Settlement process tough road

SPEAKING on Treaty of Waitangi Settlement Bills in the house is one of the most satisfying things I've done so far as the Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauauru.

Every iwi that goes through the settlement process comes to know the struggle and the difficulties of this journey.

However, seeing the joy and delight on the faces of the people once settlement legislation has been enacted is encouraging and gives hope for the future.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the initialling of the deed of settlement for Taranaki iwi, held at Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth. This is a significant milestone in a long and arduous journey.

I've read many deeds of settlement, and I always pay particular attention to the historical accounts. These recall the history of that iwi, and their interaction with the Crown. The Taranaki iwi historical account recalls events that have caused enormous grief and suffering through the generations. It is to the credit of the Taranaki iwi that they have been able to express their history through this account.

I've often recalled the words of former Treaty Negotiations Minister the Hon Mark Burton, who said that every iwi that settles their Treaty claims performs an act of generosity to our country.

I believe he said this principally because the settlement process provides redress rather than compensation. This is an important point to note. Redress means: making amends for the acts and omissions of the Crown, and for the breaches of the Treaty, to the people who today bear the burden of those acts, omissions and breaches. Compensation on the other other hand would mean paying the true monetary value of loss of land, assets and lost opportunities.

So far settlement redress has cost New Zealand around $1.5 billion. My conservative estimate based on two cents in the dollar is that compensation would have cost $75 billion.

Every iwi negotiator knows this fact and understands their duty to deliver a redress settlement that addresses the hurt of the past within the Treaty settlement framework. Every Crown negotiator must know that achieving this is indeed an act of generosity.

But let us look at the generosity of all our kuia and koroua who never gave up hope for justice. They carried the hurt, but their generosity in spirit gave them an unspoken strength.

They bore no malice, just an innate understanding of what they needed to do.

That is because they were continuing the pursuit of justice that their tupuna had sought.

In te Ao Maori the land was your mana. They were the people of this land. They lived simple lives and enjoyed the whanaungatanga on their papa kainga. And when they moved to the cities and towns, they continued the kaitiakitanga of their ancestral lands.

Let us remember them: they would rise very early in the morning to get ready to travel to Wellington, or to different hui being held in their rohe.

They were not rich people, but they were generous with their time. They were not young either. They came to know the justice system and the long protracted to-ing and fro-ing of legal speak. But they were patient people, another example of their generosity.

They navigated this tauiwi system with grace, and returned home knowing they weren't there yet. It took years, and all those kuia and koroua have long gone. They were the ones who took the fight time and again to Wellington. They never gave up. They did not seek glory, they were humble and proud people.