Shanks Katrina: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Shanks Katrina: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6672. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
KATRINA SHANKS (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to take a call on this settlement bill the Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill today. This bill marks the end of a long journey for the Ngati Manuhiri people—grievances that have spanned over 170 years. This redress is certainly well overdue. I would like to acknowledge those who are here today and who have not made it here today who have worked long and hard to get to this settlement today. I would also like to acknowledge those who are no longer with you who have shown leadership commitment and dedication to ensure that we can settle today. 
I would also like to acknowledge the Minister Chris Finlayson who has been committed to ensuring that we get these settlements in a speedy process so we are not waiting years and years. I would also like to acknowledge the chair of the Maori Affairs Committee Tau Henare who has been extremely committed in ensuring that these bills come back into the House as speedily as they possibly can. This bill had over 100 submitters which is a pretty huge number of submitters on a Treaty bill and he managed that process very professionally and in a very swift manner which has seen this bill return very quickly back into the House for the third reading. 
I wish we could turn back the clock—I really do. We cannot change what has happened but we can move forward and I think it is important that we understand that you have been very gracious in allowing us to settle the way we have today. 
Whenever I do these Treaty bills I always talk to my children the morning of the day of the settlement and I tell them the story of the iwi and the people and your journey and I tell them what has happened. And with this bill I spoke to them this morning about how the Government the Crown came and took land without consent and without acknowledgment and I told them how we also changed legislation so it was very hard to get that land back. I put it into the here and the now for them and I said: “How would you feel if the Crown came along now and said it wanted your land and it didn’t even tell us about it or didn’t even offer us anything for it and then we couldn’t get it back?”. They were totally appalled that that could even happen but they were more appalled when I said that you have waited a long time for this. You have waited over 100 years. We have been on our land for 15 years. They could not believe that it could happen—with their connection to our land where we live where we have brought them up where they have their roots they could not believe that the Crown could do that to somebody. 
 I think it is important that we share these stories and we make them real in the here and the now. I look up in the gallery and I see one young youth who has his eyes shut for the time being having a bit of a rest. But I think it is important that we bring youth to these settlements and we talk about them because we are making stories and tales and history and we need people to be able to go and talk about these in 80 years’ time. We need to say that this is what happened in the settlement process these are what the issues were and this is what the discussion was about. I think it is important that we share that with the next generation because to me settlements are about the next generation and I think the Crown does have to apologise for the grievances—and they were vast—against your people. 
We do have to settle with commercial redress. That is really important. But settlements are about your future generations. It is about giving them aspiration and opportunities and it is about understanding where we have gone. It is about being content and gracious about where we are at and moving forward—moving forward for all our generations. New Zealand is a wonderful country and we have to move forward as one if we are going to have a prosperous country. I think today is a day to celebrate for everybody and I thank you for coming all the way to Wellington to listen to the third reading. I thank you for your commitment your dedication and your leadership for your cause. I wish you all the best for the future. Thank you.