Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill.

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

Hon STUART NASH: I move, That the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time, I intend to move that the bill is reported to the House by 13 July 2023.

I seek the House’s agreement for the select committee to report back to the House within three months of the bill being referred to it. Cabinet considers a compressed select committee time frame is appropriate. Iwi are generally comfortable with the bill and, given the passage of time since we voted for these changes, passing these amendments into law relatively quickly will help Crown-Māori relations.

The Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill, or the bill, will ensure iwi have a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their fisheries assets, and improved benefits for all Māori. The introduction of this bill on the Fisheries Amendment Act passed late last year, which represented a significant step towards strengthening and modernising New Zealand’s fisheries management system. Māori have extensive rights and interests in Aotearoa fisheries, which are given effect to in the fisheries legislation.

During the 1980s, and particularly following the introduction of the quota management system in 1986, Māori expressed growing concerns that their Treaty fishing rights were being breached. This prompted the Crown to enter negotiations with Māori to resolve Treaty fishing rights over commercial fisheries. In 1992, the Crown and Māori agreed to a full and final settlement of any claims by Māori to fisheries managed under the Fisheries Act 1996. This was widely known as the “Sealord deal”. The Maori Fisheries Act 2004, or the Act, sets out a framework for the allocation and transfer of fisheries settlement assets to iwi, institutional arrangements, and a governance framework for managing fishery assets for current and future generations of Māori. Māori now hold about 40 percent of the annual catch entitlement for New Zealand’s fish stocks, and the quota management system and Māori commercial fishing entities also provide annual catch entitlement to their whanaunga fishers. Under the Act, four governance entities were established to manage settlement assets on behalf of iwi and Māori. The entities include Te Ohu Kai Moana, which allocates and transfers fisheries settlement assets to iwi and advances the interests of Māori through the development of fishery-related activities; Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, which manages the centrally held commercial fishery settlement assets of Māori; Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, which is funded from allocated trust income to promote Māori education, training, and research; and Te Wai Māori Trust, who are also funded from allocated trust income to advance Māori freshwater fishing interests.

The Act sets out a framework for the allocation and transfer of fisheries settlement assets to iwi, institutional arrangements, and a governance framework for managing fisheries assets for current and future generations of Māori. The Act requires an independent review of these governance entities to be carried out no later than the 11th year following the commencement of the Act. This review happened in March 2015. The review recommended significant changes to the governance structures of the four governance entities and more simplified processes for trading assets. Following the review, Te Ohu Kai Moana undertook extensive iwi engagement in 2015 and 2016. They established an iwi working group to develop a set of proposals from the review, consulted widely with iwi on the proposed changes, and held a series of hui to pass resolutions. In 2017, Te Ohu Kai Moana presented a report to the then Minister of Fisheries recommending a suite of changes to the Act to give iwi a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their assets.

In 2021, subject to consultation with iwi, Cabinet agreed to a set of policies that would give effect to Te Ohu Kai Moana’s recommendations. The Ministry for Primary Industries then worked with Te Ohu Kai Moana to develop the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill, or the bill. In August last year, the then Minister for Oceans and Fisheries consulted on an exposure draft of the bill with mandated iwi organisations, recognised iwi organisations, and representative Māori organisations. Of the feedback received, iwi generally supported the bill. The vast majority of feedback related to Resolution 3, a proposal about the distribution of Te Ohu Kai Moana’s surplus funds. The draft bill was subsequently amended to address this feedback.

As I previously said, the proposed changes in the bill are intended to give iwi greater control over their assets and more direct influence over decisions made. By making changes to the settlement governance structures, transferring certain settlement assets to iwi, and simplifying the trading processes, we believe the bill can achieve this goal.

Proposals in the bill give iwi more direct control by changing the governance appointment framework for appointing Te Ohu Kai Moana directors. This is done by removing the current electoral college system and enabling iwi to directly appoint and remove the directors of Te Ohu Kai Moana on a one-vote-per-iwi basis. This shortens the distance between iwi and key decision-makers, empowering iwi to influence the appointment processes more directly. The bill also proposes to increase Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust and Te Wai Māori Trust maximum director limit from three to five with a majority quorum. It also changes the appointment term of directors from four years to three years and removes restrictions on the number of terms a director can serve. These proposals will make the governance arrangements consistent with the settlement entities and align with the standard corporate governance practice.

