Turei Metiria: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Turei Metiria: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1049] 
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 I want to take just a short call on this bill the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill notwithstanding the importance of it and I want to acknowledge those who are in the House today who have worked so hard to bring this bill to Parliament. The Green Party will be supporting this legislation’s referral to the Maori Affairs Committee. We look forward again to hearing at the select committee from those who have supported and worked on this bill but also from those who might disagree with it; they should feel free to bring those issues to the select committee.  
Of course settlement bills are different from other kinds of legislation. In effect the select committee has no real power to make amendments to these bills because they are the results of negotiations that have been conducted with Government. So unless Government and the claimants agree to amendments amendments do not happen. I think in my nearly 10 years here I have seen only two settlements be significantly altered in terms of redress one of which was the result of negotiations that the Green Party did. It is a difficult thing to have settlement bills changed and I just ask that members of the House who have been a little critical of the Greens’ view acknowledge that—that this is a different kind of process.  
I also ask that they acknowledge that those who are missed out or locked out of the settlement process because they for whatever reason disagree with the legislation—not particularly the Rongowhakaata bill but in general—have often made claims to the tribunal have fought hard and worked hard and have spent a great deal of time and money bringing those claims to the tribunal only to have the Crown determine that they should be settled not with the people who brought the claims but with someone else. Most settlements have included in them Wai claims that have been settled without the consent of those particular claimants. That is not heard of in any other part of New Zealand law. There is nowhere in New Zealand law where some other agency can come along and take your case and settle it for you. These settlements are not the same as other kinds of processes or negotiations. They are not the same as other pieces of legislation and it is important that we acknowledge that.  
With this particular claim the Rongowhakaata claim I want to agree with much of what has been said tonight about the historical implications and the historical harms that were committed; the summary executions of some 300 Rongowhakaata at Ngatapa; the attacks and the loss of lives at Waerenga-a-hika pa; the exile and the illegal imprisonment of more than 100 Rongowhakaata at Wharekauri the Chathams; the raupatu of Rongowhakaata lands leaving them nearly landless in the 20th century; and the theft of Te Hau ki Turanga—because that is what it was—from Orakaiapu pa and the effect that this had on that hapu. And there have been subsequent breaches through legislation over the many years since that time. This settlement will be able to provide some redress for those as we have heard. It is a good thing for Rongowhakaata that they can have some of that returned particularly Te Hau ki Turanga. I understand that there may be some issues about the nature of that return that we may well hear in the select committee and we welcome any of the views of those involved as to how that is working and how that will operate. The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations made some commitments around the return of Te Hau ki Turanga.  
The details of those commitments matter; they will matter to the claimants and to those who have an interest in this settlement. I certainly hope that at the select committee we get to hear the details of those commitments before we are then asked to support the legislation further just to make sure that they are firm that the resources are provided and that the needs of the iwi and hapu are met in the process rather than being some kind of flagship for the Crown.  
So we look forward to seeing this legislation come before us. We look forward to meeting and talking with the claimants and the others who are involved. We know that this has been a significant body of work. The Green Party will be supporting this legislation.