Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill. As I start, I just want to note the members on the other side of the House, in the previous piece of legislation, pontificating—

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! That bill is over. You speak to this bill.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Look, this is a wonderful piece of legislation. I’d like to speak to the third reading of this legislation. The bill is a small and concise piece of legislation and certainly gives certainty to iwi and property owners over the management of their assets.

Noteworthy is that no submitters explicitly opposed the bill, and the purpose of the bill by its design was succinct. It amends sections of the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Act 2004. The committee received 10 submissions: eight by iwi, one by aquaculture industry interest groups, and one by an individual. The bill as designed would ensure iwi can access their settlement assets within an appropriate time frame and, equally, improve the delivery of Crown aquaculture settlement obligations. I think this is deeply important. It supports iwi aquaculture aspirations as well as furthers the growth of the aquaculture industry.

In previous iterations, it was noted by the member Mr van de Molen—and I quote—“Fish are the most rapid food protein dietary source.” And I would wager Mr van de Molen is probably quite correct in that assertion. As was previously canvassed by other members when speaking on this bill, the aquaculture industry is worth some $600 million per annum and, arguably, employs approximately 3,000 people. Notably, as was offered during the select committee process, this industry could be worth billions, and I think this speaks to the wider concern and aspirations that those in the industry have for their asset certainty.

In short order, the ACT Party absolutely supports this bill as it speaks to the rights and protections of private property assets and their wellbeing. We commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka o te Whare. Tēnā tātou ngā mema. It’s a privilege to speak on the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill, which is a short bill that does a very specific job of making the legislation fairer, and it gives the ability to Te Ohu Kaimoana to make a very small and technical change using a limited power of discretion to be able to complete some of the settlements of aquaculture assets in regions where they would otherwise be held up. This is an important change for those iwi who have been waiting to realise the economic impacts of their settlements and to realise the ability to enjoy the gains of aquaculture that have been enjoyed all around the country where iwi are working with business to enjoy those assets. It’s this particular inability of the iwi in those regions to reach agreement in accordance with the provisions of their settlement Acts about how regional aquaculture assets should be allocated among them that’s the issue here.

It’s right that Te Ohu Kaimoana, which plays a leadership role in Māori aquaculture and Māori fisheries assets is able to make these determinations, because they are experts. They play a role in the industry, which is world leading, in my view. They should be commended for advancing this legislation and their role in it, as well as dealing with all of the players in the industry.

I also want to thank the member Tim van de Molen from the National Party for when he joined the Māori Affairs Committee to participate in the discussions of the committee on this bill. It’s important that we are able to share views and share cross-partisan positions where we can, and this is certainly something where we all agree that it’s important for iwi to be able to realise these assets in a timely way. It was good to be able to have those discussions with the member, who is passionate about this area, and I wish him all the best with his recovery.

It’s important that we realise, with this bill, that if no changes are made, settlement assets for iwi in those regions will remain largely held in trusts by Te Ohu Kaimoana indefinitely. That means that this trustee role will continue without any ability for people on the ground in these regions, whether they are members of the iwi or not, to enjoy the jobs created by these aquaculture settlements, and the economic benefits for these regions. So it’s within everyone’s interest that this legislation passes.

It’s also in everyone’s interest in these regions that the iwi involved in aquaculture settlements have a voice at the table. They have that through Te Ohu Kaimoana, which is a particular body of governance which I am very proud, as a member of this House, to say has cross-partisan support, that it has an important role in the governance of our fisheries assets in New Zealand. It is a great example of sharing the responsibilities of governance between iwi, between Māori, between the Crown, and with an interest to including all industry players in that. It’s a great model and one we can use for other assets.

As I said, this is a technical bill, but it will not be, in any way, ignored by those iwi who are most affected by it, and by regional players in this. That’s why I commend it to the House.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I’m happy to support this bill as is the National Party. This really does address an issue whereby some settlements have not been able to be properly completed because of either disagreements or inability to reach settlements between different interests of iwi. That’s holding everybody back so we need to just get on with it.

I think, too, that what people may not be always aware of is that as we’re talking about the kai moana in the sea, we’ve got, right at the moment, technology and research science working very, very hard to actually have a lot of these stocks being able to be farmed. I was really amazed to hear, and to know, of fish such as hāpuku or kingfish now being able to be farmed.

We need to get past this arguing about these particular allocations, when we all agree we just need to get on with it, and at the same time, understanding that we do produce protein in New Zealand, we produce it very well, but, by the way, we need to actually just think a little bit broader than assets between particularly iwi or rights between that.

I think that’s one of the big issues here: the actual settlement system. The Māori treaties trust was established in 2004; that’s a long time ago. While there are some iwi at the moment who haven’t been able to access what they believe are their entitlements, everyone else is being held up too around those areas, so we just need to get on. We support this because we understand the need for this country to stop arguing about things between ourselves and just get on and start to grow the economy, because this country is going to be in desperate straits if we cannot do it better than what has been done over the last four years.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. It’s a pleasure to speak on this, the third reading of the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill. It’s been a really good experience to be on the Māori Affairs Committee and seeing this through. Essentially, this provides for the full and final settlement of all Māori commercial aquaculture claims since September 1992.

We had submitters come in and clearly articulate the issues that were needed to be sorted and, essentially, the proposed changes will ensure that those aquaculture settlement assets are delivered to what are called iwi aquaculture organisations that wish to claim the assets it is agreed they are entitled to within a time frame. Secondly, it will protect those interests of the iwi who choose not to claim the aquaculture settlement assets they are entitled to within that time frame. And, of course, it assists the Crown, us, to fulfil its full settlement obligations. This is something that’s been long overlooked. I’m really happy that we’ve been part of—this Government put together an aquaculture strategy released in 2019 that recognises these issues, and I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. There’s general agreement between all the parties here, and I don’t want to take too much time, because we can possibly finish it off in a quick way. It’s a power that will actually benefit a lot of iwi and New Zealand in total. We looking forward to it passing through this House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

Members, it has come time for me to leave the Chair. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 12 April 2022. Pō mārie.

The House adjourned at 4.55 p.m.