Another measure to give iwi greater rangatiratanga over their assets and deliver benefits to Māori is through the distribution of certain settlement shares to iwi. Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd (AFL) was established as part of the fisheries settlement. AFL was established with voting shares and income shares. A hundred percent of the voting and redeemable preference shares and 20 percent of the income shares were allocated to Te Ohu Kai Moana; the other 80 percent of the income shares were allocated directly to iwi. Under this change, all of AFL income shares, as well as redeemable preference shares that are currently held by Te Ohu Kai Moana, will become ordinary shares and be transferred to iwi. The voting shares will be cancelled. These changes will transfer benefits that Te Ohu Kai Moana receive from AFL into iwi control and provide iwi with direct control over the appointment and removal of AFL directors.

Consultation with iwi on these proposed changes was met with strong support. At the time of the review, iwi were split on the resolution relating to equal distribution of Te Ohu Kai Moana surplus funds to mandated iwi organisations (MIOs); 28 iwi voted in favour of equal distribution of funds versus 23 against. The exposure draft, released in August 2022, included a proposal to distribute funds equally amongst iwi regardless of iwi population size. This proposal is also known as Resolution 3. Almost all of the feedback received during this consultation related to Resolution 3, with a number of iwi submitting their strong opposition to the proposal. My officials only heard from one iwi who supported Resolution 3. Iwi who opposed Resolution 3 consider that equal distribution of funds would undermine the fisheries settlement and create inconsistencies with how funds are dealt with elsewhere in the Act. Following this feedback and further analysis and advice, Cabinet decided to remove the proposal to distribute surplus funds on an equal basis and instead distribute funds on a population basis. Minister Parker, on behalf of the Crown, communicated this decision to all iwi and to Te Ohu Kai Moana.

The bill also proposes to implement a compulsory levy model for Te Ohu Kai Moana that can be triggered in the future if required. MIOs can request a levy for any reason, or Te Ohu Kai Moana can request a levy if they are satisfied it is needed for them to carry out their duties. MIOs would need to approve a levy request by a simple majority vote. A levy would be charged proportionately, and any surplus levy funding would be returned proportionately.

The proposed amendments will also simplify trading processes for iwi wishing to sell quota assets within the Māori pool. Currently, iwi may only sell quota shares to other iwi or Te Ohu Kai Moana or its companies, known as the Māori pool. If iwi wish to sell quota assets to willing buyers within the Māori pool, they must meet a number of criteria under the Act, including gaining the approval of at least a 75 percent majority of those members of their iwi who are eligible to vote and offering the shares to other iwi who may wish to purchase them. These processes have the potential to be lengthy and onerous. The bill proposes to remove the current provisions relating to asset sales and replace it with a “willing buyer, willing seller” model while retaining these assets within the Māori pool.

In conclusion, it is great to see progress on this important kaupapa. I note that it has been quite some time since iwi developed and voted on these proposals, and it is important to iwi that these changes are implemented reasonably quickly. The proposals in the bill acknowledge Māori and iwi as kaitiakitanga and guardians of our oceans and will help ensure iwi have a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their fisheries assets and improved benefits for all Māori. The select committee process is very important, and I urge all New Zealanders with an interest in fisheries to have their say on the bill to ensure we get it right and protect our vast and diverse ocean ecosystems for generations to come. On that note, I commend the bill to the House.

The question is the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, look, it’s a pleasure to actually be speaking in support of this first reading of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries this evening has actually set out in considerable detail some of the technical aspects that the bill seeks to amend, and I’m not going to relitigate those this evening, because I think, as I said, the Minister’s set them out in reasonable detail, but there are a couple of issues that I do think we want to, as a House, at first reading, probably explore.

I want to start by focusing on the report-back date, the truncated, shortened three-month report-back date, for what the Minister, in his own words, has indicated is an important piece of legislation to iwi and to the broader fisheries sector. What’s been very apparent in my reading and research and conversations about this legislation is that it’s had a pretty long gestation. It’s a piece of legislation that has been within Māoridom, within the mandated iwi organisations, it’s been well discussed, there have been lots of hui, there has been a lot of debate, there’s been a lot of discussion, there’s been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, and it’s taken a long time. Now the Minister is saying, “Well, this needs to be rushed through the select committee process quickly.” Well, actually, that’s the Minister’s view, but the reason that the Minister wants to rush it through quickly, I suspect, is more to do with the bottleneck of legislative initiatives that the Government wants to get through before the election later this year, and very little to do with haste and speed that is being accorded it for other reasons. Iwi have been very patient in this process, waiting for it to come to the House for a first reading. It’s taken a very long time, and yet it is an important piece of legislation.

