Ko Tongariro te maunga

Ko Taupo te moana

Ko Ngati Tuwharetoa te iwi

E te Upoko Ariki e Tumu

Tena koe me to iwi e manaaki nei

i a tatou e hui nei.

Whakatau mai ra i te Whare Miere

Whakatau ma ra i te Karauna me ona Minita

Kua tatu mai i runga i te kaupapa o te ra.

Kei te maumahara ki te hunga kua mene atu ki te po.

E nga mate -haere, haere, haere.

Ki nga iwi katoa o te Te Puku o te Ika a Maui

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

He ra tino nui tenei mo koutou, he ra tino nui

mo te Karauna, he ra nui hoki mo Aotearoa.

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa.

 

I congratulate the Collective and its members on what is an historic day for your iwi and hapu, for this region and this country.

This settlement is a tribute to your efforts and to the vision of your leaders.

In taking up the post of Treaty spokesman in opposition I was aware of the lengthy history of the attempts to use the Crown-owned forest land of the Central North Island in historical Treaty settlements.

 

That is why I supported the attempt by the Collective to develop a process that could bring together those who had an interest in the forest land and put forward a potential settlement package that was realistic and credible to hapu and iwi in this region and to the Crown.

And that is why we have strongly supported the settlement that was agreed with the Crown last year.

And we were not alone.

 

There are not many subjects that can unite the range of political opinions represented in the New Zealand Parliament.

This settlement was one of them.

We jointly recognized your achievement in bringing together groups that represent more than 110,000 people and developing a settlement package on which you could all agree.

We were also impressed that when your unity was tested during an intense and stressful settlement process your commitment to the Collective did not break.

 

I believe your unity is important for other reasons as well.

It has been the most effective way by far of managing the overlapping cultural and other interests you share in the region and ensuring that in settling one grievance we did not create another.

Unity and collective effort will also allow you to capture the benefits arising from the sheer scale of the land you now own.

 

Over time as you become forest owners as well as landowners, it will allow you to manage your forests more effectively as a single unit.

While we remember your efforts in making this settlement a reality and celebrate this achievement we should also remember why this settlement was necessary in the first place.

The historical acknowledgements of the breaches by the Crown of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles are still subject to negotiation for all but one member of the Collective.

 

But it is not too soon to state that the full range of such breaches is represented in the history of your members.

These include breaches arising from the confiscation of land by the Crown and the operation of the native land laws and the Native Land Court leading to the loss of most of your lands in the region.

These breaches struck at the heart of your ability to share in the rewards from the development of this land.

Loss of land and the Crown breaches of the Treaty and its principles had no impact on the spirit and determination of your ancestors but the deprivation of an economic base has had an enormous practical impact on the independence and autonomy of iwi and hapu.

By providing or improving on that productive economic base and giving you the ability to make key investment decisions and set cultural and social priorities backed up by your own resources settlements such as these begin to redress that balance.

 

Today I would like to acknowledge all who have worked so hard to make this settlement a reality. My colleague, the Deputy Prime Minister, mentioned the leadership of the Collective. I concur completely but I would also like to pay tribute to the CNI secretariat and negotiators who worked so hard behind the scenes.

I would also like to thank the Crown team of officials from the Treasury and the Office of Treaty Settlements who worked together and with other Government agencies to complete such a large project in such a short time.

Wira Gardiner, the Crown Facilitator, also deserves the highest praise. His tireless work and good judgment provided vital connections between the Crown and the Collective when they were needed most.

Finally, I would also like to pay tribute to my predecessor in this job, the Hon Michael Cullen. His commitment to the Collective and his clear and flexible thinking cut through obstacles in the pathway to settlement that had defeated others. His focus on settlement was never distracted or diverted.