te Heuheu Georgina: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
te Heuheu Georgina: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19335] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
:  
E Putauaki e mihi nei ki a koe me touake mana mai i te maunga o Tongariro. Nga mihi whanui ki a koutou e Ngati Awa hurinoa ki a ratoukuangaro atu me koutou e noho mai neiitenei Whare. E mihi nei ki a koutou ki a tatou katoa. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Putauaki 
 I Tongariro greet you and your very own mana. Greetings to you Ngati Awa to those of you present in this House including those who have gone from us. I greet you and all of us as well 
.] 
I am pleased to speak to the third reading of the Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill. It is a very important thing that we in this Parliament do today. With the passing into law of this bill we will put the legislative stamp on the settlement that Ngati Awa have negotiated with the Government in satisfaction of their claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. 
This is an important act in itself by this Parliament but more important is the significance of the action. With the passage of the bill into law this Parliament gives vindication to those grievances that Ngati Awa have sought to set right for generations—indeed since 1866—when wrongly they suffered raupatu at the hands of the then Government who declared them also to be rebels in their own lands and when they consequently suffered the alienating circumstances that flowed from that action. 
This Parliament salutes Ngati Awa for their fortitude doggedness application to principle and what was tika despite rejection by successive Governments. I trust that by this action today a sense of justice is restored to Ngati Awa—a feeling that the might of the institutions of the law and the Government can be extended to them when it is right and proper to do so. That is a legitimate right of every New Zealander not least of Ngati Awa. 
The other side of the equation is that we the current parliamentarians by our action today go some way to restoring the honour of the Crown and that is important. We can speak of the mana of Ngati Awa and their status in this place and this land but we must also be mindful that by the steps we take today we also restore the honour of the Crown. 
New Zealand is a country that prides itself on having one standard of citizenship. The injustices suffered by Ngati Awa fly in the face of that principle and that is why it is so important that we as a nation commit and devote our energy and resources to bringing forward the truth of that principle: equality before the law for all New Zealanders not least Maori and not least Ngati Awa. 
I want to comment on an issue that was raised by an earlier speaker. Although Ngati Awa are entitled to formulate the settlement according to their preference and on their own terms we recognise that that is their right and that that is an exercise of their rangatiratanga. But in this respect I do to a degree support the issue raised by the member Pita Paraone so I just ask the question—and it is not to be answered today—of whether Parliament should be asked to legislate for new hapu. If Ngati Awa wish to recognise their own because that is their right to do so why then should Parliament be asked to put a legal stamp on that if indeed there is some other way of allowing them to recognise their own without this Parliament having to put it into the law? 
The other matter I will comment on is an issue raised by the Hon Richard Prebble who talked about the insertion into legislation of the notion of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. He might reflect on the fact that it was a Labour Government in 1975 that first introduced that notion into legislation with the passing of the Treaty of Waitangi Act. I am not sure whether he indeed was a member of that Government at that time. Be that as it may it is a fact today that that notion that principle that statement—that is the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi—has come into much disrepute. 
It may be the fact that New Zealand First has today for the very first time voted against a settlement bill that might prompt the Minister to give some thought as to whether future settlement entities wishing to use that statement will perhaps find another way to do it rather than to have it inserted into an Act of Parliament. It is the case that settlements really do need the almost universal support of this Parliament. So it is a disappointment given that the ACT party as far as I am aware has never supported a settlement bill that now another of the political parties is doing the same thing. 
Having said all that though I affirm that this is Ngati Awa’s day. It is good to see them in full force sitting in the gallery. Indeed it fills a person with much arohanui for their 14 years of negotiation and especially for those who have passed on in the hope of seeing this day come. Again I congratulate Ngati Awa. 
I think that we in New Zealand are very fortunate that we have found a way to resolve matters of this nature. We look across the Tasman to our Australian cousins. They clearly have some difficulties with issues concerning the first people of that land. Here in New Zealand we have devised a process a framework that is not perfect by any means but by which we can steadily work our way through these matters with a certain amount of dignity and certainly with a lot of good faith. 
It takes a bold and courageous step for a tribe finally to settle its grievances and look forward to the future. Slowly but surely and hopefully in a more timely fashion under the new Minister we will see more of these settlements occurring. Fortunately they are occurring against the backdrop of a great renaissance of Maori pride Maori culture and Maori entrepreneurship. We should all be very pleased about that. 
Madam Speaker of course has had a part to play in this process. I also want to acknowledge the Hon Doug Graham although when I salute him and the efforts he put into this settlement the issue is again highlighted that the Ngati Awa settlement has indeed been under negotiation for quite some time. 
I give my congratulations to Ngati Awa. I wish them all the best—and I wish us all the best—for the future. Ngati Awa has already started to move forward; they have not just been waiting for this settlement which is good. Clearly this settlement will add to the initiatives they already have in place and we can look forward to a better future for them.