Now, I’m the first to admit that much of what is contained in the legislation is of a technical, governance nature that is—if I was to put a sort of a layperson’s light upon it, I would phrase them as, essentially, being housekeeping issues that improve the efficiency, that modernise the governance structure, that rearrange the electoral college rules and the way that the decision making is made for the mandated iwi organisations. It’s an acceptance, I think, that quite a lot of governance best practice has actually changed since the principal Act was first passed in 2004, and a lot more has changed since the original 1992 deed of settlement. So there’s nothing wrong with having an iterative, evolving, growing process of change that reflects best practice in terms of governance and management, and also the operation of the deed of settlement through the principal Act. To amend the Act is—well, actually, it was mandated in the 2004 Act that there should be a review after 11 years. That review, as the Minister said, was completed in 2015 and then subsequently, following the recommendations made in that independent review, there had been all this debate, discussion, and consultation amongst the interested and involved parties and groups.

Now, that’s all very good, but, actually, those groups have been incredibly patient waiting for the current Government to bring this legislation to the House. I’d like to know from the Minister, at some point as we progress this legislation through the Parliament, why it’s taken so long to get us to this point where we’re having a first reading tonight, because it seems to me that, actually, iwi and Te Ohu Kai Moana have been ready to get it done, to get the job done, quite some time ago—quite some time ago. In the meantime, because the Government’s had a very slow legislative agenda, what it’s meant is that some of the issues that the legislation seeks to resolve and remedy have just been put on the backburner—so issues relating to the surplus funds distribution, for instance.

Now, that is financially important to the mandated organisations. How those funds are distributed, what the criteria is, who makes the decisions, what the time frame is—those are all important things that have been delayed because of the Government’s slow legislative initiative in bringing this piece of legislation to the House. And then when, finally, the Government does bring the legislation to the House, they say, “Oh, no, no, no. It’s very important. We’ve got to do it fast. We’ve got to get it through select committee in three months. We’ve got to truncate the process.” Well, I don’t buy that. I think that, actually, that does a disservice to the mandated iwi organisations, it does a disservice to the spirit and mana of the original 1992 deed of settlement, and it does a disservice to the legislative requirement in the principal Act of 2004 that required a review to take place. That was done and discussed and debated and argued and tested, as is right and proper, amongst the organisations and people involved, but then sort of lay waiting on the legislative Order Paper for the Government to get their act together and finally bring it to the House tonight for first reading.

So the National Party will be supporting the bill at first reading because we think that, on balance, what we see makes sense. But we will be wanting to hear from submitters, not just from iwi but across the wider fishing sector, to hear their views, to hear their opinions. We want to have their input. And we don’t think that a truncated, shortened process does that select committee principle justice at all, and we actually think that that is a disservice to the whole process.

So, as I said, it’s not my intention to relitigate all the matters that the Minister went through in detail, but there are a number that are going to be significant. When this legislation is eventually passed, it’s going to give the iwi organisations better control, better understanding, and better involvement in the important decision-making, the commercial and fisheries decision-making that they have been imbued with through the original Fisheries Deed of Settlement back in 1992. And we’re not arguing that it doesn’t need to be updated, that it doesn’t need to be modernised—it does. Indeed, this proposed legislation provides for a further future review, and that’s a good thing. That’s a good thing because these are evolving entities, they are evolving organisations, and the fishery itself is evolving as well in terms of best practice and how it’s governed and what the best outcomes are, what the science is, what the technology is, and all those matters. Nothing is carved in stone in terms of a time frame about how things should be done. On this side of the House, we think that the basis for the original 1992 deed of settlement was a sound one and one that should be modernised, as is appropriate from time to time and is provided for in the in the principal Act and this piece of legislation in the future.

So, on that note, we on the National Party side are looking forward to participating actively in the select committee process, but we do have some questions that we want answered. And we’ll be looking forward to hearing from a wide range of submitters, and not just those that have agreed with the process—because the Minister made it clear that the decisions that are being proposed are not unanimously held by all in the mandated iwi organisations, that there is a variety of opinion and view about how decisions should be made, how the surplus funds should be distributed, and all those matters. We think that a full and proper select committee process would have been far more desirable, but we’ll be looking forward to participating at select committee. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. This is an exciting bill. Nothing in the contribution of the Hon Scott Simpson told us what was exciting in it. So let me inform the House about this bill which is designed to unlock—

Hon Scott Simpson: If it’s so exciting, how come it took so long?

