The Auckland iwi behind the historic Bastion Point protests has seen its Waitangi Treaty settlement pass its final reading in Parliament.
Iwi members were in the public gallery for the final reading.
The $18 million settlement for Ngati Whatua o Orakei includes an apology from the Crown for past wrong-doings and for reclamation in the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours.
Several MPs made reference to the 1978 Bastion Point protests, when hundreds of Maori protesters were forcibly removed from the land by police and the army.
The Government at the time had planned to sell the area to developers for up-market housing.
The daughter of Ngati Whatua's late paramount chief, Sir Hugh Kawharu, Margaret Kawharu, says her father would be relieved with the settlement and apology.
"In his mind, Ngati Whatua's mana is crucial, and it's crucial for the people of Auckland to just realise the basis on which they arrive and stay here," she says.
