Ririnui Mita: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Ririnui Mita: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6429] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 I took an earlier call and made a pretty accurate statement that perhaps from time to time the Minister of Local Government was involved in political mischief. I say that because I listened to an earlier call that he took and he raised the issue—it was an issue for him but not necessarily for the people of Auckland particularly Maori—that when it comes to determining tangata whenua seats and determining Maori seats in terms of representation there is a problem. Which way does one go? I find that to be nothing more than mischief. If we had used the same argument in the Bay of Plenty in 2001 we may never have resolved the issue. It was simply not an issue for us at that time in the Bay of Plenty. It was a matter Maori would resolve as usual by way of a number of hui around the rohe in this case Waiariki. To use what I call a wedge to separate Maori from Maori is nothing more than political mischief. 
My colleague Phil Twyford raised some interesting points about the history of Auckland particularly in relation to Ngati Whatua and the trials and tribulations they have had to endure since colonisation. In particular during the 1970s and particularly in 1978 when Ngati Whatua were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands at Orakei or Bastion Point as it is more commonly known. The very point that Ngati Whatua have been trying to stress throughout this whole debate is that they do not want a repeat of Bastion Point when it comes to the very small assets they have remaining in their possession. Su’a William Sio raised the point about who the people of Auckland are and he highlighted who they were. He made the point that their voice must be heard on the Auckland super-city council. There is no guarantee—regardless of the attempts by the Minister of Local Government to convince the House that there will be one—that at any time once this bill is enacted Maori will have a voice at the top table and not the bottom tables that have been referred to by the Minister and National members. That becomes a very very important issue. 
I go back again to the experiences of the Bay of Plenty during the discussions in 2000 and 2001 around the Environment Bay of Plenty legislation to ensure Maori representation. It was important to take time. Environment Bay of Plenty did take time; it took 9 years before the legislation came to this House as I said earlier on. It was important to ensure that all groups were contacted and they were given the opportunity to air their views. Earlier on I highlighted the tribal confederations of Mataatua mai i Nga Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau Te Arawa mai i Maketu ki Tongariro. I also made mention of the interests of Tainui Horouta and Takitimu on the peripherals of that area. We see as I mentioned earlier on that when we look at Maori through the eyes of who they are ancestrally we get a completely different picture in terms of the value they bring to the top table. We get a different picture about the passion they have for the assets the natural resources and the environment of their areas. I do not think that at any time in the past any council have been able to say that Maori were at the top table making their concerns clear in terms of the matters I have raised today. 
The chair of Environment Bay of Plenty John Cronin said it is working very well. He has at no time said the Maori members of Environment Bay of Plenty deal only with Maori issues specifically. They do not. In fact if one goes to the Environment Bay of Plenty website one will find that those Maori members head a number of subcommittees for Environment Bay of Plenty such as the environment committee the finance committee and are involved in a whole lot of other committees. That is at the council level but they also play a very important role on the ground in communities making contact with the people who put them there to represent their views. That is what should happen in respect of Auckland City.