Estimates Debate — Vote Treaty Negotiations

E te Rangatū Pou Mua o te Reo o te Whare, tēnā koe. E aku koko tātaki tēnā koutou katoa. We come to this vote in the context of a damning statement from the United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples—namely, that “the Treaty’s principles appear to be vulnerable to political discretion, resulting in their perpetual insecurity and instability.” Of course, we understand that the appropriation for Vote Treaty Negotiations is not the sole and exclusive authority of Treaty principles, but it is as good a place as any in which to start.

We join the select committee in being generally very impressed by the momentum driven by the Minister towards the aspirational goal of achieving just and durable settlements. It is very heartening that from practically the moment the coalition agreement and the ministerial warrant were signed, the Minister took off at a cracking pace. Over the last 18 months this Government can now boast of having reached 39 significant negotiation milestones, including seven deeds of settlement. That is something to be proud of! There are also some achievements that distinguish this vote, and they include recognising the progress since the Te Kōkiri Ngātahi hui held last year, the Minister’s commitment to addressing issues relating to the asset value of the land bank, and the investment in the rangatira ki te rangatira approach preferred by iwi. This third concept, the promotion of chief to chief negotiation, is something that we, the Māori Party, campaigned on and brought into the coalition, so it is great to see that concept coming to fruition.

With such positive progress being advanced, how is it that the special rapporteur could be so harsh in his comments about political discretion? That comes down to one word: Tūhoe. Although the pace of settlement negotiations is commendable, the manifestation of Treaty principles is primarily observed in practice. So when the Government failed to honour commitments that Tūhoe felt had been promised, specifically in the return of ownership of Te Urewera National Park to Tūhoe, many questions were asked about how genuine the commitment was to the Government’s dealing with iwi, and specifically with Tūhoe.

Anyone who has questions around the Tūhoe claim need look no further than the research of historian Dame Judith Binney, who has traced the history of the Crown’s treatment of Tūhoe back to 1871 and a promise made by Donald MacLean, the Native Minister, for Tūhoe to enjoy a large degree of self-government of tribal authority over the area. Twenty-five years later, in 1896, the Liberal Government of Richard Seddon passed a law granting a form of self-government to Tūhoe, a measure that Binney described as unique. The action was in direct relation to the Crown’s confiscation of large amounts of land in the Tūhoe nation during the wars in 1866 and 1867—confiscation that was neither justified nor compensated for. Over the decades, however, the initiative of Seddon was gradually whittled away, and 50 years later the Urewera National Park was formed out of the land that Tūhoe owned in 1896. Dame Judith Binney has suggested that the Prime Minister should have understood this history of the Urewera before talk of precedence entered the frame. The precedent that we in the Māori Party are interested in is how the Government can willingly offer up Department of Conservation estate for the purposes of mining, yet deny Tūhoe claims to the Urewera.

I leave the last word to a young boy from Kavanagh College, who featured in that fine publication, the Otago Daily Times, this morning. Sam Murphy, a year 13 student, wrote to the paper about his concerns that “in many cases, the treaty has been ignored and dishonoured.” He describes some of the issues we have seen outlined in the estimates, such as land claims and the foreshore and seabed dispute. He finished with a resounding challenge for this Minister, this Government, and this Parliament: “most of all, we need to understand and honour the Treaty of Waitangi, our nation’s founding document, a fruit of the goodwill and hope of those who signed it.” Let us learn from the wisdom of our youth, and put in place the policy commitment to ensure that the Treaty is indeed a foundation for goodwill, an opportunity to promote the rights and identity of our indigenous people, and a blueprint for unity.

Tēnā koe e te Heamana. Tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou e te whānau Paremata. It gives me great pleasure to speak in this particular part of the debate. I first acknowledge the excellent and, in fact, superb work that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Chris Finlayson, has done in carrying out this aspect of the Government’s policy. That work is demonstrated first and foremost by the fact that in these estimates we are now considering, an extra $6.5 million has been allocated in this year’s Budget to enable the Government to meet its target of settling all the claims by the year 2014. We have, for the first time, seen a significant increase in the Office of Treaty Settlements budget. More important, we have given a sense of purpose and satisfaction to that office in the work that it does—a sense that it has never had before, certainly in the over 20 years that I have dealt with it. It has been a lost ship—

💬 Dr Cam Calder: Rudderless.

