February 19, 2014
Tau hand on tiller keeps waka on course
A National backbencher is paying tribute to the chair of the Maori Affairs Select Committee, Tau Henare, for his role in keeping up the pace of treaty settlements.
The committee was in Tauranga in Tuesday to hear submissions of a bill that will return to iwi assets held by the New Zealand Mission Trust.
Yesterday it was in Whakatane discussing the Tuhoe settlement bill.
Claudette Hauiti says while Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson gets much of the credit, Mr Henare’s experience as a former minister for Maori affairs and one of the longest-serving Maori MPs is invaluable.
"He forces us to think more critically about the submissions that are coming in and he has asked us to be more pragmatic but innovative about how we deal with the submissions. It really is a robust place for discussion by the select committee and by the iwi, so I really do congratulate the chair," she says.
This morning MPs are back in the House for a special extended hearing for the second reading of the Raukawa, Te Tau Ihu and Maungaharuru-Tangitu claim settlement bills.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH CLAUDETTE HAUITI
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MTU0Mzk=
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