Henare Tau: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 19 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5483. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. I will not take too much of the House’s time and I will leave the majority of my comments to the Committee stage and the third reading. Can I say though that in response to the last speech although I am not going to bag it or anything like that the question is this: are we saying it is a good settlement or are we saying it is a bad settlement? At the end of the day Ngati Manuhiri has signed the deal not us. They said they want to sign the deal. Like I said earlier in the day it is easy for us to sit here and make speeches but they are the ones who have got to live the life. They are the ones who have to get on with whatever they want to get on with. It is not for us to say “You should take it.” or “You should leave it.” At the end of the day that side will decide whether they should take it or leave it. So they have decided in their wisdom to take the deal that is on the table. 
We all know that it is a minuscule settlement. It is a—I was going to use some of my South Auckland slang but I thought I had better not— 
Hone Harawira 
: Not if you want to be Speaker. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That is right. At the end of the day Ngati Manuhiri have decided. I hear what the member from the Green Party said about Ngati Wai and there are some issues around that. But put yourself in this position. In a small Maori community obviously sometimes there is going to be a perceived conflict of interest because the lawyer is working for two people or two organisations. 
Hon Member 
: Get two lawyers. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well you know I mean it is not as if Ngati Manuhiri people are so overflowing with gold and riches that they can afford to go to Kensington Swan or whoever. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: I used to work for Kensington Swan. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: And one of my colleagues did work for Kensington Swan until he got asked to give the toilet key back. 
I do not think that this settlement hinges on whether Ngati Wai agree or not and one of the things about doing a Treaty settlement is that it is very hard to actually get a change in the bill. I think our select committee did a wonderful job by actually getting the change—I think the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations mentioned clause 96A which clarifies the co-governance agreements with our Department of Conservation over Te Hauturu-o-Toi Little Barrier Island and they are not exclusive. What that amendment says is that it is not exclusive only to Ngati Manuhiri. So it does not wipe out any claim Ngati Wai may bring at a later date. 
So I hear what the member said but I also think that the select committee did its job and did a pretty good job in trying to convince the Minister to put a change or a definition that would say to Ngati Wai: “Look this doesn’t count you out.” In fact it does not count out anybody who thinks they have a relationship with Hauturu. I might leave it there because I know that my brother over there wants to get to lunch. 
The last thing I will say is that in a process where the select committee asks the Minister to change something in the bill the Crown has to agree and so do the home folk. So it is not just a change because the select committee asks for it; they have actually got to get agreement from the home people if there is to be a change. I commend both the Minister and also Ngati Manuhiri for agreeing to that change to make sure that it is clear that there is no exclusivity. I will leave it at that.