Bennett David: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
Bennett David: Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14396] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 I congratulate Tau Henare on his excellent leadership of the Maori Affairs Committee to get the Ngati Tuwharetoa Raukawa Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Bill to this second reading and also the many members of this House who have worked together to provide the solution we see in front of us today. The Labour members in the previous Government kicked it off and under the leadership of the current Minister we have been able to refine the solution and make it workable so that it will achieve the enduring goals that it is all about. I acknowledge representatives of the many iwi who are here tonight and who have made the journey here for the second reading; it is a pleasure to see them here and I thank them for their support. We look forward to working with them in the future too to address those challenges that the Green Party said would become a reality over time—and they will be. That is something we have to work through together in the region. 
To the negotiation team up in the gallery I say that it is also good to see them as well. They have put a lot of time and effort into this so I say well done. We also acknowledge up there as well Ngati Maniapoto who settled recently so they are the next step in the jigsaw of passing this bill—or the final settlement in regard to the river. 
But I will talk about just a few concepts that have been raised by two speakers in relation to this bill tonight; those speakers were from ACT and the Green Party. The first thing I say—as a Waikato dairy farmer a Pakeha and somebody who lives and works in that region—is that together we are a region that is a little bit different from the rest of New Zealand. In our part of this country the relationship between iwi and the wider community is very strong and will develop into something a lot stronger in the future. It is a little bit different from the demographics I guess of some other parts of New Zealand. The ownership of assets in that region is quite strongly held by Maori as well and Maori have a vested interest not only in the land as its productive capital but also in the future of things such as the river and its integrity and cleanliness. 
We have a unique and dynamic situation and we need to trust each other and work together to make that a possibility. It is easy to look upon that region and the people in it and say they cannot work together and that it is one against the other but it is not. The Waikato region and the Waikato people see themselves as unified and they see this as a common purpose that they want to deliver on. That is the first thing. 
The second thing we need to look at is the nature of agriculture in that region. I think the Green Party mentioned some important points there; probably they went to the extreme of it. The nature of it is that we have to look at what we do and how we produce our goods and services. Basically agriculture will move from a low-cost production system in New Zealand to an environmentally friendly production system. We will want to get clean green production. That is where we will get the premium on our products for two reasons: one is that consumers will become more discerning over time and the second is that we just do not have a whole lot of land in New Zealand where we can do more bulk commodity production. We are moving into a different field of agriculture. I think this river settlement should be looked at as something that will be of economic gain to that region in say 50 or 100 years’ time. If we get the river in a state where people are proud of it and are aware that it is their river that will be a great selling point for us as an agricultural community in that area. To Mr Hide I say that I understand his argument but the reality is that a bigger economic picture is upon us which we can take advantage of. 
This bill will deliver some large economic gains to the region over time. It will take some compromise and it will take some hard work to make it a reality but it will lead to a situation where the people of that region work together for their full economic benefit in the future. This bill will lead to a lot of change but change that will deliver very fruitful results for that region going forward. Thank you.