Raft of Treaty settlements become law

File photo / Mark Mitchell

Parliament has significantly upped its pace for passing Treaty of Waitangi settlements, today increasing its previous rate of 1.4 per year to five in one day.

MPs headed into the House for an extended session from 9am today, the focus entirely on the final readings of Treaty settlements.

Those readings continued into the normal sitting hours this afternoon, and, by the end of the day, settlements relating to Ngati Manawa, Ngati Whare, Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Porou and Ngati Pahauwera, had been passed into law.

Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said that in the 10 years to 2009, only an average of 1.4 Treaty bills were passed each year, and today marked the end of a long journey to settlements.

"It also shows the payoff for accelerating the settlement process over recent years," he said.

"Now we are seeing the end result of that hard work, which is settlement legislation being passed by Parliament so that iwi can benefit from the resolution of their claims and we can put these grievances behind us as a nation."

Throughout the day people from each iwi filed into Parliament's galleries to watch the occasion, singing in celebration when the settlements passed.

Many MPs spoke directly to the crowds, thanking them for their work in negotiations, and talking about how iwi had suffered.

Speaking about the Ngati Whare and Ngati Manawa settlements, Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples said today that the Crown acknowledged the suffering it had caused and apologised unreservedly for that.

"As we stand together today, the Crown alongside Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare, we look at the past with our eyes wide open. We do not shy away," Dr Sharples said.

"All those things Ngati Manawa and Ngati Whare families have lost due to the actions of the Crown can never be totally replaced, and yet today, Ngati Whare and Ngati Manawa settle their grievances with the Crown and, in doing so, honour us all with their mana."

The Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River) Bill gives effect to a deed signed last year, and extends the co-governance framework over the Waikato and Waipa rivers established under another piece of legislation. It allows Ngati Maniapoto to take part in the Waikato River Authority.

The Ngati Porou settlement, which included financial redress of $110 million, and the return of nearly 6000 hectares of land, settles all claims by the 72,000-strong iwi. While the Ngati Pahauwera bill included a Crown apology, financial redress of $20 million, and land redress of 1087ha.