Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:631;Page:3637] 
11.  
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
 to the  
Minister of Maori Affairs 
: Is he the Minister responsible for the Maori Purposes Bill introduced on Tuesday 13 June? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 Yes. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What are the technicalities being rectified by the amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: There are several technicalities in relation to the retrospective decisions that need to be made in relation to a whole lot of other issues and the member knows that. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. If I knew I would not have asked the question. What about an answer? 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: If the member is now implying it is an undertaking of the Opposition members that they never ask questions if they know the answer to them that is going to be a very interesting matter to consider in the future. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I ask members to settle down. We are nearly through question time but I cannot hear members if they keep laughing and chattering amongst themselves. We have a point of order where I think Mr Brownlee is asking that the Minister further addresses the question. Would the Minister like to further address it. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Certainly the bill is about time limits on historical claims and that party knows about that. It is about retrospective validation of court orders. It is about changes to the Maori Land Court and changes to the Maori Fisheries Act and the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act. I am sorry that the member did not know that. 
Dave Hereora 
: What is the objective of the Maori Purposes Bill? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The Maori Purposes Bill is an omnibus piece of legislation. It provides tidy-up amendments that do not warrant enactment as separate amendment Acts. It can also validate and authorise matters of a private or public nature relating to Maori. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: How many cases did Judge Norman F Smith make decisions on or preside over without proper delegation or a warrant and why is he so keen to validate his decisions against the rights of those who lost those cases? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Judge Smith is an experienced judge and it is recognised that he is able to make those decisions. There were 88 decisions in that sense and I remind that member very clearly that this issue is not just of this year. This is not the first time that legislation has been introduced to validate decisions made in the Maori Land Court. I understand that the National Government introduced legislation in 1991 to validate the decisions of deputy judge Ashley McHugh. Does the member remember that? 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Does he agree that a court with no right or warrant to do so can or should deprive people of their customary or ancestral rights; if not why is he advancing retrospective legislation to do just that? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is for exactly the same reason that you lot did. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Speaker is not involved in this matter. Would the Minister rephrase his answer and maybe add to it a little. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: As those members do understand past Government history I say it is for the same reason that the National Government did that in the 1990s. They should ask John Luxton or ask Mr Kidd. I was going to say they should ask Mr Tau Henare but he did not do much. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. The question related to the Minister’s own view of things. For him to simply turn round and say that last time we were in Government we operated a similar shonky sort of policy that had to be fixed up after we went out of office is not acceptable. I want to know whether he thinks it is right and fair for people to have had their rights deprived by a court that had no authority. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: This Government is about putting wrongs right. It certainly is about changes in the court and ensuring that the decisions are put beyond doubt and not left there wobbling like you people left them. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Does he have confidence in the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court now that he knows the chief judge has not even understood the law that gives his court the authority to act? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: This issue goes back some time. Yes. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can he tell the House why it is a necessity in this day and age to put an extra six judges into the Maori Land Court and can he be confident that the current chief justice of the Maori Land Court now that his appalling record of administration is exposed is capable of handling such a large court? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It has been a pleasure certainly to be part of this Government over the last 6 years. The Maori fisheries legislation and the settlement of the aquacultural issues means that there is a lot more work. If those people understood the better side of the economy—that Maori are taking their rightful place—they would know that is what this business is about. There is a lot more business about us going forward not backwards or downwards as that party would want us to be. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. That question was entirely about the extra judges and the confidence that the Minister may have in the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court. He may want to say that regular appearances in court by Maori are part of the progress this Government wants for them but that does not actually address the question that was asked of him. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Could the Minister amplify his answer please. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I have the utmost faith in the judiciary of this country—as a New Zealander but firstly as a Maori. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. Given that the Maori Purposes Bill seeks to validate decisions made without legal mandate does that mean the Minister supports the Native Land (Validation of Titles) Act of 1893 which Moana Jackson has described as “validating the illegal acquisition of Maori land”; if so why? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: This Government is about putting things right. Certainly I respect a lot of the things that Moana—[ 
Interruption 
] I am so sorry that we have some trolls in this House; they are in the wrong water. Certainly there needs to be some correction in these courts. Some people want to lock Maoridom and believe that Maori are not there and we are not about that. I do not agree with Moana’s point at the end of where he is. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Will the Minister carry out extensive consultation with whanau hapu iwi and Maori organisations given that this bill has a significant impact on Maori or will that be considered a tedious and tiresome exercise? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Yes and I agree with Dr Sharples when he said in August 2005: “It is in the country’s best interests that we move forward in these claims and the issues in this proposed bill and it is settled as fast as possible to remove the negativity.”