ARENA WILLIAMS: —serious potential within the Māori economy—the $68 billion Māori economy, Scott Simpson. It’s an exciting time for the Government to be able to help the owners of these fishery assets, which make up between 30 percent and 50 percent of the Māori assets owned in New Zealand, to reach their potential, to ensure that we have modern governance arrangements for iwi and for Māori asset holders to engage and to actually have rangatiratanga over their assets, for people like me who are members of iwi to be closer to the decisions made by iwi about how those assets are used and how they are used to generate income for the benefit of those members—things like education grants, things like social wellbeing grants, things like iwi housing programmes that mean so much benefit practically for our communities, especially rural communities, like those in the Coromandel, the electorate of the Hon Scott Simpson.

I’m so excited about this. I’m excited because it’s time for the Government to make these changes which have been waiting since 2015 when we were not in Government. There has been extensive work that has gone on with iwi to make sure that these changes are going to be fit for purpose and are going to unlock the potential of those Māori assets, and we are comfortable now that we have got to that stage, and this is why we need to progress it.

I can assure all members of this House that the Māori Affairs Committee, of which I’m the deputy chair, is ready and willing to receive this piece of legislation. We’ve cleared the decks. The only other piece of substantive business that we have on is a briefing on Māori climate adaption, which I would welcome all members of the House to come and sit in on tomorrow morning. But this piece of legislation will be a priority.

Let me take the House through some of the issues within this bill that we will be focusing on when we have the privilege of engaging with the submitters on this. The first, in my mind, is the component in this bill that the Te Kawai Taumata electoral college system for appointing Te Ohu Kai Moana directors is removed and replaced with a new electoral system enabling iwi to directly appoint and remove Te Ohu Kai Moana directors on a one vote, one iwi basis. That change and the policy intent of that change is to ensure that members and people who have an interest within the iwi more broadly are closer to the decisions that are made about their assets. We want to make sure that, as committee members, we are comfortable that that change to the electoral system of those directors means that they are, essentially, appointed by the people who they are serving—that the people who they have in their mind as their work being of benefit to is always those members on the ground for whom they generate these profits and for whom they are acting as kaitiaki of these assets for in the future. We’ll be drilling into those questions.

The second, for me, is Te Ohu Kai Moana’s surplus funds, within this piece of legislation, being distributed to iwi, in accordance with a percentage specified for each iwi in column three of Schedule 3 in this bill. It’s important that the committee gets a good understanding of what the different options are there for the legislative tracks, what the different arguments were, and how the consultation process brought iwi to the table and heard those concerns around how those surplus funds should be distributed.

The third is that this bill would enable major transactions for Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd to require 75 percent of iwi majority as the voting threshold. The committee will need to be sure that that 75 percent threshold enables the kind of decisions that need collective buy-in to be made, while, at the same time, not prohibiting those decisions from being made unnecessarily. With Te Ohu Kai Moana no longer playing a governance role in Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, the change is required to make sure that iwi can take that over. And the policy intent here is that, again, iwi are making those decisions, iwi have rangatiratanga over it, but also that members of the iwi are closer to that decision-making process.

And the fourth thing is that Te Ohu Kai Moana is enabled to allocate distributions to any entity that has charitable status and is nominated by the mandating iwi organisation. That is intended to allow Te Ohu Kai Moana to distribute funds directly to charitable entities within the mandated iwi organisations or post-settlement governance entity structures without being liable for tax.

It’s important for the committee to consider from submitters the kinds of corporate entities that have been created since the 1992 settlement and then the 2004 Act, because those kinds of arrangements have changed and developed since that time. During the first settlements in 1995, those settlements often used the charitable entity as the parent entity and had other subsidiaries around a group structure. Nowadays, many corporate iwi structures use much more heavy-duty corporate structures but will have a charitable arm which they need to make distributions to from their fisheries assets. So the committee needs to be sure that this change enables modern governance entities to be able to receive those distributions and that we’re futureproofing it for whatever might arise in time if we make changes to things like limited partnerships and look-through companies.

The fifth thing that the committee will be considering is the process in itself. To engage in a process like this, the Government has gone through extensive consultation work. Te Ohu Kai Moana has done an incredible job of bringing people to the table, and we will be interested in how that work has been done.

With that, I just want to reiterate my call for members of this House to come to the Māori Affairs Committee—you will love it. It is a place where things are discussed collegially, where we share ideas, and where we interrogate legislation put before us—it’s great; come along.

