Finlayson Christopher: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
Finlayson Christopher: Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:1045] 
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations) 
: 
 I want to begin by acknowledging what Mr Horomia said because there was a lot of food for thought in his contribution tonight. Those who question the bipartisan efforts the efforts of Labour Governments and National Governments in what we are doing and who perhaps sort of speak with lofty disdain about Treaty settlements should I think on occasion read the historical accounts in bills such as this one the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill and understand the history of what went on and then they will realise that this is very important work. It is work that is long overdue and it is work that is very important. So I endorse everything he said and everything Mrs Turia said and I will make a few comments of my own now.  
First I want to welcome the members of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi who have joined us tonight for this very significant occasion. We are not rushing through legislation; far from it. There have been changes to the Standing Orders to allow us once a session to extend the hours. This is not under urgency; this is a very deliberative exercise so that we can address Treaty settlement legislation properly and so that iwi who have signed their deeds of settlement receive the fruits of those settlements as quickly as possible. Time and time again when I go out to negotiations or I sign deeds of settlement most recently with Te Aupouri and Te Hiku I find that I am signing with the grandsons granddaughters grand nephews and so on of those who commenced the claims. So there is a moral imperative to get on with the job and to do it quickly not for the benefit of the Crown but for the benefit of iwi.  
This is the second settlement in the Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa region. It follows as Mr Horomia said Ngai Tamanuhiri’s settlement which had its first reading last month. I really want to acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been made in this region.  
As a rookie Minister in 2009 I went out on a hikoi in very early January as I recall. Most of the members of the House of Representatives were either on the golf course or at the beach but I was on my hikoi and my first meeting was actually in Gisborne. Since then I have been there many times and have come to know respect and very much like the leaders of Rongowhakaata. Many have been involved with these claims for more than a decade and so I acknowledge you. I acknowledge the Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi negotiation teams and I particularly acknowledge Willie Te Aho in the gallery tonight Stanley Pardoe Jody Wyllie Meka Whaitiri Tutekawa Wyllie Maever Moeau and Peter Moeau. I particularly want to pay my respects to Kristen Maynard. I think there were times when she felt we would never get here. She was at that first meeting in Gisborne as I recall. She worked very very hard for Rongowhakaata and I salute her and thank her for her great work.  
I have said before and I will say it again—because these words are not pro forma warm-feelings sorts of words but they need to be said at the first reading of every settlement bill—that engagement in Treaty negotiations requires courage and it requires determination and perseverance. So today the Crown seeks to address the historic grievances of Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi and as Mr Horomia said then move forward to a post-settlement relationship that is based on mutual trust cooperation and respect. And I really do pick up what he said because what is often lost sight of is that when these deeds are signed the relationship does change. It is all very well to sign the cultural protocols and so on but the obligation on the Crown is a very serious one: not to go through these things in a pro forma way but to engage with that same spirit of cooperation and optimism that was there at the time of the signing of these deeds of settlement. A lot of work is being done on post-settlement relationships to make sure that the Crown does live up to these words—that they are not fine but empty words and then the Crown can move on to something else but that they are something that will be respected and honoured year in and year out regardless of which administration is in power.  
The people of Rongowhakaata have suffered some of the worst Treaty breaches in New Zealand’s history. Mrs Turia has outlined these grievances but I want to emphasise the seriousness of them. The tribunal’s report on Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa stated that the Crown’s breaches against Rongowhakaata and other Turanga iwi were some of the most severe in New Zealand’s history and were some of the darkest days of this nation. Whenever I sign a Treaty settlement—I suppose it happened to my Labour predecessors—I receive some nasty emails people questioning why we do this sort of thing. Some people think I am hopelessly biased toward Maori and gone troppo and so on but anyone who denies the importance of this work should do their homework as Mr Horomia said and study the history and the historical account. The history of what Rongowhakaata suffered should be very well known. That is why the legislation is drafted—so that the historical account is there and so that the apology is there.  
The bill is going to give effect to the Rongowhakaata and Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi deed of settlement. It includes important settlement redress. The historical account again as I emphasise is not pro forma; it is very important to read into the permanent record of this House of Parliament what exactly happened. Equally important is that the Crown acknowledgments are read in and the apologies.  
I have to say that if anything delights me about this bill it is clause 23 because it provides that Te Hau ki Turanga vests in the trustees on settlement date. I recall in September 2011 when we initialled the deed of settlement at Te Papa. It was a great day and I very much look forward to the day that that most beautiful wharenui is returned to its rightful place in Turanga. Mr Horomia is of course quite right. It is important—and it will happen I promise him—that when it goes back appropriate resources are provided so that it is housed and protected in a place worthy of the dignity of the wharenui. But I have to say that I also want to acknowledge Te Papa which very early on recognised that whatever legalisms there were about te wharenui morally of course it did not belong to them; it belonged to Rongowhakaata.  
So there are numerous other vestings protocols with key Government departments membership on the central leadership group and statutory acknowledgments. Then of course there is the commercial redress made up of the financial redress and then other commercial redress.  
Let me conclude by saying that if the bill is passed all of the historical Treaty claims will be settled. The Crown will be released and discharged from its obligations in respect of historical Treaty claims. But as both Mrs Turia and Mr Horomia said there is a new relationship and one will hope and expect the Government to perform in the future toward an iwi that has suffered far too much in the past.