Clendon David: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — First Readings 
Clendon David: Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill — First Readings 
[Volume:678;Page:1027] 
DAVID CLENDON (Green) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on this legislation and to again affirm the Green Party’s support for the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Claims Settlement Bill and the Maraeroa A and B Blocks Incorporation Bill. We also offer our respects and our regards to the leadership of the people who will benefit from this settlement and indeed we acknowledge the work and the commitment of the Minister who presented these two bills to the House. These bills these settlements of course are both necessary and desirable to make good injustices that have occurred over many generations to make good breaches of the Treaty that occurred over time and to make some restitution both in terms of acknowledging mana of people and in terms of more practical restitution in the way of land money resource—whatever it might be. 
 I am often reminded of a commentary made by Mr David Williams some years ago. Acknowledging himself that he was speaking in 20/20 hindsight he reflected that perhaps it would have been better for New Zealanders if before launching into the Treaty settlement process some 25 or 30-odd years ago we had in advance of that gone through something along the lines of a truth and reconciliation process. David himself of course was an early tribunal member. He was not being critical in a sense; he was speaking with hindsight. I think had we created a situation where more people understand the nature of the Treaty the nature of the relationship it established and the importance of that relationship in contemporary New Zealand then we might have got a swift resolution or a swifter resolution which is indeed in everybody’s interests notwithstanding some of the commentary of the previous speaker. 
Te Tiriti is undoubtedly the underpinning of our constitutional arrangements. It has enormous unifying potential but that potential is compromised to some extent until we eventually resolve at least all of the historical grievances acknowledging again that there will continue to be moments where the Treaty relationship becomes strained. We will never be in a situation where we can put the Treaty aside and consider it a historical entity; it is a living document and we have great regard and respect for it for that reason.  
These particular two bills we are looking at dare I say it present what genuinely appears to be an elegant solution—perhaps an overused phrase of late. But nevertheless it does seem that the establishment of the incorporation in the nature of the settlement does acknowledge and give some respect to the fact that the evidence is the history tells us that there has for a long time been a shared usage of this land. As we know Ngati Rereahu Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and others all have legitimate claims—overlapping cross-claims perhaps—and the notion of creating this new entity this new incorporation with representation from all of those iwi is an excellent solution we believe. 
I think it is generally well known that pre-European Maori did not have the same concept of ownership—the notion of individual ownership of land—that was common in Western thought and Western practice. People clearly as tangata whenua literally felt that they belonged to the land rather than the land belonging to them. But nevertheless Maori in pre-European times had a very sophisticated well-developed and I believe very effective system of user rights—not ownership rights but user rights. I think some of that principle if you like is perhaps carrying over into the bill and into the construct of this incorporation and the chosen solution for this particular area of land. The idea is that in a given season particularly in a subsistence economy it makes a great deal of sense for a particular group with mana whenua rights to share the resource with others in reciprocal arrangements—to share resources at the coast in the bush or whatever it might be. I think this is an example where we actually have a great deal to learn in contemporary New Zealand about some of the principle and practice that underpinned Maori society in pre-European times. As I say it is nice to see a reflection of that notion of reciprocity of shared rights and indeed of shared responsibility coming through in the structure of this incorporation and in the settlement arrangements that have been made about this. 
I think that is all I need say at this point. We started out by offering our respects and regards to the beneficiaries and acknowledging their work over many generations to reach this point and we look forward to a resolution finally. Kia ora.