Henare Tau: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 March 2010. Volume:661;Page:9789. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Mea tuatahi anei taku mihi ki a koutou nga morehu o nga aitua i te Tau Ihu o te Waka i Ngai Tahu i Hauraki. 
[ 
The first thing for me to do is acknowledge you the survivors of calamity from Te Tau Ihu o te Waka Ngai Tahu and Hauraki 
.] 
I will take a couple of minutes to look at the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill in my own particular way. Going back to front as some people accuse me of doing every so often I say that this agreement between the Crown and iwi is the result of some detailed background work over a very long period by among other people Te Ohu Kaimoana Te Tau Ihu and Hauraki and also by industry people to put together and develop a viable model for various types of aquaculture and enterprise. This was developed to assist iwi to understand the business of aquaculture so that they would be informed of what might be required whenever there was new space but also so that it could be used to estimate the value of space based on real productivity. There was also a wish by the Crown to develop a generic methodology to value space across New Zealand so as to have that agreed for use in the coming years namely in 2013 and 2014. 
The Government and the Crown recognised that there would be no substantive new space because of the moratorium that had been placed upon the industry. The Crown invited iwi to put a proposal to it. All those in the South Island including Te Tau Ihu Ngai Tahu and among other people Hauraki agreed to work together and with Te Ohu Kaimoana to put the proposal to the Government. The Government applied this methodology then engaged with Te Ohu Kaimoana and iwi advisers on the assumptions and parameters of a deal. Te Ohu Kaimoana and iwi advisers compiled a robust—I must say a very robust—proposal based on the range of methods to ensure some pragmatic answers that made sense as a whole and were internally consistent and were also meant for allocation purposes among tribes without contest between each other. That is the big tick in this whole process because for years and years and years whenever there has been anything to do with paua crayfish or whatever fish live in the ocean there has always been an element of to-ing and fro-ing backwards and forth from the court trying to get the court to decide via litigation. 
I take my hat off not so much to the Government but to the people out there who were put behind the eight ball by the moratorium first and foremost. That stopped any development or any iwi or other people in the industry—non-iwi or non-Maori—from working through an industry that I think holds the key to one part of this country’s economic development. I want to put that out there now. I congratulate Ngai Tahu Te Tau Ihu Hauraki and Te Ohu Kaimoana on their job of coming up with a robust proposal. I also congratulate the Crown on accepting that in a way there had to be a resolution and a pathway where people could move on and also use that process for the development of the industry. When we look as far back as 1990 and the Sealord deal we see that this settlement between iwi and the Crown heralds a new era of cooperation particularly when it comes to what is in the water. The cooperation I talk about is not only between iwi and the Crown but also between iwi and iwi and between iwi and organisations like Te Ohu Kaimoana. I have to say that even I have railed against certain issues over what seems like forever. 
I take my hat off to the previous Minister of Fisheries because I think he did a sterling job in trying to bring this settlement to fruition. I congratulate my colleagues on the Maori Affairs Committee whom I also think did a sterling job and a very very quick job. When we were faced with the submissions we had no questions or worries and we felt that it was our duty to return the settlement bill to the House as soon as possible. There are unlimited opportunities here for Maori and for the nation. If there is one thing the world needs now—and it is not love because there is plenty of that going around—it is food. Food will be the gold standard in years to come. If there is one thing we as a nation do very very well it is produce food and sustenance that the world is after and the world will be after. Again I take my hat off to the business people and the iwi who are on the cusp of not only their own economic development but also this nation’s economic development. They are feeding the world after they have fed the home people. 
Finally I want to say that without this settlement if it had not been signed off the industry itself would have been in a terrible way. I do not think we would have been able to secure the opportunities to come that I think are just around the corner. It behoves the Government also to work extremely hard on developing that industry and making sure that there is a level playing field for everybody and that the conditions are right so we can take our opportunities around the world. All we have to do is look at two big nations China and India where there are three billion-odd people who need to be fed. I know they cannot do it themselves. With the help of many iwi and businesses around this country I think we will take our fair share of the business opportunities around the world. No reira nga matua nga kaumatua nga kuia ano te miharo ki a koutou katoa. No reira tena koutou tena koutou katoa.