Mahuta Nanaia: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mahuta Nanaia: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 15 May 2008. Volume:647;Page:16046. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Customs) 
: 
 A tuatahi tino mihi rawa atu ki a koutou Ngati Tuwharetoa tae atu ki Te Moana o Taupo-Nui-a-Tia hoki mai ki te nehenehe he nui nga whanaunga. Tenei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa e whakarongo mai nei ki tenei o nga korero i te ra nei. 
[ 
Firstly I really acknowledge you of Ngati Tuwharetoa including the Great Lake of Tia and the forest where there are many relationships. Greetings also to all those listening in to this debate today 
.] 
I firstly thank my colleague Mark Burton who ceded his time to me so that I could make a small contribution. I know that as the local MP for Taupo he would have wanted to acknowledge the importance of what we are doing today in terms of his own electorate. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that the interests of Taupo and certainly those of the Ngati Tuwharetoa people have been met. So I thank my colleague very much. 
In the second instance I want to pick up on previous comments that to some extent were very uncharitable. The fact is that some of this legislation starts to advance issues that are positive for Maori— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Guilty conscience. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: I say to Mr Henare that I think some of his comments were uncharitable. The member knows as well as I do that by increasing the number of members on the Waitangi Tribunal we are providing far greater scope for those outstanding claims to be heard. The member knows the amount of work that occurs within the tribunal. By increasing the number of members we are increasing the depth of the pool of people who can sit and hear these particular claims. I am a bit disappointed that such uncharitable remarks were made. 
Mr Finlayson makes the point that many settlements were started by National and finished by Labour. All those settlements were unequivocally voted for by Labour but the same cannot be said about National. People need to read the written record and to understand that that is the sad situation that we are in. National may have started those settlements but it did not vote for all of them. The point I want to push in terms of the conscience of the National Party is that at this stage about 30 groups have signed up to approvals in principle. The Minister of Maori Affairs and the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Michael Cullen have continued along the path of trying to ensure that the tribes that want to conclude their Treaty settlements are in a position to do so. There are 30 groups in that position and all those claims have been started by Labour. We want to finish them and we as a Government will support them unequivocally. That is really important. 
My contribution today is in the nature of making some brief remarks on the issues surrounding the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Amendment Bill. I am heartened to hear comments being made across the House that this legislation does not intend to determine tribal boundaries. It is important that when people read the legislation alongside the  
Hansard 
 they see that members have unequivocally clarified that Parliament does not intend to rewrite tribal boundaries. Those matters are best left to iwi to determine in their own time at their leisure and hopefully in a spirit of goodwill amongst themselves. It is their business. That is a clear statement made in this House. 
The other point that urged me to say something is a communication I received from Pipi Barton that makes an outlandish claim which must be recorded in the House. She asserted: “We would like to suggest that the lack of interest by Te Puni Kokiri officials to investigate the concerns of Ngati Hikairo is politically motivated. With the change that has occurred through the realignment of electoral boundaries for the Maori seats formerly secure Labour voters within the Ngati Maniapoto rohe are no longer able to vote for Nanaia Mahuta and will be looking for alternatives. Labour is using this opportunity through this proposed legislation to secure themselves brownie points with Ngati Maniapoto voters.” She is wrong she is misinformed and she is out of touch. That is not the intention of this bill at all. The people from Maniapoto have asked for it for a very practical reason. The marae that will be affected by there being an additional regional Maori committee member on the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board are Mokai Kainga Rakaunui Tokopiko Mokoroa and Te Mahoe. What are the practical effects of their interests being represented on the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board? 
There are some very local benefits. They want to consolidate their interests as marae. They want local outcomes to be advocated in the interests of those marae for the benefit of their people whether the issue is the surrounding Kawhia Harbour or the development pressures that are currently occurring in Kawhia itself. They want to consolidate themselves and to advocate as a group. We should not lose sight of that. If we look at what is happening back home on the ground we see that Nga Tai o Kawhia Regional Management Committee has been able to better advocate in terms of what is happening in the harbour. In time we will see it continue to advocate for the better management of what is happening in terms of fisheries and Kawhia Harbour developments. It has been able to empower local people to have a say and to advocate with the local council on development consents being lodged for the area. It is not quite sorted yet but we are seeing a coming together of marae that want to express their concerns about and interests in developments in that area and I support that. 
So I was concerned when I received that communication. Again it is wrong and it is misinformed. I am quite happy to talk to Miss Pipi Barton about that at a future point in time. 
The other thing that I want to ensure is that we highlight the continued opportunities of the confirmed agreement with Tuwharetoa. I think it is a positive step forward. It absolutely confirms the nature of the interest of Tuwharetoa in their lake. It clarifies their ongoing relationship with it—there is no doubt about that. It is a good step forward. That is all from me. 
Ki a koe te Minita tena koe mo to mahi hapai i enei o nga kaupapa kei waenganui i a matou. No reira tena koutou katoa. Kia ora. 
[ 
To you Minister I acknowledge your role in fostering these proposals amongst us. Greetings to you all as well. Thank you 
.]  
Bills read a third time. 
Waiata