Turei Metiria: Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Turei Metiria: Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
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METIRIA TUREI (Green) 
: 
 Ki a koutou katoa he mihi nui ki a Ngati Tama e kui ma e koro ma me nga rangatahi katoa tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
To you the elderly women and menfolk and the young people of Ngati Tama greetings to you and greetings to you all 
.] 
The Green Party will be supporting this bill going to the select committee while acknowledging our concerns about the settlement process. Essentially our concern is that these settlements could constitute a further injustice that we leave to our tamariki to sort out unless there is a true and honest commitment on the part of the Crown to an ongoing relationship with hapu that is premised on Te Tiriti o Waitangi which recognises the sovereignty of hapu. That is a serious concern for us which we will continue to address when settlement bills come to this House. 
This settlement encompasses a financial quantum of about $14 million which is a very very small acknowledgment of the pain and loss the property rights the opportunity costs and all the issues in terms of the ongoing protection and development of the hapu that arise out of the theft of their lands and the murder of their people. There is some significant cultural redress in this settlement that we applaud and that we congratulate Ngati Tama on achieving. There are various protocols for the committees and for relationships with different Ministers on a variety of issues. It is certainly true that no amount of financial redress will compensate for the damage and the loss—the loss of ancestral land and the loss of life—and for the undermining of iwi and hapu sovereignty. But we do acknowledge that Ngati Tama have successfully managed to jump through all the hoops provided by the Crown and have successfully negotiated this settlement within the strict confines of the treaty settlement process. The restoration to iwi of land particularly wahi tapu and the ability to enhance and advance Ngati Tama and their concerns through the settlement are for them significant gains so we acknowledge their achievements. 
We are concerned about a number of matters presented by this bill one of which is the shortened period in which the bill will progress through the legislative processes. Essentially this bill will have something less than 3 months at a select committee. Although it is true that the select committee inquiries on these bills are limited it is nonetheless important that all the issues and concerns about the settlement process and particularly this one are aired and heard properly. It is the only way by which this Parliament is able to provide any kind of assessment of the process of direct negotiation that the Government undergoes and is able to highlight any of the impediments to what should be a just and durable settlement between the Crown and iwi. There are other issues too that we want to give further consideration to in the select committee process. 
Ngati Tama have waited a very long time for this settlement bill to come through and now it is finally receiving its first reading. But as I have said the period of time that the bill spends in this process before its final date in December is very very short. So what led to the delay in bringing this legislation to the House and what kinds of impediments in the settlement process are there that have led to this bill having to be sped through the House with the result that the issues will not necessarily have the full airing that they deserve? 
There has been mention tonight of the ratification rates. At first glance they appear very impressive—the best to date in settlement history. But our main concern is the level of participation in that ratification process for the deed of settlement and for the governance entity. There are issues there to do with the process by which that mandate is sought and the requirements of the Office of Treaty Settlements in accepting the mandate. Those are the things that need to be aired. It does not necessarily mean that the iwi in this circumstance have done anything wrong. These are issues that arise out of the process by which the iwi are forced to engage in direct negotiation and they need to be aired understood and clearly articulated so that changes can be made to that process that better reflect the needs of the iwi and hapu involved. 
There are issues to do with the redress. As I have said the amount of financial redress is very low particularly if we also take into account that some of that redress will have to be redirected back to the Crown because of the cost of proceeding through the negotiation process. That is another issue that does not get sufficient airing through the process in the select committee or in this House. The cost of proceeding to settlement is taken out of the settlement proceeds. There are serious issues as to the justice of that. 
Ngati Tama have been successful in securing a significant cultural redress package by way of land and we congratulate them on that. But we do have concerns about the obligation on them for the management and administration of that land. The bill sets out a joint management process. None the less Ngati Tama bear the majority of the cost of that administration and management and we question whether that is fair in the circumstances given the small amount of financial redress that has been provided. It must be remembered that these lands are returned to this iwi because they were taken under the incredibly unjust 1863 New Zealand Settlements Act. We agree with the Waitangi Tribunal that those confiscations were unlawful and we are dismayed to see that that statement the unlawfulness of those confiscations is not set out in this bill. 
In addition the Green Party welcomes the select committee process to enable the different views of various claimant groups to be heard if they so choose. It gives all involved another opportunity to tell the stories to say what needs to be said about the process and about the history of this country and to have that made publicly available so that everyone is able to be aware of it. These people must have the opportunity to voice their concerns and have them taken seriously by this House of Representatives. 
Finally the Green Party supports the just resolution of and restitution for all outstanding historical and contemporary claims but we will continue to raise our concerns over the injustices of the Crown-designed treaty settlement framework. We will continue to work towards promoting and supporting an ongoing forum for a dialogue on treaty issues that from a property point of view not only goes beyond redress but also looks into and takes into account the fact that there are political issues here as well—that there are issues of decision making and hapu sovereignty that need to be recognised and developed. These settlements if they are to be durable if they are to be truly ongoing and relationship based are not just about property rights but about the rights of in this case Ngati Tama to be self-determining and to exercise their tino rangatiratanga as they see fit. Kia ora koutou katoa.