Turei Metiria: Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTurei Metiria: Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 17 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9519. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green): Kia ora koutou katoa. He mihi aroha ki a koutou. To those of you in the gallery today who are here to witness the second reading and Committee stage of the Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill tēnā koutou e te Whare. I want to take just a very small call to acknowledge and to pay my respects to the iwi who have completed this process in as far as it has gotten so far. We are very close to the conclusion of this legislation and this settlement.As has often been repeated in this House by me and by other colleagues we have always had real concerns about making sure that the process for settlements is fair and that those who have been the victims of the State’s unlawful behaviour in the past are able to have—not mana restored because their mana has never been lost; it is the Crown’s mana that has been lost in the process not the mana of the iwi—their rights restored to at least some extent through these deals and to have the chance to make some future decisions with land and resources that otherwise would not have been returned. Although we would rather that there was more returned to the iwi that they were fully restored and compensated for the losses that they have suffered we are pleased that there is at least some restoration of those resources.So I just wanted to acknowledge that history and these issues but also perhaps to identify one concern I have about this legislation and that is a message to the Auckland Council not to the iwi themselves. There is a description in the bill of the iwi having gifted land for various purposes that has been gifted away in terms of the council and the Auckland Council was very concerned about the return of that land to the iwi because it is being used as a reserve—not for the purposes for which it was gifted I would say but for other purposes and those purposes are public land as a reserve. The council is very concerned to try to retain that use of that land.But this is the point: when we return resources that either were wrongfully taken or were taken under an agreement that was not honoured it is not up to the State the Crown or Crown agents like the council to put conditions on the use of that land. It is our obligation and the obligation of all of the agents of the State to return that land and it should be for the iwi to make decisions as to what happens to it. I notice that there are still some issues around that with this particular land that is being returned to the iwi. There are zoning issues with that land in that the council will still have to make some decisions to enable the iwi to be able to use the land as they see fit as is right. So I urge the Auckland Council and those members of Parliament who are involved in Auckland or are from Auckland to make sure that they step out of the way and enable the iwi to be able to have full use and decision-making over this land. It is theirs and they are entitled to do that within the bounds of the law. Trying to retain some control over the use of that land in order to meet other purposes is just not right.So I hope that the Auckland Council is able to respect the fact that this land now belongs to the iwi and make sure that every possible legal encumbrance is removed from that land to make it possible for them to use it as they best see fit. I look forward to the Committee stage. I understand that we will be voting on not only the second reading of this bill but also the amendments to this legislation. Therefore I look forward to the third reading in time when this deal will be completed and the iwi will be able to take these resources and do with them as they see fit. Tēnā koutou katoa.