Brownlee Gerry: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Second Reading 
Brownlee Gerry: Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:623;Page:18498] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 I say at the outset that I want to congratulate the Ngati Awa people on the choices they have made in setting up this governance arrangement and to wish them well in the receipt of their claim settlement. I hope the settlement will successfully deal with the grievance that has been felt over a period of years and that this body will be very very successful in providing opportunities for the people of Ngati Awa that they were denied as a result of past grievance. 
I think that is where I want to leave my comments about this particular bill. It seems to me inappropriate for Parliament to parade itself as being in some way generous in passing a bill that simply says to a group of New Zealanders: “You can exercise the choice that you have already made.” It does to my mind call into question the whole business of the relationship between Maori and the Crown. There are a number of people out there with leadership roles among Maori whether that role is formal self-proclaimed or recognised by just the media who do insist on saying that somehow Maori are separate from the Crown and that in the year 2005 Maori remain an entirely separate entity from the Crown. Well I would argue that if that were true there would be no need for this bill to be on the floor of the House today. There would be no need to have a treaty settlement process because obviously a Parliament such as this cannot decide who an iwi is and cannot decide what someone’s tribal connections are—even though I note that the Minister had a bit of a crack at it in the fisheries legislation last year. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: You liked it. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I did not and I did not vote for it because I do not believe that Parliament should be stamping that sort of authority over people who make free choices. That is the fundamental difference between Parekura Horomia and myself. 
So getting back to my point here I think the settlement process does in fact confirm in many many ways that we in this country are all subject to the Crown and by definition part of it whether we are Maori whether we want to say we are Pakeha or whether we want to say we are Scottish Irish or any other such nationality. And I do ask the question of those who proclaim to someone like me that I am a Pakeha and somehow different in this country whether I am supposed to run around saying that I am an Irishman in exile a Scotsman in exile or any other nationality for that matter. I am a New Zealander I think. 
What I am simply saying is that in accepting that Parliament has a role in establishing a governance organisation for an iwi and that Parliament has a role in confirming what a settlement to an historic grievance might be the people receiving the payments or whatever the arrangements are—and we will be talking about those before too long—the people who are going to be part of that governance structure are accepting that they cannot move without Parliament and by definition they are also accepting that they are part of the Crown and that there is one country New Zealand and one form of governance in this country to be found seated in this institution. 
So I do celebrate the fact that we are passing this bill and I do celebrate the fact that we are settling a historic grievance. That is not inconsistent with anything that the National Party has had to say about matters to do with Maori up to this point and in recent times. So rather than stand here filling up the time I just want to again congratulate Ngati Awa. I also congratulate my friends on the Maori Affairs Committee. I am very pleased they took my recommendation that the Maori text go in the front of the bill. It was a hard battle and finally they agreed with me. But it was a reasonable thing to do. If it were not for the support of Pita Paraone I might not have got my recommendation through. With that I simply conclude my comments and say that the passing of bills such as this does indicate that this country has a very very bright future and I hope that bright future is as evident for everyone as it is for Ngati Awa.