It’s a pleasure to rise to speak on the first reading of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. Under the 1992 Fisheries Deed of Settlement, the Crown and Māori agreed to a full and final settlement of all Māori claims to commercial fishing rights. The Maori Fisheries Act 2004 set out a framework for the allocation and transfer of fisheries settlement assets to iwi, institutional arrangements, and a governance framework for managing fisheries assets for current and future generations of Māori.

It required an independent review of the settlement entities to be completed not later than the end of the 11th year after the commencement of the Act. An independent review was finalised in March 2015, recommending significant changes to the governance structure of the settlement entities and simplified processes for trading assets.

In accordance with the Act, Te Ohu Kai Moana undertook extensive iwi engagement, established two iwi working groups to develop a set of proposals from the review, consulted widely with iwi on the proposed changes, and held a series of meetings to pass resolutions. As a result of the review and consultation with iwi, Te Ohu Kai Moana recommended a suite of changes to the Act. The changes are intended to give iwi a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their assets, improve benefits to all Māori, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

As the speaker just before me, Arena Williams, mentioned, the Māori economy is something, I think, that we don’t hear enough about in this country, and it’s something that I think should be celebrated, because it has grown from about $16 billion over 20 years to $68.7 billion as at 2018, and it has notably considerably more matters and is on track to exceed more than $100 billion in assets by 2030. So it’s a part of New Zealand’s economy that is doing incredibly well, and I think that is something we should celebrate, and certainly fisheries is a key part of that. The Māori asset base in the primary sector of agriculture, fishing, and forestry make up about 34 percent of the total Māori asset base, so fisheries is a significant and important part of the Māori economy.

In terms of the intention of this bill to support a greater degree of rangatiratanga over these assets, I think that is a positive step and it is something, certainly, that is reflected in article 2—tuarua—of Te Tiriti o Waitangi—the Treaty of Waitangi. I’ve been reflecting on that section recently: “Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae”—which means the Queen of England effectively guarantees—“ki nga Rangatira,”—to the chiefs—“ki nga Hapu,”—to the subtribes—“ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani,”—to each individual person in New Zealand—“te tino rangatiratanga o ratou wenua”—of your land—“o ratou kainga”—of your homes, also your villages—“me o ratou taonga katoa.”—over all of your treasures, combined. So it’s useful to reflect on that as we look at the intention behind this bill.

As we go through this process, the National Party will be taking a keen interest in the select committee process and progress. We want to hear from submitters—all submitters—who wish to submit on this bill, and we’ll be listening closely to what they have to say. National wants to know from submitters what their view is on the alternative proposal that would see each iwi having one vote, irrespective of their size. The other proposal that we’re keen to hear on from submitters as well is what should occur in the future if more changes are required, will the provisions requiring review not sooner than five years after the current review only if at least 75 percent of mandated organisations agree a review is needed be adequate, and any other issues that arise. So the National Party will be keenly interested in what people have to say. We’ll be listening carefully to those submissions, because this does have some quite significant changes in terms of how matters are structured. Although it has gone through significant consultation, there are no doubt going to be various views on that, and we definitely want to hear from people in terms of what they have to say.

I should just note some of the key components of the amendments. Te Kawai Taumata electoral college system for appointing Te Ohu Kai Moana directors is removed and replaced with a new electoral system enabling iwi to directly appoint and remove Te Ohu Kai Moana directors on a one vote per iwi basis. The intention behind that is to shorten the distance between iwi and key decision-makers.

Te Ohu Kai Moana redeemable preference shares in Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd are required to be converted into ordinary shares and distributed to iwi. This change will provide iwi with full influence over key decisions regarding Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, as iwi will have direct control over the appointment and removal of Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd directors. Te Ohu Kai Moana’s surplus funds are to be distributed to iwi in accordance with the procedures specified for each iwi in column three of Schedule 3.

The bill introduces an ability to implement a compulsory levy model for Te Ohu Kai Moana that can be triggered in future, if required. The purpose of a funding levy proposal is to provide Te Ohu Kai Moana with enough funding, having regard to its likely other funding sources and reserves, to enable it to perform its functions and duties. The current Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd legislative dividend requirement is modified to allow shareholders to set it annually.

Major transactions for Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd will require a 75 percent iwi majority voting threshold. With Te Ohu Kai Moana no longer playing a governance role in Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, a change is required to enable iwi to take over this role. The maximum director limit for Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust and Te Wai Māori Trust is increased from three to five with a majority quorum. The appointment term of directors is changed from four years to three years and restrictions are removed on the number of terms that a director can serve.

