Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): I'm glad to follow that member who has just resumed his seat Lawrence Yule from Tukituki because what I was listening for was: what would they do? What would they do to unlock the economic potential in underutilised Māori land?Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki: They've done nothing.Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: Nothing—that's exactly right. They've done nothing. But here we have this Minister in this bill talking about unlocking and allowing Māori land that has accumulated years of rates to participate in the economic gain to bring benefits to the region—to themselves and to the regions to this nation.As a member of a large area of Māori freehold land it is important that we on this side of the House explore the options for all Māori land owners but these ones that the Minister has outlined are those that can't even get to the first step. We are as the Minister outlined making amendments to the ratings Act to ensure Māori land owners who for whatever reason over many years have accumulated rates and do want to participate can unlock the potential in it. But I listened to that side because essentially what that side is saying is we don't care about rate remission or coming up with solutions to enable Māori land to develop wherever they are. That's what they're saying to our people throughout the country: they don't care.This bill as the Minister outlined is actually addressing the very issue that Māori land owners both when we were reviewing when they had the ture whenua and now that we've had te ture whenua about their right to participate—and rates have been for a long year an inhibitor to them participating. So this is what this bill is essentially doing. It's allowing certain tools under the ratings legislation of the local government bill to ensure that those that have Māori land blocks that are non-rateable—or removing rates on underused Māori land by providing powers to the chief executive.Now that member talked about a very progressive council the Hastings District Council that he used to lead once upon a time but what I couldn't get was if Hastings can apply—and they do apply and some other progressive councils do apply—then what's the problem with legislating it so there is an even application of rates remission on Māori land? What's wrong with that? That's not inequitable; that's actually smart right? That's actually smart. So that is the proposition under this bill that the Minister is presenting to the House. It is a way in which we can like I said unlock the potential in Māori whenua. It is a very complex set of arrangements in terms of unlocking Māori land but we see this bill as part of the Minister's wider Māori land reforms—i.e. the changes in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act the whenua Māori pūtea that the Hon Shane Jones has made available under the Provincial Growth Fund.Thirty percent of Māori freehold land is in my electorate of Te Tai Rāwhiti so the rating issue is a very real burden for many of them. I heard the former speaker talk about Well if we give it to them why can't we give it to others?" The reality is that for a lot of Māori land we're the last cab in the rank when it came to unlocking land particularly around access to water—and he did mention that. He did mention water. All that we're trying to do with this bill—that the Minister is trying to do—is show a commitment from this side around the utilisation and the potential of Māori land that that side has never addressed through this bill. This is what this bill is doing and I'm excited that we are bringing this up as I said as part of what the Minister has said in her wider Māori land reforms.I know that in terms of the point she made around abandoned land one of my councils—and I've got 10 councils throughout my electorate but one of my councils—has historically put abandoned Māori land up for sale—abandoned Māori land for sale. So this bill is addressing that particular issue by ruling that out. I've got to say for what little land is in Māori possession which is the 1.4 million hectares—Marama Davidson: Yeah the last bits left.Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: That's right. This side of the House are making a stance: that we need to protect what little Māori freehold land we have—not only protect it but in this bill enable its development economically. So I'm really pleased that the Minister has presented this bill. I'm looking forward to it coming to the Māori Affairs Committee. But more importantly if that side had voted for it it would've been interesting to hear them expand on the bill which I have yet to see and hopefully some of those members will get up on their feet and say what they would do around unlocking Māori economic land. I commend this bill to the House."