Finlayson Christopher: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Finlayson Christopher: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 26 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:4030. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 E nga mana e nga reo koutou ma o Ngati Rongowhakaata nau mai haere mai ki te Paremata. 
[ 
To the authorities and languages you of Ngati Rongowhakaata welcome welcome to Parliament 
.] 
I am genuinely delighted and that is no hyperbole to speak in this third reading debate. I became the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in late November 2008 and I agreed with my officials that I would destroy their holiday and take them on a hikoi in mid-January 2009 so that I could meet some of the iwi that I would be dealing with. So the first flight was up to Tairawhiti and the first meeting was with the good people who are in the gallery today. That is where I first met Stanley Pardoe Kristen Maynard and others. So it has been even since 2009 a long and somewhat convoluted journey but we are here today and I do acknowledge the negotiators particularly you Stan. It has been great to get to know you and to work with you. I am just so pleased that we have reached this stage. I also wish to acknowledge others who have come from Turanganui a Kiwa to join us today because this is a very very important day in the life of the country and this bill has its unique features. It is not a mere deal as some insultingly describe it. It is a very important settlement of grievances that go to the heart of our nation. It gives effect to a deed that Rongowhakaata have negotiated with the Crown. It contains Crown acknowledgments that are very important—and I suggest that if people do not know much about the history of what happened they should read those acknowledgments and they should read the preamble—and the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill also contains provisions for cultural and commercial redress. 
It is very important to acknowledge the contribution of negotiators. It is not pro forma thanks because these negotiators in this particular matter have worked on this claim for more than a decade. The tribunal held hearings in the early 2000s and in 2004 the tribunal reported that the history of what went on in Turanganui a Kiwa was marked by grievous Crown breaches of the history and by some of the darkest moments in our nation’s history. More than 40 percent of the men in Turanganui a Kiwa died as a result of Crown military action between 1865 and 1872. 
Settlement negotiations with the Crown began in 2005 and when Dr Cullen—well Sir Michael as he is now—was the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations an agreement in principle was signed in September 2008. I was very fortunate to be the Minister to work with the iwi to complete the detail of the settlement and we initialled the deed of settlement at what I thought was a very moving ceremony at Te Papa in July last year. I have to say there was some considerable publicity both on television and in the papers about the initialling and I was expecting quite some negative emails to start flowing in—as so often they do—but I never received anything because I think people deep down acknowledged that this was a taonga that did not belong to Te Papa; it belonged to the people of Rongowhakaata. Then the deed was signed last spring on a beautiful Friday morning in September. 
I believe that it is very important for people to understand just what went on. Mrs Turia has outlined the broad history and I do not think it is necessary or appropriate for me to go over ground that has been so ably covered by her and also by Mr Horomia. But I just want to focus on what for me is very much one of the highlights of this bill and that is the way in which we have managed to reach a resolution for Te Hau ki Turanga because the Crown simply did come in and confiscate it in 1867. It was removed by force and it has been kept in various national museums ever since. Many alterations have been made to Te Hau ki Turanga without the consent of Rongowhakaata. 
I always enjoyed the initial debates I had with some officials about the legal ownership of Te Hau ki Turanga. They were saying: “Well you know the statute said that when Te Papa was created all property of the old Dominion Museum transferred over to Te Papa.” and it sounded all so very legal but the reality of the matter is—as we all know—that the ownership of Te Hau ki Turanga was never surrendered by Rongowhakaata; never handed over with their consent. That is why it is very important to note that clause 23 of the bill makes it clear beyond any doubt at all that Te Hau ki Turanga vests in the trustees nominated by Rongowhakaata. 
 I thought that the Maori Affairs Committee did a very good job and its commentary is worth referring to because it said it is currently housed— 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Good chairman. 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON 
: Oh it is not just the chair. We know that he is a superstar but there are others as well and being the generous soul he is he would be the first to acknowledge that. 
The select committee heard that Rongowhakaata do not wish the return of Te Hau ki Turanga to create a financial burden for future generations and it records that Te Papa and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage have committed themselves to working with Rongowhakaata to ensure a sustainable future for the whare particularly as regards its relocation. I endorse 100 percent what Mr Horomia said. It has been shared with the nation for over 100 years; it is entirely fair and appropriate that central government makes a significant contribution to the ongoing costs. It is certainly not going to be a situation where the Crown simply says to Rongowhakaata: “Well done. It is back in your hands. You look after it.” So I am very much looking forward to engaging with Rongowhakaata—we have already started but I am looking forward to the ongoing engagement—to make sure that in the very near future we determine a way in which it can be relocated to Tairawhiti and that the financial redress of the settlement which will enable the iwi to build a future for themselves in Tairawhiti will not be spent disproportionately on Te Hau ki Turanga. 
Mrs Turia has also outlined the commercial and the financial redress and I am not going to repeat that. I just want to say to the people of Rongowhakaata as if you like the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage that I am determined and I am very keen to engage with them sooner rather than later so that we can work out when exactly Te Hau ki Turanga can go home and how the Crown can help. 
There are many people who have contributed to this settlement. I acknowledge Mr Horomia who was with me the day the deed was signed. I acknowledge Sir Michael Cullen who oversaw the preliminary negotiation of the agreement in principle. I guess we all thought did we not in 2009 that it would be able to be signed up very quickly but there have been issues. They have required patience and determination—and I see Stan Pardoe nodding. Probably he thinks: “Well Minister that’s an understatement.” I acknowledge my ministerial colleagues. I particularly acknowledge the Minister of Maori Affairs with whom I have so enjoyed working on this matter; the Minister of Conservation who is always very generous when I come knocking about cultural redress; and also the Minister for Land Information. 
Many Government departments and officials have also made very valuable contributions. But as I said in the Ngati Makino debate a couple of hours ago one expects that of officials and Ministers because that is our job but there are people in the gallery who have given and given and given over many years. They have given of their own time given of their weekends and at some financial cost in order to reach this stage. Very few people outside the negotiators for the Crown and the officials I think appreciate the sacrifices that the negotiators of Treaty settlements make on behalf of their people and I salute them for their tenacity their good faith and their courage. 
In conclusion all I want to say is that we have unfinished business—that is the Crown and Rongowhakaata. We have hopefully a strong ongoing relationship that will blossom in the years to come and I can think of no better first task for us to get on with in that new relationship than to focus on Te Hau ki Turanga to see what we can do because from my personal point of view the sooner we can resolve that the sooner that Te Hau ki Turanga goes home the better.