Simpler trading processes have been developed for iwi wishing to sell quota assets within the Māori pool. This change will enable iwi to sell their settlement assets to a willing buyer within the Māori pool without notifying all members within the Māori pool and running a bidding process.

There’s also a requirement introduced for a future review of governance entities. Te Ohu Kai Moana is enabled to allocate distributions to any entity that has charitable status and is nominated by the mandated iwi organisation. This will allow Te Ohu Kai Moana to distribute funds directly to charitable entities within the mandated iwi organisation or post-settlement governance entities structures without being liable for tax.

The bill clarifies electoral provisions in mandated iwi organisations’ constitutions. The bill simplifies the process for recognising post-settlement governance entities as new mandated iwi organisations. Current restrictions on mandated iwi organisation directors being appointed as directors of the respective asset-holding companies are removed and the bill clarifies the definition of “freshwater fisheries”. There are also some amendments, including tohutō—macrons—on words in te reo Māori to reflect current orthographic conventions and some other changes there.

This is something that the National Party is pleased to support. As I said, we think it does make some significant but important changes that are intended to give iwi a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their assets and improving benefits to all Māori, reducing costs and reducing inefficiency, which are all things that the National Party is pleased to support. So, with that, I will just say that the National Party supports this bill and commends it to the House.

It pleases me to take a call on the first reading of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. As mentioned, the objective of the bill is to make sure iwi have greater degree of rangatiratanga over their fisheries assets, to improve benefits for Māori, reduce costs, and strengthen efficiencies.

Rangatiratanga upholds sovereignty and self-determination for whānau, hapū, and iwi. I have seen this in action at a flax-roots level, at home, through access to kai moana by uri o Te Awa Tupua, kāhui maunga ki Tangaroa [seafood by descendants of the Whanganui River, from the mountains to the sea]. This bill will go further to strengthening those benefits for uri across the motu.

I want to go back just a little and touch on the history by acknowledging Sir Archie Te Atawhai Taiaroa. He was the former chair of Te Ohu Kai Moana, the Māori Fisheries Commission; a commission board member from 1993; and a chair from 2006 to 2009. He and other leaders at the time were driven to putting the 700 million Māori fisheries resource to work on behalf of Māoridom. In the 1992 Fisheries Deed of Settlement, Crown and Māori settled claims to commercial fishing rights. The Maori Fisheries Act 2004 was established.

I support the invitation from my colleague and the chair Arena Williams to come to the select committee meetings. I look forward, as a member of that committee, to working on this bill on behalf of everyone, and I’d like to encourage Te Ao Māori to make those submissions. I look forward to reading those submissions. I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.

Tēnā koe. I’m pleased to take a short call on behalf of the Green Party, who will be supporting the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. I am not going to do what Joseph Mooney did and read the departmental disclosure statement into the Hansard, but that was a very comprehensive explanation of what was in the bill. This bill has been through a lot of debate, and I note that the former chair of Te Ohu Kai Moana, Jamie Tuuta, when he wrote to the then Minister Nathan Guy in August 2017 and provided the second report which was part of the review process, he said that Te Ohu Kai Moana wanted to ensure that the decisions made by iwi—because there had been a whole series of hui after the independent review by barrister Tim Castle—are reflected appropriately in the final legislation. He also said, “It is important that this legislation proceeds as quickly as possible within the Government’s legislative mandate.”

Now, I acknowledge that the Government has passed the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill, and that bill took quite a lot of time. I think that was seen as really important by iwi and, therefore, took priority over this bill. But the Green Party is very pleased that this bill has now come to the House, that it builds on the Fisheries Deed of Settlement, which, of course, we celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, that that whole fisheries settlement has provided for the development of fisheries interests to benefit Māori, and that, as the Minister noted, Māori collectively own around 40 percent of commercial fishing quota and related commercial fishing assets.

The principal Act provides for the fundamental building blocks of that settlement 30 years ago in terms of the way in which quota and settlement assets were to be allocated and the governance framework between iwi and the various fisheries settlement entities, and it provides for some restrictions on the sale of settlement assets. This bill is amending the principal Act to improve the governance arrangements, to give iwi rangatiratanga, to redistribute the shares of Te Ohu Kai Moana in Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, which, of course, owns 50 percent of the shares in Sealord.

