Māori Purposes Bill

on behalf of the Minister for Māori Development: I present a legislative statement on the Māori Purposes Bill.

💬 SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

I move, That the Māori Purposes Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou katoa e noho nei ki roto i tō tātou Whare. Ka nui te mihi ki a tātou.

[Greetings Mr Speaker. Greetings to everyone in the House. I will leave my greeting there.]

On behalf of the Minister for Māori Development, I present a legislative statement on the Māori Purposes Bill. On behalf of the Minister for Māori Development, I move that the Māori Purposes Bill be read a first time, and I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the Māori Purposes Bill.

I’m proud to introduce this bill on behalf of the Minister. No doubt, he would present it with a greater flourish, but as it is, it makes changes which are important for whānau, hapū, iwi, and Māori communities. This Government is committed to building closer partnerships with Māori and working with them to improve wellbeing outcomes and create more development opportunities. Empowering Māori entities to achieve these goals for whānau Māori and their communities means ensuring they have the autonomy and decision-making rights they need to make good and timely decisions.

The bill proposes minor technical and non-controversial updates and improvements to Māori development legislation. While the changes in this bill are technical and minor, they will have a significant impact because they will remove barriers that have impeded the ability of Māori entities to manage their own affairs. The proposed amendments will give Māori entities greater decision-making capability, address technical issues, and reduce the burdens of unnecessary administrative compliance. The bill proposes amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the Maori Purposes Act of 1959, the Maori Trust Boards Act of 1955, and the Maori Community Development Act of 1962.

The bill contains four specific sets of amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. The first set will ensure that the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust continues to exist with the same beneficiaries. The other amendments extend the time frame for decision making and allow owners who cannot be physically present to participate in meetings electronically, and it also corrects a te reo Māori mistake.

The Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust was established to give effect to the settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claim Wai 51. Currently, the Māori Land Court can terminate a trust if it sees fit to do so, in accordance with certain requirements. Termination of this trust would have the potential to compromise the terms of the settlement of the Wai 51 claim. The bill aims to amend the Act so that the power to terminate a trust does not apply to the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust. This will protect the entitlements of the Wai 51 intended beneficiaries, and the proposed amendments are supported by the trust.

Changes proposed to sections 147A and 246 of the Act will extend the period for decisions on whether those who are eligible wish to exercise a right of first refusal when land is being sold or transferred, or where other critical decisions are being made by Māori incorporations. Extending the time frames for these decisions from 15 to 20 working days is intended to ensure that those involved have enough time to make well-informed decisions on these important matters.

Being technologically capable and able to function remotely is important for Māori entities. We can enable this by amending section 174 of the Act to provide the option for meetings of owners to be held electronically.

Te reo Māori is important and should be recorded correctly in legislation. There is a mistake in the wording of the preamble of the Act that requires correction. The bill will replace “kia tū tonu he Te Kooti,” with “kia tū tonu Te Kooti”.

The bill proposes a range of amendments to the Maori Purposes Act 1959. Most are focused on the Lake Rotoaira Trust and its trout fishery. The trust is an ahu whenua trust under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and it administers Lake Rotoaira on behalf of more than 11,000 beneficiaries. The trust manages the trout fishery with functions, powers, and obligations regarding the fishery being prescribed in the Maori Purposes Act 1959. The Maori Purposes Act 1959 restricts the capacity of the trust to manage their business and other affairs on the lake. The amendments will enable the trust to manage their whenua with flexibility and autonomy. The trust supports these changes. The proposed amendments include removing the requirement to hold a trout-fishing licence to fish for species other than trout, and making it clear an entry permit does not authorise fishing on the lake.

In addition, at present, owners of the Motuopuhi Māori Reservation, an island in the middle of the lake, cannot access their own whenua without an entry permit. This bill will amend the Act so trustees and their guests can access their whenua without a permit.

There are also anomalies with the penalties contained in the Act. These are out of date and out of line with similar legislation. The solution is to replace the out-of-date “$100” penalty with “$5,000” in sections 11 and 15(2)(h) of the Act.

The amendments will also make technical changes to help the trust better manage trout spawning areas. Currently, the trust has no authority over some parts of their fishery that are crucial to the management of their business. The proposed amendments address this discrepancy.

As I’ve said, getting te reo Māori right in legislation is vital. We need to replace “Wairehau Canal” with “Wairehu Canal” in the Act.

The remaining technical amendments include updating the definition of a “stipendiary ranger” to include a warranted officer under the Conservation Act of 1987, replacing the term “26R(4)(b)” with the term “26R(4)” in section 14(b) of the Maori Purposes Act 1959, and repealing two inappropriate provisos to section 15(2)(e) of the Maori Purposes Act 1959 which impede on fishery management.

