Finlayson ChristopherHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I want to take a brief call following on from that generous and thoughtful contribution of Mr Little to just say a few words of my own. It is perhaps a little unusual for a Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations to take a call on this matter but let me explain why I have. I think the Māori Affairs Committee has done a really good job on this legislation. It could be described as principled and clever. I have been very involved in Treaty negotiations in Taranaki during my period of stewardship of this portfolio and I was very pleased to sign deeds of settlement with Ngāruahine with Taranaki and also with Te Atiawa. I signed that deed of settlement on behalf of the Crown on 9 August 2014. All members of Parliament who were present across all the parties at Parihaka in June will recall what a powerful ceremony that was and that legislation has been introduced to the House today. The Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) and I are very engaged in negotiations with Ngāti Maru and with all the Taranaki iwi over the maunga. There is a lot of work that I think we as a Parliament—because it is Parliament's work; I have been very privileged to be the Minister but it is Parliament's work—can all be so very proud of. We have addressed these difficult issues and we have done so pretty well over the last few years.But there was one issue that hung over me like a cloud and it was this question of the Waitara lands. My chief Crown negotiator for Te Atiawa is the former Labour Minister Rick Barker who did a fabulous job but a decision was made during the course of negotiations that the lands were not to be taken back and it met with a great deal of opposition. I was very worried about this legislation when it was introduced and I wondered what the legislative course would be. But I think as I say Mr Jonathan Young and all the members of the Māori Affairs Committee have done a really good job on this. Look we are going to deal only with the second reading tonight and when it gets to the Committee stage in the new Parliament there could well be further discussions about some of the detail. But I want to say to members that I think they have done a great job in a bipartisan way to deal with these difficult issues and bring back to the House a bill that is much improved on the one that was introduced. I know there was a lot of concern when it was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee but with respect that was exactly the right committee to send it to. It should not have gone to the Local Government and Environment Committee. It had to go to the Māori Affairs Committee because of the history of the Waitara lands and the history of Taranaki negotiations. It would have been bizarre for it to have gone anywhere else.For myself I think that the mechanisms that have been set out in the bill are very good and I am particularly pleased about the proposals in relation to the Waitara River. Mr Little mentioned I think it was the former AFFCO freezing works which is now owned by ANZCO Foods after a very interesting case in the courts. It is doing a very good job there employing large numbers of Waitara people but it is fair to say that while it does not necessarily spread effluent into the river the river has been very badly damaged over the years and a lot of work is going to need to be undertaken to get it back to pristine condition. I can say now—I do not think I am disclosing any confidences—that in the course of negotiations with Ngāti Maru one of the questions that keeps coming up is the health and well-being of the Waitara River. That it is being addressed in this way I think is a very very clever approach.There will be matters of detail that a future Parliament is going to have to look at but I want to commend once again the membership of the select committee and the officials and I particularly want to mention someone from the Office of Treaty Settlements Nashwa Boys who has worked on a lot of these matters over the years and is a consummate professional. I am very very proud of the work that she and the team at OTS have done because I think the net result is much improved on the bill that was introduced. This is a brief call because I know how keen everyone is to blast through all these stages of various bills so that we can get on to the Private International Law (Choice of Law in Tort) Bill because it would be great to have that passed by 10 o'clock. So with these brief comments I do not think I have anything more to add and I will sit down.