Ross Jami-Lee: Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill — First Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ross Jami-Lee: Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill — First Readings 
[Sitting date: 16 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:552. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany) 
: 
 I am pleased to speak on the Ngai Tamanuhiri Claims Settlement Bill and the Ngati Makino Claims Settlement Bill. I must admit to the House this is the first time I have spoken on a Treaty settlement bill. I am new on the Maori Affairs Committee so I apologise to those listening if I cannot give this legislation quite the thorough explanation acknowledgment and indeed acclamation that I know the legislation deserves. I will however be doing my best to listen to the submissions to the Maori Affairs Committee and I am sure I will indeed get quite an education under the guidance of rangatira Tau Henare our chairman on the Maori Affairs Committee.  
I wish to first acknowledge the work that has been done by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Hon Chris Finlayson and all those involved in getting these settlement bills to the point that they are at now. The great progress that the Minister has made on completing final and durable settlements of Treaty of Waitangi claims in a timely manner through his tenure as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is impressive.  
I think New Zealand is still maturing as a nation and we are stepping forward into the 21st century. Part of the maturing process is acknowledging the rights and wrongs of the past. It would be easy for New Zealanders to simply ignore that in our short history as a country many cultural and economic wrongs were committed. Indeed for many decades New Zealand has ignored that these issues prevailed. But the fact that we are here together today debating these bills these pieces of legislation that will stand alongside many past and future settlement bills indicates that as a country we are ready to accept the past and move forward. 
 The part of the country that I represent the Botany electorate is predominantly white middle to upper-class suburban Auckland. It is an area of the country that is quite sceptical of Treaty settlements and I have to admit that I probably was too up until recently. But the more I have seen and read of Treaty settlements and the programme and the more I have watched from afar the work that the Minister and the Office of Treaty Settlements have done the more I can see that through resolving the wrongs of the past we can refloat and regain momentum for the waka that is harmonious New Zealand race relations. In my view the key part to reassuring New Zealanders who are sceptical about Treaty settlements is to assure them that under this Government Treaty settlements have been and will continue to be full fair and final.  
Parts of the deeds of settlement which outline historical grievances for both Ngai Tamanuhiri and Ngati Makino I have to say make for very sobering reading. In the case of Ngai Tamanuhiri we read of indiscriminate looting of the Turanga region at the hands of the Crown in the aftermath of the Waerenga-a-hika attack. The Waerenga-a-hika attack itself saw women and children among other occupants put through unwarranted and unjust attacks at the hands of the Crown. Land was compulsorily acquired without compensation and many Ngai Tamanuhiri were left virtually landless.  
A similar story is told in the case of Ngati Makino. The year 1864 saw the loss of life at the hands of the Crown confiscation of land in the Eastern Bay of Plenty took place in 1866 and between 1873 and 1900 82000 hectares of Ngati Makino land was alienated. By the end of the 19th century less than 4 percent of land of Ngati Makino’s Waitahanui Tahunaroa and Whakarewa blocks remained in their hands—and please excuse my pronunciation if I have got any of those incorrect. These are just a few of the many injustices that took place in the past—injustices that up until recently were not acknowledged. But the Crown has now acknowledged these injustices and has apologised through these two settlements. The settlements we have before us tonight will help Ngai Tamanuhiri and Ngati Makino unlock economic potential and provide a boost to their regional and provincial areas. In turn these two iwi will be able to contribute in an even greater way towards building a more competitive and productive New Zealand economy.  
These bills are worthy of passage through their first reading tonight. I ask that the House does support them and I hope that we have thorough and good quality recognition of the issues through the select committee process. I am looking forward to hearing about the issues that we will be discussing at the select committee and I look forward to this legislation passing its first reading. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I understand the next call is a split call 5 minutes with Labour and 5 minutes with the Greens. I will ring a bell with 1 minute to go.