Ardern Shane: Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
Ardern Shane: Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:613;Page:10247] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country) 
: 
 It is with pleasure that I rise to speak on behalf of National in support of the Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill. This legislation is the result of a process that was started under the last National Government and that has now gone on through two Labour terms in Parliament. It is with pleasure I see it finally coming to a conclusion. The questions are: why has it taken so long and how long will it take Labour to settle the other Taranaki claims? Two iwi have now reached a conclusion to their claims in Taranaki. There are six more to go. That is a very slow process and the Government is very slow when it comes to getting it done. 
However I wish to thank the Government for the work it has put in in finally getting the bill to this stage and I know that members and representatives of Ngati Tama who may be listening are pleased we have finally got to this point. I say to them that this has been a very very long journey for them. There is no question that when one studies the history of New Zealand and some of the colonial atrocities—I guess that that is the word to use—inflicted on the native people of New Zealand including Ngati Tama at the time colonisation took place there is an issue to be resolved. 
It is pleasing to see that resolution process. If one asks the question of why it is necessary to go through that process one needs to look only at the disparity between Maori and non-Maori New Zealanders and at how small minorities of New Zealand citizens have been treated—particularly in our early history—to understand there is a depth of feeling and a grievance that has gone on for far too long. It is great and pleasing to see that the State is finally acknowledging that in terms of both financial redress and an official apology. I congratulate the Minister on finally getting there and making that happen. 
I say to those who are now going forward after the settlement that they should make sure the proceeds of the settlement ensure that the wider membership of Ngati Tama goes forward and prospers—that it becomes one in New Zealand and does well. There is an opportunity here in terms of education financial benefit and commercial opportunity and in terms of redressing some of the problems that have held back not only Ngati Tama but also iwi throughout the whole of New Zealand over that period. I look forward in anticipation to the prosperity I am sure will result. 
I have met and know a lot of the people involved in the Ngati Tama iwi. I have been to the marae. They are a very hospitable progressive and forward-thinking people and I wish them luck. I know that they are working already—and have been for some time—in a range of areas to maximise their opportunities and I hope they continue in that and are now able to fast track some of those projects. I look forward with anticipation to seeing the outcome of some of that work. 
I also say that without the leadership and the fortitude of people like Jim Bolger and Sir Douglas Graham who started this process it would never have got going. There had been a lot of feeble attempts I might say by successive Governments over a long period of time to try to do something in that area. I hasten to add that Mr Bolger and Sir Douglas came from the wrong side of the political tracks with regard to where Maori political allegiance usually lies but they saw that unless we found a way forward as a society to try to bridge the gaps that existed both culturally and economically—not to close them as the current Government claimed it would do and then hastened to widen them—we could not move forward as a nation. 
I strongly believe that that is still the case to this day. Unless we bridge those gaps—unless we can agree to be different but one and the same as a country—we will never move forward. New Zealand simply cannot have something like 14 or 15 percent of its population—which is expected to grow to 20 percent in the next 10 or 12 years—so far behind the rest of the country economically and socially without having some kind of economic and social problem within the nation. So I say to those at the front of this process that they should go forward now and make this legislation a full final and solid resolution to the difficulties they have suffered over a long period of time. I acknowledge those who are here today and I wish them luck.