Quinn Paul: Whakarewarewa and Roto-a-Tamaheke Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
Quinn Paul: Whakarewarewa and Roto-a-Tamaheke Vesting Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6723] 
PAUL QUINN (National) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Roy. Tena koe e te Whare. Tena koutou nga rangatira o Te Pumautanga. Nau mai haere mai. Haere mai ki te Whare. Tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
I will take just a short call on the Whakarewarewa and Roto-a-Tamaheke Vesting Bill. Much of what I was going to say has been covered by the previous speaker Te Ururoa Flavell so I look forward to covering the more technical aspects during the Committee stage. 
I acknowledge the previous speakers. The Minister of Maori Affairs and to a lesser extent my cousin Mita have covered some of the history so I will not do that. I was disappointed by the contribution of Nanaia Mahuta who chose to play politics on this issue. She was way off line with her facts and for someone who seemed to fly in from nowhere in the select committee deliberations which I cannot recall her sitting in I thought that her contribution— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If the member is so concerned about tikanga he might care to reflect on the Standing Orders stating that members cannot refer to the absence or presence of members in the House or in select committee proceedings. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member is quite right. I did not pick up that the member who was speaking had done that. I was still engaging with the points he was making in relation to the debate. The member must not refer to the absence of any member. 
Hon John Carter 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think there may have been a misrepresentation by the member who made the point of order. The fact was that the member on his feet was not referring to the absence of someone currently on the select committee but to a historical select committee process. That is quite a different issue and the point of order needs to be taken in that context as I understand it. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: It is out of order to refer to the absence of a member from a select committee. I have made the caution and I ask the member to continue. 
PAUL QUINN 
: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker Roy. The honourable member from the other side of the Chamber has drawn attention even more so to the fact that the contribution of Nanaia Mahuta was very poor indeed leading him to support it in some way. It demonstrated a clear misunderstanding of the issues discussed and the excellent work done by my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell. She called him a negotiator when in fact he facilitated a very tight process following the very untidy issues left by the previous administration. That deserves credit. 
One of the things I want to highlight here is that this is the second of three bills put together by the previous administration in the rush of its dying days to pass some Treaty settlement legislation. It left a lot of loose ends that of themselves may well have appeared small but the reality is that they were very contentious. We saw that in the last settlement bill that went through this House the Port Nicholson settlement in respect of Ngati Poneke and we have seen it again in this one. My learned colleague Te Ururoa Flavell has outlined in a lot more detail the technical aspects around that settlement. The reality is that there had to be some work done. A considerable number of people were concerned about one particular aspect of the bill and his support in working through those issues to get agreement with all the parties concerned deserves mention. I think also the genuineness with which Ngati Whakaue Tuhourangi and Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa entered into the spirit of cooperation to resolve this particular issue also deserves recording. 
I also take the opportunity in this second reading to thank the chairman of the Maori Affairs Committee who guided us through this thorny issue keeping in contact with the Minister and trying to find a pathway through. I think the work he was able to achieve in pacing the committee to ensure a solution was reached reflects well on him. With those few words I do not have much more to add other than to commend this settlement to the House. I look forward to debating the technical aspects during the course of the Committee stage. Thank you.