Finlayson ChristopherTUESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2016(continued on Wednesday 7 December 2016)RANGITĀNE O MANAWATU CLAIMS SETTLEMENT BILLThird ReadingHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I move That the Rangitāne o Manawatu Claims Settlement Bill be now read a third time. Today we are here to consider debate and address matters of great importance. Today is a great day for our nation and for Rangitāne o Manawatu. Very few things can be more defining than a third reading of settlement legislation as we found last week when we debated the third readings of three settlement bills. I can see a number of visitors in the gallery who have led the journey to settlement for Rangitāne o Manawatu. This iwi have had to overcome very many obstacles to get to this point and I am so very very pleased to see you here today. After so many years of negotiations with the Crown I am pleased that the people of Rangitāne o Manawatu do not have to wait any longer to see the third reading of their bill. So I extend a warm welcome to members of Rangitāne o Manawatu who have travelled from the Manawatū area and from further afield to be here in Parliament today to listen to this the third reading of their legislation. I acknowledge—as I always do and always should—those negotiators who passed away during the course of the negotiations namely Rangihararu Fitzgerald Tānenuiārangi Te Aweawe Kura Te Rangi-Baker Ruth Harris and Kararaina Tait. To those of you who have worked so hard to make today possible I offer my most sincere thanks. This settlement represents the culmination of several generations of work beginning with the late great Ruth Harris—who lodged the Wai 182 claim with the tribunal in 1990 and whose hard work and vision has been carried on by her daughter Danielle Harris—by Maurice Takarangi and by a number of other fine people. As I said during the second reading the commitment dedication and high standards of the negotiators are truly outstanding. This day has been a long time coming for Rangitāne o Manawatu. As I said they have faced many challenges since the 1990s including a long long pause in negotiations. I want to acknowledge other members of Rangitāne who contributed to the claims process and who have passed on including Inia Te Rangi Winnie Smith Lorene Fitzgerald and Yvonne Marshall. Since signing the terms of negotiation in 1998—1998—Rangitāne o Manawatu have dealt with five Ministers for Treaty settlements and countless Crown officials. The Crown recognises the long and heavy burden Rangitāne o Manawatu have carried in pursuing justice over so many years and I congratulate you on reaching this milestone. Lesser people would have said It's all too hard. I am giving up. I'll go back to something else." but you have hung in there and you have achieved your settlement. There are many people who have contributed to this legislation both within the iwi and Crown agencies. Can I acknowledge the chief Crown negotiators whom I have used: Ross Philipson and more recently Glenn Webber. Their efforts and persistence have been very helpful to me as I have come to settle this claim. Lastly I want to acknowledge all the tūpuna of Rangitāne o Manawatu who began the search for justice once land acquisitions began in the 1850s as it is many of their descendants who have driven the claims process in the modern era. There are so many people to acknowledge but it is appropriate in the third reading debate to acknowledge those who have contributed. Their names deserve to be written into the permanent record of Parliament. The loss that Rangitāne o Manawatu suffered can never be fully compensated by the Crown and much of what was lost simply cannot be returned. I say that every third reading. It never makes me pleased to say it but say it I must because it is a reality. However the people of Rangitāne o Manawatu have graciously accepted the redress contained in their settlement and in doing so I acknowledge their generosity. Rangitāne o Manawatu is an iwi that lost most of its land through extensive Crown purchases in the mid-19th century with very limited—some would say pitiful—reserves set aside. By the end of the 1880s Rangitāne o Manawatu held approximately 20000 acres of land including reserves from Crown purchases that they had been awarded by the Native Land Court and land that they had repurchased in the Te Ahuaturanga block. From the 19th century much of the remaining iwi land was partitioned by the Native Land Court and subsequently purchased by private interests. By 1930 Rangitāne o Manawatu land holdings had been reduced to a meagre 2903 acres. What remained of the land was then eroded by further sales and as an iwi Rangitāne o Manawatu became virtually landless. This has had obviously a severe impact on the health of the people of Rangitāne o Manawatu. Put simply the Crown failed to ensure that the iwi were left with sufficient land for their present and future needs. Over many generations the Crown's breaches of the Treaty have simply undermined the social and traditional structures of Rangitāne and compromised the autonomy and ability of the iwi to exercise their customary rights and responsibilities. This is such a familiar account of the past relationship between the Crown and its Treaty partner. We have heard it so many times of late. As I said we had three bills last week—situations where the Crown repeatedly failed to fulfil the undertakings it made under the Treaty. Every time a settlement bill comes through Parliament the same stories of land loss of dispossession and of economic and cultural alienation are heard. Every time it cuts deep to the core of our nation. Māori across this country have legitimate Treaty grievances and they need to be addressed. Today the time has come for the Crown to acknowledge the errors of the past and make amends for its actions or omissions. One critical aspect of this settlement is the apology. I cannot stress enough the importance of the Crown recognising the struggles of the ancestors of Rangitāne o Manawatu in pursuit of redress and justice and the relevance of a Crown apology to Rangitāne o Manawatu to their ancestors and to their descendants. The apology states that "by this settlement the Crown seeks to atone for its wrongs and begin the process of healing." Not only is the Crown apology an acknowledgment of long-held grievances but hopefully it heralds the re-establishment of a partnership based on that mutual trust cooperation and respect for the Treaty and it is the right thing to do. I hope that the redress package in this settlement will go a long way to reconnect Rangitāne o Manawatu with its environment and to acknowledge the mana and the rangatiratanga of Rangitāne o Manawatu. The settlement will also contribute to restoring the honour of the Crown and will mark the dawn of a new era in the relationship between Treaty partners. It has been such a long journey for Rangitāne and I am so delighted that we have finally reached this stage. I want to conclude by again paying tribute to Danielle Harris and simply say what a classy negotiator she has been. She has worked so very hard for the iwi. It has not been easy. We think this place is adversarial but sometimes the attacks—the personalised attacks—on negotiators can really cut to the core. But she is one tough cookie and she accepted those attacks and soldiered on so personally I acknowledge you Danielle. Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the iwi and to Manawatū and I wish you all the very best for the future. I commend the bill to the House."