Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga): Thank you Madam Speaker. You know it may not surprise the House to know that National supports this bill. Indeed over all my time in Parliament we have supported every single historic Treaty settlement claim bill that has come to the House. There's very simple reason for that and that is that we support fulsomely the historic Treaty settlement process a process indeed that the Bolger National Government fundamentally—there was some work before that but fundamentally—started and I as Māori man as a New Zealander believe that there were past wrongs that we need to right. There will be some a very small group in New Zealand who pooh-pooh that and don't take that view—the sort of the Hobson's Pledge view of life. But the reality is if we go back to—not the last century; the century before that—the 1850s the 1860s the 1870s there was wholesale land confiscation in this country and Māori iwi and hapū had their lands had other taonga taken from them through trickery sometimes through force through war and that needs to be put right. One of the things I think that's incredibly important to note in that putting right—some say It's the putting right that counts."—is that the putting right does not fully compensate for the loss and the damage that was done. In fact far from it. The reality is if you talk about a Treaty settlement process even with the ratchet-up clauses—they've got a better name but it doesn't come to me as I stand here—for Ngāi Tahu for Tainui even if we think about those clauses still we're talking about a total quantum on all settlements when this is all done and dusted of something like $2 or $3 billion which in the scheme of things when we think about annual Budgets in this Parliament from Grant Robertson in the many tens of billions of dollars I think—what was it $15 billion in new spending at this last Budget is as my colleague Stuart Smith says behind me a rounding error. I'm not saying it should be a lot more. I'm not trying to stand up here and be falsely optimistic about the dollars for Māori and for iwi and hapū. I'm simply making the point that we do not fully compensate for the wrongs—far from it. It is in a sense a—more than a gesture but not a huge amount more. I make the point again: we fully support the historic Treaty settlement process.Where we do differ from the Government I think in this area is in the more modern ventures—or I was going to say "adventures" that we are seeing from a relatively new Office for Māori Crown Relations - Te Arawhiti which is constantly seeking under the likes of Willie Jackson and Kelvin Davis ways to reinvent and re-interpret and find new ways to keep the gravy train going. That's not my view of what should happen. I think we should right the wrongs of the past but I don't think we want to be constantly finding new and creative ways; I think actually that is overly creative and overly adventurous.In relation to this settlement bill I just want to make—I suppose I was also going to say "a non-serious point". It's not that it's jovial but a point and that is that I note the areas of cultural financial and commercial redress that this bill addresses and puts forward including I should say as is right an acknowledgment by apology from the Crown but it includes the purchase of the Kāweka and Gwavas—I think it said—Crown forest land. I was over just before Christmas tramping in that area. It's beautiful special very remote country. The Department of Conservation's done a magnificent job. If you go into the Kāwekas there the Kāweka forest land—it's the first tramp I've done with my young sons—there are camping huts and there are these hot springs and the Department of Conservation has built these rather lovely big tubs. You just literally turn them and the hot water comes on. The water of the river is less than hot—shall we say. My simple point is that it's beautiful land it's special land and it's good to see in the main redress in this bill in addition to the financial redress there's the purchase of these very special areas of land in this part of New Zealand in the Hawke's Bay. The Crown and Ahuriri Hapū have been working together now for quite some time to reconcile their relationship and support the Ahuriri Hapū to achieve its aspirations. We know the dates; I won't go through all of that.I did want to say though that credit must go to the Parihaka negotiators and people who have made this possible. I do also want to acknowledge my sometimes friend—it depends a bit on how things are going—the Hon Chris Finlayson. Sometimes he likes me; sometimes he doesn't. I'm not sure which phase we are in. Well sadly I am actually sure what phase we're in at the moment but we won't go there because I don't want to end up with a privileges claim or something from him in this. But I do want to acknowledge him. I was getting off track. I do want to acknowledge him and his officials who were determined to form a settlement and this bill this good bill gives effect to the Ahuriri Hapū deed of settlement that was signed 2 November—actually a wee while back now—2016.So we fully support the historic Treaty settlement process. There are parts of what's happening in Te Arawhiti we don't support but this bill is good indeed. It is part of our righting the wrongs of the past. I wish the hapū and iwi concerned the very best. I'm sure they will have wise counsel to invest what they are receiving as redress here well and to ensure that they make the most of it for future generations of their iwi and hapū."