Horomia Parekura: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Horomia Parekura: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:661;Page:9693] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 The Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 requires the Crown to provide iwi with the equivalent of 20 percent of the aquaculture space created between 21 September 1992 and 31 December 2004—the pre-commencement space obligation. These amendments are designed to shore that up and the Labour Party will be supportive of them—certainly they are timefly. In addition to the provision of the 20 percent of all new space created between these dates the Crown has assured that it will endeavour to meet its pre-commencement space obligations by 31 December. 
The amendments to the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 have provided the Crown with an additional option to comply with its aquaculture pre-commencement space obligations. One thing to say from the outset is that the interrelationship that has grown between the Crown and iwi and iwi and iwi has allowed us to reach a joint agreement on the amendments. That is something that has to be commended and recognised. The main purpose of the proposed amendment is to allow the Crown to deliver on its contemporary Treaty of Waitangi obligations which is a process that the previous Labour Government began and put a whole lot of effort into. The Minister needs to be commended now for getting it to this stage and taking it through to finality. 
There were problems with the existing settlement framework and the progress for discharging the Crown’s space obligations and responsibilities was something that the Labour Government and other iwi partners have worked on together. Again I commend the Minister for his efforts. The proposed change allows practical solutions that certainly are at the forefront for the Hauraki iwi and the Te Wai Pounamu iwi. The amendments will certainly give effect to the agreement between the Crown and the iwi of the South Island Hauraki for an early settlement of the Crown’s pre-commencement space obligations and certainly that is why the Labour Party is very supportive of this legislation. 
E whakaaro atu i roto i a tatou mo te mahi penei tonu. E mohio atu tatou i roto i a ngai Maori te kaha rawa i te mahi atu i nga mahi e rite atu ki te ahu whenua na te pai o te mahi penei tonu kei te mahi tatou haere atu ki te wa i te mahi atu mo te whakatikatika o nga hua o te takutai moana. I tautokotia te Ropu Reipa mo te mahi pera tonu e whai hoki tatou hei oti te mahi e timata atu i tera kawana o te Ropu Reipa mai o te tae i te wa nei. No reira tena tatou. 
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There is a view within us that we continue to work towards this end. We are mindful that within Maoridom there is a will to achieve much as they did in agriculture and repeat it here in terms of harnessing adjusting and harvesting the benefits from the sea. The Labour Party endorses these initiatives and will continue to work towards completing what the previous Labour Government set out to do from the outset to the present time. Thank you 
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