KEY POINTS:
It is hard for Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen to acknowledge he is involved in legacy politics in his Treaty Negotiation portfolio without implicitly acknowledging he and Labour might be on the way out.
Maybe that is why when I asked him last week about whether he was involved in legacy politics, he avoided the subject and quipped about Subarus: "No, it is more Impressa WRX politics than Legacy politics. It is the smaller Subaru with the turbo alt."
Cullen was centre-stage in the Banquet Hall today for the powhiri, speeches and signing ceremony of the Central North Island forestry settlement deal.
The powhiri of a couple of hours was followed by formal speeches in English by Cullen, then the Tuwharetoa paramount Chief, Tumu te Heuheu and, after the signing, a small speech by Helen Clark.
Each signing was accompanied by a waiata from the respective iwi whose representatives were called forward to sign - all except for Tuhoe which performed a thumping haka.
A couple of planeloads of CNI people were prevented from getting to Wellington by the weather unfortunately.
Even so, about 500 or 600 people squeezed into the Banquet Hall, with overflow into the Grand Hall and the Legislative Council Chamber to watch the event involving seven iwi, who have described the historic settlement in their own words.
Collective welcomes Deed of Settlement and Legislation
The iwi did not take up the offer of heading over the road to spare space at the Treasury or the Reserve Bank which is understandable but rather a pity. I like the idea of the stuffed-shirt economic theorists of the public service playing host to real people from heartland New Zealand.
And in fact, the head of Treasury, John Whitehead, in the Banquet Hall with other public service heads, not only joining the waitata at the end of Helen Clark's speech but knew the words. The CNI settlement has been unique for many reasons, not least because of the prominent role Treasury has played in the settlement and from an early stage of the complex negotiations.
Its involvement was almost certainly by dint of Cullen being Treaty Negotiations Minister as well as Finance Minister.
But Treasury's involvement may have set a precedent for future settlements, as may have the Finance Minister's involvement.
National's Georgina te Heuheu acknowledged on Tuesday that one of the reasons the deal has been done is that it was a matter of "rangatira" negotiating with "rangatira."
Perhaps that means that Bill English rather than Chris Finlayson should be considered as Treaty Negotiations Minister if National runs the next Government.
Cullen today also made a reference to the fact that the success of the deal was in no small part owing to the fact that treaty lawyers took a backseat to iwi leaders.
There has been a lot of self-congratulation going on today - but deservedly so.
Here is Michael Cullen's speech.
The chief led the eight iwi who negotiated among themselves to come up with a single settlement on the ownership of the Central North Island forests that was acceptable to themselves and to the Crown.
Here is Tumu te Heuheu's speech.
I'm not sure that anyone actually thanked the Waitangi Tribunal today but it deserves its due for having given the Crown a wake-up call a year ago over the potential injustice of overlapping claims in what it was doing in its negotiations with Te Arawa - which were put on hold to give CNI deal a chance.
Only a year ago no one believed such a deal as today's was possible.
Cullen acknowledges that in that sense the deal today feels rushed - even though the reality is that it has been years in the agonising.
The CNI deal on forestry only has given impetus to wider settlement deals of iwi involved in the CNI deal.
The legislation formalising the CNI deal in law has just been introduced to the House.
Cullen has apologised to the House because he has to leave the speeches to be elsewhere - the initialling of the Raukawa (Bay of Plenty) deed of settlement. Tomorrow he has the deed of settlement signing of the Taranaki Whanui (Wellington) and on Friday the Crown will make a formal offer to the Far North Ngati Kahu tribe.
Legacy politics or nots, Cullen has his foot flat to the floor.
