Finlayson ChristopherHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National): The National Opposition joins with the Government in supporting this legislation and welcomes the representatives of Ngāti Tamaoho to the House. I recall very well a very rainy Sunday 30 April 2017 when I signed the deed of settlement in the beautiful Hūnua Ranges and it was a pleasure to work with Ngāti Tamaoho over many years to reach this stage.I think that the Minister's outline of the historical background was very good and I don't intend to say too much more than what he said but I do want to make one point and it's referred to in the summary of the historical account and read into the record of the House a very important summary and that is that young children from this iwi and other iwi experienced discrimination and segregation at a State-run school in Pukekohe. It wasn't just in the State-run school; there were instances when people were segregated in the local cinema and were treated very much as second-class citizens. There are some people in this country who would say Well maybe that sort of thing happened in Bloemfontein but it would never have happened here." Well it did. And members of Ngāti Tamaoho and their children were treated very badly indeed and that is an important fact that needs to be highlighted and it's one of the reasons why we are engaged in this historic Treaty resolution policy: because these things matter.The second point I want to make is that the area of interest of Ngāti Tamaoho is centred in and around the Hūnua Ranges but it goes much further than that. The area of interest goes down to the Manukau Harbour to Franklin. As I've said it takes in the Hūnua Ranges the Awhitū Peninsula but it also goes down into central Auckland. Again the historical account mentions the fact that Ngāti Tamaoho rangatira also sold land in Remuera directly to Pākehā after the Crown temporarily waived pre-emption in 1844. So the area of interest was indeed very large. There are some iwi—and of course I won't mention them here because it would be impolitic to do so—that think they have absolute control over certain areas in Tāmaki but it just was not like that. The areas of interest were overlapping and it has caused issues in pretty well every settlement that I negotiated when I was Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.The Māori Affairs Committee addressed the issue of overlapping claims in its report and said they were very difficult issues and particularly referred to concerns that had been expressed by Te Ākitai Waiohua and Ngāti Te Ata—very good people in both groups—who had concerns with overlapping claims. Then the report also says that Ngāti Tamaoho said overlapping claims had been very difficult to deal with as the Office of Treaty Settlements claims process is designed to address issues with the Crown not with other iwi or hapū and I really acknowledge that. I acknowledge the difficulties that Ngāti Tamaoho faced. These overlapping claims are very difficult to deal with and as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is going to find out during his term they will be the bane of this life just as they were the bane of my life. They're complex and they're emotional and always the Crown is always the one that is criticised but so often it's important for iwi to get on with these overlapping claims sooner rather than later so that the Crown's dispute resolution process need not be called on.In this case there were difficult issues. I think all three groups dealt with them very well and I commend all three groups and I look forward to the day that Te Ākitai too can sign its deed of settlement—very good people; and Ngāti Te Ata. Everyone here of course still grieves for the passing of the great Ngāneko Minhinnick and also Tāhuna Minhinnick. That has added concerns to negotiations with Ngāti Te Ata over for example overlapping claims because they've been through a very difficult period. So the best advice I can offer iwi is to get on with these overlapping claims as soon as possible and also step back and recognise that iwi are not as it were protected behind hermetically sealed walls. There are areas of interest that overlap and there are going to be these tensions which arise nowhere more obviously than in a place like Tāmaki.The second point I wish to make in this third reading speech is to say how pleased I am that the Hūnua scenic reserve will be transferred back to a number of iwi including Ngāti Tamaoho and it will continue to be administered as a reserve and public access is going to continue. As I said last week in the context of the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki third reading the Department of Conservation (DOC) has come a very long way in recent times to recognising that in appropriate circumstances areas of land can be transferred to iwi as cultural redress particularly where they have very strong emotional links to those areas. Therefore I simply express the hope that this will continue in the years to come and that DOC won't revert to a proprietorial approach to areas of land throughout the country; that there will be circumstances where lands must be handed over because it is far more appropriate that they sit with the iwi than be Crown controlled.So I think the best years for this iwi are ahead of it. It is a strong and a noble iwi very well led by gentle and communicative and cooperative rangatira and I hope that the young people from Ngāti Tamaoho will recognise all the wonderful things that this current generation has done for them. I believe Ngāti Tamaoho will take its place within Tāmaki playing a very important role across the city for the benefit of frankly all of Auckland.In that regard can I simply close by saying Ngāti Tamaoho are members of the Maunga Authority and that it's very important as I said last week that all members of the Maunga Authority when dealing with the volcanic cones in Auckland realise that there are a number of interests in the volcanic cones. There's the obvious iwi interest which is why we had that legislation passed in 2014 but there's also the broader public interest. There have been some concerns in recent times—for example in relation to Mount Eden—that some changes have been made that have restricted public access and that it is very important for the Maunga Authority to work with the broader community so that they understand the changes that have been made and why the changes have been made so as to avoid unnecessary strife. I am sure when I look at the leadership of Ngāti Tamaoho I believe that they are exactly the people to play that very important role on the Maunga Authority to make sure that the public are brought along with changes that are made. Can I conclude by wishing Ngāti Tamaoho all the best. It was great dealing with you. I feel that I have learnt so much about this country by dealing with people like you. Someone once wrote a book called The Education of a Public Man—well that's really what Andrew Little's going to find out as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. You learn so much about your country and 10 years ago I would have said there would never have been any discrimination of the kind that I mentioned at the beginning of this speech but it did happen and it's very important that this country address those sorts of things. So that's why I'm so pleased that this legislation now has its third reading. I commend the bill to the House and wish this great iwi all the very best for the future."