The bill proposes technical and non-controversial amendments to the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 to ensure that Māori trust boards can run efficiently. Keeping up with technology is important for Māori entities. The changes proposed will allow electronic ballots for election of board members, which means they can keep functioning remotely. This is even more important during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Māori trust boards are required to pay board member fees and allowances in line with the Cabinet Fees Framework. They are finding this framework restrictive, inflexible, and not appropriate to recognise the depth and breadth of work that board members do. Māori trust boards are a step further away from the Crown compared to the other entities that are subject to the Cabinet Fees Framework. Amending section 41 to remove Māori trust boards from being subject to the Cabinet Fees Framework recognises this and enables them to pay their members appropriately.

The bill also streamlines processes for resignations of trust board members. Currently, Māori trust board members are required to provide a notice of resignation in writing to the Minister for Māori Development. The changes proposed will enable members of trust boards to resign to the board directly. The board can then notify the Minister.

Section 9(2) of the Act relates to an annuity payment for the Taranaki Māori Trust Board. The trust board and the Crown have agreed to a Crown buy-out of the annuity, and payment has now been made by the Crown. The parties have agreed that this section of the Act should be removed.

The final amendment proposed in this bill is to the Maori Community Development Act 1962. The bill amends section 28(1)(f) of the Act so that district Māori councils are required to submit audited financial statements directly to the New Zealand Māori Council, rather than to the Te Puni Kōkiri chief executive. The current process is unnecessary and creates administrative burdens.

In summary, this bill makes a number of minor and technical amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the Maori Purposes Act 1959, the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955, and the Maori Community Development Act 1962. While the changes proposed in this bill are minor and technical in nature, they will none the less have a significant impact on the ability of Māori entities to manage their business and exercise their rangatiratanga. The entities impacted by these changes support the proposed amendments.

Some of these changes proposed in the bill will address longstanding issues that have been raised over a period of time. It is our responsibility to ensure legislation is up to date and enables Māori entities to move with the times. Minimising barriers to effective operation is crucial to their success.

On behalf of the Minister for Māori Development, I commend this bill to the House. Nā reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. Kia ora mai anō rā tātou.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I stand as the National spokesperson for Māori development and as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee—and I glance over to my colleagues in the House. We have a very special culture that’s there in the select committee and we will embrace this Māori Purposes Bill with purpose. I stand here, making this call for the first reading, which is endorsed by the National Party, but it is also timely and appropriate that I have the opportunity to make acknowledgments to significant Māori who have contributed in this space, in areas of law, areas of practice, administration, and service addressed by the Māori Purposes Act, previous Acts.

One of those persons is kaumātua Neville Baker, who died a few weeks ago on 14 November, this year. Neville Baker is a former deputy secretary of the Department of Māori Affairs—Te Puni Kōkiri, as it is known today. A former Māori trustee, in recent years he was adviser to the Chief Ombudsman and the Minister for Children. As I’m acknowledging Neville Baker it’s appropriate that that acknowledgment is with a measure of respect. He gave a lifetime of service, a lifetime of purpose, serving the Māori communities in the New Zealand nation.

Before I also turn to the Māori Purposes Bill, again, it’s appropriate to acknowledge those persons who continue to give service, a lifetime of service. One is a former colleague who is now Justice Layne Harvey, having been appointed to the High Court after 19 years’ service as a District Court judge and many years as a practising lawyer, again with purpose and service under the umbrella and ambit of the Māori Purposes Act and relevant legislation.

Another is a servant of the public who has recently been appointed to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers, who served some 12, 13 years on the Family Court bench, many years as a lawyer. And, significantly, the three persons that I have paid acknowledgment and homage to are people who have given a lifetime of service and with purpose in this space.

I now turn to the Māori Purposes Bill. Without a doubt, the National Party and I, as the spokesperson for Māori development, have pleasure in saying that this bill is necessary. It’s non-controversial, it’s not unusual, and it is endorsed and supported for us to give further scrutiny at the Māori Affairs Committee. I was looking forward to an address from Minister Willie Jackson, and I say that because Minister Jackson, like his mother, Dame June Jackson, whom I used to work with back in the days of Ngā Whare Waatea, in Māngere, in the 1980s, has given a lifetime of service in this space—again, under the umbrella and ambit of what this bill is about.

