Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): Tēnā koe tēnei ka tū ake ki te tautoko i ngā mihi ki a koutou kua tae mai nei ki te whakarongo ki tēnei o ngā whitiwhiti kōrero ngā taupatupatu Ngāi Tahu ka nui te mihi atu.[Thank you I stand to support the greetings to you who have come here to listen to this discussion this debate; Ngāi Tahu many greetings to you.]I stand in support of the intent of the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill sponsored by the local member my colleague Rino Tirikatene to seek the support of Ngāi Tahu representation on the Canterbury Regional Council. Interesting were the comments made by the previous speaker Jacqui Dean but not surprising. I too want to go over a bit of history. Around about 1996 Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu prior to their settlement sought the recognition of their governance structure; and within that governance structure moving from a trust board into preparation for the settlement at the time mandating Papatipu Rūnanga was a way of formalising the way in which Ngāi Tahu saw itself moving forward into the future prior to going down the settlement pathway. The reason why I cite that is because when we consider the maturity with which—over a long period of time; since 1996 until this time—Ngāi Tahu have manifested their aspirations of kaitiakitanga we have seen across both the region and certainly within the Canterbury area a sophisticated tribal governance system that is able to articulate itself and make contributions in ways that have been to the benefit not only of the people of Ngāi Tahu but certainly of the region of Ngāi Tahu.We have heard through the recent experience of Environment Canterbury (ECan)—and actually now their advocacy for Ngāi Tahu representation on their regional council—all the benefits that have emanated from that type of advocacy and more importantly that relationship and the ability of Ngāi Tahu themselves to exercise high-level principles about good stewardship for the region for the benefit of all New Zealanders—of all New Zealanders. So the things that we see happening down in Canterbury have been because of a level of maturity that has gotten people over some very superficial arguments that will emerge in this House today on this bill.I remember a time when our previous colleague the Hon Mita Ririnui brought into the House a local bill for representation on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. That was a vociferous debate and it was toxic. But I can say now in retrospect that the Bay are actually in the same position of saying with the representation of iwi in their area—and there are far more iwi there to have to try and navigate through than in Ngāi Tahu—it is still a good thing.But here's the thing: the Resource Management Act—and the Hon Nick Smith knows this—at its heart in terms of principles for Māori has kaitiakitanga right in there. If you're going to have an approach where iwi representation could be mandated with the level of impact that we could see for the benefit of the environment it would be in the Canterbury area for a whole range of reasons. I can't see why the Opposition are not willing to support something that in my mind certainly and certainly in the sponsoring member's mind is an idea whose time has come.When I first came into this role as Minister of Local Government I was heartened by the early meetings that I had with the regional council about all the examples of where the contribution of Ngāi Tahu within the ECan decision-making was seen to be a huge positive contribution into the way that they were approaching things right from the chairperson to members on the council and in fact the Ngāi Tahu members themselves who are participating. They've remained quite humble on this front because I think notwithstanding the outcome on this bill they are an enduring contribution to the way in which environmental issues in the Canterbury area will either progress or not.But here's again a point to be made: when you have iwi sitting at the table and the opportunity is here now then at the front end you're including iwi in a decision-making process that doesn't get frittered away from the priorities of environmental outcomes. In fact you're going to get a consolidation of effort towards long-term sustainability objectives that are at the heart of the decision-making process for regional councils.I'm somewhat disappointed by the views coming across from the Opposition; not surprised. But this is certainly an idea whose time has come.