Finlayson Christopher: Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFinlayson Christopher: Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 19 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16141. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I moveThat the Te Tau Ihu Claims Settlement Bill be now read a second time. This omnibus bill represents the culmination of a huge amount of work over many years by some very dedicated people. The bill is going to give effect to eight deeds of settlement that seek to remedy the wrongs of the past and set a foundation for eight iwi at the top of the South Island to thrive into the future. Ngāti Apa Ngāti Kuia Rangitāne o Wairau Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama Te Ātiawa and Ngati Toa Rangatira are the eight iwi whose claims are going to be settled through this bill.I want to say something about the historical claims of the iwi. They relate to events at the top of the South Island the prow of Māui’s waka. In legend from this waka Māui and his brothers raised the great fish—that is the North Island—from the depths of the Pacific. With all remaining South Island historical Treaty claims settled through this very bill I am sure that we as a country will be in a strong position to pull that sluggardly large fish the North Island to a similar position. In that regard I thank the Māori Affairs Committee for the tremendous work it did yesterday on the Tūhoe bill in the North Island. I acknowledge Mr Tirikatene who to quote the lyrics of the old song “drove all night” so that he can be here for the hearing today—the debate. I forget I am not in court any more! This bill is a strong step in the direction of settling all historical Treaty claims in New Zealand. The progress of the bill is indeed long awaited for the eight iwi concerned but also for New Zealand as a whole. I encourage the House to support this bill today and the four individual bills it will split into for the third reading.Te Tau Ihu at the helm of the waka was the setting chosen for one of New Zealand’s earliest settlements for migrants coming out from England. Nelson was seen as an ideal place for those from England to start afresh and to find a place to set their feet. In the course of this stage of our country’s development we saw eight iwi lose access to their land so it is time to again start afresh through this bill. Te Tau Ihu wasalso the setting in the Wairau Valley for one of New Zealand’s most infamous violent conflicts between Māori who were attempting to preserve their land ownership and Pākehā. It is indeed unfortunate that large tracts of Māori land in Te Tau Ihu are today locked into inert forms of land ownership. Te Reo is not widely spoken Younger generations do not have the connection to the whenua that their ancestors had and Māori do not have the representation in decision making for their region that they should.As I often say when I get these speeches it is not possible to fully compensate iwi or indeed any claimant group for the loss their people have suffered. The redress in this bill seeks to recognise the long-standing cultural and spiritual association the iwi had with places in which they resided in the 18th century but where they have since incurred substantial land loss and disenfranchisement. The bill provides a platform for the iwi to establish a strong position into the future and to rebuild a relationship of dignity with the Crown. The omnibus bill will also settle the historical Treaty claims of Ngati Toa Rangatira across the Cook Strait to the lower North Island and very importantly is going to recognise the relationship between Ngati Toa Rangatira and the “Ka Mate! Ka Mate!” haka. The redress package acknowledges that Ngati Toa Rangatira lost land in the Porirua and Kāpiti area as epitomised by the case ofWī Pārataand the Bishop of Wellington.Negotiations between the iwi have been long and at times difficult. They were difficult because of the highly overlapped nature of interest in claims in this area. As such a novel approach was taken whereby all eight iwi progressed to a final redress package concurrently. Not only did they individually have to negotiate with the Crown but also they had to work through the differing views with other iwi. So I am very grateful to the members of the Māori Affairs Committee who have considered this bill having invited public submissions on it. They heard submitters in Wellington and they travelled to Blenheim and to Nelson to hear from submitters such is their commitment. I thank the committee in the context of the handful of other Treaty settlement bills soon to be referred to it on the back of this one. I acknowledge the time that the committee spends on these bills and once again say that the committee has done an excellent job.The committee received 36 submissions. It has examined the bill and has proposed amendments with the endorsement of the Crown and the iwi concerned. The first amendment is a statutory release from liability in favour of Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa in relation to Puketāwai a cultural redress site they will receive as part of their settlement. The second amendment is the refinement of a section of the “Ka Mate! Ka Mate!” haka’s attribution. This refinement clarifies the exclusion for educational purposes from the attribution right in favour of Ngati Toa Rangatira over the “Ka Mate! Ka Mate!” haka. I will say a lot more about that particular form of redress which is novel and very very important when we come to the third reading. Other amendments are minor and technical in nature. I commend the bill to the House.