Brownlee Gerry: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Brownlee Gerry: Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:619;Page:15167] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 I will depart slightly from the strictures of the Standing Orders and offer greetings and best wishes to those of Ngati Awa who are in the House today for this historic first reading of their settlement bill. I also extend best wishes to Ngati Awa from my colleague Georgina te Heuheu who is unfortunately not able to be here as she is on her way to China on public business. 
The National Party supports the passage of this bill and the passing of the Ngati Awa Claims Settlement Bill. The first reading of this bill today comes at the end of some 15 years of negotiations and when the bill has passed its third reading it will end about 140 years during which there has been a feeling of grievance over the injustice of land confiscation and other matters that took place in the century before last. It is appropriate that in this country we do settle these matters and settle them as quickly as we possibly can. Perhaps 15 years seems like a long time but in the context of the grievance it was a reasonable time I think to get a good outcome. It is important also that in reaching these settlements the Crown is certain of the mandate of those who are affected and party to the claim. In this case that is well and truly satisfied and made all the more clear by the passing of the Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Bill which was introduced into the House last week. We have a slight concern about the way in which the ancillary claims are being dealt with but we will participate fully in seeing those sorted out as quickly as possible. 
I want to say on this occasion that during this year the party I represent has at various times been criticised for its attitude to things Maori and in some cases for its relationship with Maori. I want to make it very clear that we do not see any difficulty in settling historic grievances that were born out of misrepresentation or inappropriate activity subsequent to the passing of the treaty. We do have a deep concern about where this country goes from this point. Over the next 10 years or so there will be many settlements such as this. At the end of that time while the understanding of the history will be clear in all our heads the only thing that we have together is the opportunity to look forward. That is the key point that my political party under the leadership of Don Brash has been trying to make and will continue to make. There will be those on the other side of the House who disagree with us. [ 
Interruption 
] That is OK as long as it is just an argument that we express in a verbal fashion I say to Mr Horomia. 
I look now at the settlement bill in front of us at the moment and particularly at Subpart 5 in Part 4 “Subpart 5—Joint management committee for Moutohora (Whale Island) Wildlife Management Reserve Ohope Scenic Reserve and Tauwhare Pa Scenic Reserve”. The way in which the parties to this bill have decided that a constitution should be put around a joint management committee for those parts of the country is very interesting. I note as I look further through the bill that that committee will have all the powers and capacities of what we understand currently to be conservation boards. We note that the obligation to service that board through funding provisions lies directly with the Crown—over and above any settlements in cash terms that are paid. 
I cannot help thinking that in New Zealand today we need to look at more of these sorts of arrangements to get over some of the difficulties that we will face as the disastrous seabed and foreshore legislation progresses into law later this year. My party does not agree with that law and we will not support it because it will create in our view too many more instances where there is grievance—and not only for Maori but for many other New Zealanders who have no other country in the world to call their own. I think that goes right to the heart of the issue that seems to be consuming us a little too much at the moment—the relationship between the Crown and Maori. 
The first point is that Maori are not one grouping but many in my understanding. That is fair and that is all right. But what has to be understood is that the Crown is all of us. Each and every one of us who claims to be a citizen in this country is the Crown. We cannot go on year in year out year after year allowing ourselves to believe that somehow in all the obligation that is part and parcel of the treaty there is an obligation from those who are the Crown to those who are Maori. That will never let us move forward as one country made up of many peoples with many different beliefs and cultural ties. It will keep us as separate people and that is not a good thing for the future of this country. 
 I say again that interestingly in Subpart 5 of Part 4 there is the genesis of a new way of looking at the best interests of the land of the sea of the air and of everything else that we value in the environment of New Zealand. I am sure that those sorts of thoughts will be something I will get an opportunity to speak about on a future occasion. I simply conclude my remarks this afternoon by congratulating those who have worked for so many years with considerable good will to get us to this point today. I also give the commitment that my party will continue to work through the treaty grievance process to see settlement as quickly as possible. I repeat that that is a commitment we can claim because of our past history in that regard and because of the work done by our predecessors in this party. It is only by achieving these sorts of settlements and by having important parliamentary days like today when the entire Parliament will cast its vote in favour of this bill that New Zealand can be certain it has a very bright and vibrant future.