Quinn Paul: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
Quinn Paul: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:665;Page:12820] 
PAUL QUINN (National) 
: 
 A tena koe e te Mana Whakawa. Tena tatau e te whanau Paremata i roto i tenei te Wiki o te Reo Maori. E Te Arawa Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa tenei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te Whare Paremata. Kua tangihia nga mate moe mai koutou. Tatau te hunga ora i tenei po kia ora huihui tatau katoa. 
[G 
reetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us the parliamentary family in this Maori Language Week. To you Te Arawa Ngati Tuwharetoa and Raukawa greetings to you all. Welcome to Parliament House. The deaths have been mourned so rest there the dead. To us the living gathered here tonight greetings to us all 
.]  
As always it gives me great pleasure to stand and speak to a Treaty settlement bill. As I regularly say it is one of the principal reasons that I was keen to enter this House—namely to progress Treaty settlements. In this particular case it gives me additional pleasure because I can claim to be Te Arawa but on the eastern coast. As my friend Roger Pikia would remind me it is a bit of a stretch to take that across to the western side of the rohe. In any event it is great to be amongst many friends and I acknowledge them—Rawiri Te Whare and others Timi te Heuheu and Eru George. I welcome them all. 
As previous speakers have said this evening the Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill represents the second limb of a broader package involving the settlement of the Waikato River. It is a companion bill to the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act and falls out of the renegotiation of the previous arrangements which have already been mentioned by the previous administration under the guidance of the then Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Dr Cullen. 
I hope members opposite forgive me but I think it is appropriate that we reflect on how we have got here today. One might think that I am being a little churlish but the difference in terms of what we have before us now tonight and what was presented to the Maori Affairs Committee in December 2008 in some ways one might say with tongue in cheek reflects the different approaches of the two major parties. In the bill drafted under the previous administration we had a multitude of bodies of administration and in this bill under the new administration we have reached a model of excellent efficiency. 
I look forward to the select committee receiving this bill and I can assure the iwi who are here tonight that this bill will be dealt with expeditiously. I assure them that the Maori Affairs Committee has worked very well together and works towards consensus. 
My concluding comments are in respect of the comments made by the Greens. I have to wonder whether the Greens have read the bill because if they read Parts 2 and 3 then they would find that all of the issues that they raised in their contribution to the debate tonight are addressed. With those few closing words I along with the National Government and most of this House look forward to approving the first reading of this bill.