It has been a rudderless ship, particularly during the 9 years of the previous Labour Government. That is demonstrated, for Mr Grant Robertson’s information, by the fact that during the 9 years that Labour was in Government it produced 1.6 settlements per year—1.6 settlements per year. In the short time that this Government has been in power, we have already signed, under the outstanding leadership of the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations—and the excellent work the Minister is doing was recognised in the speech made by my friend and colleague Rahui Katene—seven deeds of settlement, 11 agreements in principle, 11 deeds of mandate, and seven terms of negotiation. This is an extraordinary amount of work, and the people who actually understand what is involved in achieving these milestones will understand that.

💬 Chris Tremain: Do you think that requires a plan?

Absolutely. This shows us just how poor the performance of the previous administration was. That administration was supposedly into closing the gaps. Remember closing the gaps? Yet all that administration achieved was 1.6 settlements per year, starting with Margaret Wilson, who did nothing for 2 years. I know that because we waited for a meeting with her. We waited desperately for a meeting with her, and she did nothing. We were very close to signing a deed of settlement, prior to Labour coming into power in 1999, and then we sat around for 2 years waiting to get a first meeting with Margaret Wilson. She, of course, was followed by that wonderful chappie called Mark Burton, who was even worse than Margaret Wilson—even worse. Even Shane Jones will agree with that. The Labour Government did have one or two Ministers who tried to do something, including my friend Parekura Horomia. But sadly even he was ignored.

The great thing is that we are moving on. But the one other aspect that I will cover briefly—and we will see it later on tonight, when we debate another settlement bill—is not only that National, in coming into power, has done an outstanding level of work but that this Minister has had to clean up a mess left behind by the previous administration in a number of areas.

I am pleased to take a call briefly to address some of the points raised by the previous speakers. I say in answer to some of the concerns expressed by the Māori Party member in relation to the UN special rapporteur that I had a couple of meetings with him last week. He had made no definitive conclusions, because his report has not yet been released. He generally was of the impression that in many respects this country, in a bipartisan way, is leading the world in this area and that since Mat Rata established the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975, and Geoffrey Palmer extended the jurisdiction in 1984, some very, very good work has been done. I agree with him. He said that so many of these issues finally are determined as a result of the exercise of a political discretion, but of course that has to be right. When one comes down to making decisions on pieces of conservation land or the level of commercial redress, of course it will be at the exercise of a discretion, so I have difficulty in seeing how that is necessarily a criticism. I think, on the basis of his experience with land claims in North America, that he would have a preference for more statutory-based ones, and perhaps he places more faith in the litigation process than I do. He is a professor of law, but perhaps he believes that litigation is a cure-all, whereas I do not. But I think that his visit was a success, and I very much look forward to his final report.

I thank Mr Quinn for his generous comments. A lot has been achieved over the last year. There is a huge amount of work to be completed, and that is why I am very grateful particularly to the Minister of Finance for facilitating an increase in the funding of the Office of Treaty Settlements in two Budgets, and that office is indeed working very, very hard. I am pleased that tonight we will have the first reading of the upper Waikato River legislation. Those iwi were very gracious after we came into Government. They knew that we wanted to renegotiate the lower river legislation, and they were very patient until that could be done. I think the final product is very good indeed. When we sign the deed with Ngāti Maniapoto in relation to the Waipā, and when that part of the river system is brought in, then that, together with the clean-up fund, which is a very generous sum, will see some substantial improvements in that river. My impression of local authorities and the various sectoral interests is that they have put their initial fears or apprehensions behind them and are getting on with the job.

I have been very pleased with the work done in Tāmaki over the last 12 months, and I am quite excited that the logjam that was created in 2006 will be broken over the next 12 months as we sign deeds with them. I am very hopeful that this time next year all the deeds with Te Tau Ihu iwi will have been signed, and their legislation will have been passed. Certainly, that is my hope. I have met with them today, and will meet a group after making this speech to ensure that we keep up the momentum there.

I am very hopeful, given that Mr Jones is here, that Te Tai Tokerau iwi will have their day in the sun very soon. The Te Hiku Forum iwi have been working very hard since agreements in principle were signed at Ahipara on that beautiful day on 15 January, and I believe that a good settlement for them will release huge amounts of funds into that magnificent area of New Zealand and give them the chance to shine, as they deserve. In relation to the central North Island, hopefully in the not too distant future we will have legislation to give effect to the settlements entered into last year with Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Whare, and I am very, very hopeful that the terms of negotiation that we signed with Taranaki and Te Ātiawa on 17 March this year will progress very well next year. There is also the Whanganui River claim that I am keen to progress. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am so grateful for the support that I have received from my colleagues in the Māori Party in advancing these matters. Yes, one listens to the special rapporteur. I think it is good that we as a country expose our systems to international scrutiny, but I think we can be very proud as a Parliament of what we have done in this area, and in a bipartisan way I look forward to the next 12 months.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Agriculture and Forestry