Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): Tēnā koe Madam Deputy Speaker and tēnā koutou katoa to those of you in the gallery who are visiting here from Taranaki and from New Plymouth. Can I begin by acknowledging the member who's just resumed his seat Jonathan Young not only for his contribution today but actually for picking up this legislation on behalf of the New Plymouth District Council and shepherding it through doing so over many years in what I think has been an incredibly sensitive and sensible way.Mr Young has in his engagements with me and my colleagues on this side of the House been very clear that this is and has been a difficult issue. The history has been fraught and we all agreed that this was not about ramming something down people's throats but about treading very carefully and understanding the sensitivities and taking people with us. So I want particularly to acknowledge the work of Jonathan Young in that and I know he's been well supported by the Hon Chris Finlayson whose contribution to the world of Māori/Crown relations has been extraordinary and will be a great legacy when he leaves this House.Can I also acknowledge my colleague Adrian Rurawhe also MP for that area and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru and the work that Adrian Rurawhe has done in working with local parties in that area—also my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta who has brought her incredible skills of dealing with difficult situations and bringing people together and forging solutions. She is totally remarkable in that respect and unmatched in my observation and experience for people dealing with difficult situations. Can I acknowledge the mayor His Worship Neil Holdom who is here the former mayor Andrew Judd the regional council chief executive Basil Chamberlain—I know there are other councillors here. Can I acknowledge the people of Te Atiawa and can I acknowledge the people of the hapū of Manukōrihi and Ōtaraua.This has been as Jonathan Young has said a difficult journey in recent years as we have striven to come to terms with the history that I think in the Pākehā world we feel considerable regret for and in fact wish had never happened. But it did happen. The land confiscations in the 1860s did happen and in Taranaki it was brutal and it was harsh and it left a people dispossessed for generation after generation after generation. Much work in recent decades has gone to reconcile to understand the history and most importantly through the Treaty settlement process to come to terms and to provide redress but the issue of what happened at Waitara was never truly settled and members in the House and members in all parties of the House have acknowledged that and understood that.The local district council has been grappling with the issue of what to do with the lands that it owns in Waitara knowing that in order to heal the wounds of the past it had to come to a solution on the issue of the leasehold land at Waitara and the other lands around Waitara. So this bill seeks to do that. It is not perfect and there will never be a perfect solution I suspect as we strive 160 to 165 years after the events to come to terms and to try to provide fairness as a consequence. More recently for the people of Te Atiawa as they have come to terms and sought agreement over their Treaty settlement this issue has been left to be dealt with separately and that has been the origins of this local bill.It does a number of things and it provides for the use of funds that come out of either the leases that will continue or the sale of the lands in ways that will benefit Waitara and the people of Waitara whoever they may be. But there is the issue of the interests of the leaseholders as well and this afternoon very late in the piece a petition has been presented by Grant Knuckey on behalf of several hundred others. Their request was to slow the process down and to delay the third reading of this bill but I think we all realise that a lot of work and a lot of effort has gone into this. It has been difficult for some of the leaseholders over the last 20 years as they've litigated their position as they've sought to find a result for them that is fair as well. But the passage of time means that opportunities that might have been taken some years ago are no longer available and I think this bill has allowed us to arrive at a position and a place that in the end is the fairest even if it is not perfect. So those who are leaseholders will have the opportunity to buy out their leases and to take freehold title of the properties that they have.There are some if we are brutally honest with ourselves who have been opportunistic over the last several years. There are some who have gone to take up multiple leases and who have urged a result that would give them a windfall gain. Well you take your chances in these things but If it don't work out it don't work out." And for some that has not worked out. There are others who have been longstanding occupiers of their leasehold property but who are at a time in their life where it will be difficult for them to summons the means and the funds to buy out their lease and purchase the freehold. That is unfortunate. They won't be able to take up the opportunity that is provided for in the bill and over the next 15 months they can purchase the land at the frozen rate that is provided for in the bill.That is one of the reasons why the bill is not perfect but it could not be perfect and the challenge for Jonathan Young and the respective mayors of the New Plymouth District Council the other MPs who have been involved those who have been talking and in kōrero with the various interested parties—there were so many interests over such a long period of time that it is not possible to produce and has not been possible to produce the perfect result for everyone. But there is now a result.I would hope that what has been achieved here with all of those who get a chance to utilise the provisions of the bill—that it will allow everybody if not tomorrow but in the months and years ahead to start to turn their gaze towards the horizon and towards the future and to think about what the future of Waitara might now hold a Waitara where people are settled people can take the opportunities that are presented to them resources can go into those things—the cleaning up of the river that mighty river that flows from the hills of the maunga out to the Tasman Sea—and that we will see a Waitara a township that is revitalised re-energised a town that can find peace amongst its people and be at peace with itself. If this bill helps us take an important step in that direction then the bill will have served its purpose.So I conclude simply by acknowledging the mahi that has gone into it—the work that has gone into it—and the extraordinary emotional investment that has gone into it from all parties: from the iwi from the hapū and from all the people of Waitara. Let's now see this as an opportunity to put to bed the unrest and the unease that has been sitting there for generations and let us turn now to the future and strive to fulfil the hopes of the next generation and those who follow to make this a place a town of prosperity of hope and of great good fortune to all who live there. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa."