Turia Tariana: Marine Reserves (Consultation with Stakeholders) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Turia Tariana: Marine Reserves (Consultation with Stakeholders) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3163] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe tena koutou te Whare. The Maori Party will support this bill in line with our principle that we believe in the right of people to have a say. In its purpose and intention the commitment to amend the Marine Reserves Act to ensure early consultation in the preparation of any application for the declaration of a marine reserve is positive. We encourage any opportunity for people to participate and for voices to be heard. 
Consultation is a key concept in honouring the Treaty relationship. I want to be clear that when we talk of consultation we do not mean the types of consultation exercises that may occur with interest groups such as fisher people surfers skiers tourism operators and so on. I want to say in this House that mana whenua are not an interest group. They are the Treaty partner and therefore consultation on the preparation of a marine reserve application must always be inclusive of any group that represents mana whenua interests. Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides for the exercise of kawanatanga while actively protecting the tino rangatiratanga of mana whenua in respect of their natural physical and spiritual resources. In order to exercise governance and protect and preserve the full authority of mana whenua consultation must be respected and an honourable process must be followed. 
A considerable body of case law has developed on the principles of consultation. The leading case is the Court of Appeal case  
Wellington International Airport 
 v  
Air New Zealand 
 and there is also the more recent  
Land Air Water Association 
 v  
Waikato Regional Council 
 decision. That case specifically discusses the principles of tangata whenua consultation. Although I am sure all members know those two foundation court decisions intimately I ask them to let me recap. In its essence consultation demands that the parties involved act reasonably and in good faith. In practice that means entering into the process without having first made up one’s mind about every aspect of one’s position. It means having respect for the issues and the people with whom one is consulting and not just doing the numbers. 
From the Maori Party’s point of view any proposal that stops politicians from running roughshod through communities has to be a good thing. This bill will put a process in place by which—through consultation—the applicant must explore ways in which the application may avoid or mitigate adverse effects on existing uses of the area of the proposed marine reserve. That may rectify or avoid such disasters as have occurred for mana whenua in the past such as in June 2005 when the Minister of Conservation Chris Carter announced the establishment of a marine reserve off Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf with scant regard for the interests of the mana whenua. 
The taking of Kaikoura Island and the Ngati Wai islands represented the very worst of processes possible in the setting up of marine reserves without consultation. Ngati Wai and Ngati Rehua exercise mana whenua over the north-east coastal area and Ngati Maru also has an interest in the north-east coast and marine areas. Those iwi were not uninterested parties. They were groups that had offered an alternative strategy that provided a partnership approach for marine protection. Ngati Wai was committed to working with the Government in the interests of marine protection and had also suggested a co-management approach. Instead the rug was literally pulled out from under its feet and it was forced subsequently to take action in the High Court to challenge the decisions from on high about offshore islands and marine reserves. 
We must not cut across mana whenua rights. We must hear the voices of those people and we must stop the relentless theft of property rights. If this bill can provide a stop to that process in time to really address Treaty-based rights we will all be doing well. The Maori Party will support this bill going to the select committee in order to ensure appropriate representation of and input from mana whenua in decision making and that their rohe is provided for.