and talk sensibly.I want to finish now by expressing my excitement for the future of Te Hiku. The commitments between Te Hiku iwi and the Crown that we are giving legislative weight to are very significant indeed. I have every confidence that this is a new beginning not just for iwi collectively but for each of the iwi and the Crown. I am very grateful to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to the House for giving me the indulgence of going slightly beyond the 10-minute period so that I could cover all those points. I commend the bill to the House.