Flavell Te Ururoa: Palmerston North Showgrounds Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Palmerston North Showgrounds Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:17150] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou kia ora tatou te Whare. I listened to the Hon Steve Maharey talking about other speakers this evening and their association with particular places and I am pleased to say that I will tell the truth. Up until a week ago I can say that my association is limited to scoring a try from about 20 metres out in the middle of the No. 2 paddock and playing on the No. 1 paddock when I was a young fella and from memory I think I set up about two tries as well not that we will dwell too much on that. My second association is with the Matatini festival which Steve Maharey will know took place at the beginning of the year in February and that was national kapahaka time. All the main groups of the country headed to the arena in Palmerston North to participate in the Matatini kapahaka festival. So I think it is a pretty good association: rugby kapahaka—what else can one add to that? 
We know that at the kapahaka festival about 35000 people were drawn to the arena I suppose overwhelmed with pride about their indigenous culture and arts. When it came down to doing a little bit of research on the bill I came across another association with this place which others—not that we have had many speakers—may or may not know about and it is quite important. 
What I would like to explain to the House is that Arena Manawatu for those who did not know was also the marshalling spot for the Maori Battalion before it went overseas. There are a number of photos around that show that that is where basically people would go to gather our people; and indeed any visitor to the showgrounds today will pass by the Maori Battalion Memorial Hall directly opposite the park. So that is an important association. 
This bill in its most simple form is about transferring the management and control of the showgrounds land from the current board to the Palmerston North City Council as alluded to by Mr Maharey. In essence it is pretty straightforward. We know from our members throughout Manawatu that the Palmerston North City Council and the Manawatu District Council have been working more closely together sharing services and promoting joint events and that is all pretty good. But as an independent Maori voice in this Parliament we are always committed to finding out a little bit more about what the influences and impacts are of any legislation on mana whenua. 
What we have found out is that the Palmerston North City Council has undertaken public consultation on the changes and during that process it appears that there were no submissions that were received in opposition. So that is a pretty good start. 
The Maori liaison officer of the council Mr Todd Taiepa told us that there has been public consultation process on this whole issue given that it is such a major strategic asset. We went further and talked with representatives of both Rangitane and Ngati Kauwhata about this bill. Rangitane is happy for the bill to proceed and also accepted the wisdom of maintaining sports recreation and the like in one centre namely the Arena Manawatu while focusing rural and agricultural activities such as the A and P shows and others at another site in Feilding at Manfeild Park as Mr Maharey also talked about. 
This of course is where it becomes a little bit more complicated because as Ngati Kauwhata would tell us the Crown record on Manfeild Park is not exactly exemplary. We in the Maori Party came into this House in late 2005 and throughout 2006 put the case for Ngati Kauwhata to be included on the representation for mana whenua on the Manfeild Park Trust board—not a major ask one would think yet it did not actually happen. The thing is that we know Ngati Kauwhata is continuing with its request for representation. We know that it has put to the Waitangi Tribunal the question about membership on the Manfeild Park Trust electoral college. We know also that it is pursuing its claims to lands at Manfeild Park through the Treaty settlement process including Wai 1461 the Rangitikei-Manawatu Block with Ngati Raukawa and other iwi. 
So all we would ask is that in this new bill the Palmerston North Showgrounds Act Repeal Bill more care is taken towards ensuring that all relevant iwi are indeed satisfied with the outcomes. The key thing for us is that specific efforts are made to engage with iwi and that the terms of that engagement are determined together with iwi themselves. It is not just about talking with tangata whenua about cultural matters and matters of design it is about the environmental concerns related to this land. It is all about the best use of our economic assets for the well-being of all people who access this resort. It is all about kaitiakitanga and a sense of responsibility and ownership that tangata whenua hold for any land entrusted through the generations to their care. So we will support this bill at first reading in a spirit of optimism which we trust will enable full consultation to occur.