The time for protest is not over

Numerous speakers expressed a similar sentiment but Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira put it most bluntly when he addressed Sunday's signing of Te Rarawa's treaty settlement with the Crown.

"This is not the end. The time for protest is not over," he said.

"The problems in Tai Tokerau are huge, and being nice to ministers won't solve those problems. Being nice to each other will take us a long way though.

"We must not isolate ourselves, iwi by iwi. Success will only come when we set aside what we already know, which iwi we come from, and join as brothers and sisters across the North.

"Unless our children, our mokopuna, are growing up in safe, warm homes and are getting kai every day, we have not succeeded."

Sonny Tau (Ngapuhi) agreed. The settlement, he said, was only a junction along the way, but while it was not the way forward to justice, it was a beautiful start.

Te Rarawa negotiator Joe Cooper said he hoped the apology about to be offered by the Minister would be real and genuine, and that the Crown wouldn't "do it again."

In October 1867, legislation had been passed giving Maori seats in Parliament, albeit only four.

"If we had half the seats in Parliament we wouldn't be having the trouble we have today," he said.

Labour list MP Shane Jones paid tribute to Mr Finlayson, saying he had taken the role of Treaty Negotiations Minister a distance and to a measure no other politician had achieved.

"You are not only doing Parliament proud, but, unfortunately for a member of the opposition, I have to say you're doing your party proud," he said.

Far North Mayor Wayne Brown saw the settlement as providing new impetus on all levels, and the start of a new relationship, while Tainui Stephens told the gathering that the settlement had been well-earned.

He recalled Dame Whina Cooper telling him that there were two ways of doing things, the right way and the wrong way.

"Not just over the last decade (of negotiations), but since Pakeha arrived, Te Rarawa have tried to do what's right," he said.

And Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi reiterated his long-standing commitment to ensure the iwi looked forward rather than backward, and was inclusive rather than exclusive: "(The settlement) will allow the iwi to exercise its influence and reach its potential," he said.

One of the priorities would be job-creation, because it had become clear that no one else was going to do it.

"I think it will be the defining difference for the growth of the region. It's the last bit of untapped potential," he said.

Mr Harawira demonstrated once again that he was not one to let an opportunity slip by.

Mr Brown, he said, whatever he might say later, had just promised him that council rates on forest land would not rise as soon as the settlement was signed (a share of Aupouri Forest being part of the package), and that there would be a seat on his council for every iwi.

Replying to Mr Harawira, Mr Brown said that the district council would reduce rates as soon as the Tai Tokerau MP reduced taxes.