Harawira Hone: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
Harawira Hone: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
[Volume:651;Page:303] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Huri rauna tena tatou katoa e te Whare. Tena tatou i te mea ko taku korero tuatahi tenei i roto i tenei wahanga o te tau. No reira tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to us all throughout the House. I extend greetings to you because this is my speech for this part of the year. So greetings to you and to all of us 
.] 
Just very briefly because this is my first opportunity to speak in the House since the new Parliament started I would like to mihi to everybody here. Ki a koe e te tuahine e Hekia Carmel e Sio koi ano hoki e Nanaia me taku tuahine ano e nohonoho nei Rahui tena koe. Huri rauna tena tatou katoa.  
[ 
To you sister colleague Hekia; to you Carmel and Sio as well as Nanaia another sister colleague; to you Rahui seated there greetings to you and to everyone throughout 
.] 
In the last dying days of the recently departed Labour Government the Maori Party put up a proposal to recognise the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the emissions trading scheme with reference to all iwi that have reached settlement and with the specific inclusion of the words “the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act of 1998”. We put up the proposal because we believe that the integrity and value of Treaty settlements should not be set aside during the crucial debate on the legislation regarding climate change. Unfortunately however our proposal to include the Treaty was voted down by the Labour Government including every single one of its Maori MPs. Indeed the only people with the courage and the foresight to support the Treaty were the Maori Party the Greens and—surprise surprise—ACT and I extend my deepest thanks to the Greens for their consistent support for the Treaty over the years. And so we are glad that the Government has agreed to set up a special select committee to review the emissions trading scheme which enables us to raise the concern expressed by iwi that the emissions trading scheme as it is currently worded represents a significant threat to the integrity and finality of their Treaty settlements.  
Just to put some context around that statement Ngai Tahu advise us that in their analysis the emissions trading scheme will impose heavy liabilities on their pre-1990 forestry lands and wipe tens of millions of dollars off the value of the forestry assets they acquired through their settlement. It is their contention in fact that the Crown was bound both legally and morally to address their concerns knowing full well that the emissions trading scheme would significantly erode the market value of the pre-1990 forestry lands they had purchased with the intention of converting those lands to better use. Now 20 years after the settlement the loss to Ngai Tahu under the emissions trading scheme will in fact exceed the total quantum of their settlement.  
It is fundamental to good relations between the Crown and Maori that the Crown does not act unilaterally to erode Treaty settlements so we are glad that this Government is reviewing the emissions trading scheme in the best interests of honour good faith and the national interest in terms of the integrity of Treaty settlements. In order to help the Government to honour its commitment to Maori we are happy to suggest that the following phrase be added to the terms of reference for the committee: “The committee shall consider the impact of the Emissions Trading Scheme on the integrity and finality of Treaty settlements having particular regard to the relationship to pre-1990 forested Maori land.”  
On another related matter it should also be a matter of grave concern to learn today that Labour’s shameful failure to support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples continues in the negotiations currently taking place at the UN Climate Change Conference where it appears that Labour’s appointees continue to oppose recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in a decision on deforestation and forest degradation and continue to oppose measures to protect the rights of the very indigenous peoples who have sustained and protected the forests targeted under the agreement for thousands of years.  
In the final analysis the emissions trading scheme is at best only a scheme. We must all take responsibility for our emissions we must all be inclusive in our approach and we must agree to work together to develop a programme of emissions reductions that slows climate change and protects the environment. The Maori Party will be a willing and active participant in the special select committee to review the emissions trading scheme. In recognition of the particular concerns highlighted by Ngai Tahu we have decided that our MP for Te Tai Tonga Rahui Katene will be our representative on that committee. No doubt National will appoint Hekia Parata for the very same reasons. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa.