Paraone Pita: Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Paraone Pita: Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:650;Page:19126] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 Tena ano koe Mr Assistant Speaker tena ano hoki koutou e hui tahi nei i waenganui i a tatou nga mema Paremata i haere mai ki te tautoko te kaupapa i mua i a tatou i tenei wa. 
[ 
Greetings once again to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to you collectively gathered here among the members of Parliament in support of the matter before us at present. 
] 
I am pleased to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to express our support for the Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill which a number of speakers before me have described as unique. People have talked about the unique terms of the way in which this settlement has been reached and I concur. 
But for me there is one other feature that is unique when comparing this settlement with other settlements. As other settlements have worked their way through the process of first reading select committee hearings second reading the Committee stage and then the third reading New Zealand First has been very consistent about one particular issue. The fact is that in all settlements prior to this one reference has been made to the fact that the settlement the apology has been given as a consequence of breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. Herein lies the uniqueness of this settlement. There is no reference to the principles. There is no reference to breaches of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
How often have we in New Zealand First been derided because of our consistency in questioning the undefined references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi? How often have we been reminded of that by members of this House who said that settlements cannot be made unless reference is made to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi? Yet here we are today all in support of this particular bill this particular settlement albeit without references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. I will tell members why they are not referred to here. It is because the iwi themselves did not see any need for the inclusion of undefined references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. I remind members of this House that we in New Zealand First do not want to be reminded by them of our stance in relation to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi again. 
We know and the respective iwi know that this is only a small hurdle a small bridge to cross in the whole process surrounding this settlement. They know that in future they will have to deal with the issue of mana whenua. During the select committee process we heard one or two submissions that queried the right of other iwi in terms of mana whenua. I think therein lies the challenge for the leadership of the respective iwi that this settlement refers to. 
Once again before I sit down I commend the leadership the representatives and the negotiators of the respective iwi that this bill applies to. I wish them all the best and I remind them as I always have with previous settlements that the leadership should always look behind itself from time to time to ensure that the people whom it purports to lead are still there. 
Na reira e koutou ma nga waka nga reo nga mana tenei te mihi atu ki a koutou ko te tumanako kia pai ta koutou haere kia hakatinana te kaupapa o tenei pire. Just by way of explanation I have wished the people of the respective iwi all the best for the future and I hope as they progress that it will be an easy path for them and for the benefit of their people. Na reira tena koutou kia ora mai ano tatou.