Courage and vision recalled in tributes to fisheries negotiators

By RUTH BERRY

The anecdotes flowed as the Maori Fisheries Bill passed its final reading yesterday, and the courage of those who brokered the historic 1992 Sealord deal was remembered.

Tributes were paid to former National Prime Minister Jim Bolger and his colleagues Sir Douglas Graham and Doug Kidd, who convinced their colleagues to seize a window of opportunity and settle the deal by signing over a 50 per cent stake in the up-for-sale Sealord company.

The battering endured by the Maori negotiators as a result of their decision to sign the settlement was also recalled.

They included former Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan and former commissioner Sir Graham Latimer, both present, and the late Matiu Rata and Sir Robert Mahuta.

The bill was passed 102-15 in Parliament, with only Act and the Green Party opposing it.

National MP Georgina te Heuheu noted that politicians had worked together to pass the deal in 1992. She regretted not being in Parliament then "because these days politics is the only issue, is it not?"

Speeches followed in the Government caucus room, where the National trio gathered 14 years ago to finally win over their fellow MPs.

Mr Bolger said he remembered the time marking the "need to move forward" with clarity, and praised the courage and vision of Sir Robert in particular for promising he would get Maoridom behind the deal.

Sir Tipene - who described the event as "not so much a reunion but an exhumation" - joked that when the pair were asked, he had restricted himself to promising to deliver Ngai Tahu.

Sir Douglas said the two weeks of negotiations had regularly stretched late into the night and there were a lot of tears, partly because of exhaustion but also because of the burden on the Maori negotiators.

"They were carrying the whole thing on their shoulders and they knew whatever they did they were going to get criticised. I admired their leadership. But it took its toll." Sir Tipene, who lost his chairmanship after Labour came to power and his commission had failed to get through its desired allocation model, said he had "deep and profound reservations" about the model being adopted. He believed it placed too many patronising restrictions on Maori.

"I don't believe I have attended the final chapter."

Lawyer Donna Hall, who has battled both the old and the new commission on many fronts, issued a similar warning, although for different reasons.

She believed the difficulties of implementing the model and allocation inequities would trigger the model's review provisions.

But others were more optimistic.

Commission chairman Shane Jones said that while the journey had been volatile, a new era had been ushered in.

Maori had been given "no recipe, no pathway" to resolve the allocation issue, and he now believed the negotiators, perhaps, should have settled it themselves.

A 1992 debate between Mr Rata and a kuia in Tainui epitomised the clash within Maoridom over the signing of the deal, which was as tempestuous as and in many ways similar to the foreshore debate.

"Matiu questioned whether she would prefer her kete of pipi over the economic wealth of the Sealord deal. In front of a large hui, the kuia immediately responded: 'E Matiu, mai ra ano e ora ana taku whanau i taku kete. My whanau have always got by with this kete of food'."

Labour MP John Tamihere said the passing of the legislation and the ensuing handover of assets would spark "calls for great scrutiny in our communities".

Maoridom had to ensure it had a leadership "beyond reproach" when it came to the use of the assets, which could have a critical impact on the future. "If you look at our population base in the next 10 years, we make or break it. I keep saying this because 75 per cent are under 35, 55 per cent are under 18."


Under the Maori Fisheries Bill

About half of the $750 million settlement assets in the form of quota and cash will go to iwi. Inshore quota will be allocated according to coastline size, deepwater on a 25/75 coastline/population split. Cash will be allocated on a population basis.

Remaining assets will be held in the form of company shares to be held in a new fishing company, Aotearoa Fisheries, which will amalgamate assets held by the existing fisheries commission. Eighty per cent of income shares will be held by iwi and the rest by a new trust called Te Ohu Kai Moana (TOKM).

TOKM will have a similar role to the existing commission, and will have overall governance of Aotearoa Fisheries and the two trusts designed to promote the interests of Maori disconnected from tribal roots, and to promote freshwater development.

A Maori electoral college will elect commissioners on to TOKM.

Iwi will have to meet governance requirements and resolve coastline boundary disputes before assets can be transferred. The Maori Land Court will adjudicate on boundary disputes.

Iwi can first pick up quota next April, but many aren't ready to receive it.