One of the key things that the bill also does is provide for a levy to fund the work of Te Ohu Kai Moana. Increasingly, because the settlement assets have been distributed directly to iwi, the work of Te Ohu Kai Moana is around protecting the settlement and also doing advocacy and policy work on fisheries and marine management issues, and it’s had an increasing role here, presenting submissions to Government, including just this week on the Natural and Built Environment Bill, and it’s had quite a key role in issues such as the proposed Rangitāhua/Kermadecs Ocean Sanctuary. Te Ohu Kai Moana has, in terms of its four pou, one of them being tiaki—care—and its whole ethos of the concept of “te hā o Tangaroa kia ora ai tāua”—“the breath of Tangaroa sustains us”. So that is a recognition of our connectedness to Tangaroa, the importance of sustaining Tangaroa, and that is at the base of a lot of the policy work that Te Ohu Kai Moana is doing.

I noticed in a recent annual report that Te Ohu Kai Moana had talked about there being a significant meeting around the Rangitāhua/Kermadecs Ocean Sanctuary with iwi early in 2023. So I really look forward, given the delays in work on the sanctuary, to that meeting happening and to progress on something that has been before the House for quite a while.

But this bill is also really important in terms of the strengthening of rangatiratanga, the improvements in the governance relationships, the ability to have Te Ohu Kai Moana funded on an ongoing basis through the levy, if that funding is needed, and because of the redistribution of shares.

So I commend the bill to the House. The Green Party is only supporting it to select committee, because of this debate around whether any surplus assets are distributed in proportion to an iwi’s population, or equally, and recognise that the bill preserves the status quo of it being distributed proportionately but expect that there will be some submissions to select committee on this issue. But the Green Party is pleased to support the bill.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a privilege to stand on behalf of the ACT Party to speak to the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill in its first reading, and it will be interesting to see how it will be canvassed through the select committee process. It will be interesting to hear a lot of the submissions and what it speaks to and the rights and assets of Māori fisheries and their owners and rangatiratanga—forgive me if I pronounce it incorrectly—and what it means to Māori fisheries and their owners. I heard 50 percent was the ownership value of the assets inside Sealord; 40 percent of commercial fisheries in New Zealand is owned by Māoridom. That is tremendous when we are looking at the economic sustainability of those assets.

This bill speaks to a wonderful opportunity to bring the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill forward and what it means for futureproofing the industry. It amends the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 to give effect to the recommendations in Te Ohu Kai Moana, which conducted a review, I believe, on settlement entities. It was noted it would give iwi a greater degree of rangatiratanga—if my pronunciation is correct—over their assets and create the right legal framework to protect those assets and iwi in the future.

The bill was introduced to the House on 20 December 2022—so it’s recently been introduced to the House. And in the departmental disclosure statement, it was noted that under the 1992 deed of settlement—the fisheries settlement legislation—the Crown and Māori agreed to a full and final settlement of any claims to Māori and their said fisheries. The Maori Fisheries Act 2004 sets out that legal framework.

The Act required an independent review of the settlement entities to be carried out no later than 11 years following the commencement of the Act. Suffice it to say the world is a very different place after 11 years, and, by virtue, their assets and how they’re owned. An independent review was finalised in 2015 and it recommended significant changes in accordance with the Act of Te Ohu Kai Moana and how it was undertook and significant engagement with iwi.

They established two iwi working groups to develop and set out various proposals. As a result, Te Ohu Kai Moana recommended a suite of changes, as mentioned by many of the members of this House this evening, giving greater rangatiratanga over their assets to iwi and reducing cost and improving efficiency. And by virtue—as the Green member the Hon Eugenie Sage rightly noted prior—we spoke to the Fisheries Amendment Bill earlier and aquaculture to Māori assets and their owners. This is a welcome piece of legislation.

These principles and these changes include changes to governance, arrangements of the entities, mandated iwi organisations and their asset holding companies to take more control—what a good thing for a party of private property rights—this is certainly something we would advocate for here in the ACT Party; Te Ohu Kai Moana and Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd and the governance of those assets a greater say to allocate ordinary shares and be mandated to iwi organisations, nothing like having a say over how your own business is run, I would wager; simplification of the process of quota assets and ordinary shares within the pool of fisheries settlement and those commercial entities.

It’s been referred to in the regulatory impact statement of 22 June 2021, prepared by the Ministry for Primary Industries, that the costs and benefits, which are noted as suiting both the Crown and Māori asset owners, iwi asset owners—and these people would be the main beneficiaries of this new proposed legislation—create greater alignment between iwi and their commercial operation and improve entities’ operational efficiency by removing restrictions that no longer remain fit for purpose.