So, as a National Party spokesperson, as a Māori also, giving service with purpose in this place of Parliament, the bill aligns with National Party values, recognising the Treaty of Waitangi as a founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand, also recognising the value and the importance of private property rights. This bill addresses those matters.

The Minister has detailed in the legislative statement what it covers. I’m just going to bring it back to a more simplistic approach. What is a Māori Purposes Bill and what legislation is being amended by this bill? It’s called an omnibus bill because it is a number of bills that are going to be addressed under the umbrella, under the blanket, the kahu of this Māori Purposes Bill. So those pieces of legislation are Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the Maori Purposes Act 1959, the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955, and the Maori Community Development Act 1962.

Just in summary, the main provisions of the amendments under the Māori Purposes Bill, looking firstly at Te Ture Whenua Maori Act—the Minister has mentioned the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust; that is a trust that comes from the area of Maniapoto—look at addressing the provisions for that hapū trust to continue to exist and exercise powers, rights, and duties in a manner that was consistent with their 1990 settlement of the Waitangi Tribunal claim No. 51, in relation to Waitomo caves.

Moving on, another Act to be addressed under this is the Maori Purposes Act 1959. The Minister has talked about Lake Rotoaira and the trust again being given the flexibility and the autonomy and the management of their taonga Lake Rotoaira, and the management and exercise of rights associated with the lake and with the fisheries.

The Maori Trust Boards Act is addressing, bringing, and updating administratively the management for trusts in the exercise of voting. So this bill will address the ability for electronic voting, removing the Māori trust boards from the Cabinet Fees Framework, so streamlining and providing for resignations of members of boards to be made in writing to the board rather than directly to the Minister.

The Maori Community Development Act 1962 is to require the district Māori councils to provide a copy of audited financial statements directly to the New Zealand Māori Council rather than to the chief executive of the Ministry of Māori Development, also known as Te Puni Kōkiri.

I’m just going to share, in terms of the Māori Community Development Act, as I often tend to do when I stand to speak, and a point of relevance in terms of contributional relationships. As a younger woman, I served as the secretary of the Aotea Māori district council back in the 1980s. As secretary in that role, it was important to ensure that there was accuracy in the recording of minutes and the knowledge and ensuring that that was relayed through to the senior body, the parent body, the New Zealand Māori Council. So I have experience in terms of the level of service and contribution under the blanket of Māori Purposes Act, but specifically to the Maori Community Development Act 1962.

So the key message is, from the National Party and as spokesperson for Māori Development, I referenced that as a member on the Māori Affairs Committee, there is a particular culture where we do arrive there as members from our affiliate political parties, but we serve there as members, having given service, those of us who are Māori, in our communities, and the significance of the purpose and the duty and the obligation that we have and how we conduct ourselves at that meeting place of the Māori Affairs Committee.

This bill has an explanatory note and the members of the Māori Affairs Committee, in the scrutiny of this bill, we receive advice, but, actually, we also give advice premised on what experience we bring to that table, that select committee. It’s our duty to scrutinise with responsibility, with care, and to particularise, drawing on our skill sets, because we do bring different lived experiences, different skill sets and tools of our profession, to apply that in the scrutiny.

I’ll curtail my first call speaking to this bill. I look forward to the contributions and to hearing the stories of the contributors, those who submit at the Māori Affairs Committee, because we will hear the relevance of how this Māori Purposes Bill will have impact and bearing on the communities that they come and represent. We will also share and disclose, with a duty of care, the importance of this Māori Purposes Bill coming back to the House, ensuring that it is in the best possible form and service that it may give to the people who will benefit from it. I commend this first reading of this bill to the House.

As both of the previous speakers have talked about, this is a non-controversial bill but it’s a necessary bill. It’s a bill that tidies up a few issues that Māori trusts and entities out there across Aotearoa have been looking for us to tidy up. To the majority of the population, it’s non-consequential, it won’t have any effect on them, but, actually, for the people that are involved it actually means quite a bit. So I’m very pleased that the Minister has brought this to the House, and we on the Māori Affairs Committee will look after this bill with the best of intentions, but we will do what the bill intends, which is to tidy up relevant parts of legislation to make sure that our Māori organisations across Aotearoa are empowered and are encouraged to be able to look after the wellbeing of themselves and the people they are there to represent.

The one that I would like to point out, and both members before me have pointed out all four Acts that that we’re talking about here—Te Ture Whenua Māori Act, the Maori Purposes Act, the Maori Trust Boards Act, the Māori Community Development Act. Of all of those, the one that I want to talk about is the Maori Purposes Act in relation to Lake Rotoaira, which is just south of Taupō and is a very, very beautiful place. If anybody gets to go there over the Christmas and new year break, I encourage you to.

