Bay iwi Ngai Te Rangi and Nga Potiki have had the first reading of their claims settlement bill in Parliament today.
Minister of Maori Development Te Ururoa Flavell said today the iwi who were virtually stripped of all their lands could now start to rebuild culturally, environmentally and economically.
Mr Flavell's comments also refer to the the second reading of the Ngati Hineuru Claims Settlement Bill today.
Mr Flavell said in both cases the Crown had committed serious and repeated failures to live up to its Treaty obligations; and Crown initiated conflict had virtually stripped the iwi of their lands, leaving only a tiny remnant of what they once held.
"Any resistance led to huge land confiscations and for Ngati Hineuru many of those who resisted the Crown's confiscations were banished or summarily executed.