Roche DeniseDENISE ROCHE (Green): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the people who are here today in the gallery and the people who are watching at home: the people of Rangitāne o Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua and the people of Rangitāne o Wairarapa. It is a privilege to speak on a Treaty settlement bill and so it is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā (Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua) Claims Settlement Bill. I was not part of the select committee hearings process that resulted after the first reading so I did not get to listen to the submissions that were conducted in the Hawke's Bay. However I have read through the submissions as they appear on the website and as they were sent in. There were 12 submissions in all and there were six that were heard. The submissions themselves are really interesting and having read the settlement deed and having read the legislation as well I am left with some sympathy and concern for some of those submitters. Other people including Minister Finlayson have said that it is not the role of the Crown to determine who makes up the iwi in terms of dealing with the settlements. However we do have some concern about the fact that hapū are left in or out of settlement deeds. The role of the select committee is not to determine that at all and we acknowledge that. The role of the select committee is fairly limited in some ways. We cannot go back and negotiate the settlement because it has already been done. However for the record I need to state that the Greens do have a concern about Treaty settlements in that they may in fact continue to breach the Treaty of Waitangi because the Crown determines the large natural groupings to some extent. It decides whom it will negotiate with and when it will negotiate and so there is no balance of power there. So we definitely do have some sympathy for Te Hika o Pāpāuma and also for the hapū of Ehetere Kawemata Rautahi who are the Wai 1950 claimants. In every Treaty settlement bill the Greens always want to state and to get it on the record that we do not actually believe that these settlements are full and final. The reason we do not think that they are full and final is that even though these claims deal with grievances before 1992 we do not know the impact that the historical grievances will have on future generations. That is why we do not think it is final. In no way is this settlement full either when you consider the losses that are outlined in the settlement deed and also in the bill itself. When you look at the losses it is not a full settlement at all and in order for us to move forward with this bill I think we need to acknowledge that. That is why it is actually outlined in detail in the agreed historical record in the legislation itself. We have to acknowledge that even though it is not a full settlement—and in no way is it—it is actually the best negotiation that could happen up to this point because it is not to undermine the negotiations that have already occurred and the generations who have actually participated in trying to get these grievances recognised either on the side of Rangitāne or on the Crown's side. So I just want to assure the House that actually that is not our intention to undermine the negotiations that have happened because this settlement is very hard-won. We also state that it is not full and final basically because we need to recognise the generosity of the people in accepting this settlement and we are concerned that the generosity that these people are showing will lead to further claims. One of my colleagues on this side of the House has already talked about the issue of cross-claimants and so I also just want to acknowledge the work that has gone on particularly with the iwi to determine the way forward and the pathway forward for this. I also want to recognise that the cultural redress and the relationships that this iwi will be having particularly with councils are relationships for the future that are not always easy so I want to wish them well in how that unfolds as well. The financial redress is $32.5 million plus interest. Like Alastair Scott the previous speaker we acknowledge that there will be people out there who do not know the history of this settlement and who have not read the settlement deed or the legislation and they will be saying the things that they always say which are pretty racist really—you know they will be saying that this is the Treaty gravy train. That offends me to my soul because it is not and anybody who has had a passing look at this legislation would understand that. Yes I believe that there is a requirement for us to teach the history of the people of this land to a much wider audience so that we can combat that. The $32.5 million is a drop in a hat when we compare it with some of the other payments that this Government has made like the bailout of South Canterbury Finance which was $1.2 billion. This is a very small amount. It did not even lose its land. But anyway this bill is about the future. In the third reading we will talk more about the future but for today's reading—the second reading—we just need to acknowledge all that has happened during the select committee process. We also want to restate that we should be congratulating the iwi on accepting this deal as well because it is the best they can get. It does put Rangitāne on a more secure economic footing. We acknowledge that. We acknowledge that it is time to celebrate that and so we will be supporting this to the final reading which will be the next one.