Delahunty Catherine: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Delahunty Catherine: Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:7700. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
 Tena koutou katoa. He mihi nui ki a Ngati Apa. Finally after more than 100 years of raising issues of unfairness and injustice it is Ngati Apa’s day. The Green Party may lack detailed knowledge of their whenua and taonga but we do not lack respect for the struggle that they have survived. The acknowledgments in the Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill recognise the consistency of their grievances and the failures of the Crown to address those grievances. 
Those grievances relate to the effects of the Crown purchase of 400000 hectares of Ngati Apa lands the aspirations and attempts of Ngati Apa to strengthen relationships with the Crown through land sales and through expressing loyalty to that Crown and they relate to the 1849 Rangitikei-Turakina purchase which included the reserving of 35000 acres for all Ngati Apa people. Those arrangements as people know were not given proper effect. Then of course came the highly effective colonising land laws of the 1860s which alienated more than 100000 acres of Ngati Apa lands. The cumulative effect of these Crown failures is finally acknowledged. This bill finally offers an apology and some important cultural and commercial redress. 
There is so much more behind this bill that the rest of us do not know and cannot ever know. There is so much history pain storytelling creativity and negotiation. All settlements are different but it is very good to hear that Minister Turia has been in such a powerful position in leading this process and that the young people who will take this forward have been so much a part of it in terms of participation. 
That is refreshing because sometimes settlements seem to be like a strange kind of negotiation that takes place in a car yard. When we try to get our heads around it sometimes it seems as if everyone’s cars have been stolen and placed in a car yard and if we want to get them back we are told we will have to prove ownership of the cars. The biggest groupings the large natural groupings will have their cars back first. Those who are ready will have their cars back first but then they are told that sorry they cannot have the whole car only the wheel because the car is no longer available to be sold back to them. That is what some settlements have felt like. They have felt as if tangata whenua were being offered the wheel or maybe only the hubcap and some of that hubcap has to be purchased at market price. 
It is really hopeful and positive to hear of a settlement where Ngati Apa are getting some considerable redress. It still sounds to me like it is not enough. There will never be enough; we cannot turn back the hands of time to those days when so much was taken with so little respect. It is hopeful to hear this constructive direction that Ngati Apa and its young people have developed with the Crown in this instance. 
The Green Party does not want to say much more but we want to acknowledge the good work undertaken through this House on this bill. I particularly want to tautoko the korero of the Hon Tariana Turia and her heartfelt expression of the meaning of the settlement to her people. I know that if all those in the gallery could speak they would have equally powerful and important things to say to me my party and my country that we as Pakeha need to hear. Although this bill is about settlement it is also about listening and my greatest fear is that Pakeha do not know the story and do not understand what settlement really means. It means that we know Ngati Apa’s story so that we can understand in some way what it has felt like to experience those losses and to be stepping out in a new direction. Our main role is to not get in the way and to allow this to happen without any barriers from our lack of understanding. 
I tautoko the Minister Chris Finlayson and the other members of the Maori Affairs Committee who have supported this process. I simply wish Ngati Apa all the best for the progress of this bill and the same to their tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake in their own rohe. Kia kaha; we will vote for this bill through all its stages and we wish its people well. Tena koutou katoa.