Lake Rotoaira Trust is an ahu whenua trust. There are more than 11,000 beneficiaries to that trust, and they administer Lake Rotoaira on behalf of the beneficiaries. It is a trout fishery with functions, powers, and obligations in regard to the fishery being prescribed in the Act, and this will enable them to be able to have more autonomy and flexibility in being able to manage the trout fishery with some provisions in there as well. So this is a good bill. It is going to get support from around the House, and I look forward, as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, to ushering it though. I commend it to the House.

Well, thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a great privilege and quite a surprise to be able to speak on this bill this afternoon. Since I’ve been in Parliament, I’ve sat on the Māori Affairs Committee quite a few times, and it’s actually a privilege and a wonderful pleasure to be welcomed on to that select committee as a temporary member and as a non-Māori to embrace and learn more about the culture and the issues facing Māori that come before that committee.

But, actually, I want to talk about Lake Rotoaira as well, because I think the trout fishery and the management of that by iwi is a perfect example of how the coming together of cultures—as everyone will be aware, trout are an introduced species. In fact, I would really support the ability for iwi to be able to farm trout, it would be a wonderful opportunity for economic growth for iwi to be able to farm trout, and it’s really quite a gentrified sport, trout fishing. It’s the people on higher incomes that tend to fish for trout, and yet, they control it and they control the trout farming and, actually, Primary Production Committee—it should have gone to the Māori Affairs Committee, but the Primary Production Committee accepted a petition from one of my constituents that would have allowed the farming of trout in New Zealand. Of course, we do farm trout now, and we farm them to replenish the fisheries, but we’re not allowed to farm them for food. And, of course, all the excuses are really about protecting the gentrified sport of trout fishing, and it’s all spurious as the grounds on which they make the arguments are so shaky, it’s unbelievable. These very same arguments were rolled out to stop salmon farming, and, actually, it hasn’t stopped the salmon fishery. The argument essentially was: “Well, salmon fishing is mostly in the South Island.”, and I sort of drew from that conclusion they kind of thought that South Islanders were more trustworthy than North Islanders.

💬 Hon Member: We are.

💬 Hon Member: Totally.

Well, it might be true, but I just think that’s a fairly spurious argument. I think it’s quite outrageous because there’s a beautiful and, in fact, magnificent opportunity for iwi to actually manage their own economic future. They’ve got the resources, particularly in the North Island, to be able to take advantage of that, and so I think that this bill, while it does amend the Māori Purposes Act 1959 to give the autonomy and flexibility to manage Rotoaira, that lake and the fishery within there—and I note that iwi will not need to use fishing licences there too. And that brings up another really important point, I think, that is lost on many people in New Zealand: how when Māori are given the opportunity to manage fisheries, how well they do it. They do it because it’s ingrained in their DNA, effectively, and that’s been from generations of starving, practically, if you got it wrong, whereas today, we have other food sources readily available, but that was often the case, I’m sure, back in their history when they would have got it wrong. So they have learnt how to manage and live effectively in harmony with a particular fishing resource, and fishing in particular, because that would be their main source if they lived around the lakes and the seas.

So I think that’s very appropriate and goes a little deeper, I think, than my colleagues have spoken about. I guess we all bring our perspectives to these debates, and that’s the wonderful thing about Parliament in that we all have our own backgrounds. And being a non-Māori, having that opportunity to be involved in decisions and work alongside Māori for the benefit of Māori is what it’s all about after all. I think that’s actually kind of what the Treaty of Waitangi was supposed to mean. I think sometimes we get all lost and start thinking about land and other things other than actually what the principles within that treaty are really, rather than what the legalistic words are; what they are in emotional terms, because that’s quite a different perspective.

We get too hung up on legal things. There are quite a few lawyers in this House, and I see one across the across the way there, Helen White, who’s sitting there very—we had a good session this morning on the Finance and Expenditure Committee, mind you. So that was quite good. I think that having that legalistic view sometimes leads us down a path where we actually become confrontational, because words really matter when you’re talking about the law but, actually, emotions really matter when you’re talking about something like the Treaty, I think. If you go back, the first principles of the Treaty—what was it there for, what was it set to achieve? Then we will get far better outcomes rather than trying to focus on the law per se.

Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, which is also being amended by this omnibus bill, is also an Act I think that needs a lot more amendment than is in this bill, but at least it goes part the way there. The issue for te ture whenua, because of the way Māori land ownership has worked down the ages, if you like—it has quite disadvantaged groups with the difficulty of making decisions and ability to borrow money to actually capitalise on what that land is capable of producing—is that it has held iwi back. That has been a real issue. I remember the debates from my time, actually, on the Māori Affairs Committee about Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, and I think that is something that we will all have to come to an agreement on to make it better than it is. This is one little amendment. I don’t have the right answer, but I know that the outcome that we have at the moment is not right. It’s not delivering for the people it’s supposed to, and I think that’s a bit of a black mark on this whole Parliament—that we can’t actually figure that out. It actually goes down party lines in the end, not for good reason other than just because we’re different parties. I think there has to be a better way. So I appeal to everyone across the House to get your heads together and sort it out because I think the opportunities for iwi are being lost and we shouldn’t allow that to happen just on party political grounds.

The Māori Trust Boards Act is also being amended and it’s going to allow for electronic voting. It is crazy the way when we write these laws that we have an Act passed in 1955, there’ll be no such thing as electronic voting back in those days, and we have to get to 2021 to allow for electronic voting to make these things run far more efficiently and bring them into the 21st century. It’s great to see that in here. We can understand why it takes so long to do this, because legislation is quite a laborious process, and so we don’t just simply bring a bill to Parliament to change it for electronic voting. But maybe there should have been a bill that went across all of those entities that didn’t allow electronic voting and just did it overnight, but there might be good reasons why that hasn’t been done. There’ll be other Acts that need amending to allow this, I’m sure, for other entities. What they do with their own rules is their business, but it’s good to see it being changed here.

The Māori Community Development Act 1962 is also being amended, and that requires the District Māori Councils to provide a copy of their audited financial statements directly to the New Zealand Māori Council, rather than the chief executive of the Ministry of Māori Development, and that’s a real efficiency thing. Why the heck has it taken this long to do that? Again, I don’t know. But you know, as I said at the beginning, I think that every parliamentarian should take the opportunity to sit on the Māori Affairs Committee—if you get the opportunity, please take it, because you will come away with a different perspective on things from that experience. Actually, I think I can say without fear of anyone challenging me that the Māori Affairs Committee has the best kai, and that reason alone is a good one for taking the time to get involved. And so with that, I commend the bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Look, it’s always an honour to talk on things Māori in the House. Can I just reflect on the last comment by the previous speaker, Stuart Smith. We had to, unfortunately, ensure that Rino Tirikatene wasn’t the chair, because there was too much food being offered at the Māori Affairs Committee! So we brought in some slim-line rules and other plant-based, protein-type kai, and, as a result, under the new leadership of Tāmati Coffey, we’ll be much slimmer, thinner, and a lot more efficient than the 150 years of all of those other fellas that went through that committee. But I digress!

This is a really good bill. It says here it’s minor, technical, and non-controversial but, as has been traversed by others, they are really, really important, some of those things that are being covered. And it’s funny because these are often seen as minor but, actually, they’re quite major for those who sit on some of these trusts, those komiti that are impacted by some of these changes: simple things like being able to hold meetings electronically, and also the correction of te reo. Look, if you spell something wrong and it’s wrong, it’s wrong, and this is going to correct that.

Look, I want to finish by saying that the infamous Māori Community Development Act—I know that that has things like the Māori wardens in there, and I’ll digress if I talk about that too, but, look, all of these, in conclusion, will do great things for those Māori organisations that operate under these pieces of legislation. So I commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora. It is a great pleasure to rise on behalf of the Greens in support of this omnibus Māori Purposes Bill. We support it in the hope that the changes in this bill will indeed contribute to Māori wellbeing and development by providing Māori entities with greater autonomy and decision making, addressing previous technical issues within legislation, and reducing administrative compliance. What a nuisance it must have been for them to have to change law to achieve some of that.

The laws we seek to amend are good examples of the paternalistic way in which successive New Zealand Governments have continued to colonise Māori by setting up legal entities for them to do what they’re best qualified to do anyway. The Greens support bills which allow iwi, whānau, and hapū to have a say in the issues that affect them—to get on with their responsibilities to each other but also to their whenua, their awa, and their moana. We uphold the mana of Māori leadership. We explicitly support Matike Mai and He Puapua, which allows for the rangatiratanga and mana motuhake of our iwi, hapū, and Māori organisations—the recognition of their authority in their own sphere.

Amending Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 will ensure the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust will continue to exercise its kaitiakitanga of the Waitomo caves, a truly, truly magical place. It will also help ensure its succession orders uphold the mana of the Wai 51 claim.