Based on that, I think it’s currently a good piece of legislation. It warrants much further investigation through a select committee process. I’m sure there will be some—it has been previously noted in the House tonight—that will raise concerns, but by virtue of supporting it to that process, I can only think that we will see better outcomes for Māori, for their assets, and futureproofing for their business model going forward. ACT will support this piece of legislation through the first reading. Thank you very much.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. I’m delighted to stand and speak in support of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. It’s an exciting bill. It’s a bill that’s overdue. The regulatory impact statement says very clearly that everyone involved is keen. I commend it to the House.

Tēnā tātou, tēnā tātou e te Whare. Kei te tangi tonu ki ngā mate o te wā. I takoto poto nei a Georgina ki runga ki tā tātou marae mō tētahi wā poto, nō reira, tangi atu ki a ia, tangi atu ki te nui o rātou kua riro atu ki te pō.

[Greetings everyone, greetings to the House. I continue to grieve the dead of this time. Georgina lay for a short time at our marae, and so I grieve for her and the many others who have passed away.]

I just want to acknowledge the “Māoris” in the gallery today and Te Ohu Kai Moana and the hard work that they’ve been doing to be the custodians of this particular kaupapa. We stand in support of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill. This bill makes changes to the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 to give effect to the recommendations of Te Ohu Kai Moana, which conducted a review of the settlement entities, the changes intended to give iwi a greater degree of rangatiratanga over their assets and prove benefits to all Māori, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

Nō reira, e te Heamana, koutou te poari, koutou ngā kaimahi o Te Ohu Kai Moana, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. Ka aroha nei tātou e ruku nei ki roto i tēnei kaupapa. Mai te wā i ngā mātua tīpuna kāore i konei i tēnei kei te hoki atu ngā mahara.

[And so to the chairman, to the board, and to the workers of Te Ohu Kai Moana, greetings to you all. I have sympathy for us all, diving into this issue. My thoughts are taken back to the time of our predecessors who are not with us at this time.]

So we absolutely strongly support this bill. We acknowledge the support of Te Ohu Kai Moana for this legislation and thank them for participating in this Crown review to restore rights to iwi. Giving individual iwi greater say over their quota will recognise kaitiaki relationships and help restore fisheries and the moana. The current quota system pits our people against each other, unfortunately, and it fails to protect our fisheries from commercial exploitation by those who are not part of our kaupapa. You know, for a long time—and I know from an iwi that has been handcuffed by the recognised iwi organisation to get acknowledgment for the mandated iwi organisation and to access the funding for smaller iwi. You know, we found it very difficult in the space of the calculations with the inshore coastline and also the deep sea, which is based on population. And you’ve got some disparities between iwi who have a big coastline but have a smaller population. And so I hope that in the select committee process, we’re able to find some equal processes where those with huge coastlines and little population get greater access to the resource, because we know there are many iwi who have no coastline but have huge populations that will benefit out of the changes in this particular bill.

And so that’s the big thing for the Te Paati Māori tēnei wā. Other than that, we are totally supportive. We’re not going to go through and read line by line through the legislation, but we will just say that this will allow us to remove the democracy of the way we deal with things and move things to a more tikanga-based process, a more mana-enhancing process, and, hopefully, for those smaller iwi, a greater say in regards to their moana.

I just want to say I sat for a brief time on Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, and I’m really proud of the mahi we did at that particular time. I think we were the catalyst for a great committee. We went over to Iceland. We looked over a few kaupapa there that really helped look at how we could increase productivity with our catch by ensuring that we used all of the fish in terms of the bycatch, and we also looked at initiatives with the new netting, which allowed smaller fish to escape and to hold on to the big fish. But the biggest thing I’m proud of in terms of the Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust [Bell rings]—oh, there’s that bell—was the education grants and the education access that we gave to many of our rangatahi who are interested in this particular space. So kei te mihi atu rā ki a koutou. [So I acknowledge you all.]

I look forward to the discussions and the submissions in the Māori Affairs Committee, and I’ll look at a greater, I think, equality in regards to some of those smaller iwi who for a long time have been aggrieved by the actual process of the onshore and the deep-sea measures that we use in terms of the way we distribute that resource.

Nō reira, e hika mā, [Therefore, friends,] we support this bill, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to it tonight. Kia ora tātou.

Members, with thanks for the constructive debate which we’ve had, particularly in this evening session since dinner, the House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 10 p.m.