Flavell Te Ururoa: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:637;Page:7828] 
5.  
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
 to the  
Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations 
: Kua ea tona hiahia ki nga tohutohu a te Tari Whakatau Take e pa ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi; meina kare he aha ai? 
[ 
Is he satisfied with the advice provided by the Office of Treaty Settlements; if not why not? 
] 
Hon MARK BURTON (Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 Generally yes because they are hard-working and conscientious officials. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Kia ora ano tatou. What explanation can the Minister give for the fact that when asked about the repossession that began on Sunday at Whenuakite Station the Prime Minister responded on Monday by saying: “I haven’t had any briefing on that one at all.” and that statement was used in the  
New Zealand Herald  
this morning; and would he not agree that the early warning of such action falls within the core functions of the Office of Treaty Settlements to “Advise on the acquisition management transfer and disposal of Crown-owned property for Treaty claim purposes.”? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: As I think the member is aware there is not yet a mandated negotiation in process so the section that the member quotes does not seem to me to apply to that case. In any event the Office of Treaty Settlements provided appropriate advice to the appropriate people. 
Hone Harawira 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena tatou i te Whare. Is the Minister willing to formally apologise to the properly mandated negotiators for Ngati Kahu and Hauraki for the monstrous cock-up caused by the lack of clear communication between various Government agencies and their Ministers and for the harm caused to those negotiators and their whanau hapu and iwi by the insensitive and arrogant manner in which he lent tacit approval to Landcorp offering for sale to the highest bidder lands that should properly have been made available for Treaty settlement? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: I do not accept the assertions in the member’s question and certainly some of those assertions are factually incorrect. 
Hone Harawira 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Does the Minister not accepting assertions mean that he addressed the question because he did not address it or answer it at all? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Yes he addressed the question. 
Hone Harawira 
: Shall I read it again? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No the Minister has addressed the question. 
Christopher Finlayson 
: Is the real problem not so much the quality of the advice tendered by the Office of Treaty Settlements but the Minister’s capacity to understand that advice? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: No that too is not factually correct. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Has the Minister read comments from Landcorp Chairman Mr Jim Sutton that the Crown entity was the “meat in the sandwich” in relation to Hauraki Maori concerns about a prime block of Coromandel land and that: “There is obviously a claim on this land that we were not aware of. Had we been aware of it of course we would have been trying to persuade the Office of Treaty Settlements to purchase it.”; and would he not have considered it to be the role of the Office of Treaty Settlements to advise Landcorp accordingly? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: Yes I have seen those comments; I think it is the role of Landcorp to make decisions based on its obligations and it is the role of the Office of Treaty Settlements to make decisions and provide advice according to its mandate. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm to the House today whether it is the case that Landcorp properties such as this one will now be available for Treaty settlements and that the Government has changed its mind because one group protested? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: I can confirm that properties of Landcorp such as this one have always been potentially available and still are. Therefore nothing has changed. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: I seek leave to table the article entitled “Land sale on shaky ground” from the  
New Zealand Herald  
of 27 February 2007 in which the Prime Minister admits that she has no brief on the Whenuakite situation. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection.