Finlayson Christopher: Address in Reply — Presentation to Governor-General 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Finlayson Christopher: Address in Reply — Presentation to Governor-General 
[Sitting date: 28 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:590. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 I support the motion moved by my new colleagues. But I want this afternoon to begin my contribution by paying tribute to George Tanner QC who died last month. George was formerly Chief Parliamentary Counsel and served Parliament with distinction for many many years. At the time of his death he was a law commissioner. George was a great advocate of a plain English approach to drafting legislation. He knew that the law must be not only clear but accessible to the general public. As he once said “A state in which people cannot plainly understand the laws may as well be a lawless State”. I look forward to the passage of the Legislation Bill in the near future to bed in a lot of the changes that were started by George Tanner. He was a fine New Zealander and I am sure all parties are very sorry that he has left us.  
What frankly could be better than being a Minister in a Government led by this Prime Minister? During the 2011 election National put forward a clear and detailed policy programme. That programme resonated with the public and we were returned to office with a greater share of the party vote than in 2008. It is a stunning result pretty well unmatched in New Zealand’s political history and it is something the Prime Minister should be very proud of. The public’s endorsement of this Government is illustrated no more clearly than in Rongotai. National was only narrowly beaten into second place in the party vote by Labour. The Labour Party’s majority dropped from over 4000 in 2008 to under 500 in 2011. 
Chris Hipkins 
: How did the electorate vote go? 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON 
: I am coming to that. It was a very good result. But in answer to Mr Hipkins Mrs King must of course be congratulated on her emphatic personal win; I think I was the first person to congratulate her. As I said to her on election night the result was testament to her excellent service as an electorate MP in Miramar then Rongotai for 18 years. I am certainly going to be following her political career in Wellington with great interest in the next few years.  
In Rongotai at least Mrs King ensured that the Labour campaign was not political vaudeville. We had a very good campaign in Rongotai with a number of feisty meetings across the electorate. I was disappointed that my billboards were defaced by Green activists organised by someone called Jolyon. “Jolly-on”—it sounds as though he went to Christ’s! He is the social justice outreach coordinator of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch. Not surprisingly in response Russel Norman invoked the Sergeant Schultz defence of “I know nothing.”—methinks the stuff of a Tui advert. Other than the behaviour of Green vandals I think the battle for Rongotai was a fair and very good-natured campaign.  
So to a second term in Government. I have to say that of those to whom much is given—rightly raised by the Labour members—much is expected. So what I want to do is say something about the work going on in my portfolios. Mr Lees-Galloway repeated in a somewhat formulaic and repetitious manner: “Where’s the plan?”. Well I want to say something about the plan going on in my various portfolios which I am truly honoured to be able to work in. First I come to Treaty negotiations. I want to say something about Treaty settlements which are a very good-news story for all of us. Almost half of them have now been concluded. There have been challenging negotiations and there will continue to be challenging negotiations but I am very grateful for the support of my colleagues—in particular the Minister of Maori Affairs and my chief Crown negotiators led by Paul Swain—in getting settlements completed. This Government is committed to concluding just and durable Treaty settlements as quickly as possible. Indeed as I told the House today even the Human Rights Commission has praised our work in this area.  
So I want to thank all members of the House especially members of the Business Committee for extending House sitting hours on Thursday 16 February so that we could progress Treaty bills. The passage of these bills is very important because settlements cannot be finalised until the legislation is passed and delays in legislating mean delays for iwi in sharing the benefits with their people and in putting the grievances behind them. So I think it is a very constructive approach; I hope we see more of it. Indeed I had a very pleasant letter from the leader of Ngati Manawa this afternoon thanking all of us for this approach and for progressing their settlement.  
I am really honoured to be the Associate Minister of Maori Affairs and I am very much enjoying working with my colleague the Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Sharples. Delegations have just been finalised and I have been given responsibility for reform of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act Maori land ratings and tax and the Maori Trust Boards Act. There is a big issue here which if we can do well will do a great deal to advance the economic cause of Maori in this country. How best to deal with Maori land has been a perennial issue in this country for a very long time. There are 1.4 million hectares with over 2 million ownership interests and 26490 freehold titles. Sixty-one percent is held in titles less than 5 hectares and 30 percent have no formal management structure. A significant amount of this land is unproductive and it is increasingly held by absentee owners. I probably would see more of it than most MPs as I go around the country as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and I see the potential. If we can address some of the issues requiring reform in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act I believe that we can do great work here. There are also very significant rating issues which need to be addressed and I look forward to working with Dr Sharples on that issue.  
So there are ways the potential of the Maori land estate can be realised with significant economic benefits to individuals and I am certainly going to be focused on these issues over the coming term. That is my plan as Associate Minister of Maori Affairs.  
Let me look at the arts. We have so many plans in the arts culture and heritage portfolio that I could be accused really of almost doing too much. National of course is the party of the arts in New Zealand. We have always been very proud of that mantle. Two major projects this year are the Frankfurt Book Fair and the expansion of a very interesting programme called Sistema Aotearoa. This year New Zealand is the country of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair—I think probably the world’s oldest fair; it is about 500 years old. We are set to receive and are already receiving significant media exposure throughout Germany which is the world’s fourth-largest economy. We have a year-long opportunity to take centre stage through a series of very high-profile events and as the record shows in relation to other countries of honour it has had significant benefits for them with tourism.  
The second programme I am interested in growing is what I call Sistema Aotearoa modelled on a Venezuelan programme started in 1979 which has now about 240000 students. It is mainly aimed at helping underprivileged kids have the opportunity to be involved in playing a classical instrument and working in orchestras. It has been adapted throughout the world from north-east Brazil to the Merseyside. I started a programme last year in Otara: 98 percent of those who are participating are Pasifika and it has been an unqualified success. There is a concert which members may be interested in attending in Auckland on 10 March. So there is a huge amount of work being done in this area—no lack of plans there.  
I think it is obvious just from my portfolios what a busy Government this Key administration is. As the Minister of Health said look at each and every portfolio and you will see busy Ministers working on any number of plans. Be it the ones I have outlined in my portfolios be it addressing debt be it improving public services or rebuilding infrastructure we have a very ambitious agenda to improve this great country of ours and as I say I am conscious of the responsibility on me in my areas and I am looking forward to working on some of the issues that I have mentioned this afternoon and on many other issues over the course of this Government.