Finlayson Christopher: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Finlayson Christopher: Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6661. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 I hope those in the gallery do not mind but I want to respond immediately to what Mr Horomia said because he is quite right. The land bank system is under pressure and I promise him I am on to it. It is pointless handing over properties after about 5 or 6 years that are as he says rotting away or have asbestos problems or graffiti problems. It is totally unacceptable and I will have a chat to him in the very near future because having seen the experience most recently of I think Waverley High School the situation is most unsatisfactory but I promise him I am on to it. 
Like other members I too welcome representatives of Ngati Manuhiri here for this third reading debate of the Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Bill. I thank them for their tireless efforts. It is a great day for them and it is a great day for this Parliament because what happens today is that Parliament gives effect to an agreement entered into between you Ngati Manuhiri and the Crown for the settlement of historical claims. It has been a very long claim although because of the good work I think on both sides negotiations have gone very very efficiently and effectively. 
Ngati Manuhiri and the Crown signed a deed of settlement on 20 May 2011 at Omaha Marae near Leigh. As I recall it was a beautiful Saturday morning well attended by the Ngati Manuhiri community supported by representatives of Ngati Wai Ngati Rehua Ngati Whatua and other iwi and a good representation of members from the Auckland Council who are very keen to see this and other Treaty settlements in the Tamaki area work well. Well almost 18 months have passed since then which may seem a long time to some people but in the context of Treaty settlements it is not that long at all and we have now reached the stage where we are dealing with the third reading the final reading of the bill. 
As Mr Horomia has said much of the credit goes to the Maori Affairs Committee. They have a wonderful chair in Tau Henare one of my good parliamentary friends and colleagues and he has really in the last couple of years taken the task of Treaty settlements under his wing and has done what I think is a superb job. As Mr Horomia said he navigated—and the committee worked very hard on—the 100 or so submissions and I really want to thank members for their work and for the consensus that was reached. 
As other speakers have said Ngati Manuhiri are a people of the Mahurangi coast a beautiful part of New Zealand. Actually I was very lucky to be driving through it just last Saturday. Their area of interest extends along that coast and inland from Bream Tail in the north to Whangaparaoa in the south and includes Hauturu—Little Barrier Island. Today the Ngati Manuhiri marae Omaha is the only tribal marae found on the east coast between the North Shore of Auckland and Whangarei Harbour and despite considerable pressures not least being very high levels of land alienation Ngati Manuhiri have kept their fires burning. They are well known for their affiliation to the ocean-going iwi Ngati Wai and are indeed represented on the Ngati Wai Trust Board. Being descendants of the tupuna Maki Ngati Manuhiri are also affiliated to the Te Kawerau peoples and in particular they share descent with certain branches of Ngati Whatua Te Kawerau-a-Maki and others. 
Ngati Manuhiri were identified by Sir Douglas Graham as one of the groups the Crown should enter negotiations with in his June 2009 proposal to get negotiations going again in Tamaki and neighbouring areas. Negotiations between the Crown and Ngati Manuhiri commenced shortly thereafter and an agreement in principle was signed at Christmas 2009. The deed of settlement was signed as I said just a couple of months ago in 2011. The Ngati Manuhiri community voted to ratify the settlement at 99.4 percent in support and frankly it is difficult to conceive of a higher level of support than that and I think that common purpose bodes well for the future of the iwi. 
With the Ngati Whatua o Orakei deed and bill which will also be read today for a third time this settlement is the first of the negotiations started by Sir Douglas to be concluded. He is not here today but I too wanted to acknowledge the very good work of Sir Douglas and of my chief Crown negotiator Mike Dreaver and the officials in the Office of Treaty Settlements. I too acknowledge the work and commitment of the Ngati Manuhiri negotiators. I did not know that Mook’s name was Terence but I am delighted he is here today. He is a wonderful negotiator. He and the other negotiators brought a high level of principle pragmatism and very good sense to the table. Peri Watts acted as both kaumatua and negotiator and as Mr Horomia has said critically driving negotiations from the Ngati Manuhiri side has been that rangatira Laly Haddon. 
I am sure that Mr Horomia recently referred to Laly Haddon as an “old warrior”. I do not know about the adjective but warrior is certainly right. He has lived all his life at Pakiri the Ngati Manuhiri heartland and he has had a reputation on the rugby field—which I am sure will appeal to you Mr Deputy Speaker not bringing you into the debate of course—and he has been awarded a QSM for services to conservation in addition to his membership of the Auckland Conservation Board and chairmanship of the Hauraki Gulf Forum. He was a founding member on the management committee of New Zealand’s first marine reserve the Cape Rodney reserve otherwise known as Goat Island. Mr Haddon has been a fearless advocate for Ngati Wai through the years with his involvement with the Ngati Wai Trust Board. 
Redress to Ngati Manuhiri through this bill including redress relating to Te Hauturu-o-Toi or Little Barrier Island Nature Reserve can be said to reflect Mr Haddon’s commitment to tribal advocacy to the environment and to the righting of historical wrongs. The deed of settlement sets out the historical account. As it describes the Crown went to extraordinary lengths to secure title to Te Hauturu-o-Toi from Ngati Manuhiri and its other traditional owners of Ngati Wai descent. A special Act in fact was passed the Little Barrier Island Purchase Act 1894 which compulsorily acquired the shares of those owners who refused to sell. Then in 1896 the remaining owners who included Ngati Manuhiri were forcibly evicted from the island. In addition to the Crown acknowledgment of and apology for these wrongs Ngati Manuhiri will retain ownership of 1.2 hectares of the island. This was a key aspiration of Ngati Manuhiri. That small parcel will provide the community with an important foothold on the island including the ability to erect an appropriate building. The bill also makes provision for the co-governance of the island particularly in the development of a conservation plan. 
I want to say something briefly about clause 96A of the bill. It sets out that other groups can become involved in these provisions if other enactments provide for that. Importantly through negotiations and in the gift and gift-back arrangement Ngati Manuhiri acknowledge the significance of Te-Hauturu-o-Toi to all New Zealanders as a nature reserve and I want to acknowledge the generosity of Ngati Manuhiri. 
A number of concerns were raised before the Maori Affairs Committee by members of Ngati Wai. I dealt with those in my second reading speech but I do emphasise in this speech that the bill settles only the historical grievances of Ngati Manuhiri. The claims of Ngati Wai are not settled nor does the redress provided to Ngati Manuhiri convey exclusive mana whenua over the island to them. When Ngati Wai enter settlement negotiations with the Crown through an appropriately mandated body Ngati Wai aspirations will and can be discussed. 
This has been very much a model negotiation with hard work on both sides and it really is a tribute to everyone that an agreement in principle was signed just before Christmas in 2009 and a deed of settlement in June 2011 and that we are at this stage in November 2012. So I want to thank Ngati Manuhiri for their hard work and wish them all the very best for the future.