Amending the Maori Purposes Act 1959 will give the Lake Rotoaira Trust more autonomy and flexibility in managing Rotoaira and its trout fishery, which it does on behalf of its tūpuna for their mokopuna. Rotoaira, as others have said, is a very beautiful and restful place, and it was one that was very special to my grandmother. It is the area where mountain Taranaki was—was said to have been losing a battle with Tongariro over the heart of Pihanga, so it caused Taranaki to move to its current destination, its current location.

Among other things, amending the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 will provide for electronic voting. Electronic instead of postal—finally. Their voting numbers are about to go through the roof. We wish them well with their ease of future processes.

Amending the Maori Community Development Act 1962 will mean that district Māori councils need only provide their audited accounts to the New Zealand Māori Council and not to the chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, who could probably do without that micromanagement after all of these years.

Appropriate decision-making is one of the cornerstones of the Greens’ charter, so the views of the organisations that are affected by these bills matter to us. We note that Te Puni Kōkiri has gained support from the Lake Rotoaira Trust, Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust but also the Aorangi, Hauraki, Tūwharetoa, Whakatōhea, Tauranga Moana, Waikaremoana Māori Trust Boards, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua. At the time of writing, a reply from the Tai Tokerau Māori Trust Board was still coming, but I’m sure that’s been received by now.

We look forward to a time when all such organisations are left to get on with their own work without Government oversight—when this Government is able to put in place what the partnership principle of Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. But all in all this is a sensible omnibus bill that we commend to the House. Kia ora.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT Party today in support of the first reading of the Māori Purposes Bill. As other speakers have made clear, this is a bill that is an omnibus bill. It amends many different Acts that have relation to Māori affairs or Māori development, and those are the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the Maori Purposes Act 1959, the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955, and the Maori Community Development Act 1962. In changing these Acts, the bill only does so in minor and technical aspects, which means that it’s very hard to find a lot to talk on for a long time, so I will make my speech quite short.

The ACT Party believes that public policy matters. There are many things that we can’t change in life, living in New Zealand. We can’t change the size of our country, or the fact that we do live in the Pacific, and we are very lucky to live in the country that we do. But what we can change are our public policy settings, and making life better for people, and making sure that we’re constantly striving to make New Zealand a better place for everybody who lives here. In doing that, a lot of what happens in Parliament is that we need to change our laws to update them with the times, and with different changes that might happen through other regulations, and making sure that people are able to manage their affairs in the best way that they can see fit.

The Government’s purpose is to make sure that every individual New Zealander and every business entity or community organisation is able to help support other New Zealanders in the best way possible. That’s why we support the first reading of this bill, because it makes management of organisations easier. So if you think of who is involved in various aspects of this legislation, it makes many aspects of running Māori trust boards, Māori trusts, and Māori councils easier to run and manage. That can only be a good thing.

I just want to point quickly to a couple of aspects, and that is the Lake Rotoaira Trust. There is a beautiful lake in New Zealand, right around the corner from Lake Taupō, and they have fishery requirements. This change will remove the requirement that to hold a trout licence to fish, you have to then not be able to fish for things other than trout. So it’s making a very small technical change, to make fishery management easier for the Lake Rotoaira Trust. It also revokes the provisions that tie the daily bag and size limits for Lake Rotoaira to those set for the Lake Taupō fishery, and I note that just this year, some of the fishery standards for Lake Taupō and Lake Rotoaira have been separated. So these are good changes to make with that in regard.

The second part that I think is really important here is that we’re allowing for Māori trust boards to use electronic voting, and that’s because the Maori Trust Boards Act was set up in 1955, and we’re now allowing modern ways of voting, and I think that can only really be a good thing, if that helps for the management of the trust boards.

So, in conclusion, the ACT Party is in support of the first reading of the Māori Purposes Bill, and we commend it to the House.

Kia ora e te Māngai o te Whare. I rise to take a quick call on this excellent bill. My colleagues in the House have already traversed the many and complicated ways in which this bill is going to make it easier for Māori to run their whenua and their organisations as they should be able to do. I want to highlight just two aspects of this leap into modernisation.

As we stand here in Wellington where you can walk anywhere because, as The Mutton Birds put it, “Nowhere’s very far,” it might be hard to remember that in other parts of New Zealand we have long and winding roads, and they are dirt roads, our settlements are small and diverse and we have, in my beloved Te Tai Tokerau, marae spread out across the motu. And we have had an issue with digital connectivity. But this bill amends both the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 to allow electronic ballots for board elections and it also amends Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 to give provision for meetings of owners of land to be held electronically. And this is really important because this Government in 2019 made a $21 million investment into digital connectivity for those far-flung marae. And that is going to mean that the people of those marae are able to participate, to make decisions about their whenua, electronically as they should be able to do without traversing those long and winding roads. I am proud to commend this bill to the House.

