Two Treaty Settlements Pass

Two treaty settlement bills including one covering some of the worst breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi were passed into law today.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said it was a significant day as theTe Urewera-Tuhoe Bill acknowledged some of the worst actions in New Zealand’s history and apologised for them.

It was also revisiting a bill passed in 1896 which would have done much of what today’s legislation did, if the Crown had only honoured it.

Te Urewera National Park would no longer be a formal National Park, but a special protected area run in co-operation with Tuhoe.

The Te Urewera-Tuhoe Bill divided into two bills (Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill and Te Urewera Bill) passed its third reading by 113 with seven NZ First MPs abstaining.

NZ First Leader Winston Peters said the settlement disenfranchised other iwi with neighbbouring claims. A claim hotly denied by other parties in the House.

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples said the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill covered the most populated area in New Zealand, which had originally been the land of local iwi.

The Bill passed its third reading on a voice vote and the House rose at 2pm.

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