Brownlee Gerry: Ngati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Brownlee Gerry: Ngati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:621;Page:16449] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 The National Party will support the passage of the Ngati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Bill to the Maori Affairs Committee for further consideration. 
There are a number of aspects in the bill that we have concerns about. Firstly we are concerned about the fact that this is a relatively small group of people and for a long period of time they came under the auspices of Ngati Awa. What is of concern is that much of the rohe in question in this settlement bill is also that of Ngati Awa. The question is: where are the overlaps? How many people who claim their heritage from Ngati Tuwharetoa Bay of Plenty are also Ngati Awa? Therefore how many times are the same issues being compensated for? [ 
Interruption 
] I say to the member opposite that she may well screw up her face and say that is outrageous but it is not. It is perfectly simple perfectly reasonable and quite appropriate that these issues should be raised during the select committee process. After all that is why we have Parliament. But of course the Labour Party has never ever respected Parliament to any great degree. 
It is upsetting for us on this side of the House that the Hon John Tamihere is not here today able to speak in favour of this bill. It is quite amazing that on the one hand Labour Party members say that John Tamihere is the great hope for the future of this country and therefore must be treated with kid gloves when he is caught with his hands in the till and on the other hand keep him out of Parliament so that he cannot speak on an occasion such as this. 
This is an important bill. The Minister has just told us so. I would have thought it appropriate that an Associate Minister of Maori Affairs might make some contribution to the bill before the House. Instead the Associate Minister of Maori Affairs is off on some sort of paid holiday in the far north still collecting $4000 a week to avoid the House’s scrutiny of his activities. He is trundling around the nation’s roads in one of his two self-drive ministerial cars. He is not coming to this House to make a contribution on what we are told is a significant and important bill. I offer apologies to Ngati Tuwharetoa the people of Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau for bringing up these matters at this stage but it is simply a fact that the Labour Party is defending the indefensible in hiding Mr Tamihere from the scrutiny of this House. 
My colleague Mr Ryall will talk about some of our very specific concerns about this bill. For a long time we have said it is important that there be enduring settlements when it comes to the final agreement over settlement of treaty issues. Therefore there cannot be any of these concerns left hanging out in the wind. It is quite wrong for members opposite to sit there po-faced and dare us to question the agreements that the Minister has reached with this group of people. Unless these issues are sorted out satisfactorily I say to Mr Hughes these people will come back in this House before we know where we are. We have seen too much of this in recent months. 
The Minister of Maori Affairs knows what a mess he has allowed his Government to make of the Maori Fisheries Act. It will be a short period of time before disadvantaged Maori come back to this House saying: “Fix it.” I think that if there are boundary issues that we can spot in a bill like this then we have to be absolutely certain that no one is being disadvantaged and that no one will be coming back to this House in years to come having another go at it. 
I repeat we support the referral of this bill to the select committee. We look forward to engaging in that process to ensure that our concerns are met. Labour Party members seem very offended that I have raised some reasonable concerns that ordinary New Zealanders might have. In a minute we will see Labour members one after the other stand and say: “That fellow knows nothing. That fellow is ignorant. That fellow is not in touch with New Zealanders.” I just say to those Labour members that they should get out of this place sometimes and talk to New Zealanders and then they will start to understand that if these things are not done right they will cause problems in the future. The questions I have raised are perfectly reasonable in that context. I do wish that John Tamihere was here to make some offering on this bill. 
Edwin Perry 
: Koha! 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The member down the back asks whether that would be an offering of koha. I would hate to think what it might have cost various organisations in koha to have Mr Tamihere speak on their behalf. Might I just say that if he is supposed to be the man who can shine a light to show the way forward in this country he should be here. The fact is that no one is going to have a fellow like that running this country. The Labour Party knows it and that is why he is not in the House this afternoon. Frankly if he is ever back in the House he will not have a ministerial warrant slung around his belt. 
A relatively small amount of money is being offered in compensation in this bill but it involves a small number of people. We worry about the relativities between this settlement and others that have preceded it. It is important that we get these matters sorted and I have made that very clear. As I said we support the referral of the bill.