Parata Hekia: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Parata Hekia: Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:655;Page:5041] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 A tena koe e te Heamana huri noa i to tatou Whare tena koutou tena koutou katoa. E tu ana au ki te tuku mihi ki nga iwi o Taranaki whanui no te mea kaore au i tae i te Whare i taenihi nei na reira i tenei wa i taku tu tuatahi mo tenei kaupapa e mihi ana ki a ratou otira ki a koutou ki a tatou e whakawhaiti nei i runga i tenei kaupapa i te ahiahi nei. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
And greetings to you Mr Chairman and to us throughout our House. Greetings to us all. I rise to extend a greeting to the people of Taranaki at large because I was not in the House yesterday and at this point in time it being my first address on this matter I acknowledge them this afternoon and indeed you and us drawn together on this matter. 
]  
I am delighted to stand and speak on the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill in the Chamber today. When any Treaty settlement bill finally makes it to the House it is an opportunity for celebration because it reflects the efforts of many people over many years and suggests a culmination finally of the breaches and grievances of the past allowing us sufficient space to pause before moving on into the future. We are here today to work through the Port Nicholson Block (Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) Claims Settlement Bill. 
I am pleased to have been a member of the Maori Affairs Committee and I acknowledge all of my colleagues on the select committee. At times there were some very robust exchanges about particular elements of the bill but all along I think there was a common understanding and intent that we would reach the best possible outcome we were capable of in order that this bill could be returned to the House. 
Like previous speakers I acknowledge all of the officials who have worked to get the bill to this point. But I particularly acknowledge the Taranaki whanui iwi themselves their hapu individual members and their negotiators. They had sufficient trust and confidence that they would come together with the Crown to look to resolve the grievances of the past so that they would be able to move into the future with their confidence strengthened and restored in the knowledge that the breaches that they had defined as part of the Treaty settlement were recognised acknowledged by the Crown and apologised for. That is part of the healing process of Treaty settlements. 
In the past we have had some unsympathetic and ill-informed responses from different groups of the public about Treaty settlements. In my view there has been an unfair inaccurate and overweening focus on the actual quantum that informs a particular settlement. In fact it is much more than that. It is a recognition that our history and herstory must be recognised accurately we must be able to own the past and we must be able to see that the Crown had not behaved honourably. So a Treaty settlement is as much about restoring the honour of the Crown as it is about restoring and redressing the breaches of the Treaty that a particular iwi has experienced. It gives us all opportunity and cause for celebration about the bicultural partnership that is often spoken about more in the breach than in the practice. Treaty settlements contribute to cementing that relationship. Today we are here to talk about Taranaki whanui in particular. 
I am also delighted to be standing because my particular herstory includes having been the Crown negotiator for the first lot of Taranaki claims back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I am sad to say that I think I remain the only female Crown chief negotiator. With some little showing off I say that we managed to get those claims done in about 4 months so I suggest that if we employ a few more female Crown negotiators we might get closer to our 2014 aspiration. 
Paul Quinn 
: It’s because you’re a Maori woman. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: My colleague is reminding me that it is because I am a Maori woman but actually it is probably because I am a Ngati Porou woman given our modest approach to things. 
Let us stay focused on Taranaki whanui. A number of hapu have been encompassed by this particular bill and they will have the opportunity to go forward from this point with strength and confidence once we finally pass the bill into legislation. As I said earlier this is an opportunity for celebrating what Treaty settlements are about. The purpose of this bill is to ensure not only that we acknowledge the past and apologise for it but also that we move on to something practical and talk about the cultural and commercial redress.