Street Maryan: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
Street Maryan: Whanganui Iwi (Whanganui (Kaitoke) Prison and Northern Part of Whanganui Forest) On-account Settlement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:670;Page:16930] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 Part 2 is the guts of the matter. It is the heart of the bill. In my speech on Part 1 a few minutes ago I talked about Crown forestry assets and how they were arrived at. Clause 7 states that the “the northern part of the Whanganui Forest ceases to be Crown forest land …”. The land ceases to be Crown forest land and goes back to iwi. In the course of that process the accumulated rentals on that land also go back to iwi so there is a financial component in this part of the settlement as well. Not only do the lands get restored to iwi but the fact that those lands have been used by forestry companies to grow trees decade upon decade and to have those trees felled and sold for profit—none of which has ever gone back into iwi hands—means that now is the moment when some economic benefit from the use of that land can be restored to iwi. They have been waiting a very long time for that. Let us be clear that this is the moment when both land gets restored and the accumulated rentals for the use of that land by forestry companies get returned to iwi which is a wonderful thing. Forestry companies had paid a rental to the Crown for the use of the land to grow the trees from which they had made a profit. A few years ago the Crown Forestry Rental Trust had a total putea of somewhere in the order of $380 million of accumulated rentals. The interest on those rentals which were held in trust for iwi was used for iwi to advance their claims. The interest on the rentals was disbursed to iwi as they were able to bring forward their claims and have them heard by the Waitangi Tribunal or in direct negotiation with the Crown. 
That process has been speeding up a lot in the last few years. We now have the disbursement of those accumulated rentals to iwi as part of the settlement together with clause 7 in Part 2 which states: “the northern part of the Whanganui Forest ceases to be Crown forest land and any Crown forestry assets associated with that land cease to be Crown forestry assets.” In other words land and money will go across to the Whanganui iwi and this is a process of settlement. It is about redressing wrongs. 
I know that Mr Henare got a bit tired of my last speech a few minutes ago to this effect but he has that dismissive attitude towards anything that is said by members on this side of the Chamber so I have learnt in my few years here not to take any notice of him. But it is important that we consider what is happening here and the fact that this now gets to the heart of the matter. Part 2 is the stuff that the settlement is made of. 
In clause 8 in Part 2 we have the application of the Ngati Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Act 2010 to transfers. That is critical to the Whanganui iwi. It is what they have been waiting for it is what they have negotiated and it is what they have been working towards for a very long time. It is a good thing. Here comes the land on which the forests have grown—the forestry land—and the assets the accumulated rentals and they will go to the iwi for the betterment of that iwi. 
I know that National relies for support on people who are sometimes a bit disconcerted by what this means and who wonder whether there will be a whole lot of wealthy Maori around who will exercise undue influence and commercial power because of Treaty of Waitangi settlements. I just say that in my time as a trustee of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust which was before I came into Parliament I have never known of any iwi that has done anything other than apply the settlements and the things they acquired from settlements whether it was land or financial redress to anything other than the well-being of their iwi. So I think we can have some confidence that this settlement will materially benefit the people of the Whanganui iwi. 
We have heard my colleagues talk about the possibilities for the Kaitoke Prison and what might happen with the greater engagement of Maori in that facility—and in the whole custodial and judicial process really. I look forward to a greater sense of partnership as we move forward out of the historic grievance period as these historic grievances are settled and as assets are returned or appropriately disbursed. Assets are not always returned to iwi; sometimes they are returned to the Crown or portions of them are returned to the Crown and portions are returned to iwi. It is not always about simply giving back something to iwi but predominantly that is the case I have to say because we are redressing grievances. 
But in this disbursement of settlement assets lie the hope and the future of the Whanganui iwi. They have the same aspirations for their children that I have for mine. They have the same aspirations the same goals and the same wish not to be the dominant population of our custodial facilities—not to be the majority population in prison. They have no wish to perpetuate that situation. They do not wish that on their children and their children’s children. Their wishes are no different in that respect from anything I would wish for my family and we need to see this settlement in that light. 
Here we have both prisons and forests. We have two aspects of our society both of which Maori are heavily involved in one for good and one not so much for good. But they are two aspects of our society that Maori have been traditionally heavily involved in. They have been involved in contributing to the forestry industry but they have never seen the benefit of land ownership accrue to them and they have been trying to keep their young people out of prison. Perhaps in this settlement by the joining of these two quite diverse and different assets we can see something that not only gives rise to some hope and future prospects for the Whanganui iwi but also settles the past and allows them to get on with their future.