The next call is a split call. I call Joseph Mooney.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the National Party to speak in support of the Māori Purposes Bill. This bill is one which will further enhance the ability for Māori trusts to operate an autonomous way free of some of the constraints that they currently have. As it says in the bill’s explanatory note, the bill will contribute to Māori wellbeing and development by providing Māori entities with greater autonomy and decision making, addressing previous technical issues within legislation, and reducing administrative compliance.

So the primary purpose of the bill is to (a), provide Māori entities with greater autonomy and greater decision making, (b), address previous technical issues within the legislation related to Māori affairs, and (c), reduce administrative compliance. It’s called an omnibus bill, which means it enables minor, technical, or non-controversial amendments to be made to various pieces of legislation which affect Māori development. One of those is amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, to ensure that the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust can continue to exercise existing powers, rights, and duties in a manner that is consistent with the 1990 settlement of the Wai 51 claim in relation to the Waitomo caves.

I’ll just digress briefly to say that the Waitomo caves is somewhere that I remember visiting as a child and going with my brother. I think he was eight and I was 10, and we went into those caves for a little exploration in that vicinity ourselves and had an explore with a candle. I’ve got very fond memories of that area, and I know it’s a place that’s very special to local iwi. And that was the recognition in the 1990 settlement, the Wai 51 claim, which probably is roughly around the era—probably slightly before that—when I was there as a child.

But the second thing that it does, it proposes amendments to the Maori Purposes Act 1959 to give the Lake Rotoaira Trust more autonomy and flexibility in managing Lake Rotoaira and its trout fishery. I think Mr McKelvie mentioned that he used to do some water skiing on that lake, so there are many connections that we have in this country. I’m sure Mr McKelvie would have been a fantastic water skier. I’m not sure if he’s still doing it—Mr McKelvie? No. But it’s another special place to many people, and it’s good to see some amendments being made in terms of managing the flexibility and the autonomy for local iwi in managing Lake Rotoaira under the Māori Purposes Act 1959 and its trout fishery.

It also proposes some technical and non-contentious amendments to the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955, and it proposes an amendment to the Maori Community Development Act 1962 to require District Māori Councils to provide a copy of the audited financial statements directly to the New Zealand Māori Council, rather than to the chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri.

There are some amendments being made to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, and, as my colleague Stuart Smith mentioned, it would be great if the House could come to a consensus on how to really do some deep thinking on how to reform that Act. There are some good, small revisions being made in this omnibus bill, but there needs to be a bigger piece of work done on Te Ture Whenua Maori Act to unlock billions of dollars of potential for iwi Māori. It’s an opportunity that is currently not being realised and it could be realised with the right legislative framework. I am currently the custodian of a bill which started back with the Hon Christopher Finlayson on that, and I would love to see some engagement from the other side of the House in that bill if that is possible—I know politically it is challenging, but if it is possible—so we can actually come to a cross-party consensus to unlock the potential for Māori so they can exercise true autonomy and unlock the potential of their whenua.

So overall, in conclusion, I would say National is supporting the Māori Purposes Bill, and I look forward to seeing its progression through the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise to take the Māori Party call on behalf of the Labour Party team, and it’s slightly disappointing that the Māori Party haven’t taken their call, given it’s quite unusual to have an omnibus Māori bill that covers four different Acts, and an ability to support such amendments during their reading.

So, having a look at the bill, because I’m not part of the Māori Affairs Committee, there is a particular amendment around removing Māori Trust Boards from the Cabinet Fees Framework to simplify the process of resignations. So, if you look at section 16 of the Māori Trust Boards Act 1955, currently if a Māori Trust Board member has either been removed from the office by the Governor-General, or for inefficiency, or if they can’t perform their functions or they resign, currently they have to apply to Cabinet for that resignation or to the Minister, which then goes through Cabinet. Obviously, that’s cumbersome, particularly because the member has left for whatever particular reason, but the word “inefficiency” in that particular section points to why they may have left. So the changes within the bill which removes the word “Minister” and replaces it with the “Board” is much more streamlined. It means that if the trust board member decides to resign, all they need to do is write to the Minister and say that they’re going to resign from their post.

One thing that I should probably pick up for the Māori Affairs Committee to probably have a look at as part of the section is that it says in the disclosure statement that seven of the eight continuing Māori Trust Boards have supported it; one had not come back in time for this bill to be tabled in the House. So my suggestion to the Māori Affairs Committee is to ensure that that last remaining Māori Trust Board does have their say as part of the select committee process. So, on that note, I commend this bill to the House.

