Flavell Te Ururoa: Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:2979] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou. I start by saying that the Maori Party has a particular interest in the commitment demonstrated by Te Haahi Weteriana o Aotearoa towards what it describes as cooperative ventures with other churches and indeed its stand on a couple of issues. In a landmark conference in 1983 I am told the Methodist Church reaffirmed the priority to the nation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a covenant that established Aotearoa. It was written into its constitution that the Treaty provides the basis of a power-sharing partnership and is to guide the church in its mission in this land. 
So it is that when I come to the Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill I think about that commitment to form a close association between mana whenua and the Methodist Church. It is a relationship of goodwill and faith which we expect to see expressed in the redistribution of trust funds and the processes are described in this bill. 
This bill is very much a statement of the times. It is consistent with other legislative changes that place emphasis on simplicity and clarity rather than having the overly complex layering of terms and provisions that was a feature of earlier bills. This bill tries to make it easier to amend Methodist trusts that have charitable purposes. This is a solid goal and it is worth supporting in terms of the support it will be able to provide to communities in order to advance educational aspirations eliminate poverty and work towards whanau ora. Making the process easier has been an object of other legislation—private bills which other members have talked about that were put forward on behalf of the Presbyterian Church and the Anglican Church. So it would be only right that this bill passes through without too many hitches as well. 
About a year ago I was fortunate to travel up to a very large town called Ruatahuna somewhere in the middle of the Urewera Forest where the Presbyterian Church was to return land to the Tuhoe nation. How that church really got there in the middle of the Tuhoe nation is an interesting history that was spoken about that day. Pakeha families indeed formed a close relationship with the people up there who were mainly of the Ringatu faith. So it was a great day of celebration which I think was very much along the lines of this bill and it set the scene in terms of a different relationship between the hahi and mana whenua. 
The other important aspect of this legislation concerns the changes to charitable trust funds and to properties relating to Methodist orphanages or children’s homes. This bill will now make it easier to use that funding in a more appropriate way for the care of children and young people. Over the course of time care is no longer routinely provided by orphanages or children’s homes so this bill responds in ways that we hope will achieve the broader outcome of whanau ora. 
These dual goals—the capacity to amend Methodist trusts and the provisions relating to orphanages or children’s homes—allow the church to move with the times and adapt to new processes. We support that of course but there is one final rider that we would like to place on this bill. The amendments proposed mean that the trust property is disposed of to another similar organisation with a similar charitable purpose. This is what we will obviously be keeping a keen eye on in respect of the developments of this bill. 
As part of the commitment to Treaty justice consultation was held with tangata whenua within the church—namely through the Te Taha Maori arm which supports the bill. We trust therefore that both the parties in the covenant relationship will look carefully at the case when trust funds become freed up for distribution. In particular we would hope that where the land given was originally from Maori sources and where it is proposed that this land be disposed of then the tumuaki of Te Taha Maori will be actively involved in decisions around that land. 
We look forward to the select committee debate around this bill and for assurances around the protocols that will naturally fall out of the bill. To that end we will support this bill going forward.