Samuels Dover: Foreshore and Seabed Bill Resource Management (Foreshore and Seabed) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Samuels Dover: Foreshore and Seabed Bill Resource Management (Foreshore and Seabed) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:621;Page:17210] 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS (Minister of State) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou. There is a proverb in Maoridom that says: “Hinga atu te tangata whanau mai te tangata kei te harurutonungangaru kei te pikitonu te tai kei te heketonu te tai—it does not matter what happens to man. They are born and they die. But you will hear the waves and the tides go back and forward forever.” 
I will acknowledge some of the comments that have been made by my colleague Mahara Okeroa. A little while ago there was a hikoi. It was a time that we had to make a decision. Our people were carried down here on a wave of emotion. A lot of that emotion was innocent a lot of it was misinformed and a lot of the people did not know the facts. Some people opted out during that emotional tide and jumped the waka. 
My colleagues and I thought about it very deeply because we also were caught up in that emotion and that tide. We sat down and talked together and had a karakia together and we made our decision together. To fly the white flag and to surrender was not an option for us. We knew that we had to stay in fight the good fight and represent our people. We were not going to surrender. That was not the nature of our tupuna who fought in the Maori Battalion when they were faced with unbelievable odds. We believed that if we stayed with the Government—if we stayed aboard the waka—we could better the future for our people. For those who decided to jump the waka kei te pai that is their business but for us as a Maori caucus we were determined to stay because we understood the political reality of the options. 
We heard an option presented by the Leader of the Opposition this afternoon. He said he could have fixed this issue very simply with some sort of bipartisan approach to amendment of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act—that that would have been a simple way to go. I want to reiterate to some of the bush lawyers members of the Green Party and the Maori Party that that was a real option—to have a bipartisan approach to amend Te Ture Whenua Maori Act so that it was clear that the intention of Parliament at that time was that the Maori Land Court did not have jurisdiction at all to hear the case involving seabed and foreshore. 
I believe that there was no intention of Parliament at the time that the Maori Land Court have jurisdiction under the sea and on the seabed. But if that had happened it would have reconfirmed absolute Crown ownership. That is what would have happened—Gerry Brownlee agrees with that; I can see him nodding his head—because that was deemed to be the situation before the Court of Appeal decision. Three previous pieces of legislation indicated that. We saw that and we looked at it very carefully and we said to ourselves that we would not waka-jump because we would not betray and desert our people in times of need. The rest is history. 
We have battled into the late hours. I pay tribute to the Deputy Prime Minister for the way that he handled the negotiations. He knew that we had a different position. I pay tribute to him and to the chair of the select committee Russell Fairbrother. We took a lot of flack in the select committee. We were called niggers and traitors. One of the female employees working for the select committee who is employed by the Clerk of the House was even assaulted by a member of the Maori Party and supporters of the Maori Party. It was an insult to the process. And those people talk about karakia and tangihanga and the love of the land! 
I am proud to be part of this Labour Maori caucus and this Government. I have always believed that it will do the right thing by our people. Tonight I am the final speaker and I want to thank the Government the Labour Maori caucus Dail Jones and the New Zealand First Party. No reira kei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Tena koutou tena koutou kia ora mai anotatou katoa. Kia ora tatou. 
[ 
And so I acknowledge you all. Greetings to you and to us all. Thank you 
.]