SpeechIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): Oh I'll straighten myself out Mr Speaker. DEPUTY SPEAKER: We haven't got that long Mr McKelvie! IAN McKELVIE: I've participated in I think all three readings of this particular piece of legislation without having been any part of the discussions around the Māori Affairs Committee but I have listened carefully however to what's gone on in this House. I also have great respect for both Ngāti Kahungunu and the Rangitāne and I think my role really here is to try and put a bit of perspective on this from my point of view. I just want to say a couple of other things first though. I thought that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations did a pretty good job of explaining the situation with respect to this joint redress bill. I think he also made another point which I want to emphasise and that is that the redress in this bill can only be put into place with the goodwill of the councils involved and I hope those councils enter into the spirit of this bill in the manner in which the bill has been agreed. However I said that I wanted to put my perspective on this and I want to speak about the concerns raised by the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust and they were explained well I believe by the Minister as I've said. However I come from a family that's been around New Zealand for quite a few generations now probably eight or so—maybe more if you count the females in the beginning of it—and I can understand very well the trepidation with which iwi and Māori enter into these Treaty settlements because effectively what they're trying to do is settle something that happened in the 1850s and 1860s. I know full well that in my own situation—and I'm the oldest survivor in my family now which shows I've been around a while—it would be extraordinarily difficult to commit my family to a settlement of something that had happened in the 1850s and 1860s. So I've the greatest admiration for all of those who participate in these Treaty settlement claims because it's an extraordinarily difficult thing to go back 150 years and think that we're going to get some agreement on what happened 150 years ago. Whilst in a family like mine we might get some agreement on it we'd never document it because the moment you document it it's fact and you can absolutely see the trepidation with which these Treaty settlements are entered into. I think that for iwi or for all sorts of entities to enter into these agreements and document stuff that happened 150 and 160 years ago—and that then becomes a perpetual settlement—it would be extremely terrifying for those people involved and I've seen that I guess in my time. I've spoken on a lot of Treaty settlement bills in this House and been a participant in a lot of the discussion around some of my local Treaty settlement bills and I think that it's extraordinarily brave. So what I'm really saying is that I think that whilst there's some disagreement on the terms that might sit behind these two Treaty settlement bills at the end of the day the two Treaty settlement bills have been entered into in good faith by both Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne and they're going to have to sort the issues out. I wouldn't want the Crown interfering in my family affairs and I don't think anyone else should have the Crown interfering in theirs either. So I think that from the perspective of this Parliament the select committee has done as good a job as they could possibly do in what are extremely difficult circumstances and I also think the participants in these bills do an admirable job of trying to resolve something that's bugged this country for nearly 200 years. I think that great credit goes to those people who are involved in this and I say that from Parliament's perspective; this is the best effort we can make. I think that that's where we need to get to as a country and I have great admiration as I said for those people involved in this. All I want to say is that I think we've done our best with it the Parliament has done its best with it and I think the two parties concerned have done their best with it. They are going to have to get on and resolve the issues that are outstanding from here on. With that I support the bill fully. Thank you.