Finlayson Christopher: Ngati Whatua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Finlayson Christopher: Ngati Whatua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 19 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5467. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 I just want to begin by endorsing what my friend Mr Henare said a little while ago that we should not really call these hours “extended hours”; we should call them “Treaty settlement days” because today is a great day for Treaty settlements. We have the first reading of this bill the Ngati Whatua o Kaipara Claims Settlement Bill and I welcome the representatives of Ngati Whatua o Kaipara to Parliament. Then a little later on we are going to have the second reading of the Ngati Whatua Orakei Claims Settlement Bill and then the second reading of the Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill. That follows closely on the heels of the Tamaki collective deed signing just a few weeks ago in Tamaki. So September 2012 has actually been a big month for Ngati Whatua iwi who are working very hard and getting very close to finalising comprehensive settlements across their region. 
As others have said the iwi’s core area of interest encompasses the entirety of the southern Kaipara from South Head to Muriwai on the west coast and from near Wellsford to the upper Waitemata Harbour to the east. Of course as we all know the Kaipara Harbour is at the heart of this area and of Ngati Whatua o Kaipara and as Dr Sharples said is one area where the negotiations are still to come. I have promised Naida Glavish that I am keen to commence these negotiations as soon as possible and I am sure Mr Horomia would endorse the fact that empty promises do not go down all that well with Naida Glavish. 
From the signing of the Treaty in 1840 Ngati Whatua o Kaipara has remained steadfast in its support of the Crown and although the relationship in the first few decades of the colony may have been acceptable and the iwi flourished the sad reality is that as time passed the Crown’s actions fell well short of the grand promises made in the Treaty. By the end of the 19th century the iwi had been rendered virtually landless with the inevitable and terrible social and economic consequences. 
I have to say that as negotiations go and they are never as fast as one would like—and I will not look up to the gallery because the negotiators are probably all nodding in unison—the reality of the matter is that this has been a comparatively rapid conclusion to negotiations. We signed an agreement in principle late in the year on 22 December 2009 and with the help of the officials and the negotiators we managed to reach the signing of a deed of settlement on a beautiful Friday in September last year. 
However these dates belie a very long period where Ngati Whatua o Kaipara has sought recognition of the failings and the injustices that they have suffered. In 1987 their leaders provided evidence during the lands case. The tribunal heard the claims of Ngati Whatua o Kaipara between 1999 and 2001 and reported on them in 2006 but really from 2002 they have been trying to get on with negotiations and as Dr Sharples said they finally began in 2009. It should not be assumed that these negotiations were straightforward. They had their challenges; all negotiations do. But it is the wish I believe of this entire House that what the settlement will do is provide Ngati Whatua o Kaipara with a solid platform for its ongoing partnership with the Crown and with other agencies such as the Auckland Council. 
We all know it is not possible fully to compensate Ngati Whatua o Kaipara for the loss their people have suffered but hopefully the financial and the commercial redress will contribute to the iwi’s future development while the cultural redress in this bill seeks to recognise Ngati Whatua o Kaipara’s longstanding and deep cultural and significant association with this area of interest. 
So I do not intend to say any more than that. My comments in the third reading will be lengthier but for the present time I think that will suffice. All I want to say is that the bill should proceed to the Maori Affairs Committee without delay and that under the great leadership of Mr Henare and ably assisted by the other members of that committee I am sure they will look at the bill and the committee will consider the bill and it will hopefully be back here very soon.