Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:13719] 
8.  
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
 to the  
Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations 
: Why was there a series of meetings between representatives of Tainui iwi and Government ministers and officials regarding the tribe’s historical Treaty of Waitangi claims following the introduction of the Foreshore and Seabed Bill when there had been no previous meetings since October 2003 and what was the outcome of those meetings? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON (Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 Negotiations between Tainui and the Crown were not progressed after the death of Sir Robert Mahuta because of the uncertainty as to who then held the mandate to negotiate. The recent meetings were held at Tainui’s request to discuss the impact of the foreshore and seabed legislation on the settlement of their outstanding historical claims including those relating to the Waikato River and the west coast harbours. Tainui also expressed at the meeting a desire to resume negotiations. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Was the Minister’s and the Prime Minister’s assurance to Tainui that the Foreshore and Seabed Bill would not be an impediment to settlement of their claims to the Waikato River and west coast harbours necessary in order for the Government to retain the support of Nanaia Mahuta who declared her continued support for the Labour Party only after such a letter had been extracted from the Government? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: No. To the best of my knowledge it was not a condition. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: What progress has been made in the negotiations with Tainui to settle historical claims? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: There are ongoing discussions between Crown officials and representatives of the Tainui iwi focusing on issues around mandating and the Crown’s preference to deal with comprehensive claims from large natural groupings. To date however no mandating document has been received by the Government. 
Pita Paraone 
: Does the Minister consider that the meetings referred to in the primary question followed a similar process of explanation and negotiation to that of meetings held between recent National Governments and iwi when discussing treaty settlements and the subsequently abandoned fiscal envelope proposal? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: To the best of my knowledge we have followed a similar process. The previous Government entered into negotiations in much the same way as this Government has done. 
Stephen Franks 
: Was the possibility of entitlement to aquaculture areas part of the discussion; if so was it based on a principle of need or just part of a general crude race privilege across all iwi? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: I have no recollection of aquaculture being mentioned in any of the meetings I attended. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What factors or compromises enabled her to provide the letter of assurance to Tainui that the Foreshore and Seabed Bill would not be an impediment to the settlement of their claims to the Waikato River and west coast harbours when both she and the Prime Minister have been telling other New Zealanders that the bill will preserve the foreshore and seabed of New Zealand in Crown ownership? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: I see no contradiction between those two statements. The bill does do as the member said and also there is no impediment to continue with the negotiation of historical settlements. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Is the Minister telling the House that the negotiations that will take place with Tainui over the Waikato River and the west coast harbours will not discuss ownership of the seabed and foreshore of those west coast harbours and that title to those places will not be transferred to Tainui? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: This House is not the place to negotiate historical grievance claims. We will of course negotiate according to precedent. The precedent I understand from the previous Government was that ownership of the lake beds of Taupô and Lake Ellesmere was transferred to iwi. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Is the House to understand that the Government has resumed negotiations with Tainui purely because it recognises that former MP Mr Tuku Morgan does have a mandate to negotiate for the tribe; if so is it not a fact that Mr Morgan has achieved more for Tainui in 12 months than Labour MPs have achieved in 4 years and in fact is that not a sign of the power of the new Maori Party? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: The member obviously did not hear the answer to the supplementary question in which I said that to date no mandating document has been received by the Government from Tainui. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can the House take it from her previous answer that notwithstanding the claims made about the Foreshore and Seabed Bill and notwithstanding the passing of that bill supposedly protecting the seabed and foreshore of this country being in public ownership her Government may negotiate ownership of parts of the seabed and foreshore of the west coast harbours to see them pass into the ownership of Tainui? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: As I said the House is not the place to negotiate the settlement of historical grievances. We will review in terms of those negotiations past practice including the practices I have made previous reference to. I cannot answer the question because I am not in negotiations with Tainui at this stage.