It’s an absolute privilege to speak on this bill, which has been recognised across this House as being technical yet important. Comments have been made from the other side around Māori development, and I’d like to tautoko those and refer to an excellent function I went to last night, hosted by the Minister for Māori Development, my friend and colleague the Hon Willie Jackson, with the kiwifruit sector and the work that is happening there.

Minister Jackson mentioned how Māori economic development is one of the untold stories in New Zealand’s economy. In fact, there are other untold stories too. I know we’re talking about process, but if we look at policy, the policies are going in the right direction and one policy around Māori history in our schools, which we’ll see unfold next year, is the brilliant film that I was privileged to see at the weekend in my electorate of Taieri, which was Whetū Mārama made by Toby Mills and Aileen O’Sullivan, telling the story of Sir Hek Busby. It’s an untold story, an incredibly important story.

These are the policy changes that have led us to travelling the waka in the right direction, but it’s also about process, which brings me back to the bill, around these technical types of things. The policies can’t happen without the enablers, and, of course, this omnibus bill enables electronic voting. It takes away processes that, quite frankly, were paternalistic and don’t allow Māori their tino rangatiratanga, their own self-determination; so things like spelling mistakes in legislation, things like having to have Cabinet Fees Framework when other entities that are at arm’s length from the Crown don’t need those. So it’s fantastic to see that the process is catching up with the policy, and I commend the bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It gives me a bit of pleasure to speak on this bill too. I was really interested in the comments of Paul Eagle about the way the Māori Affairs Committee used to be fed in Rino Tirikatene’s day. I did have the privilege of turning up there a couple of times; it was worthwhile. I don’t know whether we passed any good legislation, but we certainly did well, and I thought it was quite interesting that Paul should raise that in the course of this discussion. So it gives me pleasure to speak on the Māori Purposes Bill at its first reading.

As one of my colleagues has already said, I suppose in my younger days I had a close association with a lake that is mentioned in this bill a number of times, in the Rotoaira trust at Waitahanui, or not very far from the Waitahanui River or stream which comes out into Lake Taupō. I’ll always remember that part of the lake in its early days, because it was always a hugely popular fishing part of Lake Taupō and had many little fishing lodges and things like that in that area. But I also remember water skiing on that lake, or trying to water ski on that lake, and it’s a very pretty part of New Zealand. I think that this bill’s designed to give Māori entities a greater autonomy and greater decision-making powers over their own affairs. I think it’s most appropriate that this bill goes through the House and be passed.

I just wanted to mention another issue which is very common in that area. And, of course, the Rangitīkei electorate almost touches on the side of—well, it gets very close to the side of Lake Taupō. There’s been quite a discussion over a large number of years, including, significantly, led by the local iwi, around the ability to farm trout in that area. I know it’s extremely unpopular with some, that suggestion, but, actually, I think it’s got great potential for New Zealand, and it’s a shame we can’t find a way of encouraging that, because I know that in the Tūrangi area there are people who would be very keen to promote trout farming, not in the lake in any form, but I think it would be a useful local industry. I’ve never forgotten going to Scandinavia, where the salmon farms are very, very common, but they also farm sea trout there and it’s the most beautiful thing to eat, better than the native—not a native one, of course, but better than the trout that comes out of the lake.

So I think that this bill, for me, has got good value for New Zealand. I’ll be interested to see how it comes back out of the select committee. I’m sure there’ll be very few changes, because it’s a pretty simple bill, and I welcome its introduction to the House and hope it goes well.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise to take a short and last call on the Māori Purposes Bill first reading. My colleagues from across the House, in fact, have spoken in depth on this bill, so I would like to just spend the last call summarising some of the key points. This bill is an omnibus bill that enables minor technical and non-controversial amendments to be made to Māori development legislation. The bill supports the Government’s priority to build a closer partnership with Māori and improve the response to Māori issues as well. So the amendments within this bill will contribute to Māori wellbeing and development by providing Māori entities with greater autonomy and greater decision-making. It will also address some technical issues and reduce some of the administrative compliance. All the appropriate agencies have been consulted on this proposed legislation.

This is yet another testimony that this Government is committed and willing to listen and establish a meaningful relationship with iwi. It’s nice, actually, to see everyone from across the parties coming together in support of this important piece of legislation. This also shows how much, as a nation, as a country, we have matured, and how far we have come in doing the right things. This is going to be a good bill because it’s going to change the game for a lot of Māori organisations. For that reason, I commend this bill to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.